Category: Northern California

Newsom Eases Water Restrictions After Storms Drench California

The drought is not yet over, but this year’s wet and snowy storms have delivered enough water for California to ease residential restrictions, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced March 24. Newsom signed an executive order Friday to stop asking residents to cut water use by 15 percent, a measure he first called for two years ago….


California Bill to Ban Police K-9s for Crowd Control, Arrests Advances in Legislature

A California bill to ban the use of police dogs for arrests and crowd control has advanced in a state Assembly committee March 21. Public Safety Committee members voted along party lines to pass Assembly Bill 742, introduced by Assemblymen Corey Jackson’s (D-Perris) and Ash Kalra (D-San Jose). Six Democrats voted in favor while the…


Rain-Drenched Californians Expect Drier Weather Next Month

After California’s current series of storms, meteorologists are predicting a respite from the wet weather. California recently experienced a historic atmospheric river that led to flooding in the entire state. Another such storm is slamming the state this week, and yet another could be on the way. More than 112,000 customers were without power in…


Author Explains How to Use the Constitution to Fight Union Power

Commentary For 36 years, all but three as a private-sector journalist, I’ve been fighting for the democratic rights of Californians against the powerful, non-democratic public-employee unions. It’s been wearying. There have been few victories. It was especially painful when I was state Sen. John Moorlach’s press secretary, 2017-20, and saw the unions attack him with…


Lawyer, Author Explains How to Use the Constitution to Fight Union Power

Commentary For 36 years, all but three as a private-sector journalist, I’ve been fighting for the democratic rights of Californians against the powerful, non-democratic public-employee unions. It’s been wearying. There have been few victories. It was especially painful when I was state Sen. John Moorlach’s press secretary, 2017-20, and saw the unions attack him with…


Why California’s Schools Are Losing Their Teachers, Part II

Commentary In February this year, the newsletter The Peanut Gallery stated: “In March of 2022, Yana, a 13-year-old Ukrainian girl, and her mother fled to escape Russia’s invasion and went to San Francisco, where Yana’s aunt lived. This January [2023], Yana began attending eighth-grade classes at Marina Middle School despite speaking little English. While she’d…


California Bill Would Push Courts to Favor Gender-Affirming Parents in Custody Disputes

A proposed legislative bill that would require courts to consider parents who support their child’s transgender identity as acting in the best interests of the child has passed the California Assembly Judiciary Committee. Well-rounded social support from friends and family members is strongly associated with positive mental development, physical health, and overall wellbeing of transgender,…


California’s Windfall Profits Penalty Bill on Oil Companies Sails Through State Senate

California’s first-of-its-kind bill to cap oil company profits and regulate the industry easily won approval March 23 from the state Senate as it moves to the Assembly and near-certain passage. Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom’s campaign to punish oil companies for charging record-high prices at the pump last year in the state—reaching $9 a gallon in…


California Residents Face Tragedy and Power Outages in Wake of Brutal Bomb Cyclone

Officials in California have reported at least five storm-related deaths while thousands are still without power after a bomb cyclone hit the San Francisco Bay area on Tuesday, March 21, bringing with it heavy rains, winds of up to 90 mph, and at least one tornado. One person was killed in Walnut Creek, a city in Contra…


Controversial California Bills in the Making

Voting Inmate Voting (ACA 4) Assemblyman Isaac Bryan’s (D-Culver City) bill would amend the state Constitution to allow inmates that are incarcerated for felonies to vote while still in prison. If passed by a two-thirds vote in both the Assembly and Senate, it would then require a majority of voters statewide to pass. Under current…