“I think it’s wrong that only one company makes the game 'Monopoly.' ”— Steven Wright The light at the end of the utilities’ tunnel has been shut off for the hundreds of thousands of California residents who have recently lost their power, been evacuated from their homes, or worse. The...
Rejecting Federal Proposal, California Lays out Vision for Protecting Endangered Species and Meeting Water Needs
California’s water policy can be complex, and — let’s be honest — often polarizing. Water decisions frequently get distilled into unhelpful narratives of fish versus farms, north versus south, or urban versus rural. Climate change-driven droughts and flooding threats, as well as our divided political climate, compound these challenges. We...
School Bond Backers Have Some Selling to Do, Poll Shows
California voters have resoundingly approved tens of billions of dollars in state school construction bonds over the last two decades. But a new survey suggests that voters have yet to similarly warm up to the latest and heftiest proposal to come before them: a $15 billion state bond for public schools, community colleges...
How Eight Presidential Wannabes Pitched Themselves to California Dems
With some 5,000 California Democrats convening in Long Beach this past weekend for the party’s second convention of the year, the main event was a nationally televised forum of some of the top presidential candidates. “Some” being the operative word. Former Vice President Joe Biden and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren...
Science Has Identified Common Threads in School Shootings
Understandably, we will hear a call to action in response to the shooting that left two young people dead at Saugus High School. One political tribe will extend its thoughts and prayers and the other will demand sensible gun control. In a matter of days, the rhetoric and, sadly, the...
No-Shows, Endorsement Spats and Drag Queens: What’s On Tap at This Weekend’s Democratic Convention
Like Comic-Con for progressive political nerds and consultants, the California Democratic Party’s biannual convention — one of the year’s largest gathering of like-minded partisans — will kick off in Long Beach this weekend with an estimated 5,000 attendees. Some will be coming to snap selfies with presidential candidates, although for...
Sacramento’s Latest Reckless Law Will Give Lighter Sentences to 10,000 Repeat Felons
Jerry Dewayne Williams, if popular folklore is to be believed, should be coming up for parole soon. This spring marks the silver anniversary since Williams, better known as the “pizza thief,” received 25-years-to-life for shoplifting a slice of pizza at the Redondo Beach pier. Ever since, he’s been “the patron saint of...
California Needs You: A Veteran’s Call to Service
I am thankful on this Veterans Day. I had the honor to serve our country as an officer in the U.S. Navy. Now, as chief service officer for the state of California, I have the opportunity to bring home my experience and empower all Californians to serve our state and...
To Solve Homelessness, Californians Must Treat Certain Crimes as Cries for Help
Those of us who have watched a friend or family member wrestle with addiction or cope with mental illness recognize that certain acts are a cry for help. For one of my friends, it was getting into a car accident while under the influence, with her young children inside. For...
As California Spends Billions on High-Needs Students, Calls Grow for More Oversight
Seven years after California started pumping billions of dollars into schools with the neediest students — an attempt to narrow a chronic academic achievement gap — a new state audit has found that the state’s landmark school funding law isn’t adequately ensuring that targeted money is actually going to the disadvantaged students...