Investigation

Sen. DeSaulnier grills high-speed rail CEO on funding

Editor’s Note: This is Part 2 of a series looking in depth at the latest hearing in the state Senate on California’s high-speed rail blueprint. Part 1 is here. Skepticism took center stage as the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee held

Initiative would revive redevelopment agencies

Dave Roberts April 14, 2014

If it were a movie, it might be called “Revenge of the JEDI: the Redevelopment Empire Strikes Back.” It’s the California Jobs and Education Development Initiative (JEDI), which would enable the revival of the 425 redevelopment agencies eliminated in

Will new community power beat PG&E prices?

Wayne Lusvardi April 9, 2014

Sonoma Clean Power officials and advocates got a charge from recent news that 95 percent of county eligible ratepayers will be switched to their electricity service from Pacific Gas & Electric. The switch was automatic, although ratepayers could opt out

State Senate hearing casts doubt on high-speed rail

Kathy Hamilton April 7, 2014

Editor’s Note: This is Part 1 of a series looking in depth at the latest hearing in the state Senate on California’s high-speed rail blueprint. California’s high-speed rail project keeps running into obstacles along its track to construction. The

CA GOP stays neutral on new electoral-college initiative

Dave Roberts April 3, 2014

An initiative seeking to get on California’s November ballot likely would add 20 or more Electoral College votes to the Republican candidate’s tally in the 2016 presidential election. That’s more Electoral College votes than the battleground state of Ohio

CA green power keeps shifting costs to ratepayers

Wayne Lusvardi April 3, 2014

California Energy Markets recently reported that three California cities just won agreement from regulators to reclassify solar power transmission costs as distribution. The cities are Pasadena, Riverside and Azusa. That means the cities reaped a 25 percent reduction in long-term solar power contracts. This seemingly arcane

California experiments with open-source voting

Dave Roberts March 28, 2014

After spending tens of millions of dollars in recent years on ineffective voting systems, California election officials are planning to experiment with an “open source” system that may prove to be the cure-all for secure, accessible balloting – or

SD26: Coastal Los Angeles state Senate race tests non-partisan brand

John March 24, 2014

Political analysts say it’s too soon to evaluate the impacts of California’s top-two election system. But this year a coastal Los Angeles state Senate seat will provide a vital case study on the effects of the new system. In the 26th Senate district,

Gov. Brown, Legislature push groundwater regulation

Wayne Lusvardi March 14, 2014

This is Part 1 of a two-part series. Due to the current compound drought and water storage shortage, California legislators are considering enacting groundwater regulation over the entire Central Valley aquifer. Some recent developments: State Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills,

Will ripping out home lawns conserve water?

Wayne Lusvardi March 12, 2014

During the first week of March, Mother Nature herself violated numerous calls by Gov. Jerry Brown and municipalities for home owners to conserve water — by showering home lawns for several days. We can’t stop Mother Nature. But cities now actually