January 2015 | Page 10 of 10

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Seniors join ‘new’ homeless

I’m gettin’ up there in years myself — 60 in June. So I’m sympathetic. The latest crisis to hit California is that its massively high cost of living is pushing seniors out onto the streets. Social Security checks, small pensions

CHP’s probe of CalFire yielded leads — unlike DA’s probe of CHP

Chris Reed January 3, 2015

The reports that suggest the California Highway Patrol did a solid job in handling the investigation of a prostitution scandal at CalFire’s training acadmy in Ione have a rich subtext. CHP gathered enough strong evidence that 16 CalFire employees were

Retirement will be painful for most

John Seiler January 2, 2015

In an excellent column in the U-T San Diego, Dan McSwain paints a grim retirement picture for almost everybody: For most Americans, it’s tempting to live in denial or outright fantasyland when it comes to paying for retirement. That’s because

New 2015 laws: Hollywood wins, in-home care loses

John January 2, 2015

New Year’s Day sure wasn’t a holiday from new regulations: 2015 brings 931 new laws Californians must obey. Some took effect on Jan. 1; others will later in the year. State lawmakers — with the approval of Gov. Jerry Brown — have changed how

Health co-ops filling Covered CA gap

Wayne Lusvardi January 2, 2015

As rates continue to rise sharply for the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, in the new year people are looking for more affordable alternatives. One is medical cooperatives. That’s especially true here, where the Obamacare implementation is called Covered California.

Harsh impact of CalSTRS bailout begins to emerge

Chris Reed January 2, 2015

The deal struck in spring 2014 to bail out the underfunded California State Teachers’ Retirement System will lead school districts, the state and teachers to increase their annual contributions to CalSTRS from $5.9 billion in 2014 to at least $10.9

Pension reformer Chuck Reed will fight on

John Seiler January 1, 2015

San Jose is in the center of the world’s economic pulse, Silicon Valley. By all rights, its city treasury ought to be overflowing with digital wealth. Instead it has flirted with bankruptcy because of its burgeoning pension problem — a problem

CA initiative reform: Lawmakers ignore the elephant in the room

Chris Reed January 1, 2015

The San Francisco Chronicle recently reported on initiative reforms that take effect today. After more than a century in California’s political spotlight, the state’s initiative process will be getting a major revise next year. Even more surprising, both Democrats and