Posts From James Poulos
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Reid retirement provides lessons for both CA Democrats and GOP
Physically injured and in his 75th year, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has opted against seeking reelection in 2016. Victim of a debilitating self-inflicted injury involving an exercise band, the Congressional titan has not only cleared an unexpected path for
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CA maxes out death row
Litigated to all but a halt, California’s system of capital punishment has backed up to crisis levels, filling death row to capacity and prompting an emergency proposal from Gov. Jerry Brown. Nine years after California’s last execution, the system’s near shutdown
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Harris tempts challengers with ‘blood sport’ politics
Attributing her success to a “blood sport” view of politics, California Attorney General Kamala Harris has established herself as the leading contender to replace Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who is retiring in Jan. 2017. “I always start my campaigns early, and I run
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SCOTUS sides with CA school banning American flag shirt
After five years of controversy and litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand one of the most controversial rulings to come out of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Known for how often it is overturned in the higher court,
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Franchise Tax Board continues to pursue microchip inventor
The microchip powers the California, American and world economies. But the man who officially invented the chip, Gilbert Hyatt, just can’t shake the Golden State’s taxman, even after he moved to Nevada. Reported the Sacramento Bee, “Hyatt, who moved from Southern California to
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Exaggerations make CA drought seem worse than it is
Faced with fears of a permanent climate crisis, commentators monitoring California’s drought have been inadvertently led to spread erroneous claims about its severity. Although the state’s thirst for water has reached crisis levels, careful observers have made some gains in pointing out some of the
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CA’s automated cars ready to roll
With remarkable speed, California’s top technologists have reached a breakthrough point in their development of automated cars. Automated vehicles from seven companies have hit Golden State freeways, with more to come. Dramatizing the developments, one firm’s team of engineers and scientists
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CA officials move to vaporize e-cigs
With public opinion in flux and anti-tobacco activists on edge, the California Department of Public Health has rolled out “Wake Up,” a slick new ad campaign to discourage the use of e-cigarettes, or “vapes.” Recently, CDPH pronounced e-cigs a threat to public
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Brown’s drought battle heats up Sacramento
Running out of water, California officials have decided to open the taps on another resource: money. Joined by leading legislators, Gov. Jerry Brown has announced a fresh round of relief proposals totaling some $1 billion. Not all the funding was targeted to short-term relief, however,
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NFL heavy hitters meet in AZ; continue momentum toward L.A. franchise
At a high-profile Phoenix, Ariz., gathering this week, NFL heavyweights sat down to smooth out the road toward a two-franchise deal in Los Angeles. Numerous competing and conflicting agendas have made life more difficult for the teams, owners, cities and league officials involved
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