Infrastructure
Back to homepageDam-busting plan shrouded in mystery
March 4, 2010 By WAYNE LUSVARDI Reading about the recent signing of Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement by Governors Ted Kulongoski of Oregon and Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, and U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, reminds this writer of
Read MoreCertainty Shmertainty
Just to recap a bit for those following at home: the state is currently running a $20 billion or so budget deficit. What to do about it has paralyzed Sacramento for, well, years, virtually guaranteeing that it will get worse. Notice
Read MoreLegislators Consider Merits of Williamson Act
Mar. 3, 2010 By KATY GRIMES For more than 45 years, California farmers, ranchers and land owners have voluntarily participated in the Williamson Act, which restricted the use of their land to agriculture but gave property tax breaks for the
Read MorePublic Versus Private: Different Sets of Rules
Mar. 2, 2010 The recent stories of state workers abusing vacation policies and comp-time serves as another reminder that there are two sets of rules and laws in California — one for private sector employers and one for the state
Read MoreCommunity colleges oversell 0.7% enrollment decline
Feb. 26, 2010 By ELISE VIEBECK The chancellor for California’s community colleges lamented a 0.7% decline in the system’s enrollment yesterday, reporting that more than 200,000 students will be “unfunded” — that is, enrolled beyond schools’ funded capacities — this
Read MoreWill "Going Green" Backfire?
With nearly every politician — from city councils to state legislators, governors and congress – embracing green technology as the cause du jour, they don’t realize that with every bill signed, they may be actually killing the industry. It’s kind
Read MoreParents Able To Close Failing Schools
The Los Angeles-based group Parent Revolution, pushed hard to pass a new law called the “parent trigger.” The new law requires school districts to make dramatic changes to a school if 51% the parents vote on the change(s). Parents could call for
Read MoreIncentives eyed to spur job growth
Feb. 18, 2010 By KATY GRIMES In spite of the federal stimulus money invested in California, unemployment is still in double digits and will remain so for a couple more years, according to state economic experts. Consequently, talk of jobs
Read MoreForbes publisher assesses state decline
Feb. 16, 2010 By KATY GRIMES In a poignant and often funny talk, Forbes Magazine Publisher Rich Karlgaard believes this economic recession could have and should have been avoided, and the worsening U.S. economy is a man-made crisis thanks to
Read MoreI love California!
By John Seiler No politics today. Instead, I enjoyed our 75-degree weather out here in Huntington Beach, wearing shorts and a T-shirt while taking my dog for a walk. Growing up in Michigan, every year at this time I watched
Read More