Posts Tagged: Brown
News
As a native of the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs where it hardly ever rains, Joaquin Esquivel has always known that water is precious. His uncle often took him to the Salton Sea, and he had family served by a well. He carries that respect for the resource as chair of California’s State Water Resources Control Board. “Growing up in the desert, you are very aware of water,” he said.
News
More than three years after lawmakers unanimously called for it, the Secretary of State has yet to compile a searchable database to help voters get in touch with the people they put in office. Voters, it was envisioned, would then have one-stop easy access to office contact information for elected officials at all levels of government. That hasn’t happened.
News
California authorities have ordered the closure of state prisons for the first time in nearly two decades: Four are destined to be shut down in whole or in part, and three more are being discussed for possible closure.
News
The state Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a new law that would have forced presidential candidates — including Donald Trump — to disclose their tax returns in order to get on California’s primary election ballot. The Legislature cannot bar a legally certified contender from the primary election, “even if that candidate fails to disclose five years worth of federal tax returns,” the court said.
Opinion
Last semester I earned a B+ in a freshman composition course at Skyline College. That may not seem like a big deal. What is so out of the ordinary about a college student taking college English? Well, that wouldn’t have been possible a year ago, without AB 705, a bill that went into effect last January that keeps community college students from being inappropriately placed into remedial courses.
News
Gov. Brown leaves office next week with a smaller cost-cutting pension reform than he wanted. But after he’s gone, union challenges to minor parts of his reform pending in the state Supreme Court may open the door to big changes. The main parts of Brown’s reform add several years to retirement ages and make some employees pay more for their pensions.
Opinion
OPINION: The House of Whimsy and Mystery – otherwise known as the California Hall of Fame – conducted its annual whoop earlier this month. As in years past, it mostly produced nods but also a puzzle or two.
The Hall is run by the California Museum, which compiles a master list of potential nominees gathered from a variety of sources, including the governor and first lady, Museum board of directors, historians, past inductees and the public.
News
Tom Hannigan, formerly a major legislative leader, director of California’s Department of Water Resources and an avid marathon runner, has died of natural causes. He was 78. Hannigan, a Marine Corps veteran who fought in the Vietnam war, is the father of Solano County Supervisor Erin Hannigan, who announced his death on her Facebook page.
Opinion
OPINION: With Gov. Brown’s attention on landmark legislation to fight climate change, to address financing of wildfire damage and to give legal teeth to the #MeToo movement, a new law governing HMO mergers was bound to get drowned out. But everyone who was party to the California patients’ rights rebellion of the 1990s knows the governor’s signature on the new law is a very big deal.
News
The new law gives consumers the right to access their personal information collected by big businesses. It gives them the right to delete it, the right to know what information is being sold and the right to stop businesses from selling their information. It also prohibits businesses from selling the personal information of youth under 16 unless they opt in.
Joaquin Esquivel at a water board meeting. (Photo: Water Education Foundation.)
