Columns

Sacto water deputies patrolling for water wasters

Sacramento water police are on patrol. If the rule of law isn’t enough to control Sacramento’s citizens, government officials have turned to deputizing neighbors for help making sure everyone complies with environmental restrictions. For nearly four years, the City of Sacramento

Desal can mitigate California’s water woes

Joseph Perkins January 21, 2014

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy dedicated the nation’s first saline water conversion plant. A public-private partnership between U.S. Department of Interior and Dow Chemical, the Freeport, Texas plant converted seawater from the Gulf of Mexico into 1 million gallons

Strikes for higher minimum wage hit CA, USA

Katy Grimes December 2, 2013

Anti-Walmart protests struck across California and the rest of America on Black Friday. The protesters demanded that the giant retailer pay its worker higher wages and benefits. As part of the protests, Robert Reich is pushing a petition on Facebook. The former

Covered CA throws a party – only 10 sign up

Katy Grimes November 22, 2013

This week California’s Obamacare health insurance exchange, Covered California, rented the Sacramento Convention Center, and opened its doors to the public for a sign-up party, complete with balloons and press. CBS 13 reported 1,500 people showed up to apply and enroll in

My experience ‘enrolling’ in Obamacare/Covered California

Katy Grimes November 15, 2013

With all the hoopla surrounding Obamacare, I decided to call and sign up for its implementation in our state, Covered California. I dialed 1-800-300-1506. Jose answered. He was polite but rattled when I told him I’d rather talk to him,

Gov. Brown’s ambitious school reform morphs into union payoff

Chris Reed November 13, 2013

In 2013, maybe more than ever, the key to figuring out how California works is understanding that by far the most powerful forces in state politics are the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers and the 500,000

Obamacare: This is going to hurt

Katy Grimes October 31, 2013

Ouch! That’s the cry of someone trying to sign up for the Affordable Care Act, usually called Obamacare. Health insurance cancellation notices have gone out to millions of Americans. Many cannot get insurance at all. And for many who can,

Is Jerry Brown eyeing the White House again?

Katy Grimes October 24, 2013

Gov. Jerry Brown’s crack public relations team has been hard at work convincing the rest of the country that he has sparked a California turnaround. The New Republic even recommended to President Obama that, in his second term, he should

Study finds tripling tobacco tax would ignite smuggling

Katy Grimes October 17, 2013

One out of five cigarettes puffed in California is smuggled. Yet a proposed $2 tax increase on every pack of cigarettes, which would increase the price to $9 per pack, would ignite cigarette smuggling, a new study by the California

Kids lose when schools ban recess and sports

Katy Grimes October 9, 2013

Today in America, lawyers now dictate what kids can do at recess. adobe animation software A school district in New York has banned footballs, baseballs, lacrosse balls or any dangerous instrument that might hurt someone on school grounds. “Port Washington