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Far-reaching state housing law gets nowhere in Berkeley
As CalWatchdog reported July 2, the city of Cupertino’s decision to stop fighting a massive mall makeover project enabled by a far-reaching 2017 state law meant to promote more housing construction could someday be seen as a milestone in state
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Bill to limit effect of GOP tax overhaul on governor’s desk
Gov. Jerry Brown will have to decide soon on whether to once again put California in direct conflict with the Trump administration – this time with a newly passed bill which has the near-unanimous support of Republican as well as Democratic
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Despite indictment, Rep. Hunter holds 8-point lead in House race
The 60-count indictment issued Aug. 21 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego targeting Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, and wife Margaret Hunter for allegedly spending $250,000 in campaign funds for personal uses, then trying to cover up their actions,
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Honeymoon between Santa Clara and 49ers now distant history
In 2010, when Santa Clara voters approved creating a city-run stadium authority to build an NFL stadium to attract the San Francisco 49ers, politicians patted themselves on the back for getting things done and luring a storied franchise 45 miles
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DMV wait times increase 50% year over year
It’s back to the bad old days of being both a punching bag and a punchline for the California Department of Motor Vehicles. In the final decades of the 20th century, the state DMV was scorned for its bureaucratic sluggishness
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San Francisco leaders seem overwhelmed by homeless crisis
On June 30, 2004, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom won national headlines when he announced his “Ten Year Plan to Abolish Chronic Homelessness.” Newsom said he wanted a “dramatic shift” from reactive policies used to deal with those without shelter who
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PUC tries to put San Onofre nuclear plant scandal behind it
One of the more embarrassing scandals in the history of the California Public Utilities Commission appears to have finally concluded with a settlement on how to pay for the costs of shuttering the broken San Onofre nuclear plant – one that’s
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Is state Legislature hampering CalPERS, CalSTRS?
The California Public Employees Retirement System and the California State Teachers Retirement System recently announced that they had exceeded their investment goals by at least 1 percentage point in fiscal 2017-18, with CalPERS citing annual gains of 8.6 percent and
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Despite revenue incentive, most cities not embracing legal pot sales
Six-plus months into the beginning of California’s experiment with legal recreational marijuana, a review of Proposition 64’s effects shows a mixed and complicated record. Here’s a look at four broad categories: Availability of legal pot stores: Even though local governments
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Education Secretary DeVos explicitly OKs controversial state school evaluations
A nearly year-long fight between the Trump administration and the California state government over school accountability ended with an unexpected twist last week when U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos (pictured) explicitly endorsed a state student progress metric that reformers
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