HAYWARD -- A crowd at City Hall was about equally divided Thursday night between supporters of a proposed Walmart grocery at a former Circuit City site and those who do not want the retailer moving in.
The Planning Commission was slated to vote on whether existing permits apply to a 34,000-square-foot Walmart Neighborhood Grocery, and whether further environmental review is needed. They had not reached a vote by late into the evening.
While the main issue before planners was whether the store qualified as a "regional or sub-regional" retailer -- which would mean existing permits are valid -- speakers during public comment talked about topics ranging from crime and blight at the current vacant site, the need for a grocery in the area, and the value of higher-paying union jobs at other grocery outlets....


A vicious agenda


6:16 PM, Apr. 5, 2012
 
...The work of ALEC (click here) goes far beyond “pro-business” legislation like right-to-work laws and efforts to break public employees’ unions. Other model legislation that the group has advanced include bills targeting illegal immigrants and those that would limit voter participation by requiring photo identification cards.

A report on National Public Radio yesterday noted that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, was once a proud ALEC member. In remarks to the organization in 2009, he said: “Not only does [ALEC] bring like-minded legislators together, but the private sector engagement and partnership in ALEC is really what I think makes it the organization that it is.”...