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Student debt makes CA waves

While California students mustered to lead a nationwide movement for college debt relief, policymakers and innovators grappled with the issue in ways of their own. Students in the UC system — particularly the Berkeley campus — have taken a central role in

SeaWorld to drop San Diego orca shows

James Poulos November 13, 2015

Scrambling to salvage its business amid a wave of negative publicity, SeaWorld has scrapped its traditional orca shows, banking on shaky hopes that the move is enough to turn the tide of criticism. Trying for a reboot “In 2017 we will launch

Tesla gets shadowy CA competitor

James Poulos November 12, 2015

Tesla, Elon Musk’s famed electric car company, just lost a slice of the Golden State limelight. Speculation has swirled around the debut of another entrant into California’s crowded, cutting-edge automotive industry. The company, known as Faraday Future, “has been hunting for a

CA economically anxious, politically divided

James Poulos November 12, 2015

A new series of polling questions revealed widespread unease among Californians, regardless of party. But economic anxiety concentrated inland, away from the coastal metropolises, teeing up the prospect of an especially sharp political divide between Republicans and Democrats on the one

Brown’s Delta tunnel project draws strong opposition

James Poulos November 11, 2015

To his cherished high-speed rail project, Gov. Jerry Brown can now add his ambitious Delta tunnel project to the list of big plans arousing strong opposition. Especially in the Delta region itself, public opinion has turned sharply against the scheme, which

2018 gubernatorial race already heating up

James Poulos November 11, 2015

Still more than two years away, the race to succeed Gov. Jerry Brown in 2018 has already become one of the most closely watched competitions in California politics. It has made adversaries of the state’s two highest-profile personifications of its two biggest

Chuck Reed: Reform measure will bite pension liability ‘elephant’

Dave Roberts November 10, 2015

Former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed acknowledged at a recent taxpayer forum that his latest proposed pension reform initiatives won’t solve California’s $350 billion unfunded retirement benefit liability problem. But he thinks they’ll help. “Sometimes you have to eat the

CA transparency reform initiative filed

James Poulos November 10, 2015

A new state ballot initiative aimed at bringing greater transparency to Sacramento has been filed with the attorney general’s office. Charles Munger, Jr., one of the state GOP’s most substantial activists and donors, linked up with former state Sen. Sam

Largest U.S. desalination plant nears CA open

James Poulos November 9, 2015

California has begun its biggest foray into desalination. Located in Carlsbad, in the San Diego area, the plant has raised hopes for drought relief — but has brought elevated stakes along with it. “The billion-dollar project is only the nation’s second

CA students struggle on nationwide exams

James Poulos November 8, 2015

California fared poorly in the latest round of a bellwether series of key elementary and middle-school tests. “What’s sometimes called the Nation’s Report Card, a sampling of fourth- and eighth-graders in reading and math, painted a dismal picture of a state that insists it