Posts Tagged: $6 billion

Earthquakes: A fight to protect infrastructure

A bicyclist rides by debris following the 1994 Northridge quake. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)

by JESSICA HICE posted 04.04.2018

The images of California’s powerful earthquakes over the years have been vivid — the shattered buildings, the collapsed bridges, the buckled highways. A Los Angeles lawmaker is proposing updated earthquake legislation geared toward saving infrastructure, noting that modern building codes are designed to save lives but not necessarily preserve the physical structures.

In NorCal fires, weed goes up in smoke

In this Oct. 17 photo, Marcos Morales, co-founder of the cannabis company Legion of Bloom, stands on the ruins of a state-of-the-art drying shed in Glen Ellen, Calif., where 1,600 pounds of ready-to-ship cannabis were destroyed in a fire. (Associated Press/Paul Elias)

by CHUCK MCFADDEN posted 11.06.2017

It’s being called the Wine Country Fire, but the fatal October fires that blackened nearly 200,000 acres across Northern California might also be called the Cannabis Country Fire. While most of the coverage has focused on damage to the losses of homes, business structures and the wine industry, marijuana growers were also hit hard.

State writing new pot regulations

A marijuana plant growing in Northern California. (Photo: Shutterstock)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 01.24.2017

California authorities are crafting new rules governing both medical and recreational marijuana, and they hope to present them to the public in March. The move follows voter approval in November of Proposition 64, which legalized recreational pot use. It passed by 2 million votes out of nearly 14 million cast.

Schools: Time right for strong energy standards

Three young students with computers at the 11th Annual Bay Area Maker Faire in San Mateo in May. (Photo: David Gilder, Shutterstock)

by ANNA FERRERA posted 09.20.2016

OPINION: After years of tightened budgets, K-12 schools in California are always looking for ways to save money without diminishing the quality of classroom instruction. The California Energy Commission (CEC) has a golden opportunity to help schools do just that, with the recent release of final energy efficiency standards for computers and monitors that the CEC estimates would save Californians $370 million each year.

Repairing California’s bumpy roads

Downtown Los Angeles, as traffic zips along. (Photo: Sean Pavone)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 12.23.2015

Six months after Gov. Jerry Brown called for a special session of the Legislature to fix the state’s crumbling roads, the potholes are just as deep, the motorists are just as irritated and the multibillion-dollar price tag is just as high. The goal is to offer a package to improve the worst of the state’s 50,000 miles of state-run roads and 13,000 bridges, and provide new capacity in freight-clogged zones and provide a regular source of funding over time.