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California lawmakers to receive pay hike
California lawmakers are in line to receive a 5.3 percent raise on Monday. However, a dozen are refusing the pay hike in light of the down economy and the high number of unemployed Californians. [LATimes] A citizens’ panel approved the... (Continue reading)
California toying with toy gun ban
California lawmakers are planning to introduce a bill calling for a ban on certain replica guns. [SacramentoBee] In October, Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies shot and killed 13-year-old Andy Lopez, who was carrying a replica AK-47 in a Santa Rosa field.... (Continue reading)
Toxic substance department records point to inaction in chemical cases
By KAREN VELIE Almost two years ago, a San Luis Obispo city employee ordered others to dump chemicals and paints at a city facility. The state’s Department of Toxic Substance Control began an investigation and told witnesses that criminal cases... (Continue reading)
California’s $2.4 billion surplus
California’s financial situation has improved and advisors are projecting a $2.4 billion surplus at the end of the fiscal year in June 2014, according to the Legislature’s budget advisors. [LATimes] Gains from the economic recovery and stock market could provide... (Continue reading)
Big ag’s $50 million Obamacare contract
Western Growers Association, a group staunchly opposed to the Affordable Care Act, won a $50 million contract to manage Obamacare in California. [Calbuzz] Pinnacle Claims Management Inc., a subsidiary of Western Growers Service Corps, won the lucrative three-year contract earlier... (Continue reading)
Drone crashes into Navy ship off California coast
An American drone crashed into a Navy ship off the coast of Southern California Saturday afternoon, injuring two sailors. [RT] The $4 million Reaper drone veered out of control during an operation testing the USS Chancellorsville’s combat weapons system. Navy... (Continue reading)
It’s a fee: California cap and trade passes legal challenge
California’s one-year-old system of auctioning off the right to emit carbon survived a pair of legal challenges this week. [SacramentoBee] Sacramento Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley rejected lawsuits filed over California’s cap and trade law, AB 32, by the California... (Continue reading)
California GOP not attracting minorities, young voters
Despite suffering a supermajority defeat in the legislature in 2012 and losing control of the governorship two years prior, the worst years may have yet to come the California Republican Party. [LA Times] A newly released USC/Los Angeles Times poll... (Continue reading)
Santa Maria makes the top 10 most violent city list
Santa Maria made the top 10 most violent California city list with a crime rate of 6.78 violent crimes per 1,000 residents, according to the FBI’s 2012 crime report. Leading the state is Oakland, followed by Stockton, Richmond, Antioch, Modesto... (Continue reading)
California poverty rate highest in nation, report says
Nearly a quarter of Californians live in poverty, according to a Census Bureau calculation that includes cost of living. [SacramentoBee] California’s official poverty rate is 16.5 percent, which is above the national average, but not one of the highest in... (Continue reading)