Weekend Reading: Voice layoffs, Fletcher tops poll, Schools on the brink, Public pensions too high and Newt under attack

Your weekend news aggregator:

Local

Most of the local Twitter chatter on Friday was about the Voice of San Diego laying off nearly a third of its staff. Four people were let go, proving yet again that no one has figured out what a sustainable business model for local journalism looks like. A new and very unscientific San Diego Mayoral Albondigas (a small group of political insiders) poll again shows Nathan Fletcher is the favorite. The San Diego City Council gave its support to the Convention Center expansion. The Voice and NBC San Diego teamed up to drill into San Diego Unified’s budget problems with a week-long series. Another San Diego police officer is accused of wrongdoing. And, it turns out, reporters at the The San Diego Union-Tribune won’t be cheering for a new Chargers stadium.

• Changes at Voice of San Diego 
• New Albondigas poll shows Fletcher with big lead over Filner
• Flurry of endorsements in San Diego races
• Convention Center expansion plan advances
• Sanders to push for big projects in final year
• Schools on the brink: Solutions
• Report favorable to labor-friendly school construction pact, critics dispute findings
• Cop accused in ticket-fixing scandal
• Union-Tribune reporters won’t cheer for a new Chargers stadium

 

State

Dan Walters explains the Senate redistricting mess. Also in The Sacramento Bee: “A day after Gov. Jerry Brown asked voters for $7 billion in additional taxes, three fiscal conservatives filed a ballot initiative to cap state spending growth.” A new poll shows 41 percent of Californians think public employee pension benefits are too high. Chris Reed compares Brown to Rudy Bermudez, the former Assemblyman who was lampooned for his devotion to the prison guards union.

• Dan Walters: New California Senate maps still up in the air
• Initiative seeks new to cap to cut state spending
• More Californians say public pensions too generous
• Judge rules state Assembly must disclose lawmakers’ budget records
• Jerry Brown: Tax collector for the CTA state

Other

Newt Gingrich is expected to get pummeled during Saturday’s GOP debate. Speaking of Newt, David Brooks says: “As nearly everyone who has ever worked with him knows, he would severely damage conservatism and the Republican Party if nominated.” The Washington Post reports “a new Gallup survey shows that more than three-quarters of registered voters think most members of Congress do not deserve to be reelected – the highest such number in the 19 years that Gallup has asked the question.” On the social media front, YouTube released the year’s most-shared ads and Twitter rolled out a redesign.

• Newt, prepare to be the pinata
• The Gingrich Tragedy 
• Sparks fly between Holder, Issa 
• Ron Paul, spoiler? 
• Gallup poll shows anti-incumbent sentiment at all-time high 
• Obama’s campaign for class for class resentment 
•  The New Twitter: Everything you need to know
• YouTube’s most-shared ads of 2011 
• Forensic journalism: How to tell reporter’s true views on story