Infrastructure

High-speed rail goes for second segment

The California High-Speed Rail Authority is floating a new idea: Start a second high-speed rail segment, but this time fund it using cap-and-trade dollars. The project would stretch from Burbank to Palmdale in the northeast section of the Los Angeles

7 ways James Fallows is wrong about the CA bullet train

Chris Reed July 11, 2014

Writing on The Atlantic’s website, the much-respected journalist/intellectual James Fallows — a Redlands native who knows California better than nearly all other national pundits — has come out as a big fan of the state’s bullet-train project. He promises to

Fresno water rate referendum headed for ballot

John July 10, 2014

Fresno residents will have the final say on the city’s controversial plan to double water rates in the coming years. On Tuesday, election officials certified that the petition drive spearheaded by former Fresno County Supervisor Doug Vagim has enough valid

CA economic ranking renews debate

James Poulos July 10, 2014

For those who put a lot of stock in statistics, it’s a good month for California. The Golden State has returned to take its former position among the world’s largest economies. World Bank calculations show California — if it were considered a country —

Smelt suit threatens water markets

Wayne Lusvardi July 9, 2014

On June 11, 2014, a coalition of sports fishermen and Northern California groundwater users filed a lawsuit to stop a water transfer from Shasta Lake to California’s parched Central Valley. The basis of the suit is to protect the

Feinstein backfills some water for Central California

Wayne Lusvardi July 9, 2014

Sen. Dianne Feinstein is coming through with her promise to backfill Central Valley farmers water they lost as part of her San Joaquin River Restoration Act of 2009. Replacement farm water should have been provided before any diversions of farm

Mileage tax advances in Legislature

Dave Roberts July 8, 2014

California drivers could be just a few years away from having “black boxes” in their cars tracking their travel and taxing them for every mile driven. Senate Bill 1077 is by Assemblyman Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, and would require a mileage

Independence Day from foreign energy?

Wayne Lusvardi July 4, 2014

As today we celebrate America’s independence from Great Britain, it might also be time to celebrate our independence from foreign energy. Alas, California isn’t playing its part. During the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo and the 1979 Iranian Revolution, there were

Will dockworkers strike?

John Seiler July 2, 2014

West Coast dockworkers are threatening to strike again from their incredibly high-paying jobs. Their members already earn $25 to $40 an hour, with plush benefits. But this time it’s different. A $5.25 billion project is making the Panama Canal wider,

Water shortage could bring electricity grid failure

Wayne Lusvardi July 2, 2014

California’s Big Three energy regulating agencies just warned in a joint letter to the California Water Resources Control Board that planned water curtailments for 2014 would present a danger to grid reliability and create “substantial potential for serious public health and