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Gov. Brown OKs higher smoking age

Upsetting years of tradition and new trends alike, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law sweeping new measures that put consumers and producers of nicotine-based products on the defensive. One bill will “raise the legal age to buy products from 18

Trump candidacy complicates CA Senate race

James Poulos May 12, 2016

Donald Trump has complicated the already difficult task California Republicans face in blunting Kamala Harris’s dominant campaign for Senate. With an already unfavorable race to replace Sen. Barbara Boxer ramping up, analysts have cautioned the GOP that Trump’s evident lock on the nomination will likely reverberate throughout the balloting

Is the state stubbornly running toward financial trouble?

Matt Fleming May 10, 2016

It’s politically popular to rail on the One Percent and demand top earners pay their “fair share.” But they actually already pay a large share, fair or not, which analysts predict could be disastrous to California in the event of an

Caltrans requesting millions to “resolve” decades of improper drilling

Matt Fleming May 9, 2016

Two years after admitting it defied state and local laws protecting against groundwater contamination for nearly a quarter century, Caltrans has yet to disclose how much it will cost to “resolve” the thousands of improperly-drilled and improperly-sealed exploratory wells throughout the state. CalWatchdog has

CA Democrats challenge Lt. Governor Newsom on gun control

James Poulos May 8, 2016

Seeking to bolster his early-bird campaign for governor, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom forged ahead with a controversial ballot initiative designed to put severe strictures on guns in California. But in addition to raising the ire of Republicans statewide, Newsom

SCOTUS denies CA death penalty suit

James Poulos May 7, 2016

The Supreme Court declined to hear a lawsuit intent on overturning California’s death penalty regime on that grounds that it was too slow to be constitutional, drawing a rebuke from just one of their members. “The case was brought by Richard

Transparency measure appears headed to November ballot

Matt Fleming May 5, 2016

A ballot measure aimed at increasing legislative transparency crossed a vital threshold on Thursday and appears poised to be on November’s ballot. The initiative is a constitutional amendment requiring the Legislature to make available online the final version of a

CA millennials play political bellwether

James Poulos May 5, 2016

With Donald Trump riding high in statewide polls and Bernie Sanders committed to seeing through his youth-fueled campaign all the way to the convention, California has become a large and unlikely test case for how millennials might vote in the

Longshot Senate candidate pledges to vote will of the majority of voters

Matt Fleming May 4, 2016

What if there was a website where registered voters could log their opinions on the bills before Congress, which would direct lawmakers on how to vote? One U.S. Senate candidate is proposing just that. Von Hougo, an 8th grade science and video

Organized labor circles Uber and Lyft in CA

James Poulos May 3, 2016

Labor groups have sought out relationships with Uber drivers, whom the company recently settled with, but has yet to classify as employees. “A day after Uber announced a $100 million settlement with some drivers in California and Massachusetts, the Teamsters announced plans