FIRST POSTED AT 8:22AM. Updates below. I am sick this morning over the news that last night, while playing basketball, longtime GOP Capitol staffer Will Smith suffered a heart attack that took his life. Will was a great guy and what a tragedy to be struck down in the prime of his life. Smith had been serving as Chief of Staff for State Senator George Runner. Please keep his family in your prayers. I’m sure we’ll have more on this.

Breaking political news generally is a fun task. This morning, it is a horrible one.

Rest in peace, my friend. UPDATED 8:55AM.

Below is a brief statement from Will’s wife, Anissa, and also some thoughts from one of Will’s friends, Chris Jones. FR readers with thoughts of Will are invited… Read More

FlashReport readers know that Damon Dunn is a newcomer on the political scene, but has made quite a splash with his candidate for the GOP nomination for Secretary of State.

I received an interesting note from Anthony Bookman, Damon Dunn’s Jr. High classmate, college friend and Stanford teammate. It is an interesting read and provides some great insights into Dunn. I have reprinted it below. Since Anthony played football at Stanford, I "Googled" him and came up with this great article where he played a key role in a major Cardinal defeat of Notre Dame back in 1997. This photo is Anthony setting up a touchdown in the 4th quarter of the game.

Understanding The Real Damon Dunn… Read More

FlashReport readers know that Damon Dunn is a newcomer on the political scene, but has made quite a splash with his candidate for the GOP nomination for Secretary of State.

I received an interesting note from Anthony Bookman, Damon Dunn’s Jr. High classmate, college friend and Stanford teammate. It is an interesting read and provides some great insights into Dunn. I have reprinted it below. Since Anthony played football at Stanford, I "Googled" him and came up with this great article where he played a key role in a major Cardinal defeat of Notre Dame back in 1997. This photo is Anthony setting up a touchdown in the 4th quarter of the game.

Understanding The Real Damon Dunn… Read More

It’s no secret that I strongly oppose Project Labor Agreements (PLAs). They’re nothing more than special interest giveaways to unions and provide no benefit to taxpayers. I can’t imagine any Republican that would support these agreements. Construction contracts of any kind should be awarded to the best bidder, regardless of if they’re union or non-union.

My friends on the left love to claim that these union giveaways guarantee quality and accountability on taxpayer financed projects. However, the Associated Builders and Contractors, California Cooperation Committee (ABC-CCC) and their Taxpayer Accountability Project have blown a hole in that argument. The City of Milpitas enacted a PLA for the construction of a $39 million library project. City officials boasted that this project, because of the PLA, was a resounding success. The problem for City officials stems from the fact that they never anticipated that any organization would actually audit the project to ensure state labor laws were followed.

ABC-CCC, under the leadership of executive director (and friend of the FlashReport) Kevin Korenthal, conducted an independent labor… Read More

Fresno City Councilman Larry Westerlund announced his intention todayto run for the Republican nomination for the 19th Congressional District seat currently held by retiring Congressman George Radanovich. Westerlund become the 4th candidate, and the3rd candidate from outside the District, toseek the nomination. Former Fresno Mayor Jim Patterson is the only declared candidate that lives inCongressional 19, and is joined by former Congressman Richard Pombo (Tracy) and State Senator Jeff Denham (Salinas).

Westerlund’s run is interesting, to say the least. The Lincoln Club of Fresno County has supported him for his Council campaigns twice, but even the most casual observer knows he has no chance to win the Republican nomination for CD 19. So what is his candidacy all about? Time will tell, but it is far from a wild conspiracy theory to believe he is part of a strategy to deny former Fresno Mayor Jim Patterson votes in the Fresno area.

For now, Patterson’s greatest asset is strong name id locally, and a popular following among KMJ 580 radio listeners. Pombo, if he is to be succesfull, will ride the endorsement of Congressman… Read More

Assemblyman Dan Logue’s AB 118, The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, which would have suspended AB 32, went down in global warming flames this afternoon. It seems not even a timely Wall Street Journal editorial or the citizens who testified at the hearing about their AB 32-created problems could persuade thezealots on the Assembly’s Natural Resources Committee.

Like every other committee, the numbers are stacked against Republicans (Steve Knight and Danny Gilmore are the only Republicans on Natural Resources). After brief testimony on the bill, Democrats launched into their typical condescending speeches about how the citizens who testified for AB 118 don’t understand the ramifications of global warming.

I try to be creative here on the FR, but I can’t tell you how many times I want to start my post with "only here in the Bay Area." Yesterday’s "No Pants" day on BART is a great example. Although since the silly stunt was sponsored by a New York performance art group, I guess we’ll just have to categorize it as an "only in New York or San Francisco" event.

Thank goodness, I didn’t plan to take my kidsinto the City yesterday. I don’t think my 11 year has recovered from the time we were trapped on a cable car outside of the St.Francis whenUnion Square was taken over by bicyclists taking part in the once-a-month, anti-carCritical Mass bike event. On that day, everyone on the cable car lost their appetite when an extremely large, extremely white and extremely naked man rode by on his not-quite-large-enough bicycle. Truly an image that no one needs to have in their head.

Here’s an image from yesterday’s stunt:

… Read More

(Courtesy of ProtectMarriage.com) Just minutes ago, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy stayed the order of Judge Vaughn Walker that would have allowed for streaming video in the case challenging Proposition 8, Perry v Schwarzenegger. Walker previously had agreed to provide a video stream of the trial on a daily basis through YouTube. The Perry case would have been the first trial ever in the Ninth Circuit where cameras had been allowed in the courtroom. ProtectMarriage.com vigorously fought Walker’s order by appealing to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and then filing an emergency appeal with Justice Kennedy.

The stay order is in effect until Wednesday, January 13th at 4:00pm eastern time to permit the Supreme Court time for further consideration.

Andy Pugno, General Counsel for ProtectMarriage.com said, "The temporary stay of Judge Walker’s ruling to allow broadcast of the Perry v Schwarzenegger trial is a good sign that the full United States Supreme Court will… Read More