Morro Rock. (Photo by Alex Matthews, Capitol Weekly.)I’ve slept just three hours in the last 48, but I’m wide awake. I got off my second job at 1 a.m. Wednesday morning and woke at 4:30 a.m. to make the trek down from San Francisco to Morro Bay in time for the Feb. 10 Coastal Commission meeting. At 8 a.m., I was making good time down U.S. Highway 101 when one of my tires blew out near Paso Robles.
Recent research is focusing new attention on an asbestos-like mineral, blamed for staggering rates of a deadly cancer in Turkey, that also is found in the rocks and soil of 13 Western states, including California. The U.S. Geological Survey has identified 95 sites where the mineral, erionite, exists. Nine of the identified locations are in California.
Entrepreneur and venture capitalist Anis Uzzaman literally wrote the book on success in Silicon Valley. The CEO and co-founder of Fenox Venture Capital is the author of “Startup Bible: The Silicon Valley Way of Developing Success.” But now the U.S. Department of Labor has thrown the book at his company.
Capitol Weekly’s John Howard and Tim Foster sit down for a chat about California politics, including a look at data whiz Paul Mitchell’s #CA120 article covering the surprise outcome of the 2014 race for the 39th Assembly District. That’s the battle in which political unknown Patty Lopez defeated incumbent Raul Bocanegra. Was it the ballot order? Inquiring minds want to know.
Patty Lopez and Raul Bocanegra (Illustration by Tim Foster/Capitol Weekly)If someone comes to you and says, “I won my election because I was the first name on the ballot,” you should immediately check for the tinfoil hat — and then show them the door. The notion that a democratic election for something as important as a legislative or congressional seat, or even a city council, can be decided by the order on a ballot is the domain of wild conspiracy theorists. Until it actually happens.
A professionally operated drone heads into the sunset. (Photo: Concept W, Shutterstock)On a Saturday night in early December, while relaxing at his Martinez, Calif., home, Chinese exchange student Owen Ouyang decided to have some fun. He went out to the front yard and launched a sleek new drone he had recently purchased online for about $1,000. The 2.8-pound drone, advertised as “easy to fly,” proved anything but. Soon after takeoff, the drone veered dangerously toward a power line. It then climbed more than 700 feet – right into the path of a California Highway Patrol helicopter
A street sign for voters. (Photo by Gustavo Frazao, via Shutterstock)ANALYSIS: Elections are about choices. For many California voters, these choices are put in stark partisan terms: casting ballots strictly for all Democrats or all Republicans. But, the state’s new Open Primary gave us a new twist. Voters in the Primary Election can now choose to stay within their own partisan silos, just voting among candidates within their party, or they can stray, picking candidates that appeal to them regardless of party.
San Quentin prison, as seen from San Francisco Bay. (Photo: San Quentin News, prison newspaper)ANALYSIS: What if, instead of building prisons in remote locations, we put them near cities, accessible to family members and to the resources — educational, vocational, therapeutic, recreational, cultural — that are scarce in most prison towns?
The California coast along Redwood National Park, north Humboldt County, (Photo: Don Forthuber, redwoods.info)MORRO BAY, Calif. – The California Coastal Commission fired Executive Director Charles Lester late Wednesday, after several commissioners complained about a lack of communication from Lester and the staff. The action, a 7-5 vote by the 12-member commission, was taken publicly following a discussion behind closed doors.
The Republican national convention in Cleveland's Public Auditorium in 1924. This year's GOP convention is in Cleveland, too. (Photo: Everett Historical, via Shutterstock)ANALYSIS: The conventional wisdom says fuggedaboutit. Pundits, campaign managers, and the politicians themselves express doubt about the possibility. Not as much as previously, but still doubt. It might happen. And California could be in the middle of it all. We’re talking about a “brokered” convention.