(Photo: Solitary confinement cells along a corridor in San Quentin Prison.)The Mandela Act, or AB 2632, would have reformed the practice of solitary confinement, which places people, convicted and awaiting trial, in isolation for up to 24 hours a day in jails, prisons and detention facilities.
Workers on a large construction project in Laguna Niguel. (Photo: Steve Bruckmann)OPINION: Associated Builders and Contractors Northern California President Michele Daugherty’s misleading Jan. 3 op-ed article in the Capitol Weekly is drastically in need of an insertion of some true facts. Daugherty bitterly complained about a bill that expanded a successful, state-approved pre-apprenticeship program. She also stated in the article that she has “many reasons to be proud” of her organization’s 1,200 members, a number that gives her a market share of only 0.425 percent of the 282,063 licensed contractors in the state of California.
CalPERS headquarters, Sacramento. (Photo: Wikipedia)Calpensions: Three years ago CalPERS investment earnings hit bottom in a Wilshire consultants report that ranks the performance of big pension funds — dead last among its peers over the previous five years. Last week a new Wilshire report showed CalPERS investment earnings steadily climbing up the ranks, finishing in the top quarter of big pension funds during the last three years.