Chris Reed, Author at CalWatchdog.com

Posts From Chris Reed

Chris Reed

Chris Reed is a regular contributor to Cal Watchdog. Reed is an editorial writer for U-T San Diego. Before joining the U-T in July 2005, he was the opinion-page columns editor and wrote the featured weekly Unspin column for The Orange County Register. Reed was on the national board of the Association of Opinion Page Editors from 2003-2005. From 2000 to 2005, Reed made more than 100 appearances as a featured news analyst on Los Angeles-area National Public Radio affiliate KPCC-FM. From 1990 to 1998, Reed was an editor, metro columnist and film critic at the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin in Ontario. Reed has a political science degree from the University of Hawaii (Hilo campus), where he edited the student newspaper, the Vulcan News, his senior year. He is on Twitter: @chrisreed99.

As bankruptcy looms, PG&E gets both very good and very bad news

Officials at bankruptcy-bound Pacific Gas & Electric got their best news in years when a state investigation released last week concluded that the 2017 Tubbs fire in Northern California that killed 22 people was the fault of a malfunctioning generator

Cannabis delivery in California headed toward legal battle

Chris Reed January 23, 2019

In 2016, many California police chiefs and sheriffs opposed to legalized recreational marijuana use were placated by a provision in Proposition 64 that said local governments would have the right to block recreational sales. The Ballotpedia overview of Proposition 64

Gov. Newsom’s budget shows pension fixes failed

Chris Reed January 22, 2019

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to use some of the state’s budget surplus to pay down unfunded liabilities in the state’s two giant government employee pension funds drew praise from an unexpected source – the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, which otherwise had

Despite record surplus, Gov. Newsom wants new water, phone taxes

Chris Reed January 14, 2019

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s has called for a first-ever water tax and an added fee on phone bills at a time when the state is enjoying what recently departed state Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor called “extraordinary” budget health. Newsom said last

Strike or no strike, L.A. Unified in desperate financial shape

Chris Reed January 10, 2019

Leaders of the Los Angeles Unified School District, by far California’s largest school district, are struggling to head off a teachers’ strike that a state judge ruled Thursday can begin Monday. United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), which represents 35,000 teachers,

Gavin Newsom will face daunting questions on bullet train

Chris Reed January 3, 2019

When Gavin Newsom is sworn in as California governor on Jan. 7, he’s already indicated he will take criticisms of the state’s troubled $77 billion high-speed rail project seriously. That’s in sharp contrast to outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown, who described

Cheap illegal cannabis sharply undercutting legal pot industry

Chris Reed January 2, 2019

California’s first year with legal recreational sales of marijuana is wrapping up with a series of downbeat reports on a new industry struggling to find its footing. An Associated Press analysis posted Sunday said estimated legal sales of cannabis would total

Regulators to consider breaking up scandal-plagued PG&E

Chris Reed December 27, 2018

A California Public Utilities Commission report that Pacific Gas & Electric failed to fulfill its responsibilities to properly maintain natural gas lines from 2012 to 2017 even after a natural gas explosion killed eight people in San Bruno in 2010

Federal oversight of state prison health care not ending any time soon

Chris Reed December 26, 2018

Since 2006, the federal courts have had a formal oversight role with California’s prison health care system – a result of a long history of poor care provided to inmates. A new scandal makes it seem highly unlikely that the state

Retiring state fire chief warns planners, defends utilities

Chris Reed December 19, 2018

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Director Ken Pimlott retired last week but only after giving interviews in which he called for sweeping changes in how state officials and the public think about wildfire risks. He also challenged conventional