Fat cats

On April 13, San Diego–based Sempra Energy gave $25,000 to the campaign in favor of Props 1A through E, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s five measures on the May ballot. Prop 1A would hike state sales and income taxes by an estimated $16 billion. The same day, Chargers owner Alex Spanos, the Stockton-based builder who is seeking a taxpayer-subsidized stadium somewhere in San Diego County, contributed $100,000 to the pro-tax cause, according to state filings. … Seven lawyers with the downtown firm of Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins gave a total of $9250 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on February 28. … Happy Days, the 164-foot pleasure yacht belonging to David Copley, soon to be ex-owner of the Union-Tribune, has left the Mediterranean and turned up in the Puget Sound shipyard of Delta Marine, near Seattle, where it was launched in 2006, spawning rumors about whether the vessel is up for sale or just in dry dock for another luxury refit. The ship is registered in the Marshall Islands, which in October 2007 issued a 41-cent postage stamp in its honor.