Blog

Lawsuit argues CA education spending is constitutionally insufficient

When it comes to lawsuits arguing that California’s education system is unfair and unconstitutional, the Vergara v. California case has gotten the most attention. A court hearing Thursday in Los Angeles began the state government’s appeal of Superior Court Judge

Another year of CA water restrictions likely

Chris Reed February 24, 2016

After a sunny February, the hopes that El Nino storms would go a long way toward restoring California’s water supplies and relieving the damage done by years of drought are now fading. Instead, the new assumption is that in April,

Bullet train plan counting on new federal funding

Chris Reed February 23, 2016

The draft business report released last week by the California High-Speed Rail Authority presumes that $2.9 billion more in additional federal funding will be provided in coming years to help pay for the approximately $20 billion cost of the initial

Kashkari makes splash in new job with Fed

Chris Reed February 22, 2016

California’s 2014 Republican gubernatorial nominee Neel Kashkari has dropped a bombshell in his new job as president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve. In a speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., the 42-year-old former PIMCO executive and Orange County

Utilities Commission sides with Edison over family killed by downed power line

Chris Reed February 19, 2016

The California Public Utilities Commission has had an extremely rough two years. Its former longtime director, Michael Peevey, is facing criminal changes for his actions in arranging for ratepayers to pay 70 percent of the $4.7 billion cost of shuttering

Stadium hunt: Hope in San Diego, not Oakland

Chris Reed February 17, 2016

Both the Chargers and Raiders are returning to play another season in the stadiums they and the NFL say are unacceptable. But while there may be signs of life for a new stadium in San Diego, the picture continues to

LAO raises doubts about teachers’ pension bailout

Chris Reed February 11, 2016

A new report from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office is raising questions about the long-term effectiveness of the Legislature’s 2014 bailout of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, which will nearly double annual funding to cover CalSTRS’ obligations when it

Spotlight uncomfortable for San Francisco police

Chris Reed February 7, 2016

The global spotlight on the Bay Area created by Super Bowl 50 couldn’t have come at a worse time for the San Francisco Police Department. The fatal December shooting of Mario Woods, a young African American stabbing suspect who was

Green targeting of dissident CA Dem off to bad start

Chris Reed February 5, 2016

Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown, a moderate African-American Democrat from San Bernardino seeking her third term, has brushed back the first challenge to her re-election by Eloise Reyes, a Colton attorney strongly backed by environmental groups. Brown easily won her local party

Good news on several CA drought fronts

Chris Reed February 3, 2016

State officials measured the Sierra Nevada snowpack for the second time in 2016 on Tuesday, and once again the news was good. Capital Public Radio has the details: The latest measurement … showed that the “snowpack is growing quite nicely.”