OK, so we'll just call this past weekend my fantasy adventure excursion. After recovering from Friday night's festivities, friend James and I headed to Alameda for the invite-only GM Auto Show in Motion. A car-lover's dream come true, the event puts you in the driver's seat of any new GM auto and throws you on a closed-course performance track where it's just you, the pavement, and the orange cones. The line to drive Chevy's sports car flagship (the Corvette, of course) was more than an hour-and-a-half long, so we skipped that and took the almost-as-tough Camaro Z28 for a hard spin around the course. That run, along with a cruise in Cadillac's El Dorado and a handful of sprints in the Chevy S-10 Xtreme made the day well worthwhile.

We all have our dreams.

-Gabe *************************** ADVERTISEMENT *************************** YOUR AD HERE! Want to send a message to 1,800+ individuals each week? Place your ad here! This newsletter is not spam, so everyone who receives it has asked for it. For rates and other information on advertising, drop a message to ads@capenq.com. *********************************************************************

Stories in major newspapers -- and some not major -- reported that the commissioner solicited millions of dollars in donations from insurance companies for nonprofit foundations that were set up by his office. The money was supposed to help consumers with insurance-related issues, but instead much of the money was spent in ways that politically benefited the commissioner and none was spent to help consumers, according to a plethora of media reports.

By donating to his funds, the commissioner allowed the insurance companies off the hook for alleged claims violations stemming from the 1994 Northridge earthquake, according to reports. Stories also questioned the commissioner's contention that he had no say-so in how the funds' money was spent.

The deepening scandal, already bad enough, intensified dramatically last week, when a Superior Court judge in Sacramento ordered some $6.3 million of the California Research and Assistance Fund to be frozen while the court sorts out allegations of mismanagement and fraud.

The judge's decision came in response to formal allegations filed by the state attorney general's office. The attorney general, who monitors all nonprofits and charities in the state, audited CRAF and said irregularities were uncovered that raised questions about the fund's integrity and about the activities of the fund's directors.

For Quackenbush, the judge's decision couldn't have come at a worse time. Already reeling from the political fallout of weeks of negative news stories, the commissioner's role -- whatever that may be -- in the fund now will be subject to new scrutiny, this time in the courts.

Reporters say a significant, continuing story has "legs." The Quackenbush story, since the original story ran in the Los Angeles Times a month ago and the Sacramento Bee later reported $3 million of questionable spending by CRAF, has lots of legs and is getting more.

There are investigations by the Legislature, the Fair Political Practices Commission and the attorney general into CRAF's activities. The Times, which has led the charge against the commissioner, on Sunday demanded that Quackenbush step down. Some consumer activists have called for his resignation or impeachment.

Nobody knows how this story is going to end, but one thing is sure: Quackenbush has been irreparably damaged as a statewide office holder, and his future political career has been ruined. The real question for the commissioner now is whether he will be subject to legal penalties, either civil or criminal, in connection with these funds.

Only time will tell.

--Jim Sams in the Stockton Record: "Sooner or later, Assemblyman Anthony Pescetti will have to sit down, study up and decide whether God really wants him to vote for Assembly Bill 788. The political arm of the Roman Catholic Church has endorsed the bill and this week sent its emissaries through the Capitol to tell lawmakers that Christ's teachings call for a juvenile-justice system that seeks rehabilitation, not retribution. Representatives from Stockton's nondenominational People and Congregations Together also rallied at the Sacramento Civic Center in support of increased state spending on low-income health-care programs." May 5.
http://www.recordnet.com/daily/news/articles/6news050500.html

--David Lazarus in the San Francisco Chronicle, who reported that "It's a good time to be a news junkie. An old-fashioned newspaper war is breaking out in the Bay Area, with several major dailies announcing plans to cut newsstand prices to a quarter. The Chronicle joined the fray yesterday by saying it will cut its newsstand price in half, to 25 cents from 50 cents, beginning Monday. The move follows word from the San Jose Mercury News that it, too, plans to lower the newsstand price of its paper in San Francisco, to 25 cents from 35 cents. Not to be outdone, the Contra Costa Times said yesterday that it will also cut its newsstand price, to 25 cents from 50 cents, also beginning Monday. "Anything that increases newspaper competition is a good thing," said Steve Barnett, a University of California at Berkeley law professor specializing in the publishing industry." May 5.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/05/05/BU51788.DTL&type=business

--Daniel M. Weintraub in the Orange County Register, who reported that "Chuck Quackenbush is not alone. The state insurance commissioner is taking a political beating for dropping misconduct charges against six insurance companies in exchange for contributions to private foundations he helped create. The foundations, which were supposed to aid consumers, have so far mostly helped Quackenbush and his friends. But one of Quackenbush's chief accusers, consumer advocate Harvey Rosenfield, has a similar -- though not identical -- foundation of his own, also created with insurance-company money. Rosenfield, 47, is drawing a $100,000 annual salary from the nonprofit foundation, and will do so for life if he wants to. He created the foundation with $5 million donated by Allstate Insurance when Rosenfield agreed to drop a lawsuit against the firm." May 4.
http://www.ocregister.com/news/harv004cci2.shtml

--Steve A. Capps in the Sacramento Bee, who reported, "A ballot initiative approved by California voters 21 years ago may force Gov. Gray Davis and the Legislature to return more than $1 billion to California taxpayers this year, according to state financial analysts. While the 1979 Gann initiative requires the state to return excess tax revenue to taxpayers, it's only happened once before -- when taxpayers got rebates averaging $94 -- and few believed it would happen again. 'It's something that sort of came out of the blue,' said Brad Williams, chief economist for the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office. But Williams and others are saying the state's unprecedented economic boom, with its resulting surge in tax revenues, is all but certain to push California over the measure's spending limit during the current fiscal year as well as the next, and that will likely lead to tax cuts, as well as more money for schools." May 4.
http://www.capitolalert.com/news/capalert01_20000504.html

2000 POCKET DIRECTORY OF THE STATE LEGISLATURE ---------------------------------------------- 27th Edition of "the little red book" is now available! Current contact information on each legislator, including photos, committee assignments, Capitol and district office addresses, phone numbers and staff. Separate listings of all Senate and Assembly standing, select, special research, joint and sub committees, with members, staff, phone and room numbers. Don't be without this indispensable directory!

2000 LEGISLATIVE UPDATES VIA EMAIL ---------------------------------- Receive late-breaking changes to the Pocket Directory monthly throughout the year -- via email. To keep your directory up to date, you will be provided with any "information changes" that occur after the February publishing date. In addition to "changes," the updates will include profiles of new members, alerts to new committees and other legislative news items. Easy way to keep your directory current!

2000 U.S. CONGRESS DIRECTORY ---------------------------- Convenient 4" x 9" spiral-bound directory includes photos, key staff members and committee memberships of the 100 U.S. Senators and 435 U.S. Representatives. Separate listings of Senate and House committee and subcommittee memberships, the President's cabinet with key staff members, the State governors with addresses and phone numbers, and the Supreme Court members with phone numbers.

ORDER NOW THROUGH OUR WEB SITE: http://www.capenq.com/order

or fax the EASY ORDER FORM from our brochure to (916) 442-1260

1999-2000 WHO'S WHO IN THE CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE ------------------------------------------------- 8" x 11" loose-leaf binder of political and personal biographies of all 120 legislators, including each legislator's photo, education, career, campaign issues, legislative interests and accomplishments. Each district information page has exclusively created easy-to-read district and "locator" maps. The Who's Who makes a wonderful legislative yearbook keepsake.

1999-2000 CALIFORNIA STATE AGENCY DIRECTORY ------------------------------------------- Information on the governor's appointments! This handy 4" x 9" directory lists all agency and department-level organizations and most division and branch-level offices. Includes names and titles of state officials, with addresses, phone and fax numbers. Where a vacancy exists, the position is listed without a name. The next more complete edition will be published in the Fall of 2000.

COMING LATER THIS YEAR

Open & Public III ----------------- Open & Public II is no longer available -- it is being updated now and will be available in September 2000. For a current guide to public meetings and the Ralph Brown Act, see The Legal Notebook.

OTHER PUBLICATIONS NOW AVAILABLE

* The Legal Notebook * Navigating the Legislative Process * Conflict of Interest Laws for Local Government Officials * Paper Trails: A Guide to Public Records in California * California Election District Zip Code Directory * Election District Diskette * Mailing Labels on Diskette * Senate, Assembly & Congress District Wall Maps

ORDER NOW THROUGH OUR WEB SITE: http://www.capenq.com/order

or fax the EASY ORDER FORM from our brochure to (916) 442-1260