Fresno mayor obstructs initiative process to save water rate hike

Fresno residents could see their water rates double, and in the process, all Californians could see their petition powers diminished, if a state appellate court doesn't act quickly on a lawsuit to stop strong-arm tactics by the city of Fresno. The battle

Read More

Arena lawsuit: Sacramento officials will be deposed

The judge's order in the Sacramento arena lawsuit is in: Sacramento City Councilman Kevin McCarty and Sacramento Economic Development Director Jim Rhinehart will be deposed about undisclosed dealings between city officials and the new Kings ownership group to help it buy

Read More

Good news for state: Programmers found for antiquated computers

One of the strangest stories out of Sacramento in recent years has to do with state Controller John Chiang's repeated warnings that it would be difficult to implement furloughs of state workers because of the antiquated computer system used to

Read More

LAO questions legality of plan to use cap-and-trade $ on bullet train

The governor’s just-released 2014-15  budget proposes to spend $850 million from cap-and-trade auction revenue on various projects — including the state’s high-speed rail project. That would defy the very purpose of cap-and-trade. In a new report on the spending plan,

Read More

Brown: No teachers' pension fix until after November election

Gov. Jerry Brown has a basic problem when it comes to the California State Teachers' Retirement System: the most powerful forces in state politics oppose the standard fix for an underfunded pension system, even if it is now enshrined in

Read More

Stunning verdict in Fullerton case: Rodney King, the sequel

I was as stunned by a verdict Monday afternoon as I have been my whole life. An Orange County jury cleared police officers of all charges in the beating death of homeless Fullerton resident Kelly Thomas. It's impossible not to see

Read More

Arena lawsuit: Deposition of key officials nears go-ahead

Opponents of the push for a heavily subsidized downtown Sacramento basketball arena are closer to forcing key city insiders to tell what they know about how much taxpayers actually will have to pay for the project. Last week, Sacramento Superior

Read More

Will CA green-energy policies backfire like Germany’s did?

Will California’s new green energy regime suffer the same fate as Germany’s Energiewende? In Europe, wholesale prices for solar and wind power have dropped below the cost to produce it. This has resulted in Germany having to rapidly build new polluting

Read More

Schools chief already wants to extend Prop. 30 taxes

Only one year into Proposition 30’s five-year life, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson has already called for an extension of the 2012 ballot initiative. Set to expire in 2018, it was sold to voters as a temporary tax.

Read More

Sacramento’s Russians, Sochi and the homophobia double standard

One of the biggest storylines leading up to next month’s Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, is the Western world’s stern disapproval of Russia’s homophobia and the fear that it could cast a pall over the event and lead to

Read More