Posts From Anthony Pignataro
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Anthony Pignataro
Court Dishes Overdue Justice to CARB
MARCH 23, 2011 In the matters of public relations and legislative maneuvering, Mary Nichols is a very smart woman. She has been the chairman of the California Air Resources Board (CARB, or sometimes just ARB) under both Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger
Read MoreCalifornia's High-Speed Railroading
MARCH 16 There’s not a lot of humor in California’s proposed high-speed rail project. It’s a massive undertaking, which will cost at least $43 billion, and probably twice that – money that isn’t exactly lying around these days. Its 800-mile
Read MoreBrown Hates Open Meetings?
MARCH 9, 2011 Where Governor Jerry Brown is concerned, anything goes. It’s a mistake to call him a mere liberal — while I have no doubt that he adheres to some vague progressive impulses, he is fully capable of proposing
Read MoreBrownley's Bill Bashing Bad Bags
MARCH 2 Sometimes, writing about state government is too easy. No matter how dire the current budget crisis, or low public opinion of the Legislature can get, our elected officials continue to perpetuate The Nanny State. Yes, I put it
Read MoreCARB Dumps On Dump Truck Industry
FEB. 23, 2011 For Lee Brown, who’s run a dump truck company in Upland for the last 20 years, business is as bad as it has ever been. The construction industry in California is half of what it was three
Read MoreThe Cost Of Fighting Bullet Trains
FEB. 16, 2011 Sixty-five billion dollars. That’s the newest estimate of how much money it will take to run bullet trains across California. Though not an official figure – the California High-Speed Rail Authority still insists that they can pay
Read MoreWill Executions In California Ever Resume?
FEB. 10, 2011 As I write this on Feb. 8, San Jose federal Judge Jeremy Fogel is preparing to tour San Quentin State Prison’s new death chamber, which reportedly cost nearly a million dollars. It was Fogel who, after a
Read MoreBrown Says Lots, But What Will He Do?
FEB. 1, 2011 This year, they actually showed Gov. Jerry Brown’s State of the State address at the elegant Esquire Grill in downtown Sacramento with the sound on. They usually show the speech on the bar’s sole flat-screen, but not
Read MoreAre Coastal Cops Coming Soon?
JAN. 27, 2010 It was most interesting to read that Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, is calling for regulatory reform. “I always think that good policy makes for good politics,” he says in the Jan. 21 Sacramento Bee.
Read MoreAttack Of The Hair Resources Board
JAN. 19, 2011 The California Air Resources Board (CARB) can be a scary place. Failing to file a diesel emissions facility report can earn a company $30,000 in fines. Selling a motorcycle that doesn’t meet state air regulations – even
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