Steven Greenhut
			Business & Economics				
			
		Making public pay for budget cuts
			Sacramento – Last year, one of my reporters and her adult son were walking in downtown Sacramento when a couple of young toughs tried grabbing her purse. She pulled back her purse, and the robbers lunged at the two of them, leaving the son’s face covered in blood. Despite a ...		
					
					
			
																				
			Steven Greenhut		
				
																						
			July 22, 2011		
				
					
			Business & Economics				
			
		The Alameda incident: ‘First responders’ who don’t
			On Memorial Day, a suicidal man waded into San Francisco Bay outside the city of Alameda and stood there for about an hour, neck deep in chilly water, as about 75 bystanders watched. Local police and firefighters were dispatched to the scene after the man’s desperate mother called 911, but ...		
					
					
			
																				
			Steven Greenhut		
				
																						
			July 20, 2011		
				
					
			Business & Economics				
			
		Don’t get arrested carrying a smart phone
			Thanks to a little-discussed California Supreme Court decision, the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment protections against “unreasonable searches and seizures” don’t necessarily apply in California anymore. Yet few of our fellow citizens have been upset about this sad loss of our liberties, the state’s law-enforcement officials have been happy about the ...		
					
					
			
																				
			Steven Greenhut		
				
																						
			July 15, 2011		
				
					
			Business & Economics				
			
		Taking the Initiative
			A series of bills pending in California’s state legislature would severely curtail the use of voters’ initiatives and referenda—and have already sparked a long-overdue debate about the virtues of direct democracy. Advocates for reform make some valid points about the problems with the initiative process; it’s certainly the case that ...		
					
					
			
																				
			Steven Greenhut		
				
																						
			July 12, 2011		
				
					
			Environment				
			
		Spectacular Waste in Redwood Forests
			As I took the nearly six-hour drive from the Sacramento area, past Ukiah and up to Eureka, through the heart of California’s redwood- forested North Coast, I was reminded of the spectacular beauty of California. Driving through Mendocino and Humboldt counties also reminded me of the spectacular ways the state ...		
					
					
			
																				
			Steven Greenhut		
				
																						
			July 10, 2011		
				
					
			Health Care				
			
		Land deals protect fake threats
			SACRAMENTO – As I took the nearly six-hour drive recently from the Sacramento area, past Ukiah and up to Eureka, through the heart of California’s redwood-forested north coast, I was reminded of the spectacular beauty of California. Driving through Mendocino and Humboldt counties also reminded me of the spectacular ways ...		
					
					
			
																				
			Steven Greenhut		
				
																						
			July 8, 2011		
				
					
			Business & Economics				
			
		Legislators Cry “Less Power to the People”
			California legislators —- who seem unable to come up with an honest balanced budget, who always seek tax increases, and who won’t pass even modest reforms to the state’s unfunded pension system or to anything else, for that matter —- want to blame the government’s problems on voters, rather than ...		
					
					
			
																				
			Steven Greenhut		
				
																						
			July 3, 2011		
				
					
			Business & Economics				
			
		It’s about free markets, not Texas
			As California’s budget battle continues, Republicans and Democrats have engaged in a rhetorical battle regarding the relative merits and demerits of our lovely state and one of the nation’s other growing megastates —- Texas. This debate started after a legislative delegation made up mostly of Republicans went eastward in April ...		
					
					
			
																				
			Steven Greenhut		
				
																						
			June 26, 2011		
				
					
			Business & Economics				
			
		Redevelopment Might Really be a Goner
			Hours before the Wednesday midnight deadline for passing a state budget, legislative Democrats rammed through a ridiculous, gimmick-laden, majority-vote spending plan that failed to reform anything and failed to impress Gov. Jerry Brown, who wisely vetoed it less than a day later. The budget succeeded mainly in one area:ensuring the ...		
					
					
			
																				
			Steven Greenhut		
				
																						
			June 19, 2011		
				
					
			Business & Economics				
			
		Higher taxes will not make California a better state
			Gov. Jerry Brown’s recent talk to the California State Association of Counties was more meandering and disjointed than usual, but the governor stuck to his talking points: Unless California voters approve tax extensions, they must get used to greatly diminished public services. Without at least the tax extensions, he said, ...		
					
					
			
																				
			Steven Greenhut		
				
																						
			June 12, 2011		
				
					Making public pay for budget cuts
			Sacramento – Last year, one of my reporters and her adult son were walking in downtown Sacramento when a couple of young toughs tried grabbing her purse. She pulled back her purse, and the robbers lunged at the two of them, leaving the son’s face covered in blood. Despite a ...		
					The Alameda incident: ‘First responders’ who don’t
			On Memorial Day, a suicidal man waded into San Francisco Bay outside the city of Alameda and stood there for about an hour, neck deep in chilly water, as about 75 bystanders watched. Local police and firefighters were dispatched to the scene after the man’s desperate mother called 911, but ...		
					Don’t get arrested carrying a smart phone
			Thanks to a little-discussed California Supreme Court decision, the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment protections against “unreasonable searches and seizures” don’t necessarily apply in California anymore. Yet few of our fellow citizens have been upset about this sad loss of our liberties, the state’s law-enforcement officials have been happy about the ...		
					Taking the Initiative
			A series of bills pending in California’s state legislature would severely curtail the use of voters’ initiatives and referenda—and have already sparked a long-overdue debate about the virtues of direct democracy. Advocates for reform make some valid points about the problems with the initiative process; it’s certainly the case that ...		
					Spectacular Waste in Redwood Forests
			As I took the nearly six-hour drive from the Sacramento area, past Ukiah and up to Eureka, through the heart of California’s redwood- forested North Coast, I was reminded of the spectacular beauty of California. Driving through Mendocino and Humboldt counties also reminded me of the spectacular ways the state ...		
					Land deals protect fake threats
			SACRAMENTO – As I took the nearly six-hour drive recently from the Sacramento area, past Ukiah and up to Eureka, through the heart of California’s redwood-forested north coast, I was reminded of the spectacular beauty of California. Driving through Mendocino and Humboldt counties also reminded me of the spectacular ways ...		
					Legislators Cry “Less Power to the People”
			California legislators —- who seem unable to come up with an honest balanced budget, who always seek tax increases, and who won’t pass even modest reforms to the state’s unfunded pension system or to anything else, for that matter —- want to blame the government’s problems on voters, rather than ...		
					It’s about free markets, not Texas
			As California’s budget battle continues, Republicans and Democrats have engaged in a rhetorical battle regarding the relative merits and demerits of our lovely state and one of the nation’s other growing megastates —- Texas. This debate started after a legislative delegation made up mostly of Republicans went eastward in April ...		
					Redevelopment Might Really be a Goner
			Hours before the Wednesday midnight deadline for passing a state budget, legislative Democrats rammed through a ridiculous, gimmick-laden, majority-vote spending plan that failed to reform anything and failed to impress Gov. Jerry Brown, who wisely vetoed it less than a day later. The budget succeeded mainly in one area:ensuring the ...		
					Higher taxes will not make California a better state
			Gov. Jerry Brown’s recent talk to the California State Association of Counties was more meandering and disjointed than usual, but the governor stuck to his talking points: Unless California voters approve tax extensions, they must get used to greatly diminished public services. Without at least the tax extensions, he said, ...		
					