We're in the final days before the election. And, one of the last polls shows separation among candidates for statewide offices and the U.S. Senate. The final Berkeley IGS poll indicates dominant leads in the gubernatorial, state superintendent of public instruction, and Senate races. Also, propositions to repeal the gas...
Walters: Another Conflict Brewing Over Work Disability Costs
Gavin Newsom loves high-concept, almost edgy, approaches to governance – not unlike a younger Jerry Brown during his first governorship four decades ago. However, as Brown eventually learned and Newsom will discover if, as expected, he follows Brown into the Capitol’s corner office, much of governing is not pro-active and...
All Polls Point to Newsom as California's Next Governor
Barring a big rally by John Cox, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom will become the next governor of California. A Public Policy Institute of California poll released Wednesday night shows Newsom holding an 11-point lead over Cox among likely voters in the race to succeed Jerry Brown. Newsom, a Democrat, leads...
Here's Why Rent Control Measure Would Worsen Housing Crisis
California’s housing crisis has gotten the attention of the media, but it is often discussed as an issue that primarily impacts coastal communities. Despite the focus on the Bay Area and Los Angeles, parts of the Central Valley are feeling the housing pinch as well. As California’s population continues to...
Cox and Newsom Debate Cost of Living, Criminal Justice
SAN FRANCISCO — The two men hoping to be California's next governor said during a Monday debate that the cost of living is the top issue facing the state. Republican John Cox and Democrat Gavin Newsom squared off at San Francisco public radio station KQED — their only face-off ahead...
The Battle to Decide California’s Education Future
By many measures, the majority of California’s 6.2 million schoolchildren are failing to make the grade. Earlier this year California’s K-12 education was ranked 44th by U.S. News & World Report and 36th on Education Week’s “Quality Counts” report. These numbers are sobering for a state that once boasted of having the...
Resistance Finally Fading to Career Technical Education
Thirty years ago, vocational ed programs were struggling to attract students and political support. They were stigmatized as "throwaway" classes. Many educators and parents said that college preparatory classes would better prepare students for college and careers. That's not the case today. The label "vocational ed" has been replaced by...
Cox Blasts High-Speed Rail as 'Monument to Corruption'
Earlier this month, Gavin Newsom rolled into Fresno on a big blue bus. Thursday (Sept. 27), his gubernatorial opponent John Cox rolled into town in a big green bus. Cox, the Republican candidate, met with Sheriff Margaret Mims, taking a tour of a jail program. Then, his bus rolled to...
Cox, De León Close the Gap on Their Bay Area Election Foes
In the race to determine California's next governor, Democrat Gavin Newsom leads Republican John Cox by 12 points in a Public Policy Institute of California poll released Wednesday. Interviews of 1,710 Californians conducted by the PPIC showed Lt. Gov. Newsom of San Francisco with 51 percent support and Cox, a San...
Five Years Later, Tally Shows Gerawan Workers Want UFW Gone
“No Union. No Union.” That was the refrain from ALRB field examiner Veronica Cervantes as she read off ballots Tuesday from a 2013 election asking Gerawan Farming workers whether they wanted United Farm Workers union representation. At the end of the nearly five-hour count, 1,098 ballots indicated that Gerawan workers...