SANTA ANA — There are now more registered Democrats than Republicans in the longtime conservative GOP stronghold of Orange County. Orange County's Registrar of Voters reported Wednesday there are 89 more Democrats than Republicans in the California county of 1.6 million registered voters. The parties each have about 547,000 registered...
Judges to Hear Appeal in Lawsuit Over John Steinbeck Works
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Another chapter is set to play out this week in a decades-old family dispute over control of the classic works by author John Steinbeck. A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will be in Alaska's largest city on Tuesday to hear arguments in...
California’s Largest Recycling Business Closes, 750 Laid Off
SAN JOSE — California's largest operator of recycling redemption centers shut down Monday and laid off 750 employees. RePlanet closed all 284 of its centers, and company president David Lawrence said the decision was driven by increased business costs and falling prices of recycled aluminum and PET plastic, the San Jose...
4 Sue to Block California Tax Return Law Aimed at Trump
SACRAMENTO — Four California voters have sued to block a new state law aimed at forcing Republican President Donald Trump to release his income tax returns. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law last week that requires presidential candidates to file five years of their income tax returns with the California secretary...
Walters: It's Time to Derail the Bullet Train
A decade ago, shortly after California voters narrowly approved a $9.95 billion bond issue to finance a statewide high-speed rail train system, an official involved in early planning for the project confided a dirty little secret. While a 200-mph bullet train was the sizzle sold to voters, he told me,...
Walters: California’s Two-Tier Society
Thirty-four years ago, two researchers delved into California’s rapidly changing demographic and economic trends and saw “an emerging two-tier economy with Asians and better-educated non-Hispanic whites and blacks competing for the prestigious occupations while poorly educated Hispanics and blacks scramble for the lower status jobs …” The study, titled “Population...
Let’s Be Blunt: Cannabis Consumers Need Protection
California boasts the strongest “lemon laws” in the country. Another law helps Californians make decisions about avoiding chemicals that could cause cancer or birth defects. A third law requires manufacturers of cleaning products to disclose ingredients. Now the California Legislature should get serious about protecting cannabis consumers from potentially serious public...
On Trump’s Tax Returns and More, Newsom’s Agenda Isn’t Jerry Brown’s
As governor, Jerry Brown vetoed a 2017 measure to keep presidential candidates off the California primary ballot unless they release their tax returns. With a stern veto message, he said the Trump-trolling bill would create a political “slippery slope.” “Today we require tax returns, but what would be next? Five...
How Latinos Can Help in Fight Against Climate Change
In California, climate change is a personal issue. We seem to be experiencing its earliest effects much more dramatically than the rest of the country. But Latinos are truly on the front lines. Construction, farming, manufacturing all draw heavily on Latino workers, and they are at greater risk when they...
Why California’s ‘Grayest’ Generation Needs Master Plan for Aging
Watching Gov. Gavin Newsom focus some of his youthful energy on the issue of aging is both refreshing and clearly required, especially given his observation that California is getting grayer in staggering numbers. Newsom noted in his State of the State address in February that California’s over-65 population will nearly...