The U.S. Senate voted 56-41 today to confirm William H. Orrick III as a district judge in Northern California’s federal court.

Orrick, 60, from 2009 to 2012 served as a counsel and deputy assistant attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Division; earlier he was a litigator at the San Francisco firm of Coblentz, Patch, Duffy and Bass for 25 years. His father, William Orrick Jr., also served as a judge of the San Francisco-based Northern District court.

President Obama first nominated the younger Orrick to the bench in June 2012; the Senate Judiciary Committee approved him a month later and sent his nomination to the floor Aug. 2, but that nomination died when the Senate adjourned Jan. 2 without holding a confirmation vote. Obama re-nominated him a day later; once again, the Judiciary Committee approved him in February on an 11-7 vote.

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., issued a statement today saying Orrick “will be an outstanding addition to the Northern District bench and I am so pleased the Senate has confirmed him. He brings a depth of legal experience in both the public and private sectors, which will make him a tremendous asset to the court.”

Boxer and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., both spoke before today’s vote to praise Orrick’s record, but Feinstein also used her time to berate the Senate’s Republican minority for having delayed the vote for so long.

“This is a real shame. The Northern District of California is in a judicial emergency, as declared by the Judiciary Conference of the United States, as are all judicial districts in California,” Feinstein said. “The Northern District has 675 weighted filings per judgeship, making its caseload 30 percent above the national average. A civil case takes nearly 3 years to get to trial—up nearly 50 percent from a year ago.”

“When well-qualified nominees like Bill Orrick are held up, judicial emergencies like those California continues to face year after year are only exacerbated. So, I am very pleased Bill Orrick will be confirmed, and I thank my colleagues on the Republican side for agreeing to schedule a vote on his nomination,” she concluded. “I simply believe – strongly – that he could and should have been confirmed sooner by this body.”

From Assembly Speaker John Perez, D-Los Angeles:

“The Governor’s May Budget Revision is another key milestone in our effort to pass a balanced on-time budget by June 15th. We appreciate the Governor’s commitment to maintaining the fiscal stability that has come from an improving economy, legislative Democrats making tough but necessary budget cuts, voters approving the majority-vote budget and voters standing with Democrats in supporting temporary tax revenues. We will review the Governor’s proposals and revenue projections, along with the LAO’s revenue projections, in depth, and his revised budget will be thoroughly discussed throughout the Budget committee and subcommittee process. Assemblymembers will review the Governor’s proposal through the prism of principles outlined in our Blueprint for a Responsible Budget: continuing fiscal responsibility, strengthening the middle class, and delivering effective, efficient services for Californians. On the whole, the Governor’s framework and the Assembly’s Blueprint seem to track well, and we’ll spend the next month reconciling our priorities.”

From Assembly Republican Leader Connie Conway, R-Visalia:

“Governor Brown today put forward a revised state spending plan that I believe charts a realistic path forward in meeting the budget priorities of hard-working taxpayers. Republicans share the Governor’s commitment to paying down state debt and holding the line on new spending. It is our hope that Legislative Democrats will follow the Governor’s lead in making fiscal discipline a core budget principle. We must resist the temptation to blow through the surplus using one-time money for ongoing programs and reverse the progress we’ve made in closing the deficit.”

From state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento:

“Overall, this May Revision is a refreshing change. For the first time in four years, we no longer have to stare at enormous deficits and make agonizing decisions on which cuts will do the least harm to our children, to the poor, and to middle class families.

“That’s the politically correct thing to say, and it happens to be true.

“I agree we must aggressively pay down our state’s debt and set aside money for a reserve, but there’s a disappointing aspect to this proposal. It’s important that we also begin making up for some of the damage done to tens of thousands of Californians. Unless the Legislative Analyst has a different conclusion, the Governor proposes few if any resources to restore cuts made over the past few years to the courts, and to health and human services.

“The Governor’s Local Control Funding Formula is the right policy direction, but our serious concern about how it’s accomplished remains. The concentration grants treat thousands of disadvantaged students unequally. It also fails to expand the proven success of career pathway programs which can reduce dropout rates and improve our kids’ readiness for the workforce by combining rigorous curriculum that’s also relevant to students’ career goals.

“The budget debate begins in earnest. I look forward to a deeper analysis of revenue projections in the coming weeks while we continue to work with the Governor on the best budget for California’s economic recovery and its people.”

From state Senate Republican Leader Bob Huff, R-Brea:

“The Governor has revenue estimates that are lower than anyone expected, largely due to the increased payroll tax suppressing the economy. Higher tax rates and continuing high unemployment mean less money in people’s pockets and less money to propel the economy.

“We have common ground with the Governor in a belief that we cannot return to a culture of overspending that drives new budget crises. Governor Brown referred to this as a ‘Call for Prudence,’ we would call it ‘Common Sense.’ It seems that the Governor’s biggest budget challenge will be in restraining legislative Democrats and their growing wish list of new spending.

“Senate Republicans continue to believe that the State must meet the promises of the voter approved Proposition 30 tax increase measure by increasing funding for K-14 and higher education. We also believe that the Governor should support our efforts to allow Californians to vote on the bi-partisan rainy day reserve fund that had been previously scheduled for the 2012 ballot. Implementing a voter approved rainy day reserve requirement is the best way to protect against future budget crises and ensure stability.

“The Legislature should spend less time on a growing list of additional tax proposals such as soda taxes, oil severance taxes, tobacco taxes and several property tax measures that undermine historic Proposition 13 protections and instead focus on the growing public safety crises caused by the passage of AB 109, the Governor’s Public Safety Realignment scheme that has shifted 65,000 criminals from state prison to our local communities and neighborhoods.”

From California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye:

“I’m disappointed that the Governor’s revised budget proposals provide no more fiscal relief to the courts. Given the state’s current fiscal condition, I had hoped for more effort to help stop the downward spiral of the judicial branch budget. Courts across the state are already closing courthouses, courtrooms, and reducing the hours they serve the public. Without reinvestment in the courts, these terrible impacts will only expand, and the poor and middle class residents who rely on the courts to resolve issues that affect their lives and livelihoods will be adversely affected, as well those businesses still digging out from the effects of the great recession. We need adequate, ongoing funding for the courts that will permit us to reverse the damage caused by five years of budget cuts. The reforms I’ve put in place have helped save money and created more efficiencies. We needed critical support a year ago from the other two branches and now the need for justice is urgent. I am heartened by Speaker Perez’s comments last week about the need to begin reinvesting in the courts. I am optimistic that the Legislature and the Governor can work toward reversing some of the adverse impacts on access to justice before a budget bill is passed and signed.”

There’s a whole lot more, after the jump…
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The death of former state Senate President Don Perata’s daughter-in-law, found in her swimming pool Saturday morning, is under investigation by Napa Police.

Family members found Catherine Perata, 38, dead shortly before 9 a.m. Saturday.

Catherine Perata and her husband, Nick, 40, in 2009 founded a wine country tour company, Perata Luxury Tours & Car Services. The couple has two daughters.

Nick Perata is the son of Don Perata, 67, of Orinda, who was the California State Senate’s president pro tem from 2004 to 2008, and unsuccessfully sought the Oakland mayor’s office in 2010.

Earlier, Don Perata was a state Senator from 1998 to 2004; an Assemblyman from 1996 to 1998; a 1994 primary candidate for state controller; and an Alameda County Supervisor from 1986 to 1994.

Don Perata didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment Monday.

The family endured tough times as the FBI probed the financial and political relationships between Don and Nick Perata and a wide range of associates. The years-long public corruption investigation ended in 2009 with no charges filed against anyone, but not before agents had served search warrants at sites including both Don and Nick Perata’s Oakland homes.

We’ll share more details as we get them…

UPDATE @ 4:55 P.M.: Napa Police Capt. Jeff Troendly said an autopsy was conducted Monday and found Perata had drowned. “Now we’re waiting for toxicology to come back and see how that played into any part of this,” he said, adding those tests might take a few weeks.

Troendly said the Napa Valley Major Crimes Task Force assisted with the investigation not because of any particular suspicion of foul play, but only because Napa Police were already stretched thin by the massive Bottle Rock Napa Valley concert festival that ran through the weekend.

“Right now we’re still in the process of interviewing some people, getting more information and background on Ms. Perata, everything leading up to that evening and to her demise,” Troendly said, noting she was last seen alive Friday night.

The nation would have an official Science Laureate – a renowned expert in a scientific field who would travel the nation to inspire future scientists – under new legislation coauthored by Rep. Zoe Lofgren.

The idea of the bipartisan legislation, cosponsored in the House by Science, Space and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, and in the Senate by Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and Roger Wicker, R-Miss., is to promotes science education and celebrate scientific achievement – a key goal as the nation emphasizes the importance of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education to produce a more skilled workforce.

This new honorary position would be appointed by the president from nominees recommended by the National Academy of Sciences and serve for a term of one to two years. The laureate would be empowered to speak to Americans on the importance of science broadly and scientific issues of the day; the position would be unpaid, and the scientist would also be encouraged to continue his or her own important scientific work.

“Scientists like Albert Einstein or Sally Ride can capture the public’s attention and inspire Americans if they are given a platform to speak from,” Lofgren, D-San Jose, said in a news release. “As our society becomes ever more technical, a role model for how important scientific advancement is for our nation’s future will help us. The Science Laureate can serve that role, as an accomplished individual to engage Americans on the importance of science in our lives and who can encourage our students to be the innovators of tomorrow.”

The legislation is supportred by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society; the STEM Education Coalition; the American Chemical Society; and the Hands-On Science Partnership. The original cosponsors of H.R. 1891 include Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Pleasanton, another member of the House Science Committee.

A prominent Oakland developer and political mover and shaker was appointed to the embattled California Medical Board on Wednesday by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Phil Tagami, 47, of Oakland, has served in various positions at the California Capital and Investment Group since 1992, including president and CEO. He’s been responsible for leading the redevelopments of the Rotunda Building in Frank Ogawa Plaza, the Fox Theater on Telegraph Avenue in the Uptown district, and the West Oakland train station.

He also has worked in public service for more than 20 years with various municipal and state appointments, including chair of the California Lottery Commission from 2012 to 2013 (another appointment by Brown), commissioner of the California Transportation Commission from 2008 to 2009, commissioner of the California State Park and Recreation Commission from 2003 to 2006 and commissioner of the California State World Trade Commission from 2002 to 2003.

Tagami was commissioner of the Oakland Landmarks Preservation Review Board from 1994 to 1996 and commissioner of the Oakland Environmental Affairs Commission from 1992 to 1994. As Oakland’s mayor, Brown had named Tagami to Port of Oakland’s Board of Commissioners, on which he served from 2000 to 2003.

Tagami has been a significant Democratic campaign benefactor, co-hosting fundraisers for the likes of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in 2007 and Brown in 2009. Tagami also has had a close relationship with former state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, formerly of Oakland; it was Perata who named Tagami to the California Transportation Commission.

This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem.

The California Medical Board has been under attack lately, accused of failing to properly discipline doctors accused of having harmed patients; there’s particular concern that the board has turned a blind eye to reckless prescriptions.

Assemblyman Rich Gordon, D-Los Altos, and state Sen. Curren Price, D-Los Angeles, have introduced legislation that would strip the board of its investigative powers and give those powers instead to the state Attorney General, leaving the board to deal mainly with licensing. And the Sacramento Business Journal reports today that a similar initiative may be in the works for the November 2014 ballot.

Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday nominated three Bay Area lawyers to the state council that makes rules to protect Californians from employment, housing and public accommodation discrimination, and hate violence.

The Fair Employment and Housing Council, a body within the state department of the same name, establishes regulations and consists of seven members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate.

Dale Brodsky, 62, of Orinda, is a partner at Oakland-based labor law firm Beeson Tayer and Bodine, where she has worked since 2002. She was associate editor for the California Public Employee Relations Program at University of California, Berkeley from 2000 to 2002 and was an attorney in private practice from 1997 to 2002. Brodsky was an adjunct law professor at the University of San Francisco from 1997 to 2001 and a teacher at Mt. Diablo Unified School District from 1992 to 1996. She was an associate attorney at Saperstein Seligman and Mayeda from 1989 to 1991 and an attorney in private practice from 1984 to 1989. Brodsky held various positions at the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing from 1978 to 1983, including staff attorney and legal counsel. And she was deputy public defender for the City and County of San Francisco in 1978. A Democrat, Brodsky earned a law degree from University of California, San Francisco School of Law.

Chaya Mandelbaum, 33, of San Francisco, has worked at Sanford Heisler LLP since 2011, as an associate and more recently as senior litigation counsel. He was a trial attorney for the Office of the Solicitor at the U.S. Department of Labor from 2007 to 2011 and an associate at Morgan Lewis and Bockius LLP from 2005 to 2007. A Democrat, he earned a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.

Chanee Franklin Minor, 37, of Oakland, has been a staff attorney for the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board since 2011. She was an associate at Cooley Godward Kronish LLP from 2006 to 2009, and a staff attorney at the Eviction Defense Center in 2005. Franklin Minor served as commissioner at the Oakland Residential Rent Adjustment Board from 2008 to 2009. A Democrat, Franklin Minor earned a law degree from Cornell Law School.

Brown also today named to the council Patricia Perez, 45, of Encinitas, president and chief executive officer at Puente Consulting APC, and Andrew Schneiderman, 57, of South Pasadena vice president and general counsel at the California Commerce Club Inc. since 1994. Perez is registered with no party preference, Schneiderman is a Democrat.

The compensation for these positions is $100 per diem.

Undaunted by last year’s defeat of a similar ballot measure, U.S. Barbara Boxer is talking tough in support of her bill to requiring the labeling of genetically engineered foods.

Boxer, D-Calif., was at Clif Bar’s Emeryville headquarters Thursday to tout her “Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act,” S.809, which she introduced a few weeks ago. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., has introduced a companion House bill.

“We deserve to have the right to know what’s in the foods we eat,” Boxer said, noting she first introduced a similar bill 13 years ago when public support was far less than it is today. “If these companies believe in their products, they should have nothing to fear.”

Boxer’s said more than 90 percent of Americans support the labeling of genetically engineered foods. The Food and Drug Administration now requires labeling of more than 3,000 ingredients, additives and processes, but in a 1992 policy statement allowed genetically engineered foods to be marketed without labeling, claiming that these foods were not “materially” different from other foods because the genetic differences could not be recognized by taste, smell or other senses.

But the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has recognized that these foods are materially different and novel for patent purposes, Boxer noted, and more than 1.5 million Americans have filed comments with the FDA urging the agency to label GE foods.

The food industry spent about $46 million last year to defeat California’s Proposition 37, a similar labeling measure, Boxer said Thursday. But she noted the Senate and House bills already have several dozen co-sponsors and around a hundred organizational supporters, and with more than 20 states currently considering their own labeling bills, it would be better to have a single federal standard than a state-by-state patchwork.

“Let’s trust each other to make the right decisions for our families,” she said. “I think we’re on the way to success.”

Asked whether she herself believes genetically engineered foods could be harmful, she said she preferred to answer as a mother and grandmother rather than as a lawmaker. Determining the safety of such foods requires long-term scientific study, and that’s not yet been accomplished, she said: “I’m very conservative when it comes to this.”

UPDATE @ 2:52 P.M.: Actually, genetically engineered crops have been studied and deemed safe hundreds of times in recent decades. And a review of two dozen long-term studies, published last year in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology, found genetically modified crops had no effects on the animals that ate them. And the American Association for the Advancement of Science last year issued a statement saying “foods containing ingredients from genetically modified (GM) crops pose no greater risk than the same foods made from crops modified by conventional plant breeding techniques.”

The Boxer and DeFazio bills would require clear labels for genetically engineered whole foods and processed foods, including fish and seafood; the FDA would be directed to write new labeling standards consistent with other U.S. and international standards. So far, 64 nations already require labeling of GE foods, including all the member of the European Union, Russia, Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand.

Boxer acknowledged Thursday her bill would not cover beef or milk from cows that consume genetically modified corn.

Boxer was flanked at the news conference by Clif Bar CEO Kevin Cleary; Jessica Lundberg of Richvale, Calif., rice producer Lundberg Family Farms; and restauranteur Charles Phan, best known for the Slanted Door in San Francisco.

“This is very exciting for us,” Lundberg said. “Consumers are concerned about the purity of their food, the nutrition of their food, and how their food is grown.”

House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy is bringing a group of House Republicans on an “Innovate to Create” tour of Silicon Valley this week to meet with leading tech entrepreneurs and discuss how innovation leads to American job creation and economic growth.

“Silicon Valley is the cradle of twenty-first century innovation and the home to businesses that have effectively harnessed the entrepreneurial spirit that has made this country so great. Visiting these companies and meeting with their leaders is a great opportunity for members of Congress to see firsthand how innovation leads to job creation and economic growth across the entire country and around the world,” McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, said in a news release.

“Washington must be mindful of the impact its policies can have in either fostering or hindering this growth. House Republicans are committed to unshackling entrepreneurs from onerous government-manufactured burdens that threaten to dampen opportunities for development so that there are no limits to what America’s innovators can imagine for our future.”

The lawmakers will meet with representatives from Google, Facebook, the Internet Association Roundtable, Engine Advocacy, Good Technology and Palantir Technologies. Besides McCarthy, lawmakers on the tour include Reps. Susan Brooks, R-Ind.; George Holding, R-N.C.; Cory Gardner, R-Colo.; Patrick McHenry, R-N.C.; Patrick Meehan, R-Pa.; Mike Pompeo, R-Kan.; and Steve Scalise, R-La.

A website that matches young people with wealthy benefactors for “romantic” relationships wants to pay a wealthy Bay Area enclave $11.65 million to change its official name to “SugarDaddie.com, U.S.A.”

The Florida-based company probably would be better off changing its own name to FatChance.com. It recently offered Sugar Land, Tex., $4.65 million for the same name change, but the Texans told it to go pound sand. Now the company has turned its attention to Woodside, offering more than twice as much as it did in Texas (take that, Rick Perry!) if the town will adopt its name for seven years.

“The CEO of SugarDaddie.com must receive a key to the town in a formal ceremony presented by local government officials (open to the media and the public) and the long list of celebrity-residents are invited to attend,” the company wrote in a letter to town officials. “SugarDaddie Community Council will replace Woodside Town Council for 10 years. Woodside Public Library must be changed to SugarDaddie Public Library for 5 years. All city websites must be made to reflect the city’s official new name and must be fully implemented within 6 months.”

The letter also demands “either a statue of Hugh Hefner near Town Hall or some other public figure that best represents the sugar daddy lifestyle (costs covered by SugarDaddie.com).”

Riiiiight. Amazingly, the company claims town officials have agreed to put the offer on the Town Council’s agenda for its next meeting, Tuesday, March 12; company representatives will be there to make a presentation in person. My e-mails to the town manager and mayor weren’t returned this afternoon.

Of course this can’t be taken seriously; perhaps the more-than-a-few billionaires who call Woodside home will think it’s funny. And with about 5,400 residents, a median home value of $1 million and a median household income almost four times that of California’s, Woodside must see $11.65 million as chump change.

“If we can’t get a favorable outcome with the folks in Woodside, California, we’re looking into other cities like Sugar City, Colorado and others. We are hell-bent on creating the first dating site-sponsored city in America,” company CEO Steven Pasternack said in a news release.

Pasternak is clearly from the “any press is good press” school of public relations and advertising – probably wise for someone whose industry involves hooking boy- or girl-toys up with rich people.

This is a missive from William Fawell, founder of the Elect A New Congress super PAC; I can’t tell if it’s intentionally absurd in order to get attention, but if so, it worked.

Elect A New Congress, super pac for all Americans, claimed vindication for its boycott of the Super Bowl Half-Time Show, after numerous news services showed Beyonce flashing the pyramid triangular auspice of the all seeing eye of the Illuminati.

“It was too big of an event for Jay-Z, his impressionable wife and whoever they’re [sic] friends are to pass up,” explained Wm W. Fawell, author and founder of Elect A New Congress. “Sycophants are trying to pass this off as Beyonce giving the sign of her husband’s promotion company, ‘Roc A Fella’ records. But you’ve got to be awfully thick between the ears to miss the allusion to ‘Rockefeller,’ scion long affiliated with the Illuminati and their New World Order.”

“I’m left wondering how hard they have to hit people over the head with their anti-America theology that celebrates a godless centralized government and economy entrenched in a tyrannical state before people start getting the message,” pointed Fawell.

“We received a lot of support for our stance, but we also took a lot of abuse for the boycott, primarily from Al Sharpton’s column at MSNBC,” Fawell explained. “But even then, Sharpton’s people had to create an issue we never put forth in order to manufacture a non-truth so they could launch their unwarranted attack upon us.”

“Personally, I find this typical of any programming from NBC/Disney, which doesn’t report news, but habitually creates propaganda for the United States federal government, this Administration, and their adherents,” Fawell indicted.

“I find it un-American, diametrically opposed to Liberty, and an insult to all God fearing people everywhere. There is certainly no place for this anywhere in America, much less at one of the premier sporting events in the world,” commented Fawell. “I think this will force us to prevail upon the NFL to never repeat this mistake again.”

Serfs Up America!

The Illuminati, egads! Beyonce, shilling (as she shimmies) NOT for all the single ladies, but for being crazy in love with a godless centralized government and tyrannical state? Say it ain’t so!

I know, I know: consider the source – a guy who calls the financial bailout of 2008-09 “a financial coup d’eta” [sic] and treason that placed us in “a very real type of slavery.” Mr. Fawell is no stranger to hyperbole, clearly. But… dude. The Illuminati?

So, I Google it, and lo and behold, other folks have been all over this even before the Super Bowl halftime show brought this menace into our living rooms. And it’s on the Internet SO IT MUST BE TRUE!!!

Here’s the truth: Whacked-out conspiracy theories aside, Beyonce’s performance got about 104 million viewers, the second-largest audience ever for a Super Bowl halftime show. Good luck convincing the NFL it was “a mistake,” Mr. Fawell.