California’s Democratic political leaders fancy themselves leaders of the anti-Donald Trump “resistance” and are engaged in legal and political conflict with the White House on dozens of specific issues. Thus, when the Trump administration declared last week that it would not reimburse California for $306 million of the $1.1 billion...
5 Teachers Sue California Union Over Forced Dues Collection
SAN FRANCISCO — Five California educators on Monday filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the state's top teachers union from collecting dues through mandatory paycheck deductions, the latest in a series of similar legal challenges filed across the country. The lawsuit challenging the California Teachers Association's mandatory collection of dues...
California Bill Would Seal 8 Million Criminal Convictions
SAN FRANCISCO — A Northern California lawmaker and district attorney announced Thursday a proposed law that would automatically clear some 8 million criminal convictions eligible for sealing but that remain public records. San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon and state Democratic Assemblyman Phil Ting of San Francisco said the bill...
Bankrupt PG&E Wants to Give $235 Million in Bonuses
SAN FRANCISCO — Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. sought a judge's approval to pay $235 million in bonuses to thousands of employees despite the California utility's bankruptcy. The money is intended to provide incentives to workers and will not be distributed if the company doesn't meet safety and financial goals,...
Rain Brings 2nd California Super Bloom in 2 Years
BORREGO SPRINGS — It started with the desert lilies in December. Since then a wave of wildflower blooms has been crescendoing across Southern California's Anza-Borrego desert in a burst of color so vivid it can be seen from mountain tops thousands of feet above. Two years after steady rains followed...
Cutting Through the Fake News About ‘Ballot Harvesting’
As the chair of the California Senate Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendments, I am both disheartened and angry at President Trump’s ongoing lies about the nonexistent, massive voter fraud he claims to have occurred in California. I am equally frustrated to hear pundits and partisans depicting efforts to eliminate...
Walters: 1872 Law Gives Police a License to Kill
Penal Code Section 196, enacted in 1872 when California was the nation’s sparsely populated westernmost frontier, declares that a police officer may lawfully kill someone while “arresting persons charged with felony, and who are fleeing from justice or resisting such arrest.” Similar laws in other states have been overturned by the...
Walters: State Supreme Court Ducks Key Pension Issue
The state Supreme Court could have addressed a fundamental issue in California’s public employee pension crisis – whether the so-called “California rule” makes it impossible to reduce benefits. However, the court punted this week, ruling that since the Legislature and former Gov. Jerry Brown legitimately eliminated a way that workers...
Pope Francis Appoints New Catholic Leader in Fresno
Pope Francis on Tuesday appointed a new bishop to lead the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno, the Most Rev. Joseph V. Brennan, who is one of five auxiliary bishops in the LA archdiocese. Brennan has served 39 years in the Los Angeles area, most recently as the episcopal victor of...
California Must Make Use of ‘Renewable’ Natural Gas. Here’s How.
After significant success in other sectors, California is getting serious about reducing greenhouse gas emissions from one of the hardest areas to decarbonize: heating in homes, businesses and industrial applications. To ensure success, flexible policy making is required. Californians are familiar with green technology. Solar panels, wind turbines, and electric...