Government

BY BEN CHRISTOPHER (This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.) California voters will soon be asked whether they want to keep taxing the incomes of the rich. And they’ll be asked whether to start taxing the accumulated wealth of the even richer. Wait, there’s more. They’ll also get to weigh in on whether we should ban wealth taxesaltogether, subject the…

Hilton went on offense from the start, pressing Becerra on his record as attorney general and as Biden HHS secretary By Katy Grimes (Republished from The California Globe – californiaglobe.com) The debate Wednesday night on CNN was the only scheduled head-to-head between Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton, moderated by Dana Bash and Jake Tapper. It was an…

BY ADAM ECHELMAN (This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.) Firefighting is grueling work — 24-hour work days, backbreaking labor, and of course, the heat. It’s no different for incarcerated firefighters, who are responsible for nearly half of the emergency hours spent combatting California’s wildfires. Once they leave prison, many former firefighters struggle to find work,…

BY BEN CHRISTOPHER AND  NIGEL DUARA (This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.) Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco broke the law and created “a substantial risk to election integrity”  when he seized more than 650,000 ballots California’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday morning. The justices ruled unanimously that Bianco must return the ballots to the county’s top election administrator and…

If the boot doesn’t fit, you probably should not force your foot into it By Katy Grimes (Republished from The California Globe – californiaglobe.com) California Governor Gavin Newsom just had a “Talarico” moment of inauthenticity, of epic proportions. Poor James Talarico is trying so hard to convince Texans that he is one of them: rugged, manly,…

BY YUE STELLA YU AND  JULIET WILLIAMS (This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.) California’s High Speed Rail Authority paid nearly $600,000 in unallowable travel expenses to “questionable locations that appear unrelated to state business,” including trips to gyms, a nightclub, an escape room, a tiki bar and a cigar lounge over a two-year period, according…

Many donors are simultaneously regulated, seeking permits, negotiating compacts, or fighting bills the governor can sign or veto By Katy Grimes (Republished from The California Globe – californiaglobe.com) The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating California Governor Gavin Newsom’s international travel and personal spending. The U.S. Attorney’s office issued subpoenas this month requesting testimony and communications…

What prosecutors describe is petition signature fraud, identity theft wearing a civic costume By Jay Rogers (Republished from The California Globe – californiaglobe.com)] Somewhere in Sacramento a legislative staffer is drafting a press release about “the will of the people.” Down on Skid Row, the will of the people goes for two or three dollars a…