Posts Tagged: san

Contracting out, bankrupt San Bernardino cuts pension costs

On the outskirts of San Bernardino. (Photo: Steve Heap)

by ED MENDEL posted 05.26.2015

A San Bernardino plan to exit bankruptcy follows the path of the Vallejo and Stockton exit plans, cutting bond debt and retiree health care but not pensions. Then it veers off in a new direction: contracting for fire, waste management and other services. The contract services are expected to reduce city pension costs. Other pension savings come from a sharp increase in employee payments toward pensions and from a payment of only 1 percent on a $50 million bond issued in 2005 to cover pensions costs.

Household water costs fluctuate sharply

Boats cluster together at drought-ravaged Shasta Lake. (Photo: David Greitzer).

by JOHN HOWARD posted 05.05.2015

People across California pay dramatically different amounts for the same amount of water, with price tags set by individual agencies from Crescent City to El Centro. North or south, inland or coastal, what Californians pay for their water is locally driven. Ultimately, retail water’s value is determined in a way similar to real estate – location, location, location.

Michael Peevey’s tale of turmoil

Michael Peevey at a December meeting of the state Public Utilities Commission. (Photo: Jeff Chiu/Associated Press)

by CHUCK MCFADDEN posted 04.14.2015

It’s almost impossible these days to see the name Michael Peevey without the word “embattled” attached to it. Peevey stepped down last December after serving two six-year terms on the California Public Utilities Commission, almost all of them as PUC president. He has been subjected to withering public criticism up and down the state for fostering a too-cozy relationship between the PUC and the utility firms he was charged with regulating, most recently Pacific Gas & Electric. “Don’t shoot, I surrender,” Peevey wryly told the commission at its December meeting, a comment that drew laughs.

The drought — with a grain of salt

A parched lake bed at Lake Oroville, about 60 miles north of Sacramento. (Photo: sddatta, via Shutterstock)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 04.08.2015

As drought-parched California withers, salt water captures attention – again. Santa Barbara, which built a desalination plan more than 20 years ago and then abruptly shut it down because of costs, is considering upgrading and restarting the project and provide the city of 91,000 with about a fourth of its drinking water. The tentative price tag is $40 million. In Sacramento, the State Water Resources Control Board is poised to adopt new regulations in May governing desalination.

New push for online gaming

An illustration of an online poker player. (Photo: photosani)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 11.11.2014

Three months after attempts to reach an agreement to establish internet poker in California fell apart, a major California gaming tribe says it has joined a coalition to push for new legislation to bring online gambling to the state.

Calpensions: (UPDATE: Measure Q was rejected by a final vote of 55 percent “no” and 45 percent “yes.”) The city charter has forced San Bernardino to give police two pay raises since declaring bankruptcy, one costing $1 million and the other $1.3 million. Voters were asked to change the charter and prevent a third automatic pay raise.

Reporter’s Notebook: Looking back at Gary Webb

Gary Webb. (Photo: Fairness and Accuracy in Media)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 10.10.2014

I rarely dwell on the past – a good thing, too – but I can’t help thinking now about Gary Webb, the journalist who killed himself in Sacramento 10 years ago in the aftermath of a story on the CIA and crack cocaine trafficking that brought him fame, and then humiliation, on a national scale. But surely my memories of Gary are as valid as anything contained in “Kill The Messenger,” Hollywood’s version of his life and work.

Deal struck over Coastal Commission vacancy

The coast at La Jolla. Photo: Dancestrokes)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 09.18.2014

Under an unusual agreement reached between Senate leaders and a number of environmental groups just before the end of the legislative session, the period of time to consider the submitted list of candidates has been extended indefinitely. Such an extension is extremely rare, if not unprecedented.

PG&E hit with $1.4 billion penalty

A devastated zone in San Bruno following the 2010 gas pipeline explosion. (Photo: Brocken Inaglory)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 09.02.2014

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. should pay an unprecedented $1.4 billion in fines and penalties stemming from the 2010 gas pipeline blast in San Bruno that killed eight people and destroyed three dozen homes, state regulators ruled. Penalties against PG&E stemming from the explosion now exceed $2 billion – the $1.4 billion announced Tuesday and $635 million from an earlier decision involving aging pipelines.

Local homebrew festivals are back on tap for California in 2015. A law approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor this week makes it legal, once again, for homebrewing associations to host homebrew events in California.