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Internal ‘chaos’ adds to rough year for bullet-train agency
The California High-Speed Rail Authority’s rough year continues with the departure of another top executive at the agency overseeing the state’s $64 billion bullet-train project. Jon Tapping, the agency’s director of risk management since 2012, is leaving, the Los Angeles
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Homelessness surging among California college students
Reporting from across California indicates that more college students are homeless than at any point in state history. While hard statistics are in short supply, surveys suggest the problem is so severe that the Golden State has far more than
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California attorney general rebuked for stacking deck against fuel tax repeal
Continuing a longstanding bipartisan tradition, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra came under fire in July for ballot measure language considered to be grossly prejudicial by the measure’s proponents. And it didn’t take long for a state judge to agree with
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Brown’s water tunnels plan still alive, but obstacles are many
With a seeming vote of confidence from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California – the giant agency that supplies water to about half the state’s 38 million residents – Gov. Jerry Brown appears set to soldier ahead with his $17 billion
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Bold criminal justice reforms go nowhere in California Legislature
The 2017 session of the California Legislature may be remembered as when the criminal justice reform movement in America’s largest state lost its momentum. The movement entered the session with a head of steam after winning majority support from the
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Bill to keep Trump off 2020 ballot could trigger copycat measures
A bill the California Legislature sent to Gov. Jerry Brown that’s intended to keep President Donald Trump off the 2020 California ballot could instead end up ushering in an aggressive new era of scorched-earth national politics – if it survives lawsuits.
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How California Senate leader’s 100% renewable energy bill lost its way
From pioneering air-pollution control programs in Los Angeles County in the 1940s to setting nationally copied standards on fuel efficiency and emissions to the 2006 passage of AB32, the state’s landmark anti-global warming law, California has long been proud of
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Legislature could vote soon on major housing bills
The first major votes on a raft of bills meant to address California’s housing crisis could come up for a vote Friday, with the Democrats who control the Legislature eager to demonstrate they know how much extreme housing costs are
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Will other GOPers who backed ‘cap and trade’ face fallout?
Chad Mayes of Yucca Valley is out as Assembly Republican leader, replaced last week by Assemblyman Brian Dahle of Bieber. But the fallout may continue over the decision of Mayes and six other GOP Assembly members to provide Gov. Jerry
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Wells Fargo board shake-up shows failure of damage-control push
Events of the past week show Wells Fargo’s attempts to put a huge scandal behind it by paying a $185 million penalty and settling a class-action lawsuit for $142 million have failed because of fresh evidence of corporate malfeasance – grim news
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