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Fiorina for president? How did 2010 Senate bid work out?

As the first woman CEO of a Fortune 20 company, and as a former Silicon Valley-based senior executive with Hewlett-Packard, AT&T and Lucent, Republican Carly Fiorina has major credibility as a potentially trailblazing female political candidate. That’s why her declaration

DWP employees paid up to three times that of private sector

John Seiler March 31, 2015

A new study by the California Policy Center found that employees at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power make up to nearly three times the pay of their private-sector equivalents: “The largest premiums are found in generic jobs

Solar panels might not help home values

John Seiler March 30, 2015

Putting solar panels on home roofs is the rage in California with all our sunshine. But it might not help home values if the panels are leased. The problem is the new owner, in addition to qualifying for the mortgage,

$Brown’s fracking defense sparks green fury$

Brown’s fracking defense sparks green fury

Chris Reed March 29, 2015

Gov. Jerry Brown’s nationally televised defense of fracking’s safety last Sunday on “Meet the Press” is making waves among state environmentalists and inspiring fury from liberal bloggers. Here’s the Bakersfield Californian’s account: Brown launched a no-nonsense defense of hydraulic fracturing

Four bills could wrap charter schools in red tape

John Seiler March 29, 2015

Since their introduction in California 23 years ago, charter schools have grown like kudzu. According to the California Charter Schools Association, the state now boasts 1,184 charter schools, teaching an estimated 547,800 students. Charters are public schools that generally work

Tax break could help quake-proof buildings

John Seiler March 28, 2015

Governments use tax breaks to encourage activity. In California, that includes driving electric vehicles and making movies. Now a 30 percent tax break might be given to those retrofitting older buildings to make them quake-proof. Assembly Bill 428 is by

Detroit sends CA another bankruptcy warning

John Seiler March 27, 2015

The Stockton and San Bernardino bankruptcies in 2012 were the largest for cities in American history — until Detroit in 2013. State laws and situations differ. But there’s a new warning from Detroit for California’s municipal governments, especially as bankruptcy courts

CA city bankruptcies unnerving bond industry

Chris Reed March 27, 2015

The fallout from municipal bankruptcies in Stockton and San Bernardino continues to play out in unexpected ways, with old presumptions that most significant creditors would be treated similarly falling to the way side. This week, Franklin Templeton filed vigorous objections

CA prisoner population down, guard pay up

John Seiler March 26, 2015

Federal court orders forced California to cut its number of prisoners. That resulted in Gov. Jerry Brown’s 2011 “realignment” program, which mainly shifted prisoners to local jails. Yet overall state prison-guard compensation is up sharply. Reported the San Diego U-T: Overtime

Why “June gloom” is now less common in Socal

Chris Reed March 25, 2015

Foggy conditions from late spring to late summer used to be so common in coastal Southern California that they had their own sobriquet: “June gloom.” Fog-related traffic accidents and deaths were fairly common on the Pacific Coast Highway. The weather