Let me start by saying thanks to FR Publisher Jon Fleischman for welcoming me back to the Flash Report Blog. As Jon has mentioned previously, I was FR’s first San Bernardino County correspondent almost three years ago. After 14 months I left in order to focus on becoming a San Bernardino County Supervisor. Now that I’ve achieved that goal, I really appreciate this opportunity to return and pick right back up where I left off — almost two years later.

So what’s changed since we last talked?

One thing for certain has changed, I thought as I perused the latest news accounts of the Iraq situation vis-à-vis the Presidential candidates. And that is, how much things have changed in Iraq. And as Sen. Barack Obama arrived in Iraq today, it also strikes me how little his approach has changed during that same time. I’m pretty sure this is because his position is still the politically popular (albeit wrong) one.

Obama’s 2006 visit to Iraq (his first and only other visit besides today’s) was marked by the… Read More

Last week, the Rothenberg Political Report noted that Freshman California Democrat Jerry McNerney is among the most likely Congressmen in the Country to lose their seat this November. That’s something we’ve known here in California since McNerney lucked his way into the seat in 06, but it’s nice to see that the national pundits are taking note of it too.

California’s 11th District, Jerry McNerney (D). Freshman McNerney rode the Democratic wave and help from the environmental community to beat Republican Rep. Richard Pombo two years ago, but he isn’t an ideal fit for his Republican- leaning district. The GOP nominee, former state Assemblyman Dean Andal, looks to be a serious threat.

"Iraqi President embraces Obama Withdrawal Plan," was the misleading front page headline in the Los Angeles Times Sunday national edition yesterday. Once again, the newspaper that declared "Obama Captivates the World!" has allowed their wishful thinking to get the best of them. President Al-Maliki has definately not embraced the Obama surrender terms. Even the Times article mentions that Maliki had qualifications to the Obama withdrawal schedule. But today we learned that the story the Times ran is based on a few statements Maliki made to a German media outlet, not the Los Angeles Times, and that Maliki has stated that the German media report is wrong, and he denies its claims. Will the Times print a front page clarification? Most likely it would read like this: "Obama, who captivates the world, receives praise from Maliki" who is a war monger.… Read More

I had a chance to get to know soon-to-beAssemblyman (and fellow FR blogger) Curt Hagmanthis past weekend and see him in action.

I’m impressed.

I’m not able to give you the when, where, what and why’s of our encounter – it would complicate the very significant issue we were trying to fix – what I can say is that Curt showed right away he is a driven problem solver and absolutely knows what he’s talking about. He has solutions that are common-sense and a plan of action to get it done.

Something happened that I’ve not seen before at the meeting that speaks volumes about the leadership of Curt. A very high ranking government official asked this not yet an Assemblyman to come to Sacramento to work with them to work on the issue.

I wish I could say who it was – because in the 14 years I’ve been in government, I’ve never seen this dynamic happen. To be honest, most "nominees" aren’t paid attention to much – because they don’t have a vote yet.. Curt transcended that easily.

I’m always glad when I run across people that have given themselves to… Read More

When she was only a teenager, Trinie Bowling spied on the Japanese in her native Philippines during World War II, reporting back to officials on enemy movements. Little did she know that her deep-seated patriotism would years later lead to an unabashed love of country in the United States, and as a "political guerilla" for the Republican Party.

After emigrating to the United States, Bowling became a stalwart activist for the GOP.

She met Congressman Duncan Hunter’s father, R.O. Hunter, severalyears ago at a new citizens’ swearing-in ceremony and became a new citizen GOP recruiter on behalf of both Republican Women’s Federated clubs and the local GOP. Bowling has now been a fixture in local Republican circles for more than three decades.

All of her hard work culminated in a thank you from President Bush on Thursday at Travis Air Force Base. During his California visit, Bush took the time to meet Bowling and personally thank her for service to country and party.

At 79, Bowling has been diagnosed with cancer and knows she doesn’t have long to live. "I’ve been looking forward to this for quite a… Read More

We are pleased to offer commentary this morning from longtime FR friend Lanci Izumi. Lance is Senior Director in Education Studies for the Pacific Research Institute. The piece was inspired by the recent headlines about the alarmingly high drop-out rates in California’s public schools…

THE DROPOUT DISASTER: WE TOLD YOU SO By Lance Izumi

In 1997, the Pacific Research Institute released the first of its ongoing California Index of Leading Education Indicators, which included a chapter on California’s dropout rate. The Index warned that the state Department of Education missed legions of dropouts… Read More

The President Thursday visited the western Shasta County area to view the fire damage and ongoing threat to people and infrastructure that the fire poses. It started with a briefing with CalFire, US Forest Service, National Guard, Rural School officials, many local firefighters, as well as some of us local electeds. The Marine helicopters were posed waiting for the arrival of Air Force One, the sound of whichthe airport didn’t seem big enough to accomodate.

Soon, The President joined us in the hanger for the briefing, shaking hands with all of us gathered [yeah!]before viewing the maps of the fire and damaged areas with the fire personnel before the helicopter flight, which would include Shasta Dam, a federal Central Valley Project structure, whose electricity generation andtransmission infrastructure had been threatened from shutdown by fire. Accompanying the President on the flight out from D.C.and then the copter ride was our local Congressman Wally Herger, along with… Read More

We are pleased to offer commentary this morning from longtime FR friend Lanci Izumi. Lance is Senior Director in Education Studies for the Pacific Research Institute. The piece was inspired by the recent headlines about the alarmingly high drop-out rates in California’s public schools…

THE DROPOUT DISASTER: WE TOLD YOU SO By Lance Izumi In 1997, the Pacific Research Institute released the first of its ongoing California Index of Leading Education Indicators, which included a chapter on… Read More