First Take: Maldonado’s turn in the big chair. Brown, Whitman launch new ads

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Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado is taking full advantage of the fact that he’s in charge while Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is traveling in Asia. On Thursday, Maldonado declared a state of emergency in San Mateo county after a natural-gas fire destroyed 53 homes.

Friday, Maldonado plans to sign a $1.2-billion education bill. And on Monday, Maldonado will be at Bell city hall to sign a series of local government reform measures.

The state’s budget stalemate drags on. Controller John Chiang helped alleviate the sense of urgency for lawmakers to find a solution Thursday when his office announced the state could last until October without issuing IOUs.

Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman launched new ads aimed at independent voters.

Carly Fiorina is back from Israel and blasted what she called Barbara Boxer’s silence on the issue of Iran.

The temperature is rising in the fight over the state’s global-warming law.

-- Anthony York

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