Politics

Five Martinez kids opt out of Obama's speech to schools

District teachers showed the broadcast Tuesday and Wednesday; a few had watched it first to make sure it was not controversial.

President Obama’s address to the nation’s schoolchildren was well received in Martinez, as Kindergarten through 12th grade teachers incorporated the speech into their lesson plans.

Superintentent Rami Muth said Wednesday that of the District’s more than 4,000 students and their families, only five parents opted for their child to sit in the office or stay at home rather than participate in classroom discussions and presentations of the presidential address.more...

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Will Congress pull a rabbit out of a hat? Miller is still optimistic

ANALYSIS: Health Care Reform Bill needs Obama, Blue Dogs to pass.

It’s been a long, hot summer. “Awful August,” as it has come to be known, was a month full of angry confrontations in town-hall meetings, threats that the government was planning to “pull the plug on Grandma” and that bureaucrats would get between patients and physicians, all resulting in confusion and frustration over the long-awaited health-care reform. Now that it’s all over but the shoutin’, Congress is going back to work and, in some sense, start over.more...

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Congress on track to pass health care reform this fall

President Obama’s deadline for passing the bill before summer recess has been postponed.

The office of Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez) is flooded with calls from constituents who wish to have their views known regarding health-care reform.

“We’re getting hundreds of calls a day,” a Miller staffer told the Gazette yesterday. Callers come from both side of the issue. Some support it, others tell Congress it’s a bad idea.more...

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Empathetic jurists need not apply

EDITORIAL

President Obama has made it clear that one of the criteria for an ideal candidate to replace Justice Souter of the Supreme Court is “empathy.”

That’s bad news, according to some. In fact, GOP officials and other conservative and Right-Wing talking heads are up in arms. “Empathy is a code word for… [fill in the blank],” they’re warning.

We don’t want an ‘activist judge,” they’ve made it clear. Just to make it clearer, “activist judge” is Wingers’ code word for somebody who would support Roe v. Wade.more...

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Standing-room only for George Miller's town meeting

Congressman addresses economic recovery, health care, EFCA, among other topics.

By 7 a.m. Saturday a sizable crowd had formed at Martinez City Hall as residents looked to secure a seat for Congressman George Miller’s address and Q&A session.

In addition to the 150 people squeezed into City Council chambers, dozens huddled around each door, straining to hear Miller’s speech and subsequent questions from citizens.

With such an attentive audience, Miller, who chairs the House Committee on Education and Labor, began by enumerating his work on the Economic Recovery Act and the issues that hover at the top of his priority list.more...

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Meet a Candidate: Mark Ross

Pro-redevelopment environmentalist Council member running for fifth term.

Third-generation Martinez resident Vice-Mayor Mark Ross is passionate about air quality and describes himself as fiscal conservative and a roadway-fixing environmentalist.

“I can say to everybody I meet that I’ve a hand in cleaning up Bay Area air,” said Ross. “I’ve very proud of my work on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.”more...

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