Unions target nannies and farm workers

Aug. 31, 2012 By Katy Grimes Farm workers and nannies have a couple of glaring things in common–they are jobs predominantly held by Hispanic men and women, currently exempted from overtime laws, and are being targeted by labor unions for takeover.

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Politics pollutes ‘water rights’ bill

Aug. 30, 2012 By Katy Grimes SACRAMENTO — An interesting debate took place Wednesday in the Assembly over a bill granting California residents the “right” to clean drinking water. Is clean drinking water a right? Can the state grant rights

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Cap and trade, or tax and raid?

Aug. 28, 2012 Katy Grimes: An auction tax is one of the proposed methods for allocating permits to California businesses and public agencies which are subject to the AB 32 cap and trade program under preparation by the California Air Resources Board. AB

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Report on Thomas death recommends police reforms

Editor’s note: This is the third part of a three-part series on how the homeless and mentally ill are treated in California. Part One was about the Kelly Thomas beating and death. Part Two was about how L.A. sheriffs deal with the

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J.B. says reforming CEQA is ‘Lord’s Work’

Aug. 28, 2012 By Wayne Lusvardi In Archibald MacLeish’s 1958 play, “J.B.,” the devil disguised as a popcorn vendor destroys the property and children of a wealthy banker named “J.B.” to test his faithfulness to God.  God, portrayed as a balloon

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Cap and trade “pretend” media auction today

Aug. 28, 2012 Katy Grimes: The California Air Resources Board is holding a webinar for credentialed media today “to familiarize them with the mechanics and purpose of the cap-and-trade practice auction.” It’s a media show and should be interesting. The “practice auction”

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Fighting words at the Capitol

Aug. 27, 2012 Katy Grimes: The tension in the Assemmbly is so thick today, you could cut the air with a flimsy, plastic butter knife. Session opened up with Assemblyman Charles Calderon, the Democratic Majority Floor Leader, telling Assembly members

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Carbon credit value of 393,000 Long Beach trees sinks to zero

Aug. 27, 2012 By Wayne Lusvardi The value of 393,000 trees in the City of Long Beach in the state’s Cap and Trade pollution credit market dropped from about $1.7 million to zero on Aug. 24. The reason: the California

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Lance Armstrong should have kept fighting

Aug. 27, 2012 By John Seiler With a name like Lance-Arm-Strong, Lance Armstrong should have kept fighting the anti-doping charges against him. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency just supposedly “stripped” him of his seven titles, although it’s not clear if they

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God-like legislators fail to pass enviro reforms

Aug. 24, 2012 By Katy Grimes Despite promises to pass desperately needed reforms to the California Environmental Quality Act, lawmakers in the state Senate killed the CEQA reform bill co-authored by Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, R-Thousand Oaks. “The CEQA reform effort

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