Infrastructure

Little Hoover questions green energy costs

Gov. Jerry Brown is on a political roll. He won re-election and passage of an historic $7.5 billion water bond that contains funding for the first surface water storage projects in 50 years. But that hasn’t deterred the Little Hoover Commission,

Prop. 1 would follow $32 billion past water bonds

Wayne Lusvardi November 4, 2014

Proposition 1 on today’s ballot marks the first time in 50 years California has proposed building at least two new major dams and reservoirs. If voters concur, by 2023 dams would be built with the $7.5 billion water bond. An

Part of bullet-train legal mystery may be answered

Chris Reed October 31, 2014

For close followers of the bullet-train saga, one of the most basic mysteries of recent years has been what happened after Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny’s tentative ruling in August 2013 that blocked the state from starting construction on

Pension spikes crumbling CA roads

James Poulos October 31, 2014

From roads to bridges and well beyond, California’s neglected infrastructure won’t receive relief this election cycle. For years, the state has lavished money on other projects — especially public pensions. Despite a flurry of bad press surrounding the crushing burdens those pensions

Rail court decision could run over future bonds

James Poulos October 29, 2014

Is there a cow catcher on the front of the California high-speed rail project? One that pushes away future bond measures on everything from water to parks? That’s the unasked question as voters head to the polls next Tuesday to

Enviros battle over merits of rooftop solar vs. desert solar

Wayne Lusvardi October 27, 2014

Things aren’t working out well for renewable energy advocates who hoped cheaper rooftop solar energy would replace large solar power plants in California’s Mojave Desert and return “economic democracy” to the people with millions of rooftop solar installations. This is