Investigation-InfrastructurePunch Hits CA Water Softening IndustryWednesday, November 16th, 2011 NOV. 16, 2011 By DAVE ROBERTS The hammering fist of government has the nuance and delicacy of someone playing the piano while wearing boxing gloves. California’s $500 million water softening industry has been a punching bag for state politicians for several years, and it’s trying to fight ... Obama EPA Killing CA Energy JobsMonday, November 7th, 2011 NOV. 7, 2011 By WAYNE LUSVARDI Over the past three years, the approval rate of new permits for oil and gas “fracking” wells in California has fallen by 90 percent -- from 71 to 7 out of every 100 permit applications. “Fracking” involves the high-power injection of water, sand and proprieta... Wind Turbines Suck Power Like VampiresTuesday, November 1st, 2011 Nov. 1, 2011 By WAYNE LUSVARDI Having just passed Halloween, our minds think of ghosts, ghouls and goblins. One such goblin that will undoubtedly be overlooked is that wind power turbines gobble up energy from the electric grid even when they are not spinning. During the winter months, th... Windmill-Gate Scandal Storms Into CAThursday, October 13th, 2011 OCT. 13, 2011 By WAYNE LUSVARDI Electricity: the peril the wind sings to in the wires on a gray day. -- novelist Janet Frame Windmill-Gate is blowing across the trendy new resource of wind-generated electricity. New new studies look at “cycling”: the ramping up and down of gas power plants... Hard Battle Over Water SoftenersFriday, October 7th, 2011 OCT. 7, 2011 By DAVE ROBERTS The battle over water softeners is boiling over in California. On the one side is the water-softener industry. It's joined by homeowners and businesses whose municipal water suppliers deliver them "hard" water -- which has high concentrations of corrosive minerals... Judge Backs Humans Over Fish in DeltaMonday, September 19th, 2011 SEPT. 19, 2011 By WAYNE LUSVARDI On Sept. 16, U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger threw the Delta smelt minnow back into the waters of the Sacramento Delta. He ruled the federal government’s case was too small to grant a stay -- a court-ordered continuation -- of the man-made “X2’... Stadium Dreams and Sacramento KingsWednesday, August 3rd, 2011 AUGUST 3, 2011 By PATRICK MELARKEY and RICHARD TRAINOR For the past couple years we have watched our home town struggle to keep the Sacramento Kings basketball team in Sacramento. We have also observed the proposed attempt to build a new $400 million stadium for the team in downtown Sacramento... Treasure Isle: Greed, Gold, Toxic WasteTuesday, July 26th, 2011 JULY 26, 2011 By RICHARD TRAINOR Yo ho ho and and a pot of redevelopment gold. For 15 years San Francisco has tried to transform Treasure Island from a sandy former Naval base into a gold and jobs-generating new urban community with 40-story skyscrapers interspersed by parks and marinas. The idea... Green Power Project Jolts CitizensWednesday, July 20th, 2011 JULY 20, 2011 By KATY GRIMES In the Southern California city of Chino Hills, there is a palpable anger spreading as the landscape is changing from bedroom community to industrial park. The bedroom community landscape now includes 200-foot electrical towers near homes, churches and parks. Th... CA Enviro Plan Channels Pol PotWednesday, June 8th, 2011 JUNE 8, 2011 By WAYNE LUSVARDI Remember Pol Pot, the Cambodian dictator and head of the Khmer Rouge? According to Wikipedia, "During his time in power, Pol Pot imposed a version of agrarian socialism, forcing urban dwellers to relocate to the countryside to work in collective farms and forced ... |