GOVERNOR DAVIS PROCLAIMS "AGRICULTURE WEEK & DAY" IN CALIFORNIA

Governor Gray Davis today issued a proclamation declaring March 19, 2003 as "Agriculture Day" and March 17 through 23, 2003 as "Agriculture Week" in California.

GOVERNOR DAVIS SIGNS BUDGET REDUCTION BILLS

Governor Gray Davis has signed legislation approved in the special session on the state budget. These bills reduce spending by $3.3 billion in the current fiscal year and provide $23 million in savings in fiscal year 2003-2004.

GOVERNOR DAVIS ORDERS CAPITOL FLAG LOWERED IN MEMORY OF RIVERSIDE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPUTY

Governor Gray Davis today ordered the flag atop the Capitol lowered in memory of Riverside County Sheriff's Deputy Brent C. Jenkins, who died while on duty early Tuesday morning.

GOVERNOR DAVIS VETOES EARLY RELEASE BILL

Governor Gray Davis vetoed legislation that would have reduced the length of an inmate's prison sentence, setting the stage for the inmate's early release.

GOVERNORS DAVIS AND WARNER SEND LETTER TO CONGRESS URGING PASSAGE OF NATIONAL AMBER ALERT

Governors Gray Davis (D-Calif.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) today sent a letter to Congressmen James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) and Don Young (R-Alaska) urging passage of a National Amber Alert system. The legislation has been held up in the House Judiciary Committee, where unrelated amendments have been attached to the legislation.

Kings County service agency plans 15% cut

HANFORD -- The Kings County Human Services Agency faces eliminating positions, closing satellite offices and reducing employee training under a proposed cost-savings plan presented Tuesday.

Planned RT shuttle takeover protested

Regional Transit buses are scheduled to begin shuttling thousands of state workers to and from their Sacramento offices next month, but both the workers and the bus company RT is replacing are fuming over the arrangement.

City to add firefighters, police officers

WEST SACRAMENTO -- In another move to enhance services, the City Council has approved a $337,500 spending plan to beef up the Police and Fire departments.

COST-CUTTING PROPOSALS

Palo Alto City Manager Frank Benest proposes resolving the city's $9.7 million shortfall for the 2003-04 fiscal year by restructuring City Hall, reducing community services, outsourcing more activities and pursuing more joint service partnerships. Here's a sampling of changes residents may notice if the council adopts his budget plan in May:

P.A. official proposes cuts on some civic amenities

Palo Alto City Manager Frank Benest plans to solve the city's $9.7 million budget shortfall by getting rid of more than 100 little luxuries that Palo Altans love -- ones that residents elsewhere often live without.

Study: Focus on job losses belies state's dynamism

A new study by the state Employment Development Department shows that while major layoffs receive media attention, job gains -- usually occurring in smaller increments of one to 10 -- are quietly bolstering the state's economy. In an average month, more than 300,000 new jobs are created in California.

State slashes spending by $3.3 billion

Gov. Gray Davis has signed measures cutting state spending by $3.3 billion in the current fiscal year. At the same time, Davis vetoed a measure that would have reduced the cost of running the state's prison system through the early release of some convicts.

High-tech job losses total more than half a million

More than half a million workers in the U.S. high-tech industry have lost their jobs in the past two years, according to a report released Wednesday by the trade organization AeA, formerly known as the American Electronics Association.

Job outlook improves for MBA grads

There's good news waiting for this year's crop of MBA grads when they're handed their diplomas: They're the only group of workers that recruiters for the typical company estimate will increase in number within the overall hiring mix in 2003, according to the 2003 Corporate Recruiters Survey released Tuesday by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) of McLean, Va.

Valley schools plead for funds
Group tries to reason with legislators about cuts in Sacramento visit

SACRAMENTO -- Sandy Murphy, a Fresno Unified parent and ardent supporter of Roosevelt High's School of the Arts, tried Tuesday to bring some order to the budget chaos swirling through schools statewide.

St. HOPE ready to reshape Sac High

Students and parents know it will have a new name. They know it will have a new principal. It's what they don't know that is tempering excitement for Sacramento High School's rebirth this fall as a charter school.

Students protest pink slips for 200 teachers

Hundreds of students at Santa Clara's Wilcox High School spilled out of their morning classes Tuesday to protest Gov. Gray Davis' proposed budget cuts, which school leaders say potentially could strip 23 teachers from the school's ranks.

War could give airlines excuse for layoffs

NEW YORK (AP) - While a war in Iraq will most likely weaken demand for air travel, it could also provide struggling carriers with legal cover to reduce bloated costs by laying off significant numbers of employees without violating existing labor contracts.

Tech industry cut 236,000 jobs last year, group says

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The reeling high-tech industry shed another 236,000 jobs last year, continuing a two-year purge that shows few signs of easing, according to an industry report released Wednesday.

High-tech industry shrank 10% in 2 years
560,000 positions were eliminated

The United States has shed about 560,000 high-tech jobs since 2001, putting 10 percent of its technology employees out of work and potentially diminishing the industry's political clout, according to a report scheduled to be released today.

Big job decline in tech industry

600,000 slots in the field vanished in two years, a report says.