Rowena Itchon
Agriculture
The Shape of Water Tax
California’s rural residents and coastal elites have at least one thing in common: they’re both drinking bottled water. A McClatchy analysis of data compiled from the State Water Resource Control Board estimates that 360,000 Californians – mostly in inland areas — are served water from unsafe water systems. These include ...
Blog
Firing the Deep State
Irate over plummeting stock prices in recent weeks, the media reported that President Trump wanted to fire his appointed Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. But can he really fire him? It turns out that the law is murky in this area. Trump can fire Powell, but only “for cause.” And that ...
Blog
Meet the Trumpelschumers
Reality TV doesn’t get any better than the recent Oval Office brawl with Trump, Pelosi, and Schumer duking it out over border security. The media made much of it: “pitched partisan argument” (Politico), “testy confrontation” (New York Times), “political fireworks” (ABC). The days of smiling, comfy, fireside photo-ops may be ...
Blog
California Supreme Court to Decide Fate of “Airtime”
Last week, the California Supreme Court heard the case Cal Fire Local 2881 v. CalPERS which challenged the 2013 law (the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act or PEPRA) that eliminated state employees’ ability to add up to five years of employment toward their pension benefit calculation by paying a ...
Blog
Trouble in Paradise: Hawaii’s Hotel Strike
I just returned from my annual Thanksgiving family trip to Hawaii where it was Day 40-something of a hotel workers’ strike at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. I had a hunch something was amiss when our Uber driver pulled into the driveway and a lone young woman who weighed about 100 ...
Blog
Meat the Next Sin Tax
If your holiday meals include filet mignon, rack of lamb, roast pork, or even charcuterie, you might want to reach for a second helping while you can still afford it. That’s because Oxford University researchers are proposing a tax on meat. Their goal is to “save you” from cancer, heart ...
Blog
Second Annual PRI Next Round Wine and Cocktail Recommendations
The holidays are upon us, so we’ve decided to compile a list of our Next Round podcast guests’ alcoholic beverage recommendations for our loyal Right by the Bay readers once again. There’s something for everyone on the list, from Michael “the most interesting man in the White House” Anton’s cabernet ...
Blog
Los Amazon? Not.
It’s official. Amazon has announced plans to establish its second headquarters in New York in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens and Crystal City, Virginia, which is just outside Washington, D.C. I first wrote about Amazon’s search in a blog back when several California cities were vying for HQ2, ...
Blog
More Election Woes: Tax Hikes to Save Pensions
In some excellent reporting by Chris Reed of CalWatchdog, Reed found that more than 100 local governments in California asked voters for tax hikes on Election Day, double the 56 the Bond Buyer said it recorded in November 2016. These 100+ measures were on top of the 36 city and ...
Blog
Midterm Elections and the Markets
It’s been a rocky road for the stock market so far in October. Historically, the financial markets aren’t jittery around mid-term elections. But rising interest rates, a trade war, the mysterious death of an Arab journalist, and Central Americans on the march toward the U.S. border all make for political ...
The Shape of Water Tax
California’s rural residents and coastal elites have at least one thing in common: they’re both drinking bottled water. A McClatchy analysis of data compiled from the State Water Resource Control Board estimates that 360,000 Californians – mostly in inland areas — are served water from unsafe water systems. These include ...
Firing the Deep State
Irate over plummeting stock prices in recent weeks, the media reported that President Trump wanted to fire his appointed Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. But can he really fire him? It turns out that the law is murky in this area. Trump can fire Powell, but only “for cause.” And that ...
Meet the Trumpelschumers
Reality TV doesn’t get any better than the recent Oval Office brawl with Trump, Pelosi, and Schumer duking it out over border security. The media made much of it: “pitched partisan argument” (Politico), “testy confrontation” (New York Times), “political fireworks” (ABC). The days of smiling, comfy, fireside photo-ops may be ...
California Supreme Court to Decide Fate of “Airtime”
Last week, the California Supreme Court heard the case Cal Fire Local 2881 v. CalPERS which challenged the 2013 law (the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act or PEPRA) that eliminated state employees’ ability to add up to five years of employment toward their pension benefit calculation by paying a ...
Trouble in Paradise: Hawaii’s Hotel Strike
I just returned from my annual Thanksgiving family trip to Hawaii where it was Day 40-something of a hotel workers’ strike at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. I had a hunch something was amiss when our Uber driver pulled into the driveway and a lone young woman who weighed about 100 ...
Meat the Next Sin Tax
If your holiday meals include filet mignon, rack of lamb, roast pork, or even charcuterie, you might want to reach for a second helping while you can still afford it. That’s because Oxford University researchers are proposing a tax on meat. Their goal is to “save you” from cancer, heart ...
Second Annual PRI Next Round Wine and Cocktail Recommendations
The holidays are upon us, so we’ve decided to compile a list of our Next Round podcast guests’ alcoholic beverage recommendations for our loyal Right by the Bay readers once again. There’s something for everyone on the list, from Michael “the most interesting man in the White House” Anton’s cabernet ...
Los Amazon? Not.
It’s official. Amazon has announced plans to establish its second headquarters in New York in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens and Crystal City, Virginia, which is just outside Washington, D.C. I first wrote about Amazon’s search in a blog back when several California cities were vying for HQ2, ...
More Election Woes: Tax Hikes to Save Pensions
In some excellent reporting by Chris Reed of CalWatchdog, Reed found that more than 100 local governments in California asked voters for tax hikes on Election Day, double the 56 the Bond Buyer said it recorded in November 2016. These 100+ measures were on top of the 36 city and ...
Midterm Elections and the Markets
It’s been a rocky road for the stock market so far in October. Historically, the financial markets aren’t jittery around mid-term elections. But rising interest rates, a trade war, the mysterious death of an Arab journalist, and Central Americans on the march toward the U.S. border all make for political ...
