The state prison system’s official title, “Department of Corrections,” was for decades nothing more than a euphemism, as was the official nomenclature for the system’s guards of “correctional officer.” The system expanded from about 20,000 inmates during Jerry Brown’s first stint as governor to more than 160,000 when he began...
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...
Parole Recommended for Manson Follower Leslie Van Houten
LOS ANGELES — A California panel on Wednesday recommended that Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten be paroled after serving more than four decades in prison. After a hearing at the women's prison in Corona, California, commissioners of the Board of Parole Hearings found for the third time that the...
Immigrants Are Secret to California's Good Health
What makes California the very picture of health? It’s neither sunshine nor silicone. Our health secret is immigration. While President Donald Trump blames immigrants for being sources of disease, Californians have long known that immigrants make us healthier. Those health benefits go beyond the “immigrant health advantage,” the fact that...
Storms Boost Sierra Snowpack to 98% of Seasonal Average
PHILLIPS STATION — California officials say January storms have pushed the Sierra Nevada snowpack to 98 percent of average to date, which is good news for state water supplies. The California Department of Water Resources said Thursday that the snowpack is already at 71 percent of average for the state's...
Joel Fox: Changing Prop. 13 Could Worsen Housing Crisis
For four decades, Proposition 13, the property tax reform that passed in 1978, has been blamed for many of the ills that have befallen California. Working with Howard Jarvis, a Proposition 13 co-author, and later running his taxpayers association, I have followed the multiple attacks on the measure, many silly...
Jim Patterson: Newsom Is Right to Order DMV Overhaul
The California Department of Motor Vehicles has been a source of frustration for employees and customers for as long as anyone can remember. I started pushing for major reforms of this department in 2016 when my office was flooded with calls from truck driving students who were waiting 12 weeks to...
California Wants Faster Way to Cut Wildfire Risk
SACRAMENTO — California wildland managers said Tuesday that they want to speed up logging and prescribed burns designed to slow wildfires that have devastated communities in recent years. After the deadliest and most destructive blazes in state history, officials are scrapping 12 years of efforts and starting anew on creating...
Walters: Newsom Raises the Housing Bar on Himself
Gavin Newsom began his governorship this month by promising to confront what he described as California’s most important issue, an ever-increasing shortage of housing. “This is the issue,” Newsom said as he introduced his first state budget. California’s chronic housing shortfall, particularly for low- and moderate-income families, and its soaring costs...
