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Covered California video features gyrating Richard Simmons
Facing a $78 million budget shortfall, Covered California spent $1.37 million on an outreach campaign that included a video featuring exercise guru Richard Simmons gyrating on the floor and hugging a kneeling contortionist whose buttocks stuck in the air. The
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Transit strike ban fails in committee
California’s Bay Area suffers the third worst traffic congestion in the nation, behind Honolulu and Los Angeles, according to USA Today. That congestion occurs despite Bay Area Rapid Transit‘s 104 miles of track taking nearly 400,000 people off of
Read MoreDrought could cascade through state infrastructure
California’s drought disaster is real, and could cascade through several levels of the state’s infrastructure. Here’s what could happen: 1. A cutback of 95 percent of water for some farmers and 20 percent for Southern California cities; 2. A resulting
Read MoreThree cities oppose gas-fired power plants to replace San Onofre electricity
The cities of Encinitas and Del Mar in San Diego County have appealed to the California Public Utilities Commission opposing the use of gas-fired power plants to replace lost power from the San Onofre nuclear power plant. San Onofre was
Read MoreHydrowonk makes 2014 predictions for Bay Delta plan
Rodney T. Smith, PhD, is a consulting economist in Claremont for Stratecon, Inc. Smith also runs a unique blog called Hydrowonk. One of Smith’s side businesses is a new venture with Inkling Markets called Stratecon Water Policy Markets. It brings
Read MoreMarket closing Prop. 13 commercial property tax gap
Almost 36 years after it was passed by voters, controversy continues to swirl around Proposition 13, the 1978 tax limitation measure. Periodic calls to repeal or modify it, supposedly to gain more tax revenue, so far have gone nowhere. The
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Scientist says no reason to shut down San Onofre nuke plant
Can the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, whose decommissioning was announced last June, be salvaged? Cal-Tech trained geochemist and nuclear waste expert James Conca in Forbes.com says it can. Conca makes a case that Southern California electric ratepayers should not
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Bird deaths complicate renewable energy push
On Dec. 19, San Diego Gas and Electric filed suit against NaturEner, which operates wind farms in Montana. The suit alleged NaturEner did not meet its contractual requirements to preserve eagles, raptors, bats and other protected bird species for electricity
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Lawsuit threatens teachers unions’ power
“Money is the mother’s milk of politics” — Former Assembly Speaker Jesse ‘Big Daddy’ Unruh The California Teachers Association has poured more than $150 million into state politics in the past decade – most of
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