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After Iowa: Bachmann quits, Perry presses on

Hayley Peterson — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 04:05:00 +0000

Hayley Peterson

Examiner Staff Writer

DES MOINES, Iowa -- A historically close finish in the Iowa caucuses ended the campaign of Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann on Wednesday and raised questions about how long Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who finished fifth in the six-way race, can continue to hang on.

Bachmann bowed out of the race early Wednesday after finishing a distant sixth in the caucuses with 5 percent, or 6,073 votes, according to final tallies reported Wednesday.

"Last night the people of Iowa spoke with a very clear voice and so I have decided to stand aside," Bachmann said from her campaign headquarters in Urbandale. "I have no regrets -- none whatsoever. We can leave this race knowing that we ran it with the utmost integrity."

In suspending her campaign, Bachmann called on the party to unite behind a conservative standard bearer and insisted that she would remain a "strong voice" in the presidential campaign.

Coming just four months after she claimed victory in the Iowa straw poll, Bachmann's concession illustrates just how volatile this race has been, with a different front-runner every few weeks and only eight votes separating the caucus winner, Mitt Romney, from the second-place finisher, former Sen. Rick Santorum.

Perry also considered pulling the plug on his campaign after finishing fifth with 10 percent of the vote. He told supporters Tuesday night that he would return to Texas to "reassess" his bid. But early Wednesday Perry reversed course and announced to supporters on Twitter, "And the next leg of the marathon is the Palmetto State ... Here we come South Carolina!!!"

Perry plans to skip the Jan. 10 New Hampshire primary and go straight to South Carolina, a conservative state with a large number of veterans with whom Perry is expected to be popular.

While the caucuses threw Bachmann's and Perry's campaign into peril, they effectively transformed an underdog, Santorum, into a front-runner for the first time.

Santorum, whose polling has been stuck in low single digits, surged just before Iowans went to the poll and nearly beat Romney, who was hoping a decisive win in Iowa would make claiming the nomination much easier for him.

"I offer public thanks to God," Santorum told supporters after the voting. "We are off to New Hampshire!"

The dramatic, historically close finish between Santorum and Romney reflects a division among Republican voters over whether it's more important to have a nominee who reflects their values or one who doesn't necessarily agree with them on key issues but can beat President Obama, political analysts said.

Nearly half of all Romney's supporters said they voted for him because he can beat Obama. Santorum's supporters cited his strong moral character and "true" conservatism, according to polls.

Meanwhile, voters who called themselves "very conservative" chose Santorum over Romney by a 21-point margin. Romney won 35 percent of voters who call themselves "moderate or liberal," while Santorum won just 8 percent of those voters.

With the Iowa caucuses at their backs, the candidates are now preparing for two debates this weekend and the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 10.

hpeterson@washingtonexaminer.com

For Team Obama, it's all about Romney

Brian Hughes — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 04:05:00 +0000

Brian Hughes

Examiner Staff Writer

President Obama's re-election brain trust on Wednesday took full aim at Republican Mitt Romney a day after the former Massachusetts governor won the Iowa caucuses, dismissing Romney's razor-thin victory as an indication of how thin enthusiasm is for the candidate they expect Obama to face in November.

Chronicling the "state of the race" for reporters a day after the first votes of the 2012 campaign were cast, Obama's aides spent almost all of their time focusing their attacks on Romney.

"Mitt Romney received fewer votes and a smaller share of the votes [compared to four years ago in Iowa]," said Obama campaign manager Jim Messina. "He did win one category -- voters who harbor doubts about their candidate."

Romney bested the latest upstart candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, by just eight votes in the caucuses. Romney's campaign touted the victory as substantial, pointing out that Romney had focused few resources on the Hawkeye State until late in the contest. But senior Obama officials portrayed the win as the byproduct of millions of dollars in negative ads, mainly against then-surging former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

"He entered as a weak front-runner; he leaves as a weak front-runner," David Axelrod, one of Obama's closest political advisers, said. "There's this real sense that people don't know where Gov. Romney stands today or where he'll stand tomorrow."

The Romney campaign counters that the focus on their candidate only underscores how strong Romney would be in the general election. Both Messina and Axelrod hardly mentioned Santorum, for example, except to insist that the social conservative would likely become the new target of Romney's political "war of attrition."

Obama is not officially in campaign mode, but he traveled to an economically hard-hit suburb of Cleveland in battleground Ohio Wednesday to announce his appointment of Richard Cordray to head a new consumer watchdog agency despite Republican objections.

But Republican strategists said ongoing economic woes will prevent Obama from winning a second term regardless of his organizational prowess in Iowa and other states.

"I have a message for them," said GOP consultant Mark Corallo. "The conservative wing of the party may not be excited for Mitt Romney, but they are going to come out in droves and vote for him if he's the nominee. [Obama's team] should focus on their boss' disapproval numbers. They are in massive spin mode."

At the same time, the Republican National Committee released a collection of promises Obama has made, including that stimulus spending would reduce unemployment to 8 percent, to showcase just why the president's disapproval rating is hovering around 50 percent.

And Romney is banking that voters dissatisfied with Obama will ultimately back him as the person most capable of defeating the incumbent president.

Sen. John McCain, a former adversary of Romney's, endorsed him in New Hampshire Wednesday, calling Romney the "best candidate we can nominate." But it was McCain who most consistently four years ago leveled the same "flip-flopper" charges against Romney that Democrats are repeating now, Gingrich's allies were quick to note.

A super political action committee supporting Gingrich wasted little time in reminding voters of a 2008 McCain ad called "A Tale of Two Mitts," which shows Romney shifting stances on abortion, gun control and his claim to the conservative label.

bhughes@washingtonexaminer.com

Is New Hampshire too white, too old, too godless?

Byron York — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 04:05:00 +0000

Byron York

Chief Political Correspondent <a href="http://twitter.com/ByronYork">Follow Him @ByronYork</a>

NASHUA, N.H.

Is New Hampshire too white, too old, and too godless to play a key role in selecting the next president?

After a season in which political observers asked whether Iowa was too white, too old, and too evangelical to wield such political clout, will anyone ask such fundamental questions about the Granite State?

"The rap on Iowa, it doesn't represent the rest of the country -- too white, too evangelical, too rural," NBC's Andrea Mitchell famously said shortly before Tuesday's caucuses. Other critics called Iowa too old.

If such concerns about Iowa are legitimate, then so are concerns about New Hampshire. For example, the first-in-the-nation primary state is actually whiter than Iowa. According to the 2010 census, New Hampshire is 93.9 percent white, 2.8 percent Hispanic, and 1.1 percent black, while Iowa is a virtual rainbow at 91.3 percent white, 5.0 percent Hispanic and 2.9 percent black.

As far as age is concerned, both states have higher-than-national-average numbers of residents above retirement age. In New Hampshire, 13.5 percent of the population is 65 or older. In Iowa, it's 14.9 percent. Not a lot of difference.

As far as rural is concerned, yes, Iowa is full of farms. But New Hampshire isn't exactly a great urban center. In fact, the primary and caucus path does not lead to any really big cities until the Florida primary on January 31.

Then there is religion. During the run-up to Iowa, pundits talked endlessly about Iowa's evangelical Christians. Are they too conservative to pick a president? Are their views on social issues too extreme? Are they really representative of the country as a whole?

Many of the questions were ill-informed. According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life's U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, Iowa is in fact slightly less evangelical than the rest of the country: 24 percent of Iowans are evangelicals, while 26 percent of Americans are.

Iowa does have a higher percentage of mainline Protestants than the rest of the country. So when one combines the evangelical and mainline strands, Iowa is more Protestant -- 54 percent -- than the rest of the country, which is 44 percent combined evangelical and mainline.

And New Hampshire? Its combined number is 34 percent, meaning the state is less Protestant than the rest of the country by about the same margin that Iowa is more Protestant. Will pundits see that as a problem?

There is one big difference between the two states, and that is the number of people who have no religious affiliation. According to Pew, about 15 percent of Iowans say they have no affiliation -- nearly right on the national average of 16 percent. But in New Hampshire, 26 percent have no religious affiliation -- well above the national average.

So is New Hampshire just too godless to pick a president? Of course not. States differ in their balance of faith and non-faith, and when you add up the early-voting states -- Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida, Nevada -- you get a pretty good mix. New Hampshire is as qualified as any to make a political statement. But it will be interesting to see if commentators who fretted about Iowa's religiosity will be equally concerned about New Hampshire's non-religiosity.

In the heat of a campaign, it's difficult to speak with much subtlety about the role religion plays in voting. "The entrance polls measure religion very crudely," says John C. Green, professor of politics at the University of Akron and a top authority on evangelicals in politics. "A lot of the 'evangelicals' in Iowa may belong to mainline Protestant churches or even be Catholic."

Many such distinctions were lost in the punditry. Also, the statistics above describe each state's entire population, not just its most politically active residents. Which means that yes, lots of political activists are evangelicals. But lots of evangelicals aren't active in politics.

Finally, there was a lot of bias in the pundits' descriptions of Iowa and conservatives in general. A number of commentators are alarmed to see conservative evangelicals in great numbers playing a key role in politics, and out of that concern, they ask whether Iowa is "too evangelical." New Hampshire is a little more moderate, so the religion question doesn't occur to them.

Also, most pundits live in the Northeast or in Washington, so New Hampshire seems almost in the neighborhood. Really, what's the problem?

Byron York, The Examiner's chief political correspondent, can be contacted at byork@washingtonexaminer.com. His column appears on Tuesday and Friday, and his stories and blogposts appear on washingtonexaminer.com.

Obama's Pentagon cuts assailed by Republicans

Brian Hughes — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 04:05:00 +0000

Brian Hughes

Examiner Staff Writer

President Obama's plan to pare down the U.S. military, unveiled Thursday, immediately became a major issue in the 2012 presidential campaign, opening one of the president's strongest assets -- his foreign policy and national security record -- to Republican opponents who argue he is diluting America's strength abroad.

"Some will no doubt say the spending reductions are too big; others will say they're too small," Obama said at an unusual presidential news conference at the Pentagon, where he was surrounded by top military officials. "After a decade of war, and as we rebuild the sources of our strength -- at home and abroad -- it's time to restore that balance."

Without outlining specific cuts, Obama called for a smaller army and Marine Corps and the relocation of troops from Europe, where they've been based for decades, to Asia in recognition of a shift in global power.

In unveiling a plan to cut $500 billion in defense spending over the next decade, the president is attempting to showcase his commitment to slashing the budget deficit while adapting American's national security capabilities to a swiftly changing foreign arena. He also is appealing to liberal supporters who long argued that any deficit reduction strategy must include military cuts, pointing to an explosion in defense spending in the post-Sept. 11 era.

Though Obama pointed out that defense spending would increase -- albeit more gradually -- in coming years, some Republicans say Obama is skimping on crucial American investments needed to stay ahead militarily.

"This is a lead-from-behind strategy for a left-behind America," said Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

Yet White House officials said the president has established enough foreign policy clout to make such a recommendation, citing the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the ending of the Iraq war and the troop drawdown in Afghanistan.

And some conservative analysts argued that Obama's pared-back military blueprint could help him with voters.

"Politically, it makes a lot of sense," said Christopher Preble, vice president for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have become "quite unpopular" with a conflict-weary public, most of whom are likely to support Obama's shifting troops from Europe to Asia, he said.

GOP presidential candidates critical of Obama, Preble said, are walking a "fine line between prudent defense of military support and overkill."

Yet, Republican White House contenders say Obama's plan is a job killer, pointing to Boeing's announcement this week that it was closing a Kansas factory because of anticipated cuts in business. And conservatives say a weakened military will harm U.S. missile defense capabilities and the country's ability to monitor a growing Iranian threat.

However, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, joining Obama, said the president's plan would shift the U.S. military away from traditional massive ground forces to a more flexible force that could deal with terrorist threats. That shift would be necessary even if the U.S. didn't have to cut spending, he said.

Under Obama's plan, nearly $500 billion would be slashed from projected Pentagon budgets over the coming decade. Hundreds of billions of dollars more could be cut in 2013 if Congress doesn't approve deficit-cutting measures.

bhughes@washingtonexaminer.com

Obama reaches out to Hispanics, draws GOP scorn

Brian Hughes — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 04:05:00 +0000

Brian Hughes

Examiner Staff Writer

The Obama administration's new rules allowing illegal immigrants to stay in the United States while seeking legal status have antagonized congressional Republicans but are likely to win the president support among Hispanic voters turned off by a record number of deportations under his watch.

Yet, amid a spate of recent executive orders implementing changes Congress refused to support, President Obama is facing mounting criticism from Republicans that he is a go-it-alone executive -- an attack that intensified after he issued the new immigration rules that are loathed by conservatives who dismissed them as politically motivated.

Obama's path to re-election victory in swing states like Florida and Arizona certainly would be more difficult without the overwhelming Hispanic support he received in 2008.

In recent months, the president has traveled to Puerto Rico, given a speech along the Texas-Mexico border and conducted a series of White House meetings with high-profile Hispanics and celebrities, with each event intended to remind Hispanic voters that Obama is sympathetic to their causes.

In private conversations with White House aides, though, Matt Barreto, a pollster with Latino Decisions, said administration officials lament that Obama's efforts "weren't getting more credit" from Hispanic voters, particularly the Justice Department's legal challenge to Arizona's harsh immigration law.

"They have an opportunity here," Barreto said. "But they need to take this message very publicly to the Latino community. I think they've had a problem promoting their initiatives."

The rule change allows illegal immigrants seeking legal status to stay in the country if they have a spouse or parent already living in the United States legally. U.S. law previously required immigrants to return to their native country and apply for legal status, separating many from families in the United States for at least three years.

Hispanic advocates said, however, that none of Obama's initiatives are an adequate substitute for the comprehensive immigration reform then-candidate Obama promised in 2008 but has yet to deliver.

"These are administrative changes -- trying to buy some good will with the Latino community," said Alfonso Aguilar of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles. "The problem is it's still not comprehensive. I think Latinos can see through it."

Obama counters that congressional Republicans blocked his immigration proposals at every turn, forcing him to resort to executive orders and ruining the prospects for comprehensive reforms.

Still, Obama has yet to make a serious push for such measures on Capitol Hill despite calling for heightened border security and easing the path to citizenship for those here illegally.

In a presidential election dominated by economic issues, illegal immigration has emerged as a litmus test for Republican candidates, and GOP White House contenders were quick to pounce on the policy.

"We're not sending these people to jail, we're sending them home," said former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. "We're giving them an opportunity to eventually come back in this country, if they do so the right way. I don't see that as harsh."

But the challenge for Republicans is whether they can placate conservatives without going so far to the right that they alienate Hispanic voters in the race against Obama.

Hispanic voters, less supportive of the president than four years ago, are still more likely to vote for Obama next November, if they vote at all, polls show.

bhughes@washingtonexaminer.com

Preservationists and Sierra Club oppose hotel plan

Amy Crawford — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 12:00:52 +0000

Seeking to halt proposed new construction at the Presidio of San Francisco, a local historical association and a national environmentalist group filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the agency that manages the former military base.

The Presidio Historical Association and the Sierra Club allege that the Presidio Trust violated federal laws with its plan to build a hotel in the section of the park known as the Main Post, the site of most of its historic buildings.

“The single most historic spot they could have put it, that’s where they want to put it,” said Gary Widman, president of the historical association, which has about 250 members. “This is an area that’s of value to the entire country, and you’re supposed to protect it, especially if you’re a federal agency.”

The Presidio Trust was created by Congress in 1996 to manage the interior of the park, while the National Park Service manages coastal areas. The trust was intended to become self-sufficient and has attracted numerous businesses to the 1,500 acre park in service of that goal.

But the plaintiffs argue that the trust’s proposal for 146,500 square feet of new construction in and around the Main Post, including a 14-building hotel, goes too far. They allege that the plan, laid out in a February 2011 document, violated the federal law that created the trust.

“The original trust board put limits on construction in the Main Post,” Widman said. “What Congress had in mind, they called it a trust, they didn’t call it a real estate development agency.”

Trust spokeswoman Dana Polk said the hotel, which probably will not be built any time soon given current economic conditions, would fit in with the site’s historic character.

“We have height guidelines, we have very specific guidelines about how the buildings would look,” she said. “There’s a lot of demand. People have been telling us they’d like to spend a night in the park.”

Polk added that the National Park Service and the National Trust for Historic Preservation have signed off on the plan.

In a statement, Presidio Trust chief Craig Middleton touted the trust’s stewardship of the park, including restoring natural habitats.

“I am proud of our record in preserving the Presidio,” he said. “It is perhaps inevitable that people will occasionally resort to legal action to press their points of view. It is not our preferred way to communicate; we prefer open dialogue and engaged in a three-year public conversation about the future of the Main Post.”

“They’ve done some good things,” said Becky Evans, chair of the Sierra Club’s Presidio Committee. “But they’ve planned a lot of things for a very small area. The Main Post should be more of a place of contemplation, not activity. And certainly not a 14-building hotel.”

acrawford@sfexaminer.com

The Lawsuit

Venue: United States District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division

Plaintiffs: The Presidio Historical Association and the Sierra Club, represented by the Environmental Law Clinic at Stanford Law School

Defendant: The Presidio Trust

Allegations: That the Presidio Trust violated the Presidio Trust Act, the National Historical Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act by planning to construct several new buildings in the park.

Tubular in Tahoe: Heavenly offers tubing, sledding for snow lovers

Kathleen Jay — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 12:00:50 +0000

Not everyone skis or snowboards. Some are too young, some are too old and some just don’t like to. There’s no crime in being in this demographic, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy the snow at Lake Tahoe.

Heavenly Mountain Resort — Lake Tahoe’s largest ski and snowboarding resort, which covers terrain that straddles California and Nevada — has figured out how to not only make this group welcome, but it has created a fun-for-all-ages experience: tubing, sledding and hanging out midmountain on a hill of Adirondack chairs.

To tube, to sled or to chill
Heavenly’s gondola — located in the center of South Lake Tahoe within walking distance of several hotels, lodges and resorts — is the starting point for those wishing to go tubing, sledding or hanging out midmountain to take in a perfect view of the lake.

Located a half-block west of the California and Nevada state line, the Gondola takes guests in eight-passenger cabins 2.4 miles up the mountain in 12 minutes. Visitors can choose to stop at the observation deck — a 14,000-square-foot midstation observation platform for views of the Carson Valley, Desolation Wilderness and shore-to-shore views of Lake Tahoe — or continue to Adventure Peak, where the resort’s tubing-and-sledding areas are. Also in this area is the resort’s new LEED-certified Tamarack Lodge — which has an impressive food court as well as a full bar — and the Adventure Peak ticket office, a small hut near the hills that issue tubing and sledding times.

Here, you can reserve time slot and purchase a tubing pass ($30 per hour, for anyone more than 42 inches tall) or a sledding pass ($10 per hour, for kids 6 years old and under). For all others, no additional tickets are required, and the resort has set up dozens of brightly colored, plastic Adirondack chairs, from which you can watch the tubing and sledding.

Tubing to-do list
For those wishing to tube, the requirement is that you must be more than 42 inches tall, and you must be able to tube by yourself. Also, you should dress like you are going to go skiing or riding — snow pants, waterproof winter coat, warm ski socks and waterproof winter boots. Tubing in jeans is fine, too; however, midmountain is colder than base elevation at the gondola. Heavenly provides the use of an inflated snow tube.

When it’s your time to tube, you’ll be instructed to pick out a tube, and getting in line to board the covered tubing lift — technically not a tow, but a magic carpet — that will transport you and your tube to the top of the tubing hill, which has a 65-foot vertical drop and four tubing lanes that are 500 feet long. On the day I went a few weeks ago, it took about 10 minutes for me to get from the bottom of the tubing hill to the top and wait my turn; riding down the tubing hill is very fast — with speedbumps toward the end to slow you down — and probably took about 10 seconds.

Note: Guests can only tube during their designated time, and during popular times — such as spring break or holiday weekends — tubing tickets will sell out early in the day. During these times, it is highly advised to arrive early. Heavenly requires riders must be more than 42 inches tall to tube — and from experiencing it firsthand — this experience is very fast and thrilling, and not meant for little kids who can’t tube by themselves. For those under 6, the sledding hill adjacent to the tubing hill is perfect.

Sledding 101
Like tubing, sledding at Heavenly also requires a time-stamped ticket for the rider. The sledding hill — located directly next to the tubing hill — has two sledding lanes, and Heavenly providers riders use of a sledding saucer. Like tubing, dress as if you planned to go skiing. Unlike tubing, the lines here go very quickly — and within an hour’s time, a sled rider could easily glide down the hill more than 20 times. Also, there is no sledding lift here; all riders must walk the hill. The sledding run is fast — not as slick as the tubing hill — and with the slightest spin of the saucer, the rider can spin all the way down the hill.

IF YOU GO

Heavenly Mountain Resort

www.skiheavenly.com

Getting there
South Lake Tahoe is located approximately 180 miles from the Bay Area. The area is most-easily accessed by car, but taking a bus or flying into Reno, where you can take an airport shuttle is also an option.

Where to stay
The following accommodations are within walking distance to Heavenly’s gondola, which will transport you to midmountain, the location of the tubing and sledding hills, as well as the resort’s new Tamarack Lodge.
- Marriot Timberlodge: www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/rnotl-marriotts-timber-lodge
- Embassy Suites South Lake Tahoe: www.embassysuites.hilton.com/LakeTahoe
- Harvey’s Lake Tahoe: www.harveystahoe.com
- Harrah’s Hotel and Casino: www.harrahslaketahoe.com

Cost
Riding Heavenly’s gondola: adults $34, seniors and teens $28, children (5-12) $21, kids 4 and under are free
- Tubing: $30 per hour; riders must be at least 42 inches to tube
- Sledding: $10 per hour (6 years old and under)

California pinot noirs offer some surprises

Pamela S. Busch — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:28:10 +0000

Since we last met, I’ve been pondering California pinot noir. It was a logical conclusion that since last week’s column was on buys from Burgundy, this subject would be the follow-up.

Those of you who have been reading my tirades over the years know that I will not spare the rod when it comes to California pinot noir. I’ve said it before and I will say it again — many are overpriced. To augment this rant, an abundance of alcohol and ego — and a lack of originality — have led to the creation, if you want to call it that, of overpriced junk.

Now that I got that out of the way, here’s the bright side. Vintners are starting to realize this. And, even more importantly, so are consumers. Luckily, there are a few pinot noir producers who get it, and while it is hard to keep prices down on this fickle grape, they have managed to make balanced, affordable wines with character.

Here are three:

Solindo Pinot Noir, 2010 (Los Carneros): Luis Moya, Cuban by birth, has been working with Iberian wines for many years. Why would he want to go and make a pinot noir in California? Like others, he noticed there was a dearth of good, food-friendly pinot noir made in California for less than $30. So, he enlisted the help of Kenny Likitprakong (the skateboarding winemaker behind Hobo, Folk Machine and Banyan wines) and now makes one of the best deals to be found. What grabbed my attention here is that it is not a fruit bomb like so many other California pinot noirs, but it does have a mineral edge, with cola, spice, bing cherries and orange zest. Suggested retail: $25

Navarro Vineyards Pinot Noir, 2009 (Mendocino County): All of the fruit that went into this crafty little sucker came from the Anderson Valley, not just the Mendocino AVA at large. Founded in 1974, Navarro has been driving people crazy with its “no retail outside of the winery” policy, but the wines are worth the drive, or at least a few clicks on the keyboard (on the Navarro website). Light-bodied with strawberry, rhubarb, blood orange and tea, you will not find pinot noir of this quality at this price anywhere else. Suggested retail: $19

Calera Pinot Noir, Central Coast, 2009 (Central Coast): With 36 years under its belt, Calera’s wines are tried and true. The problem is they often don’t show that well for a while after being released. The upside is they age very well, at least the single-vineyard bottlings. The Central Coast pinot noir was made from seven sites stretching from Santa Clara to San Luis Obispo, and it is now finally coming into its own with vibrant bing cherries, pomegranate, cranberry fruit and underpinnings of vanilla and spice. Suggested retail: $24

Pamela S. Busch is the owner of Skrewcap.com, founder of CAV Wine Bar and a Bay Area wine consultant. Please submit questions to Pamela@Skrewcap.com.

Bikini-clad PETA protesters hand out vegan Super Bowl treats

Examiner Staff — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:19:08 +0000

A San Francisco PETA supporter wore an all-lettuce bikini Friday at a protest urging people to go vegan at their Super Bowl parties.

Dodgers want Bryan Stow lawsuit dropped

Reuters — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:58:42 +0000

The Los Angeles Dodgers said it has asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware to disallow all claims against the baseball team by the family of Bryan Stow, who was nearly beaten to death outside Dodger Stadium after attending the season's opening game last spring.

Stow was hurt during an altercation in the stadium's parking lots on March 31, 2011.

His lawyer, Tom Girardi, called the motion by the team to have Stow's claims dropped "despicable." News reports have put the estimated value of damages in the case to be as much as $50 million.

The motion came as the Dodgers is seeking to change ownership.

A preliminary round of bidding concluded last week for the bankrupt Dodgers, with an estimated eight suitors still circling the storied team, including some of the biggest names in business and sports such as billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Cohen, ex-Yankees and Dodgers manager Joe Torre and basketball great Magic Johnson.

The team said it filed the motion to disallow all claims asserted by Bryan, Tyler and Tabitha Stow, noting that they cannot show that security staffing caused his injuries and that the team had no knowledge of any inappropriate conduct by Stow's assailants prior to attack.

Ross Mirkarimi denied special request to see son

Joshua Sabatini — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:12:50 +0000

Embattled Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi was denied a special request Friday for visitation rights to see his 2-year old son but was granted a chance to make his case in family court on Wednesday.

Mirkarimi is asking a family court judge to modify a stay-away-order issued by Superior Court Judge Susan Breall in the criminal case against him for allegedly abusing his wife Eliana Lopez during a New Year’s Eve argument.

A special emergency request for visitation rights was not granted Friday, but an expedited court hearing was granted for Wednesday, instead of having to wait the customary 16 court days.

Following the decision, Mirkarimi was outside the court house at McAllister and Polk streets and began tearing up as he said, “I miss my son terribly and he misses me.”

Prior to family court appearance, Mirkarimi spoke causally with a number of reporters gathering inside the court room. He said his job as sheriff was helping him through these tough times.

“I try to stay positive in work. I come in early. I stay late. There is great solace in being a head of a fantastic department,” Mirkarimi said. He said he had purchased “Curious George” and “Sheep on a Ship,” children books he was hoping to read with his son.

Lopez filed a declaration Friday in support of Mirkarimi being able to see his son.

“My son Theo is asking for his father every day. He waits for Ross on the stairs in the morning, hoping Ross will be there to take him to school; he runs to the window in the evenings looking for Ross; and the last few days he has been imagining he sees Ross’s car outside,” Lopez’s declaration said. “He is constantly asking me when daddy is coming home.” It also says their son is less social and cries more at day care.

The legal system has ordered Mirkarimi not to contact his wife and child since he was arrested and charged on Jan. 13 with three misdemeanor charges stemming from an alleged New Year’s domestic violence incident.

Lopez has a new team of lawyers. Paula Canny, who has represented such clients as Greg Anderson, the personal trainer of Barry Bonds, and Debora Wald for the family court proceedings.

Mirkarimi’s criminal trail remains scheduled to begin Feb. 24.

jsabatini@sfexaminer.com

Four arrested in nearly a dozen thefts of Apple products from FedEx trucks in SF

Mike Aldax — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:33:15 +0000

Three Los Angeles men and another from Las Vegas have been charged in at least 10 thefts or attempted thefts of Apple products from FedEx trucks in San Francisco, police said Friday.

Click the picture to see all of the suspects.

The theft series, which lasted at least a month starting Dec. 5, targeted FedEx trucks parked near Apple stores in the Marina District, Stonestown Galleria Mall and downtown San Francisco, police spokesman Sgt. Daryl Fong said.

A white Chevrolet Astro van seen near the stores at the time of the thefts tipped off police, Fong said.

On Jan. 11, police pulled over the suspected getaway van and found Apple products that had been stolen from a FedEx truck earlier in the day.

Four men were taken into custody and booked on multiple counts of burglary and stolen property. The suspects are Jose Reyes, 52, Victor Morales, 45, and Angel Erazo, 55, from Los Angeles, and Eduardo Alvarez, 43, from Las Vegas.

More of Apple’s stolen merchandise lifted during a Jan. 10 heist was recovered with assistance from US Postal inspectors, police said.

Police are currently investigating whether the suspects are responsible for more thefts in the Bay Area.

maldax@sfexaminer.com

Brown signs bill that allows state to borrow from itself

Reuters — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:29:40 +0000

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Friday allowing the state government to borrow from internal funds to build up its cash, which the controller earlier this week said was quickly dwindling.

The legislation allows the state to tap up to $865 million, part of a plan crafted by Controller John Chiang, Treasurer Bill Lockyer and the finance department to address the cash shortage.

Chiang earlier this week warned the chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee in a letter that the state would need to come up with more than $3 billion to avoid burning through its cash by March.

The controller said California need not resort to issuing IOUs, as it did during a cash crunch in 2009, or to delaying tax refunds.

Lawmakers quickly responded by approving the bill permitting internal borrowing. Other near-term measures urged by Chiang, Lockyer and the finance department include postponing some payments and external borrowing.

Lockyer's office is working on a plan for a private placement of revenue anticipation notes.

(Reporting by Jim Christie; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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'No remorse' for robbed widowed Iraq veteran

Mike Aldax — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:29:56 +0000

Crooked self-employed bookkeeper Kenneth McCall showed “no remorse” when he was sentenced Thursday for swindling a widowed Iraqi war veteran, according to San Mateo County prosecutors.

McCall, 65, of Bribane, received a four-month jail sentence after pleading no contest to a felony embezzlement count. He was ordered to pay back all the money he was accused of stealing, totaling $30,200.

McCall was hired to care for the soldier’s finances while he served overseas. He was accused of spending $14,000 from the soldier’s credit union account and nearly $17,000 on his credit card. He spent the money on himself, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said, including purchases at Best Buy, Petco and CompUSA.

maldax@sfexaminer.com