It’s hard to believe in modern day California multiple stories of rats are making news. From the 15-pound rats in the Delta, to the rats inhabiting downtown Los Angeles—one expert told a Los Angeles news radio station there probably exist in the city the same number of rats as the human population, in other words […]

The Quinnipiac poll this week showed Kamala Harris taking the lead in the presidential contest among California Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters. Her gain in the polls reflects rising support for her candidacy in Southern California.  In February, Quinnipiac polled California Democratic voters on which Democratic candidate they were most excited about. Joe Biden topped Harris […]

I’m trying to imagine how the national referendum proposed by Tom Steyer as part of his presidential platform would work.  He said he trusted the people to make the laws, and that he had success using initiatives in California. Of course, his great wealth spurred those law changes in the Golden State. It would take […]

The Achilles heal of the bill to define workers role in the gig economy just might be a growing list of exemptions in the measure.  In attempting to codify the California Supreme Court’s decision in the Dynamex case, which set a test to determine whether a worker was a full time employee or an independent […]

I can’t say I was surprised by San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ethan Schulman’s ruling that two San Francisco tax increases for special purposes were valid despite receiving less than a two-thirds vote. A tax dedicated for special purposes needs a two-thirds vote,  but a California Supreme Court decision in 2017 created confusion about the […]

Will legislators consider that two seemingly different policy choices debated currently share a similar principle and therefore require a like solution? I’m looking at Senate Bill 206 by Sens. Nancy Skinner of Berkeley and Steve Bradford of Gardena to allow college athletes to be paid for the money-making use of their name, image, and likenesses, […]

Had the two major earthquakes that hit Southern California over the last few days occurred three centuries ago they might have been seen as a message from God that Californians strayed from the righteous path. That was the reaction of New England residents and ministers after a major earthquake hit in 1727. I suppose there […]

A number of gun rights groups have filed a lawsuit against the California law that prohibits anyone under 21 to buy a firearm. Whatever one thinks of the gun issue, the plaintiffs have a solid chance to prevail.   The case filed in San Diego argues that under the Second Amendment, every adult has a right […]

In reading about state senate candidate Josh Newman’s new attention getting gimmick to hand out ice cream to potential voters, it made me think of George Washington. No, I’m not making a political comparison between the country’s first president and the ex-Orange County senator who is in a quest to reclaim his former senate seat—but […]