Get out your calendars and start scribbling:
Thursday, March 6, 7-9 p.m. — Green presidential candidate and former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney headlines an evening of art, spoken word, humor, and music to celebrate International Women’s Day at the First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. Performers include Bushra Rehman, a Brooklyn-based Pakistani poet and co-editor of Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism; Brooklyn-based spoken word/performance artists Climbing PoeTree; and Oakland-based R&B world music singer Jennifer Johns.
Thursday, March 6, Noon – Political commentator and former White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers discusses her new book, “Why Women Should Rule the World,” at the Commonwealth Club of California’s offices, on the second floor of 595 Market St. in San Francisco. Tickets cost $8 for club members, $15 for nonmembers or $7 students and are available through the club’s Web site.
Saturday, March 8, noon-1 p.m. — Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, holds another “Congress At Your Corner” meet-and-greet to hear constituents’ comments and concerns at the Safeway supermarket at 1801 W. 11th St. in Tracy.
Wednesday, March 12, 7 p.m. — Israeli Gershon Baskin and Palestinian Hanna Siniora — both authors, activists and educators, and leaders of the first joint Israeli-Palestinian think tank, Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information — share a first-hand assessment of the state of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in the Kehilla Community Synagogue at 1300 Grand Ave. in Piedmont. This is part of a national tour sponsored by the national organization Brit Tzedek v’Shalom. A $10 donation is requested at the door.
Saturday, March 15, 9-11 a.m. — Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, cofounder of the Out of Iraq Caucus and member of the House Appropriations State Foreign Operations Subcommittee, hosts a special town-hall briefing on the fifth anniversary of the failed U.S. occupation of Iraq at the Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave. in Oakland. The event includes a special screening of War Made Easy, a documentary exploring parallels between the Vietnam War and the war in Iraq.
Thursday, March 20, 5:30-9 p.m. — The Eden Area United Democratic Campaign holds its 10th Annual Democratic St. Patrick’s Day Dinner in the Carpenters Hall at 1050 Mattox Road in Hayward. State Treasurer Bill Lockyer will be the special guest, and state Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, will emcee. Individual tickets cost $25 in advance or $30 at the door; seniors and students, $20 in advance or $25 at the door; children 12 or under get in free. Patrons can pay $150 for four tickets; sponsors can pay $300 for a table of eight. For more information or reservations, 510-264-0444 or 510-635-3121 by March 17.
Thursday, March 27, Noon — U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey speaks on “Public Corruption and Public Confidence” before the Commonwealth Club of California at the Intercontinental Hotel, 888 Howard St. in San Francisco. Tickets cost $15 for club members, $30 for nonmembers or $7 for students and are available through the club’s Web site.
Wednesday, April 2, 6 p.m. — Former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz and Former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry — distinguished and senior fellows, respectively, at the Hoover Institution — discuss “Toward a Nuclear-Free World” before the Commonwealth Club of California in the Gold Room of the Fairmont Hotel, 950 Mason St. in San Francisco. Tickets cost $15 for club members or $30 for nonmembers and are available at the club’s Web site.
Posted on Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
Under: Barbara Lee, Bill Lockyer, California State Senate, Cynthia McKinney, Ellen Corbett, Iraq, Jerry McNerney, Oakland, U.S. House | 2 Comments »
State Senate Judiciary Committee chairwoman Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, will convene a hearing Thursday in Oakland on diversity and transparency in California’s judicial appointments — a topic on which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has taken some heat.
Corbett issued a news release saying she called the hearing in the wake of a State Bar of California report showing a lack of ethnic and gender diversity in California’s superior courts.
“The governor is going to have a historic opportunity in the next two years to shape the superior courts of California,” she said. “That is why we must act now to ensure that the process is open and provides an equal opportunity to increase ethnic and gender diversity in our state courts.”
Among those scheduled to testify at the hearing — open to the public, at 10 a.m. Thursday in the Alameda County Board of Supervisors’ hearing room at 1221 Oak St. in Oakland — are California Chief Justice Ronald George; Alameda County Superior Court Judge Brenda Harbin-Forte; Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation chairman William Kopeny and director Bilganna Sivanov; former State Bar president Anthony Capozzi; and others. Sharon Majors-Lewis, the governor’s judicial appointments secretary, was invited but has not yet confirmed whether she’ll attend.
2006 Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Angelides had criticized Schwarzenegger’s alleged lack of diversity in judicial appointments last year, and legislative Democrats made it the subject of a budget battle this summer. But the governor has always insisted his administration is making progress on diversifying the state’s bench.
Posted on Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
Under: Arnold Schwarzenegger, California State Senate, Ellen Corbett, Oakland | No Comments »
State Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, and Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman, R-Irvine, are leading a 16-member bipartisan delegation to Washington, D.C., next Monday through Thursday to meet with California House members on issues including flood control and water supply; greenhouse gases; homeland and port security; the No Child Left Behind education law; the Real ID Act; the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) reauthorization; and State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) reauthorization.
The only Bay Area state Senator other than Perata who’ll be on the trip is Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro. With more than a third of the Senate out of the state, there will be no floor session next week. The Senate Appropriations Committee will meet Monday, but will only take up non-controversial items and move things to the suspense file; the Education Committee will have an informational hearing Wednesday on school and campus safety.
Posted on Friday, April 27th, 2007
Under: California State Senate, Dick Ackerman, Don Perata, Ellen Corbett, Global warming, Homeland security, Immigration | No Comments »
