Blog
Blog
What will California cities do if the bullet train is derailed?
What will California cities do if the bullet train is derailed? By John Seiler | May 16, 2025 California cities face numerous needs for mass transit at the local level. But lurking over any plans is the California High-Speed Rail project, which has soaked up funds since voters approved it ...
John Seiler
May 16, 2025
Agriculture
Gray wolf study arms ranchers with research in coming gray wolf battle
There’s an adage about bears in the woods. It’s a tongue-in-cheek commentary about what’s obvious in life. Ranchers have known for years that the presence of wolves near livestock has a negative effect on everything from weight gain and maintenance to overall animal stress. A recent study released by researchers ...
Pam Lewison
May 15, 2025
Blog
Can San Franciscans finally overcome their fear of heights?
Like all California cities, San Francisco must comply with state mandates and has in response promised to create “more space for families, workers and the next generation of San Franciscans.” The city’s Housing Element Update is its guidebook for accommodating housing needs through 2031. To get there will require “rezoning to accommodate 36,200 additional units above ...
Kerry Jackson
May 14, 2025
Blog
California’s #1 Charter School Under Assault by Low-Performing School District
Located in Santa Ana, California and operating for 20 years as a charter school, OCSA says that it “offers a dynamic school culture that enables students to flourish as artists and scholars in a uniquely challenging and nurturing environment, celebrating creativity, individual growth, and opportunity.” The school, which enrolls around ...
Lance Izumi
May 13, 2025
Blog
The Spanish Power Outage Flu – Is California Next?
Energy journalist Robert Bryce assures us it is not. “California has already seen blackouts due to the weakening of its grid,” Bryce told PRI, “And no, it’s not too soon to speculate.” On the last Monday in April, “one of the worst” blackouts to ever hit Europe, the Associated Press reports, began ...
Kerry Jackson
May 12, 2025
Blog
Why California Needs Its Own DOGE
Why California Needs Its Own DOGE Originally published in Fresno Bee By Kerry Jackson READ MORE If any government were in desperate need of a DOGE effort, it’s California. The bloated budget, wasteful public works projects and inefficient government programs are all screaming for attention. The federal Department of Government Efficiency ...
Kerry Jackson
May 10, 2025
Agriculture
New bill in Congress revisits Prop 12
Imagine buying a house and having to adhere to the standards of a homeowner’s association five states away. In a practical sense, that is how Proposition 12 operates for pork producers across the United States. The law also outlines provisions for the house of laying hens and veal calves. Animal ...
Pam Lewison
May 9, 2025
Blog
Technology is spotlighting failure of arcane transit models
Alas, the walkout, taken in response to a “disgraceful contract offer,” didn’t accomplish much. Strikers’ “energy” and “resolve” may have been “very strong,” but on Day 17 of their protest, a judge ordered the dispatchers, bus drivers and light-rail operators of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 back to work. A ...
D. Dowd Muska
May 9, 2025
Blog
More Rent Control Makes Things Worse
Rent control is the bad penny legislation that keeps turning up in California. It is widely regarded as crummy economic policy by economists, it ultimately leads to rental shortages and higher rents and it is based on the faulty idea that private property is somehow public property. And yet, here ...
Matthew Fleming
May 8, 2025
Blog
Spending Watch
AB 4: A Bad Idea That Costs Too Much
AB 4: A Bad Idea That Costs Too Much Wayne Winegarden and Nikhil Agarwal May 2025 As we noted in an earlier Spending Watch piece, growing economic volatility will likely cause revenue growth to be much weaker than expected for the upcoming FY2025-26 budget. It is, consequently, fiscally irresponsible for ...
Wayne Winegarden and Nikhil Agarwal
May 7, 2025
What will California cities do if the bullet train is derailed?
What will California cities do if the bullet train is derailed? By John Seiler | May 16, 2025 California cities face numerous needs for mass transit at the local level. But lurking over any plans is the California High-Speed Rail project, which has soaked up funds since voters approved it ...
Gray wolf study arms ranchers with research in coming gray wolf battle
There’s an adage about bears in the woods. It’s a tongue-in-cheek commentary about what’s obvious in life. Ranchers have known for years that the presence of wolves near livestock has a negative effect on everything from weight gain and maintenance to overall animal stress. A recent study released by researchers ...
Can San Franciscans finally overcome their fear of heights?
Like all California cities, San Francisco must comply with state mandates and has in response promised to create “more space for families, workers and the next generation of San Franciscans.” The city’s Housing Element Update is its guidebook for accommodating housing needs through 2031. To get there will require “rezoning to accommodate 36,200 additional units above ...
California’s #1 Charter School Under Assault by Low-Performing School District
Located in Santa Ana, California and operating for 20 years as a charter school, OCSA says that it “offers a dynamic school culture that enables students to flourish as artists and scholars in a uniquely challenging and nurturing environment, celebrating creativity, individual growth, and opportunity.” The school, which enrolls around ...
The Spanish Power Outage Flu – Is California Next?
Energy journalist Robert Bryce assures us it is not. “California has already seen blackouts due to the weakening of its grid,” Bryce told PRI, “And no, it’s not too soon to speculate.” On the last Monday in April, “one of the worst” blackouts to ever hit Europe, the Associated Press reports, began ...
Why California Needs Its Own DOGE
Why California Needs Its Own DOGE Originally published in Fresno Bee By Kerry Jackson READ MORE If any government were in desperate need of a DOGE effort, it’s California. The bloated budget, wasteful public works projects and inefficient government programs are all screaming for attention. The federal Department of Government Efficiency ...
New bill in Congress revisits Prop 12
Imagine buying a house and having to adhere to the standards of a homeowner’s association five states away. In a practical sense, that is how Proposition 12 operates for pork producers across the United States. The law also outlines provisions for the house of laying hens and veal calves. Animal ...
Technology is spotlighting failure of arcane transit models
Alas, the walkout, taken in response to a “disgraceful contract offer,” didn’t accomplish much. Strikers’ “energy” and “resolve” may have been “very strong,” but on Day 17 of their protest, a judge ordered the dispatchers, bus drivers and light-rail operators of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 back to work. A ...
More Rent Control Makes Things Worse
Rent control is the bad penny legislation that keeps turning up in California. It is widely regarded as crummy economic policy by economists, it ultimately leads to rental shortages and higher rents and it is based on the faulty idea that private property is somehow public property. And yet, here ...
Spending Watch
AB 4: A Bad Idea That Costs Too Much
AB 4: A Bad Idea That Costs Too Much Wayne Winegarden and Nikhil Agarwal May 2025 As we noted in an earlier Spending Watch piece, growing economic volatility will likely cause revenue growth to be much weaker than expected for the upcoming FY2025-26 budget. It is, consequently, fiscally irresponsible for ...