Thomas Calderon

Forget kissing babies and shaking hands. For the last week, politicians across the state have been frantically giving away thousands of frozen turkeys to everyone from your local Rotarian to down-and-out families in the projects. It is called Operation Gobble, and it is no small undertaking. An estimated 25,000 turkeys have been given to charity this year through the program. But don't be deceived.

As Gov. Gray Davis wades into hundreds of measures passed in the final days of the 1999 legislative session, the "big box" bill weighs about as heavy as it gets for a centrist Democrat determined to steer the middle course. If he signs it, the governor will delight his friends in organized labor and the biggest supermarket chains in California. If he vetoes it, Davis will bring joy to the executives of Costco and Wal-Mart, two titans of the discount retail warehouse business.

Housing advocates and a bipartisan group of state lawmakers are sponsoring a package of legislation designed to increase the availability and affordability of housing in California, where a growing shortage threatens the health of the hottest job markets. Although cities and counties have struggled with the issue on their own, the package of eight bills aims to stitch together a state framework to tackle the problem.

Premiums for workers' compensation insurance--up 20% since last summer--will probably increase further in the coming months, hitting California businesses with new hikes in operating costs over which they have little control. Several factors lie behind the increases, which come as businesses face higher costs for another necessity, energy: * Insurers lose money on workers' comp. According to the Assn. of California Insurance Companies, workers' comp insurers pay out $1.

MoneyGram and Western Union announced a nationwide settlement Wednesday to compensate millions of immigrants who allegedly paid exorbitant hidden fees when wiring money from the United States to Mexico for more than a decade. The settlement aims to remedy the companies' widely criticized practice of using currency exchange rates that are far less favorable than the prevailing daily rates without informing customers, many of them immigrants who can least afford it.

After capturing the nation's heart last year as one of three American prisoners of war in the Kosovo conflict, Army Sgt. Andrew Ramirez has basked in a spotlight often reserved for war heroes returned home. The sturdy East Los Angeles native threw out the first pitch at a Los Angeles Dodgers game. He waved to beaming crowds at several local parades and rallies.

Gov. Gray Davis: Being a leader? Or butting into local business? Clever? Or power-crazed? We're learning more about Davis' governing style by scanning his recent bill signings and vetoes. Not just the many signings where he first forced an author to promise to fix some perceived flaw in a bill at the next legislative session. Previous governors also did that occasionally, though Pete Wilson finally gave up when legislators failed to keep their promises.

This column is not an admission of guilt. I was doing the speed of traffic. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. My heart sank when the red-and-blues flashed in my rearview mirror while I drove down the Harbor Freeway late one evening. As anyone who knows me would know, sweet-talking the officer was not an option. The cost of the traffic citation wasn't going to be a problem. It's just money.

There are just three judicial races on the Los Angeles County ballot, but they are all hotly contested. If nothing else, the races are indicative of how expensive it has become to run for a judgeship. For example, Teresa Sanchez-Gordon, a federal public defender scrapping it out with Municipal Court Commissioner Antonio Luna for a Municipal Court judgeship in East Los Angeles, has spent upward of $200,000. Several other candidates have spent more than $100,000.

Inside the Capitol, state legislators are getting a bellyful of a "doughnut hole." This "doughnut hole" is not a pastry but about 1,000 acres of aging orange groves and mostly vacant land--surrounded by the city of Redlands--that its owners see as prime commercial land. In the final days of the 1999 legislative session, this San Bernardino County real estate has become the target of an intense lobbying campaign as legislators scramble to wrap up their work.