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Fullerton police chief doesn’t think verdict vindicated lethal cop

In the aftermath of the Kelly Thomas verdict, it’s been depressing to read the comment sections of Cal Watchdog, blogs, news sites and newspapers. A lot of oddly gleeful folks treat the verdict as evidence that police did the right

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Senate Ed committee balances school needs, parents, unions and worms

At a meeting of the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday, a dirty little secret about the Capitol came out. There are apparently worms in the drinking fountains. SB 687 was on the agenda in the education committee. The bill would

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Democratic lawmakers again kill work flex bill

In what has become an annual tradition in Sacramento, Democratic legislators have killed a bill to provide more flexibility in the hours that employees work. “Assembly Bill 907 would have allowed Californians to work more than eight hours in a

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CTA wins: Brown lobbies to weaken own school-funding reform

Gov. Jerry Brown made a surprise appearance Thursday at a State Board of Education meeting to call for board members — most of whom he appointed — to approve loophole-ridden regulations for the implementation of the sweeping education funding changes

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Bill would strengthen public's right to comment before votes

“The people of this State do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them,” says California Code Section 54950 of The Ralph M. Brown Act, the state's bedrock open-government law. cure for diabetes But that’s not always the

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PRI report examines bankruptcy as tool for struggling cities

The Pacific Research Institute has released a report that couldn't be more timely. “Going Broke One City at a Time: Municipal Bankruptcies in America” by economist Wayne H. Winegarden. buy a paper One of Winegarden's key conclusions: “If used appropriately, bankruptcy

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Push to increase CA green power mandate flops

On Jan. 6, a key provision was quietly struck from Assembly Bill 177, a measure introduced by Assemblyman V. Manuel Perez, D-Coachella, that would have expanded the green-power mandate for California utilites from 33 percent to 51 percent by the

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San Diego's pension reform model finally inspires copy-cats

In early 2012, when then-San Diego Councilman Carl DeMaio was pushing an innovative, unusual, unprecedented pension reform initiative in California's second-largest city, I wrote about it for City Journal. I thought it was a harbinger of what the future would

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Fresno mayor obstructs initiative process to save water rate hike

Fresno residents could see their water rates double, and in the process, all Californians could see their petition powers diminished, if a state appellate court doesn't act quickly on a lawsuit to stop strong-arm tactics by the city of Fresno. The battle

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Arena lawsuit: Sacramento officials will be deposed

The judge's order in the Sacramento arena lawsuit is in: Sacramento City Councilman Kevin McCarty and Sacramento Economic Development Director Jim Rhinehart will be deposed about undisclosed dealings between city officials and the new Kings ownership group to help it buy

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