June 15, 2012 By Joseph Perkins After repeatedly failing over the years to get a law passed by the California Legislature requiring the labeling of genetically modified foods, the state’s food Luddites succeeded this week in qualifying a food labeling initiative for the November ballot. T...

June 8, 2012 By Joseph Perkins Voters in San Jose and San Diego sent a loud, clear message to public employees unions this week that they can no longer expect gold-plated benefit packages and immunity from private competition. Santa Cruz County Sheriff Phil Wowak hopes the message resonates...

May 31, 2012 By Joseph Perkins If you build it, they will come. That was the cockeyed reasoning behind a state grant program to encourage construction of hydrogen fueling stations long before hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are actually motoring along the Golden State’s freeways and roads. ...

May 18, 2012 By Joseph Perkins The dawning of the commercial space age begins Tuesday. That’s when SpaceX is expected to launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida for a rendevous with the International Space Station -- the first time a private spacecraft will do so. A Saturday launch was cancele...

May 11, 2012 By Joseph Perkins A pair of Northern California lawmakers unveiled a proposal this week to avert the scheduled July 1 closure of 70 state’s 278 parks, casualties of last year’s budget-cutting by the Legislature. “The notion of closing 70 parks is ill-conceived,” said st...