Posts From James Poulos
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Brown declares fire emergency
Faced with a string of large, dangerous fires, Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency. “Firefighters in steep terrain and rugged conditions in California are fighting nearly two dozen wildfires that have torched more than 134,000 acres,” CNN
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CA considers state pot bank
Grappling with the regulatory challenges faced by liberalizing marijuana laws, California officials floated the idea of a state-run bank for the cannabis industry. The plan, which would have struck many observers as outlandish just a few years ago, arose in
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As CA conserves, Feinstein renews relief push
With the latest numbers showing a drop in California water consumption, attention has turned to a new drought relief bill introduced by Golden State U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. The figures eclipsed earlier embarrassments faced by water districts where consumption
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CA intervenes in Planned Parenthood video sting
Undercover videos that sent Planned Parenthood into crisis mode have drawn the concern of California Attorney General Kamala Harris, whose interest in reviewing their legality helped put the Golden State at the center of a dramatic national controversy. Harris, embarked
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NFL schemes for L.A. nearing end zone
Although the race to land an NFL deal in Los Angeles have long been anyone’s game, some clarity on the potential outcome began to emerge this summer. Dynamic duo The competition originally pitted three teams against one another: the St. Louis
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Anthem-Cigna deal tightens CA health care market
Anthem has made public its plans to acquire Cigna, tightening further California’s already narrow market for health insurance. “In a deal that would create the nation’s largest health insurer by enrollment, Anthem announced Friday that it made a $48 billion bid for rival Cigna,
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CA judge scraps assisted suicide suit
In another potent setback for California’s right-to-die advocates, a judge threw out a lawsuit brought by three residents trying to compel the courts to scrap the state’s ban on assisted suicide. A reticent judge “San Diego Superior Court Judge Gregory
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Newsom-led report pushes pot regulations
Chairing a panel on California’s would-be approach to legal marijuana has tamped down his enthusiasm for pot permissiveness, said Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, as the blue-ribbon panel released a sweeping new report on the question. The commission included Stanford University professor
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Medi-Cal boom squeezes CA health care
Although California officials insisted that expanding Medi-Cal coverage has been an economic boon, critics and Sacramento Republicans warned that the program’s staggering growth has created a costly, nettlesome problem for a state already strapped with challenges. The Golden State has seen
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Unlawful immigrants rush for CA drivers licenses
Emerging statistics have revealed that California’s extension of drivers licenses to unlawful immigrants aroused unexpected demand — with no end in sight. “While state officials expected 1.4 million undocumented immigrants to apply for licenses in the first three years, in the first
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