Blog

Police anger over new law could shake CA Dem coalition

California’s Democratic Party has dominated the state Legislature so thoroughly since Republican Gov. Pete Wilson left office in 1999 that it may be difficult to imagine the party fracturing and losing its control in Sacramento. But given the tensions between

Lawsuit could highlight flimsy government privacy claims

Chris Reed October 5, 2015

For decades, California government officials have said privacy laws prevent them from disclosing information about employees’ misbehavior — up to and including petty corruption. The claims have always been dubious, according to experts on state privacy and labor relations statutes.

Poll: Voters hesitant on potential 2016 tax hike initiatives

Joel Fox October 3, 2015

A recent Public Policy Institute of California poll took the measure of many of the potential tax initiatives on the 2016 ballot. This snapshot in time indicates supporters of the tax increases have a lot of work to do to convince

UCLA studies add up to grim picture of CA housing costs

Chris Reed October 3, 2015

California’s politicians have finally made dealing with the state’s worst-in-the-nation poverty rate a priority. Efforts to increase the minimum wage and to increase affordable housing are being championed in the Legislature and in most of the Golden State’s larger cities.

MWD’s biggest customer rips it in online campaign

Chris Reed October 1, 2015

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California — the giant water wholesaler which supplies 19 million people — finds itself the target of an unusual campaign by the San Diego County Water Authority, which has been both MWD’s biggest customer

From L.A. to San Diego, short-term rentals stoke fury

Chris Reed September 29, 2015

The Internet-fueled rise of short-term vacation rentals is stoking fury in coastal Southern California communities and cities that attract lots of tourists. Opponents say they’re killing neighborhood quality of life by bringing a never-ending series of loud, rude, drunken visitors

San Diego school board backs embattled president

Chris Reed September 28, 2015

Last week, at least one member of the San Diego school board — Vice President John Lee Evans — appeared to be deeply concerned at the least after a series of reports from the Voice of San Diego about school

Planned San Francisco monument pits city vs. revisionist Japan

Chris Reed September 26, 2015

San Francisco supervisors’ 11-0 vote this week to put up a monument to the approximately 200,000 “comfort women” from Korea, China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Burma and elsewhere in Asia who were used as sex slaves by members of the

CA auditor: Six harsh reports in three months

Chris Reed September 25, 2015

A new report by the office of State Auditor Elaine Howle knocks the state’s handling of Medi-Cal reimbursements to schools which facilitate some federally funded health care services. It notes little progress made in fixing the Department of Health Care

Fiorina now lives in swing state, not CA

Chris Reed September 23, 2015

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina’s Republican presidential campaign is in the middle of a boomlet, changing impressions left by her failed 2010 California Senate bid and prompting admiring reviews from both national pundits and those here in the Golden State.