An aerial view of the California Correctional Center in Susanville, destined for closure. (Photo: CDCR)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.
Demonstrators urging Preident Trump to make his tax retyurns public, 2017. <(Photo: Christopher Penler, via Shutterstock)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.
College students gather in the school library. (Photo: Rawpixel.com, via Shutterstock)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.
Gov. Jerry Brown discusses public pension issues at a Capitol budget briefing for reporters. (Photo: AP/Rich Pendroncelli, via calpensions.com) 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.
The California Museum in Sacramento. (Photo: ldabrahams, via Wikipedia)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.
Tom Hannigan and his daughter Erin, a Solano County supervisor. (Photo: Erin Hannigan Facebook page)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.
A photo illustration depicting a medicine and regulation. (Image: one photo, via Shutterstock)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.
Developer Alastair Mactaggart, center, gets a hug from Sen. Bob Hertzberg, left, while Assemblymember Ed Chau looks on. Chau and Hertzberg pushed Mactaggart's privacy bill through the Legislature. (Photo: AP/Rich Pedroncelli) 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.
An illustration of data privacy and the internet. <i(Image: Green Tech, via Shutterstock) With only hours to spare, Gov. Jerry Brown headed off what was sure to be a multimillion-dollar initiative battle and signed legislation boosting the rights of consumers over how internet companies use their personal data. Brown’s signing Thursday afternoon came after a scramble in the Legislature to get the measure passed in the face of a tight deadline.
An illustration of internet security, a padlock on a digital background. (Image: Titima Ongkantong, via Shutterstock)The pressure is on: High-stakes, closed-door maneuvering involving lawmakers and the fate of a November ballot initiative is roiling the Capitol. The initiative would boost privacy rights for millions of online customers. But it won’t go directly to voters at all, the sponsor promises, if a bill emerges from the Legislature and makes it to the governor’s desk by Thursday, June 28.