Posts From James Poulos
Back to homepage
L.A. scores Super Bowl LV
With the Rams headed back to Los Angeles, Southern Californians are poised to host another Super Bowl — but only the City of Angels made the cut, leaving fretful San Diego out in the cold. “The game will be played at the
Read More
Poor cap-and-trade revenues batter bullet train budget
In yet another blow to California’s besieged bullet train, revenues from this year’s cap-and-trade carbon credit auction fell drastically below the state’s goals, triggering a selloff that left analysts unsure of the system’s long-term viability. “The results of last week’s
Read More
High speed rail pushed back 4 more years
Falling short even of some critics’ expectations, California’s beleaguered high-speed rail was dealt another blow to its credibility as the state’s biggest and most ambitious infrastructure project, with news emerging that the federal government signed off on a massive reschedule that
Read More
Bernie Sanders goes for broke leading up to CA primary
With California the final battleground in his insurgent campaign to beat Hillary Clinton for the Democrats’ nomination for president, Sen. Bernie Sanders has pulled out the stops, barnstorming the state and demanding a final televised debate, which Clinton has now declined,
Read More
Uncertain CA community colleges eye tuition cuts
Little was heard about president Barack Obama’s call, in his last State of the Union address, to make community college free around the country. But now, facing gnawing affordability problems and the prospect of weakened enrollment, many of California’s community colleges — and
Read More
FBI startles CA with secret courthouse surveillance
Touching off another national controversy centered around California, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was discovered to have concealed video and audio monitoring devices around a courthouse in the San Francisco East Bay five to six years ago. “Federal agents planted
Read More
Gov. Brown tees up permanent drought measures
Even as California at long last eased up on drought restrictions, Gov. Brown helped ensure that policies remaining in place will continue indefinitely. “In a major shift, the administration of Gov. Jerry Brown announced [last week] plans to drop all
Read More
Pro-marijuana push begins in earnest
As election day nears, California’s likely vote on recreational pot has drawn policymakers, politicians and law enforcement into an uncertain but probably decisive debate. While many Democrats have generally come to view recreational marijuana as an inevitability in the Golden
Read More
Gov. Brown OKs higher smoking age
Upsetting years of tradition and new trends alike, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law sweeping new measures that put consumers and producers of nicotine-based products on the defensive. One bill will “raise the legal age to buy products from 18
Read More
Trump candidacy complicates CA Senate race
Donald Trump has complicated the already difficult task California Republicans face in blunting Kamala Harris’s dominant campaign for Senate. With an already unfavorable race to replace Sen. Barbara Boxer ramping up, analysts have cautioned the GOP that Trump’s evident lock on the nomination will likely reverberate throughout the balloting
Read More