Archive
Back to homepage
State Community College accreditor determined unfit after five decades
In deciding last week to remove the body that accredits community colleges in California, state commissioners erased five decades of authority and opened the door to a new oversight body. The move to get a new accreditation plan in place
Read More
Tough negotiations prompt UC enrollment to rise
The dust has settled from Gov. Jerry Brown’s protracted budget negotiations with University of California president Janet Napolitano — to the benefit of 10,000 additional students greenlit for the UC system by the 2018-2019 school year. Meeting in San Francisco, the UC
Read More
Water woes bring uneven fines and regulations
California’s ongoing water crisis promised to extend the controversy over fines and regulations well into the next year — if not beyond. While some areas suffer, others flourish, and fines — in some instances aggressively applied — have been meted
Read More
Google jumps into CA housing market
Google has broken into the real estate industry. Convinced that a big market still exists for bargain-seekers, the tech giant launched a mortgage calculator and recently debuted a new mortgage comparison feature. “Google predicted that nearly one in two borrowers still don’t
Read More
Restive Democrats cautioned on budget surplus
A new report by the Legislative Analyst’s Office prepared the ground for fresh political combat in Sacramento over what to do with California’s budgetary surplus. Although “much of the predicted surpluses” could be skimmed off “for serious emergencies,” the San Francisco Chronicle
Read More
CA utilities commission plays dangerous game with power grid security
The latest tit-for-tat between lawmakers and the California Public Utilities Commission has brought back bad memories of an in-state — and unsolved — national security threat. The tiff began when the CPUC “hired outside lawyers as federal and state investigators
Read More
CA Congressional delegation divided on refugees as crisis spikes
Key Democrats in California’s Congressional delegation broke with President Obama on refugee policy, handing Congressional Republicans a veto-proof majority vote against him. “An Obama administration push urging lawmakers to oppose legislation that would effectively halt a program for refugees from Syria and Iraq failed
Read More
Key part of San Diego stadium finance plan gets OK
The city of San Diego’s interest in using lease-revenue bonds — which can be issued without specific voter authorization — to raise $200 million for a $1 billion-plus NFL stadium project has been ridiculed as a legally dubious ploy by Chargers
Read More
CA continues to lead nation in “diploma-mill” colleges
The recent announcement by the U.S. Department of Education and state Attorney General Kamala Harris that 85,000 California students who attended for-profit campuses of Corinthian Colleges would be eligible for debt forgiveness on their student loans because they’d been misled by
Read More
Sharp divides strain CA on immigration
Pronounced differences around the issues of legal and illegal immigration have split voters, politicians, donors and immigrants themselves — from matters of funding and poverty to jobs and security. By the numbers California has become a flashpoint for immigration politics
Read More