Along with her considerable political talents, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein has an unhelpful verbal mannerism in which she talks to people who try her patience with a faintly exasperated tone in her voice. She shares this trait with, among others, former Vice President Al Gore and Sheldon from “The Big...
Why California Libraries Are Ditching Fines on Overdue Materials
Bill Colb has had just about every possible job in the San Francisco Public Library system. He has worked in customer service, managed branches and circulation, and is now the library’s digital strategist. Throughout these jobs, his most dreaded task remained the same: haggling with book borrowers over 10 cents...
Can Progressives Trust Xavier Becerra to Police the Police?
In his two years on the job, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has crafted an image as a progressive warrior, suing the Trump Administration dozens of times and delivering the Democrats’ Spanish-language rebuttal to the President’s State of the Union speech. But there’s one major area where the Democrat isn’t allied with...
California Supreme Court Throws Cities, Including Fresno, Into Chaos Over Local Taxes
The California Supreme Court has some explaining to do. Late last year, the city of Oakland put a new land parcel tax on the books, after 62 percent of voters turned out to boost funding for public education. Now a local business group is suing the city, arguing that the new tax...
What Happens When the Next Big Wildfire Hits?
Don’t be fooled by the precipitation, the snowpack, the wildflowers. When winter ends, it’s unlikely that California’s iconic landscape will sustain the moisture to withstand the 100-degree summer and fall. California has yet to recover from the 5-year drought that began in 2012. For four years, record wildfires have ravaged...
My Turn: Here’s How to Avert California’s Next Health Care Crisis
California has never been shy about taking bold steps to tackle the most pressing issues affecting our nearly 40 million residents—from efforts protecting and expanding health care coverage to paving the way for more affordable health services. Now we must turn our attention to the next big health care challenge: a growing shortage of...
Sen. Bill Dodd Proposes California Wildfire Warning Center
After four consecutive years of catastrophic wildfires, Napa Democratic Sen. Bill Dodd wants to establish a California wildfire warning center that would allow officials to turn off power and better position firefighting crews during extreme heat and high winds. “It would give us more tools in trying to make sure...
How California Got Tough on Guns
The modern American gun debate began on May 2, 1967, when 30 protesting members of the Black Panther Party marched into the California Capitol with loaded handguns, shotguns and rifles. As photos of gun-toting radicals from Oakland hit front pages across the country, many Americans were shocked to see who...
My Turn: We Need a Bold Vision for Juvenile Justice. Newsom’s Plan Falls Short
Over the past two decades, California’s Division of Juvenile Justice’s inmate population has fallen from 10,000 to around 660. Its annual budget is down 70 percent. Eight of its 11 detention facilities have closed. The division now spends $300,000 per year per inmate, yet three-fourths of those who are released recidivate within three years....
Cheer for the Rams, but in California High Schools, Even Football Powerhouses Are Losing Kids
If the Golden State has a rooting interest in the Super Bowl on Sunday, it won’t just be because the Los Angeles Rams will be on the field. Roughly one player in six on the Rams’ and New England Patriots’ active rosters is a product of California high schools. Year...