Samuel J. Dalesandro Jr. is the newest Fresno County Superior Court judge. Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed him to the bench Monday to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Donald Black. Dalesandro, 43, has served as a Fresno County Superior Court commissioner since 2017. Newsom also appointed three...
Walters: California’s High-Tech FI$Cal Debacle
In 1966, as the United States was wallowing in the quagmire of the Vietnam War, U.S. Sen. George Aiken of Vermont famously suggested that the United States simply “declare victory and get out.” For more than a decade, California’s politicians and bureaucrats have been promising a high-technology system that would...
Judge OKs Nearly $25 Billion for PG&E Fire Victims, Insurers
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal bankruptcy judge on Tuesday approved two Pacific Gas & Electric settlements totaling $24.5 billion to help pay the losses suffered by homeowners, businesses and insurers in the aftermath of catastrophic Northern California wildfires that sent the nation’s largest utility into a financial morass. The decision...
Walters: What Now for PG&E?
Gov. Gavin Newsom says he wants Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to become a “radically restructured and transformed utility that is responsible and accountable…” But how? Newsom, in rejecting the company’s plan to emerge from bankruptcy late last week, once again denounced it for “more than two decades of mismanagement,...
Report: 5th Straight Year With Under 30 Executions in US
WASHINGTON — Fewer than 30 people were executed in the United States and under 50 new death sentences were imposed for the fifth straight year, part of a continuing decline in capital punishment that saw only a few states carry out executions, a new report issued Tuesday said. But even...
Walters: California's Half-a-Loaf Syndrome
Joe Mathews, another guy who makes his living by scribbling about California, penned a very perceptive article recently about the state’s proclivity for not following through on policy pronouncements. “California is stuck in the gray zone,” Mathews wrote, referring to “a military term for the space between peace and war… “In California...
Californians Aren’t Getting the Mental Health Care They’re Legally Guaranteed. Why Not?
State Sen. Jim Beall is angry. Four times now, he has introduced legislation to better enforce state and federal “parity” laws, which require equal treatment of mental and physical health problems. Four times, that legislation has failed. As he enters his final year in the Legislature, the San Jose Democrat...
Forest Thinning to Stop Wildfires as Strong as Weakest Link
SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS — Buzzing chainsaws are interrupted by the frequent crash of breaking branches as crews fell towering trees and clear tangled brush in the densely forested Santa Cruz Mountains south of San Francisco. Their goal: To protect communities such as Redwood Estates, where giant redwoods loom over the...
RuPaul, Tony Hawk, Maya Angelou Join California Hall of Fame
SACRAMENTO — Drag queen and TV star RuPaul, late poet Maya Angelou and skateboarding legend Tony Hawk were among 10 people inducted Tuesday night into the California Hall of Fame. The others were Brandi Chastain, two-time Women’s World Cup soccer champion and Olympic gold medalist; astrophysicist and National Science Foundation...
Opponents Drop Bid to Block California Vaccination Law
SACRAMENTO — Opponents on Monday dropped their attempt to block California’s new law cracking down on doctors who write fraudulent medical exemptions for school children's vaccinations. They had floated two measures that could have put the Jan. 1 law on hold until voters considered overturning it next year, but did...