Secession plan not as funny as it seems

JULY 21, 2011 By STEVEN GREENHUT Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone’s proposal to create a new state of South California from 13 mostly conservative southern California counties hasn’t been taken too seriously by the media and fellow politicians. His fellow

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Hemp pilot bill passes Senate

Ali Meyer: On June 29, the Senate passed Sen. Mark Leno’s bill SB 676, which authorizes a pilot project for growing industrial hemp, a marjuana-related plant that provides useful products without the psychoactive properties of marijuana.  The bill defines “industrial

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Little Hoover Critiques Community Colleges

JUNE 28, 2011 By DAVE ROBERTS If California’s educational system were a student, it would be made to sit on a stool in the corner with a dunce cap on its head. Nearly one in four Californians is functionally illiterate,

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Really, CA legislators are brain trusts!

JUNE 24, 2011 By ALI MEYER California legislators can’t seem to get a balanced budget passed or fix the state government’s ongoing problems. They are known for passing ridiculous legislation and taxing things you didn’t even know existed, so you

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Calif. Economy 47th Worst of States

JUNE 21, 2011 By JOHN SEILER California’s stagnating economy suffered more bad news by ranking 47th of the 50 states for economic outlook. The ranking comes from the new, fourth edition of “Rich States, Poor States: The ALEC-Laffer State Economic

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Ricci Zombeck Would Let Your Kid Drown

Commentary JUNE 3, 2011 By STEVEN GREENHUT Alameda Fire Division Chief Ricci Zombeck (the one without the big hat) has told ABC News that he would rather let your child drown to death in the San Francisco Bay than to

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Brown meanders, but sticks to taxes

JUNE 2, 2011 By STEVEN GREENHUT Gov. Jerry Brown’s talk to the California State Association of Counties was more meandering and disjointed than usual, but the governor stuck to his talking points: Unless California voters approve of tax extensions, they

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Grandstanding Spitzer At It Again

Steven Greenhut: Former Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, R-Orange, was a reliable shill for the prison guards and other law enforcement unions when he served in the Capitol, although he has recently been trying to downplay his all-things-union approach as he tries

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Mansoor Changes His Lame Story

Steven Greenhut: Assemblyman Allan Mansoor, R-Costa Mesa, told me and others that he decided to vote to save the state’s noxious redevelopment agencies because he saw some poison pill language in the governor’s RDA-elimination bill. That was always a crock

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Adachi Pushes New S.F. Pension Reform

MARCH 28, 2011 By DAVE ROBERTS Jeff Adachi, San Francisco’s elected public defender, is a modern-day Don Quixote tilting at unionized windmills while singing “To Dream the Impossible Pension Reform Dream.” The self-described progressive dared to take on that city’s

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