Homelessness
Blog
On Homelessness, Sacramento Is Becoming More Like San Francisco . . . and That’s Not a Good Thing
Around the time I joined PRI’s team last September, we opened new offices in Midtown Sacramento. I had never spent much time in Midtown before joining PRI. For those who don’t live here, Midtown is a hip part of town with a bustling bar and restaurant scene, expensive new apartments ...
Blog
Housing shortage goes from dire to desperate after wildfires
A few months ago, Tim Anaya and I interviewed for PRI’s podcast Farhad Zabihi, a math professor at the College of Marin, who had been house hunting for nearly a year in Marin County. Marin is just south of Napa and Sonoma — two of the hardest hit counties in ...
Blog
Is State’s Plastic Bag Ban Causing Rise in Hepatitis Cases?
A deadly hepatitis A outbreak in San Diego County has residents on edge. Since last November, at least 17 people have died and nearly 300 others have been sent to the hospital in what public health officials are calling the deadliest outbreak of the disease in the U.S. in decades. ...
California
More Government Won’t Help Sacramento’s Homeless Get Back On Their Feet
Sacramento’s mayor thinks he’s hit on an answer to the city’s homeless problem. He wants to provide them with housing vouchers. Of course, he’s likely to find the result will be the exact opposite of the one he’s looking for. In downtown Sacramento alone, there are reported to be more ...
California
A Choice For Kids With No Options Left
January 22nd to 28th will mark National School Choice Week, which promotes efforts to empower parents to choose the best education option for their children. There is probably no better example of why children need choices in education than Life Learning Academy (LLA) public charter school. Opponents of charter schools, ...
Commentary
The Obamacare Law Devours Itself With Exemptions Amid 5 Million (And Counting) Cancellations
Nearly five million people have had their health insurance policies cancelled because of Obamacare. Their coverage didnt meet the laws lofty specifications for covered benefits. So they were told theyd have to secure more generous and more expensive insurance. Needless to say, they werent too pleased. And they ...
California
Unlocking secret records, findings on police officers
A mentally ill homeless man was beaten into a coma that proved fatal by six Fullerton police officers as he screamed, “Help, dad!” Fresno police punched a homeless man in the head while he was face down with his arms behind his back. Three BART officers in Oakland detained an ...
Business & Economics
Police beating sparks needed national debate
The latest cheesy TV cop series, “Against The Wall,” is about a Chicago woman from a family of police officers who becomes a detective in the department’s internal-affairs unit. This causes outrage among her police brothers and dad, who view internal oversight work as treasonous. The trailer is filled with ...
Agriculture
State’s silly laws, sillier candidates
SACRAMENTO – Every legislator could have skipped out of the country for the entire legislative session, and it would not have mattered one iota to anyone outside of their staff members. That’s not cynicism, so much as a fair and balanced assessment of the last legislative session. I’m reminded of ...
Business & Economics
State budget mess a comedy, or tragedy?
SACRAMENTO – As entertainment goes, the final regular-season episode of the Budget Show in the Capitol was shoddy. The actors – the Assembly members and senators – are B-rate. The speeches, despite their strained attempts to sound Kennedy-esque, were pretentious. Those of us in the audience sometimes rolled our eyes ...
On Homelessness, Sacramento Is Becoming More Like San Francisco . . . and That’s Not a Good Thing
Around the time I joined PRI’s team last September, we opened new offices in Midtown Sacramento. I had never spent much time in Midtown before joining PRI. For those who don’t live here, Midtown is a hip part of town with a bustling bar and restaurant scene, expensive new apartments ...
Housing shortage goes from dire to desperate after wildfires
A few months ago, Tim Anaya and I interviewed for PRI’s podcast Farhad Zabihi, a math professor at the College of Marin, who had been house hunting for nearly a year in Marin County. Marin is just south of Napa and Sonoma — two of the hardest hit counties in ...
Is State’s Plastic Bag Ban Causing Rise in Hepatitis Cases?
A deadly hepatitis A outbreak in San Diego County has residents on edge. Since last November, at least 17 people have died and nearly 300 others have been sent to the hospital in what public health officials are calling the deadliest outbreak of the disease in the U.S. in decades. ...
More Government Won’t Help Sacramento’s Homeless Get Back On Their Feet
Sacramento’s mayor thinks he’s hit on an answer to the city’s homeless problem. He wants to provide them with housing vouchers. Of course, he’s likely to find the result will be the exact opposite of the one he’s looking for. In downtown Sacramento alone, there are reported to be more ...
A Choice For Kids With No Options Left
January 22nd to 28th will mark National School Choice Week, which promotes efforts to empower parents to choose the best education option for their children. There is probably no better example of why children need choices in education than Life Learning Academy (LLA) public charter school. Opponents of charter schools, ...
The Obamacare Law Devours Itself With Exemptions Amid 5 Million (And Counting) Cancellations
Nearly five million people have had their health insurance policies cancelled because of Obamacare. Their coverage didnt meet the laws lofty specifications for covered benefits. So they were told theyd have to secure more generous and more expensive insurance. Needless to say, they werent too pleased. And they ...
Unlocking secret records, findings on police officers
A mentally ill homeless man was beaten into a coma that proved fatal by six Fullerton police officers as he screamed, “Help, dad!” Fresno police punched a homeless man in the head while he was face down with his arms behind his back. Three BART officers in Oakland detained an ...
Police beating sparks needed national debate
The latest cheesy TV cop series, “Against The Wall,” is about a Chicago woman from a family of police officers who becomes a detective in the department’s internal-affairs unit. This causes outrage among her police brothers and dad, who view internal oversight work as treasonous. The trailer is filled with ...
State’s silly laws, sillier candidates
SACRAMENTO – Every legislator could have skipped out of the country for the entire legislative session, and it would not have mattered one iota to anyone outside of their staff members. That’s not cynicism, so much as a fair and balanced assessment of the last legislative session. I’m reminded of ...
State budget mess a comedy, or tragedy?
SACRAMENTO – As entertainment goes, the final regular-season episode of the Budget Show in the Capitol was shoddy. The actors – the Assembly members and senators – are B-rate. The speeches, despite their strained attempts to sound Kennedy-esque, were pretentious. Those of us in the audience sometimes rolled our eyes ...
