Groundwater: Everyone Is Finally Talking About It
When I was in the Assembly, there were many heated debates over water. Fast forward five years and water issues are still just as contentious as ever. It’s being compounded by the drought, which after three years, is producing a lot of uncertainly and concern amongst Californians. But the drought has contributed to one major […]
Judge Kills the Death Penalty
A federal judge in Southern California declared California’s death penalty unconstitutional yesterday, which will give impetus to a plan introduced by three former governors to push for reforms of the death penalty that would deal with the judge’s main objection of long delays. In February former governors George Deukmejian, Pete Wilson and Gray Davis announced […]
California Needs a New Vision of Its Apocalypse
What explains the success of California? Fear of the apocalypse. Fear of a publishing apocalypse, to be precise. Most of us never would have heard about Edan Lepucki’s debut novel, California, about a post-apocalyptic Golden State, except for a battle between Amazon and book publishers. Here’s a short version of a long story: California’s publisher, […]
The Draper Dream Would Be Our Nightmare
California has launched more than a few inventions considered utopian that were eventually adopted throughout the nation. Some of the more famous are Sour Dough Bread, Barbie Dolls, Pet Rocks, Hula Hoops, wetsuits, theme parks, the computer mouse, and—yes—even the Martini! But no state has ever put forth a plan to completely replace itself—until now. […]
STEM Jobs Pay Well But Take Twice As Long To Fill
The salaries of Silicon Valley tech interns have grabbed headlines recently but the bigger story of educating California’s next science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workforce is ever present. STEM jobs hold the promise of consistently low unemployment rates and high salaries, yet finding people skilled enough to fill vacancies has been increasingly difficult in […]