May 17, 2013 By Wayne Lusvardi “I drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry,” go the famous lyrics to singer Don McClean’s 1971 hit song, “American Pie.” The California Dream of home ownership and speculative riches in land development died in 2008 in Natomas, the last u...

MAY 17, 2013 By Katy Grimes SACRAMENTO -- The Senate Governance and Finance Committee on Wednesday passed six constitutional amendments to make it easier for local voters to pass various tax increases on property owners. "California didn't knowingly vote for centralized power," said Sen...

May 16, 2013 By Katy Grimes SACRAMENTO -- A corruption exemption remains in Assembly Bill 173, by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego. But calls I made to all the members of the Accountability and Administrative Review committee, which had reviewed the bill, indicated resistance by...

May 16, 2013 By Wayne Lusvardi Being the home of Hollywood and Disneyland, news in California always has an element of political theater and Fantasyland.  This is certainly so for all the contradictory headlines about fracking -- the hydraulic fracturing of deep underground rock formations to...