By Miriam Raftery

November 6, 2015 (Washington D.C.) --  Today, President Barack Obama announced that after six years of review,  the U.S. State Department has decided that the Keystone XL  Pipeline “would not serve the national interest of the United States.  I agree with that decision,” the President said.

Obama indicated that the pipeline would be “neither a silver bullet for the economy, as was promised by some, nor the express lane to climate disaster proclaimed by others.”  He then laid out key reasons why his administration has rejected the pipeline.

First, he indicated, “The pipeline would not make a meaningful long-term contribution to our economy…What we should be doing is passing a bipartisan infrastructure plan that, in the short term, would create more than 30 times as many jobs per year as the pipeline would, and in the long run, would benefit our economy and our workers for decades to come.”

East County News Service

November 4, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - A draft list of demands from Republican candidates to media seeking to limit tough debate questions and other debate criteria has met with ridicule from late-night comics and the media. Now some campaigns are backing off the demands, with several candidates refusing to sign a letter with demands slated to be sent to media outlets. If media refused to comply, the  GOP slate threatened to yank debates or move them to a conservative forum.

By Chris Jennewein

Reprinted with permission from Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association (SDONA)

October 26, 2015 (San Diego)--Gretchen Newsom, an Ocean Beach community leader and political director of IBEW Local 569, announced Saturday that she will run for mayor of San Diego next year.

Updated October 24, 2015 with recall details from the Registrar of Voters

By Mike Allen

October 21, 2015 (El Cajon)--At a sometimes raucous Oct. 20 meeting attended by union and non-union construction workers, the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District board voted 3-2 to table a vote on a proposed project labor agreement, saying it needs to meet with a citizens committee that oversees spending of bond funds.

By Devoreo Bell

October 20, 2015 (Washington D.C.) -- Former Virginia Senator and Democratic Presidential Candidate Jim Webb has announced that he has dropped out of the running to be the next president.

Webb acknowledged that there is a disconnect between himself and other Democrats on key issues.

According to NBCNews.com, Webb stated, "I fully accept that my views on many issues are not compatible with the power structure and the nominating base of the Democratic Party.”

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Big-screen at debate-watching party hosted by the Sanders campaign in San Diego at a Hillcrest theatre, where a crowd of about 500 people turned out.

October 15, 2015 (San Diego)—The first Democratic Presidential  candidates’ debate held Wednesday differed sharply from two earlier  Republican candidate debates in both the range of topics discussed and the generally civil tone among competitors. While Republicans focused largely on plans to slash taxes and shrink government, Democrats emphasized issues facing working families, minorities, and income inequality. While Democratic candidates showed clear policy differences, they largely refrained from personal attacks.

CNN and Facebook hosted the debate held  in Las Vegas.  Five candidates participated: former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, ex-Massachusetts Governor Martin O’Malley, Virginia Senator Jim Webb, and ex-Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee. (Vice President Joe Biden did not appear, despite widespread speculation that he is considering entering the race.)

The spotlight and lion’s share of questions focused mainly on the two front-runners, Clinton and Sanders.  Major post-debate polls showed Sanders winning the debate, followed by Clinton, with the other three candidates trailing in single-digits, though many media pundits placed Clinton ahead. Moderator Anderson Cooper and other CNN journalists peppered candidates with questions challenging their perceived vulnerabilities as well as stances on key issues. CNN also posed questions from voters across the country. Here are highlights:

By Miriam Raftery

October 15, 2015 (San Diego) – After the CNN-hosted Democratic presidential candidate debate Wednesday,  all major polls--including CNN’s own poll--showed Bernie Sanders the winner by wide margins.  Yet post-debate coverage by CNN and other major media almost unanimously declared Hillary Clinton the winner. 

No matter what your party or political preference, this sort of blatant media manipulation should disturb you. Equally disturbing to advocates of a free press, many pro-Sanders comments or those questioning the network’s impartiality were repeatedly removed off CNN’s website stories on the debate.  How come?

The fact that CNN’s owner, Time-Warner, is one of Clinton’s largest campaign donors appears to have influenced the news organization to skew its coverage to favor  its corporate parent’s preferred candidate.  Other media that has given large sums to Clinton's campaign or to the Clinton Foundation similarly ignored polls and declared her the winner.

East County News Service

October 13, 2015 (Sacramento) – Governor Jerry Brown has signed the  nation’s strictest standard for use of antibiotics in livestock. 

The new law addresses concerns raised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which estimates 2 million people in the U.S. are infected with drug resistant bacteria,  and 23,000 die each year of these superbugs. Public health officials believe the overuse of antibiotics in cattle, pigs and other livestock in meat and dairy production endangers the public health.

East County News Service

October 14, 2015 (Sacramento)—Governor Brown has taken action on numerous crime-related bills as well as a measure banning concealed guns on college campuses.

The Governor vetoed 11 crime-related measures, objecting to the fact that each bill would “criminalize conduct that is already proscribed.”  Among the bills rejected was one that would have made it a felony to possess date-rape drugs with intent to commit a sexual assault.

A week after a gunman killed nine people at a college in Oregon, Brown signed into law a measure banning the carrying of concealed w4eapons on all school and university campuses in California, except when school officials have granted permission or if the carrier is retired from  law enforcement.

East County News Service

October 13, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – Governor Jerry Brown has signed over a dozen bills to “help improve elections and expand voter rights and access in California,” according to the Governor’s signing statement.

Those include the New Motor Voter Act authored by San Diego Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez.  The measure will result in the Department of Motor Vehicles automatically registering Califoirnians to vote when they obtain a driver’s license, or renew one.  Drivers will have the right to opt out if they choose.

East County News Service

October 11, 2015 (Washington D.C.)—Seeking to help hundreds of thousands of young people who are currently a part of the foster care system and the tens of thousands who leave the system each year, Reps. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and Jim McDermott (D-Wash.)—Co-Chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth,  have introduced H.R. 3641, the “Health Insurance for Former Foster Youth Act of 2015.”  The measure would close a loophole and guarantee that foster youth will still receive health insurance through Medicaid until they turn 26 years old,  regardless of their state of residence.

East County News Service

October 10, 2015 (Sacramento) - Senate Bill 287, the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Safety Act, has been signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown.  The bill was authored by State Senator Ben Hueso, a Democrat representing San Diego and southern portions of East County.

"I have two daughters...The thought that their gender could be held against their abilities is outrageous." - Senator Joel Anderson, speaking in favor of the bill on the State Senate floor

By Liz Alper

October 7, 2015 (Sacramento)- A new era is beginning for working women in California.

On Tuesday, Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation into effect that gives women more tools to help fight gender-related wage inequality.

East County News Service

October 5, 2015 (San Diego) – Governor Jerry Brown has signed Assembly Bill 953 into law. The measure authored by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, a San Diego Democrat, aims to reduce racial profiling.

East County News Service

October 3, 2015 (Washington D.C.)--A government shut-down has been averted, at least for now. 

Conservative Republicans in Congress had sought to deny passage to a spending bill unless all funding for Planned Parenthood was eliminated.  That effort was blocked by House Democrats.  If no spending measure was passed by September 30^th, the government would have shut down.

Now a stop-gap measure has been passed to fund the government –but only until December 11.   Republicans ultimately approved funding but convened hearings on Planned Parenthood controversial videos.