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Charter schools provide good learning options for all kids

Classical Academy Charter School Keeps Excelling and Innovating

One of the most rewarding aspects of my job has been the opportunity to meet innovative education leaders whose learning models are making a big difference in the lives of students.  Amongst these educators, Cameron Curry, who helped to start Classical Academies and now serves as CEO, is right at ...
Blog

Focus homeless aid on transformation, then affordability

Focus homeless aid on transformation, then affordability By Kenneth Schrupp | June 16, 2023 Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass is concentrating homeless assistance projects in high-rent areas where the homeless choose to congregate. This only perpetuates the homeless population’s reliance on government support. In spite of the hundreds of millions ...
Blog

Read latest about government overregulation

By managing growth, planners make cities less livable

While Euclidean zoning has been credited with segregating developments that have incompatible uses – a chemical plant next to a school or a landfill right up against a residential district, for a couple of examples – it has a record of going too far. In some cases, planners “decided that ...
Blog

The Fentanyl Resurgimiento— A Drug Like No Other

On January 11, 2023, Dr. Rahul Gupta, the Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) declared a small victory. He reported new figures from the Center for Disease Control estimating that nationally there was a 2.57 percent decrease in the number of fatal drug overdoses for ...
Agriculture

Learn about new anti-livestock bill in Congress

Congressional legislation would give animal activists enforcement opportunities in checkoff programs

So, with all the redundancy of the OFF Act, what is the real thrust of this Congressional proposal? The coalition formed in support of the act gives a hint to what is really at its core: a foot in the door for animal activist groups to slowly force livestock producers ...
Blog

California: Green For Me But Not For Thee

Unsurprisingly, Californians are also using other states as junkyards. CalMatters recently reported that “California regulations may stop at the border, but its waste does not.” “​​Since 2010, about 43 percent of California-only hazardous waste has been transported out of state – much of it to Arizona and Utah landfills,” the ...
Blog

Soaking rich homeowners fails in Los Angeles

Soaking rich homeowners fails in Los Angeles By Randal O’Toole  |  June 9, 2023 To help fund the $1.3 billion that Los Angeles’ City Council believes it needs to house the homeless, the city decided to impose a “mansion tax” of 4 percent on the sales of any homes or ...
Blog

Read excerpt from new Free Cities Center book

Providing us with the transportation that planners want

One need only spend a little time on a transit-oriented social-media page or reading the thoughts of urban-focused writers to detect a certain disdain toward the automobile, suburbia and the construction of road and freeway lanes. Such attitudes are not outliers, as any quick search of New Urbanist and pro-transit ...
Blog

Juvenile Justice – A Crisis in the Making

On July 1,  California will close its three remaining juvenile justice facilities.  Located in Stockton and Ventura, the three facilities house just 300 juvenile offenders – down from a system high of 8000 ten years ago.   Once closed, the 300 inmates will be returned to the county from which they ...
Blog

Natural Gas Ban And A Flameout Of Five-Star Dining In California?

When California cities began banning natural gas connections, restaurateurs and chefs kicked up a fuss. How could they be expected to create their culinary gems using inferior electric stoves? “To say that an electric stove is as good as a gas one is misunderstanding the art of cooking,” said George ...
Blog

Charter schools provide good learning options for all kids

Classical Academy Charter School Keeps Excelling and Innovating

One of the most rewarding aspects of my job has been the opportunity to meet innovative education leaders whose learning models are making a big difference in the lives of students.  Amongst these educators, Cameron Curry, who helped to start Classical Academies and now serves as CEO, is right at ...
Blog

Focus homeless aid on transformation, then affordability

Focus homeless aid on transformation, then affordability By Kenneth Schrupp | June 16, 2023 Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass is concentrating homeless assistance projects in high-rent areas where the homeless choose to congregate. This only perpetuates the homeless population’s reliance on government support. In spite of the hundreds of millions ...
Blog

Read latest about government overregulation

By managing growth, planners make cities less livable

While Euclidean zoning has been credited with segregating developments that have incompatible uses – a chemical plant next to a school or a landfill right up against a residential district, for a couple of examples – it has a record of going too far. In some cases, planners “decided that ...
Blog

The Fentanyl Resurgimiento— A Drug Like No Other

On January 11, 2023, Dr. Rahul Gupta, the Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) declared a small victory. He reported new figures from the Center for Disease Control estimating that nationally there was a 2.57 percent decrease in the number of fatal drug overdoses for ...
Agriculture

Learn about new anti-livestock bill in Congress

Congressional legislation would give animal activists enforcement opportunities in checkoff programs

So, with all the redundancy of the OFF Act, what is the real thrust of this Congressional proposal? The coalition formed in support of the act gives a hint to what is really at its core: a foot in the door for animal activist groups to slowly force livestock producers ...
Blog

California: Green For Me But Not For Thee

Unsurprisingly, Californians are also using other states as junkyards. CalMatters recently reported that “California regulations may stop at the border, but its waste does not.” “​​Since 2010, about 43 percent of California-only hazardous waste has been transported out of state – much of it to Arizona and Utah landfills,” the ...
Blog

Soaking rich homeowners fails in Los Angeles

Soaking rich homeowners fails in Los Angeles By Randal O’Toole  |  June 9, 2023 To help fund the $1.3 billion that Los Angeles’ City Council believes it needs to house the homeless, the city decided to impose a “mansion tax” of 4 percent on the sales of any homes or ...
Blog

Read excerpt from new Free Cities Center book

Providing us with the transportation that planners want

One need only spend a little time on a transit-oriented social-media page or reading the thoughts of urban-focused writers to detect a certain disdain toward the automobile, suburbia and the construction of road and freeway lanes. Such attitudes are not outliers, as any quick search of New Urbanist and pro-transit ...
Blog

Juvenile Justice – A Crisis in the Making

On July 1,  California will close its three remaining juvenile justice facilities.  Located in Stockton and Ventura, the three facilities house just 300 juvenile offenders – down from a system high of 8000 ten years ago.   Once closed, the 300 inmates will be returned to the county from which they ...
Blog

Natural Gas Ban And A Flameout Of Five-Star Dining In California?

When California cities began banning natural gas connections, restaurateurs and chefs kicked up a fuss. How could they be expected to create their culinary gems using inferior electric stoves? “To say that an electric stove is as good as a gas one is misunderstanding the art of cooking,” said George ...
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