The state Capitol in Sacramento, viewed from 10th Street toward the West Steps.(Photo: Timothy Boomer)Build it and they will come. A surge in state government office construction looms for downtown Sacramento, including the replacement or renovation of the Capitol’s 64-year-old annex.
Former California Gov. Ronald Reagan and wife Nancy voting in the 1980 presidential general election. (Photo: Associated Press)There are few more iconic images in American politics than the candidate and spouse exiting the polling booth on Election Day. The sun is shining, the vibrant political family is in full bloom and democracy is in the air. But, in modern elections, this is changing
Image by Tim Foster, Capitol WeeklyANALYSIS: Nobody likes to feel like they are just a number. But to many modern campaigns, that’s exactly what we are. Whether we know it or not, the big campaigns for statewide ballot measures have assigned us a number. Ted Cruz has assigned us a number, and so have Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
Voluminous data displayed on a computer monitor. (Photo: Dimitri Nikolaev)Data wizard Paul Mitchell and Capitol Weekly are joining forces to regularly explore contemporary issues of importance to our readers in a new column called “CA120.” Gun control, the environment, education, state budgeting and, of course, California elections. On occasion, we hope to offer profound insight. And at other times, we’ll use the data just to have fun.
A drone and its master. (Photo: Ahturner)Efforts to contain a July 12 brush fire in San Bernardino County were delayed for eight crucial minutes after response crews spotted a hobbyist’s drone flying close to the fire area. The drone, which US Forest Service officials suspect may have been recording footage of the fire, eventually flew off, allowing grounded air crews to resume. For firefighters, those lost minutes can be devastating as they try to contain a wildfire.
ANALYSIS: The Supreme Court is set to announce a decision in an Arizona redistricting case that could upend the California Redistricting Commission’s congressional lines and return to the legislature the responsibility for conducting each decennial redraw. Some prominent leaders in redistricting reform are preparing for this eventuality and urging the Legislature to stand down, allowing the current lines to be carried forward until 2022 and giving reformers a chance to develop a new method for independent redistricting of Congressional lines that wouldn’t conflict with the court’s decision in this case. This, however, may not be possible or even necessary.
Three seats on the powerful board that governs California’s multibillion-dollar health insurance exchange are up for grabs, giving the Brown administration – whose allies already comprise a majority on the five-member board — an opportunity to name two new directors. Two seats held by appointees of former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger expired last week. A third became vacant following the resignation last month of Robert Ross, the president of the nonprofit California Endowment.
A view toward the Bay Bridge, via Chinatown. (Photo: Christian Mehlfuhrer)ANALYSIS: Los Angeles County is home to more than 26% of all Californians. But when it comes to running for statewide office, being from Los Angeles may be more of an obstacle than a political advantage. While the people may be in Los Angeles, the largest chunk of the state’s voters – those who actually cast ballots — come from the nine counties in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Recent warnings about the dangers of overreliance on petroleum have come from an unlikely cast of characters, including former presidential candidate Ron Paul, business magnate T. Boone Pickensand even a Saudi prince (who warned against his nation’s over dependence on oil exports). If Californians want to disentangle our economy from oil and from the world events that can impact oil prices while cutting our greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020—a goal given the force of law by AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act—we need to consider the surprising connections that drive our state’s dependence on petroleum.