Posts Tagged: project

News

Capitol rebuild in flux; foes battle Legislature over preservation

The state Capitol in Sacramento surrounded by Capitol Park. (Photo: Merge Digital Media LLC, via Shutterstock)

Preservationists understand that their appeal court victory this month will only delay a billion-dollar expansion of the state Capitol building, but they hope legislators will use the time-out to consider alternatives that would kill fewer trees, cost less money and keep Capitol Park more or less as generations of Californians have known and enjoyed it.

Podcast

Capitol Weekly Podcast: Jeff Kightlinger

Regional Recycled Water Advanced Purification Center Grand Opening 10, Oct 2019

In this episode John Howard and Tim Foster welcomed the longtime but soon-to-be-retired Metropolitan Water District of Southern California head honcho Jeff Kightlinger for a wide-ranging discussion that covered the status of the Delta Tunnel Project, climate change and the snow survey, the drought, working from home, jukeboxes and his punk rock roots.

News

The young health care workers killed by COVID-19

Siblings Jasmine and Josh Obra both tested positive for COVID-19 on the same day. Only one of them survived. (The Obra family)

Jasmine Obra believed that if it wasn’t for her brother Joshua, she wouldn’t exist. When 7-year-old Josh realized that his parents weren’t going to live forever, he asked for a sibling so he would never be alone. By spring 2020, at ages 29 and 21, Josh and Jasmine shared a condo in Anaheim, California, not far from Disneyland, which they both loved.

News

Bullet train, moving slowly, hits another bump

An artist's rendering of California's proposed bullet train. (Image: High-Speed Rail Authority)

For more than a decade, California’s bullet train has faced obstacle after obstacle. The latest hurdle: the pandemic. Last week, the Authority postponed the approval of its 2020 business plan until Dec. 15 in order to assess the impacts of COVID-19.

News

California’s gene therapy effort is nation’s first

The science of gene therapy and health care, a concept illustration. (Image: Kentoh, via Shutterstock)

California today became the first state in the nation to launch itself into the sizzling field of gene therapy, backed by tens of millions of dollars and with the hope of creating treatments that could permanently cure afflictions ranging from hemophilia to cancer.

Recent News

Capitol annex faces $755 million redo

A grizzly bear statue guards the front doors of the governor's office on the ground floor of the Capitol annex. (Photo: Nagel Photography)

The Capitol’s six-story annex is a functional, granite hive of lawmakers’ offices, committee hearing rooms and assorted legislative staff offices, joined at the hip with the domed Capitol. One factoid: The third floor of the annex matches the second floor of the historic wing, which leads to no end of confusion for visitors trying to navigate the labyrinth. But change is coming.

News

Independent governance eyed for State Water Project

The California Aqueduct, part of the State Water Project, flows by an almond orchard in the Central Valley. (Photo: Alabn, via Shutterstock)

The State Water Project comprises 700 miles of tunnels, pipelines, aqueducts and siphons that transport water from California’s north to its more arid south, serving 26 million people and 750,000 acres of farmland along the way. It’s a huge project with a lot of infrastructure, and it’s most of what DWR does. But more than 60 years later, there is a move under way to take control of the project out of the hands of DWR and place it in an independent commission.

Opinion

Transportation planning: People first, not cars

A rush-hour traffic jam on the approach to the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge. (Photo: Aaron Kohr)

OPINION: If you’ve ever sat in traffic crawling at 5 miles per hour or been late to an appointment because of inadequate public transportation, I don’t need to tell you that transportation represents a constant challenge in California. Too many of those problems stem from a planning process that has consistently failed to put people first. California can do better. And let’s not kid ourselves about which people are most likely to get left out of transportation planning decisions: Low-income communities of color.

News

Oral history: Lobbyist George Steffes

Sacramento lobbyist George Steffes.

When Ronald Reagan was elected governor of California in 1966, George Steffes joined his administration as legislative secretary and director of policy, a job he held until 1972. Steffes then helped form the first multi-partner lobbying firm in Sacramento. He is the senior partner of Capitol Partners.

News

Some anti-drought programs face cuts

A woman fills nher bottle with spring water flowing over rocks. (Photo: Wollertz, via Shutterstock)

For the past 5 years, parched Californians suffered through the state’s worst drought. Wildfires, reduced crop production, environmental damage, cities running dry – all were part of the misery. But with the drought now broken by an unprecedented wet season and snowpack, it’s possible to look back and see the positives, especially when it comes to the state budget.

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