Northbound train at Santa Rosa Downtown station, August 2018

SMART bomb: Wine country’s commuter-rail catastrophe

SMART bomb: Wine country’s commuter-rail catastrophe By D. Dowd Muska | June 5, 2026 BOOK REVIEW: “The Great Train Heist: The California SMART Taxpayer Rip-off” They tried in 1990. It didn’t work. They tried in 1998. Nothing doing. They tried ...
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Newsom’s May budget portends future crises for local governments

Gov. Jerry Brown’s last budget spent $140.4 billion in the general fund for fiscal year 2018-19. Newsom’s May Revision to his 2026-27 budget exploded that to $246.6 billion. That’s a 76% increase in eight years at a time the state’s ...
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Watch PRI’s interview with Rick Caruso – one year after the wildfires

In this special Free Cities Center interview, Rick Caruso – founder and executive chairman of Caruso, longtime civic and philanthropic leader in Los Angeles and former mayor candidate – discusses LA’s rebuilding efforts one year after the wildfires. He shares ...
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America’s Smaller Cities Hold Big Answers for Urban Revival, New PRI Booklet Finds

As policymakers search for answers to the growing challenges facing America’s largest cities, a new study from the Pacific Research Institute – the California-based, nonpartisan, free market think tank – suggests they may be looking in the wrong places. PRI’s ...

Studies

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