Breaking News

Gas leak ruling provides secrecy and legal defense to SoCal Gas

Government officials have ordered the Southern California Gas Co. to shut down its leaky Aliso Canyon well, yet the ruling is far from a victory for the thousands of sickened Porter Ranch residents, an attorney charges. On Saturday, Jan. 23, the

CPUC slaps Uber with big fine

James Poulos January 25, 2016

To play in California, Uber must pay. “The California Public Utilities Commission agreed last Thursday with a judge’s recommendation to fine Uber $7.6 million for failing to meet data reporting requirements in 2014,” the Los Angeles Times reported. “Uber will appeal the

CA rejects VW recall plan

James Poulos January 25, 2016

Thanks to California regulators, Volkswagen hasn’t yet found a way out of worldwide trouble. Federal agencies have flexed their muscles in tandem. “U.S. regulators rejected Volkswagen AG’s plan for recalling nearly 500,000 diesel-powered cars,” as the Wall Street Journal noted. “The Environmental Protection Agency,

Gov. Brown shakes up CA Dems on preschool

James Poulos January 24, 2016

California Democrats have been put back on their heels once again by Gov. Jerry Brown, whose approach to preschool education has departed from party orthodoxy. “Brown wants to combine three state-funded early education programs, strip their requirements and let each

Union funding endangered by pending Supreme Court case

Steve Miller January 23, 2016

The average K-12 teacher in California pays at least $30,000 in union dues over the course of a 30-year career, at a minimum of $1,000 a year. But not all teachers want to pay that much; 12,212 teachers in 2014

Pensions initiative pulled

James Poulos January 22, 2016

The landmark effort to take public pension reform straight to the people of California has been withdrawn from ballot consideration. “Beleaguered by fundraising doubts and attacks from organized labor, two former California officials said Monday they are backing off plans

New regulation fights shadow lobbying

Matt Fleming January 22, 2016

The state’s political watchdog agency unanimously approved a new regulation on Thursday making it harder for lobbyist groups to conceal influence peddling activities, known informally as “shadow lobbying.” Currently, anyone who spends $5,000 or more to influence legislative or administrative action is

Brown: State of the State is fiscal restraint

Matt Fleming January 21, 2016

With a cautiously optimistic tone, Gov. Jerry Brown preached prudence on Thursday morning during his annual State of the State address. The speech — courteous in its brevity, clocking in at under 20 minutes — touted accomplishments and initiatives, like

Proposed bill seeks to recoup costs of special elections

Matt Fleming January 20, 2016

An assemblyman will soon introduce legislation aimed at curbing the cost to taxpayers when a legislator retires from their position early, forcing a special election — but it may stop short of recouping costs in other instances. The bill would require legislators —

CA seeks drought relief from mountains to desert

James Poulos January 19, 2016

This season’s heavy El Niño rains haven’t brought clarity to California’s competing drought plans, which now range from increasing water collection infrastructure to siphoning ancient reserves locked beneath the Mojave desert. Stepping up water collection has emerged as a priority