Colorado lawmakers are abandoning plans to overhaul the Regional Transportation District’s governing board and change how its members are selected after transit officials blasted the plan. Reps. William Lindstedt and Meg Froelich said Wednesday that they are still set to pursue other RTD reforms through House Bill 1447. But they said they plan to drop … Read more
Insurers in California have sounded the alarm: A warming climate has dramatically raised the risk of devastating wildfires, and with it the cost of providing coverage. But now a Peninsula lawmaker says those insurance companies should credit the state and homeowners for the work done to reduce our vulnerability to wildfires. State Sen. Josh Becker, … Read more
Google has thrown down the gauntlet in its battle with California lawmakers and news publishers over compensation for content. The Mountain View internet-search and digital-advertising giant will stop showing links to news stories produced by California media outlets, as it fights a state bill that would make the company and others pay fees to news … Read more
More than a year after the deadline and being hit with a lawsuit over the delay, Cupertino has received a green light from state regulators for a housing plan to add more than 4,500 homes by 2031. Every eight years, California law requires cities to submit a blueprint, known as a housing element, for how … Read more
A month before students must decide where they will go to college, the botched revamp of the federal financial aid process has caused aid applications to plummet by more than 30% compared to last year. Now, California universities are bracing for steep declines in student enrollment. “I have not seen numbers this low in years … Read more
To understand the mind-boggling, consequential power of just one vote in this year’s historic District 16 congressional primary, take a stroll through downtown Saratoga, the heart of Santa Clara County’s Precinct No. 4692. You might bump into Linda Schaefer walking her shih tzu down Big Basin Way. She’s a conservative Republican who usually votes for … Read more
BERKELEY — Two candidates have thrown their hats in the race to represent Berkeley’s District 7, a part of the city largely populated by university students. Cecilia Lunaparra, a senior at UC Berkeley studying history and urban studies, and James Chang, chief of staff for Councilmember Ben Bartlett and a graduate student at the Haas … Read more
Colorado lawmakers advanced a bill Tuesday that would target law enforcement’s use of a common hold called prone restraint for stronger regulation, though they scaled back initial plans for broader limitations. The bill concerns a practice that law enforcement has said is common and necessary but which has come under fire from advocates for police … Read more
Victoria Ortiz was enjoying a turkey leg at a Disneyland France cafe with her husband and son two summers ago when her phone pinged. It was a text message from her boss: “Check your email.” So back at the hotel later that day, she dutifully interrupted her European vacation and fired up her computer. “It’s … Read more
The CZU Lightning Complex wildfire that burned through the Santa Cruz Mountains in late summer 2020 was a wakeup call for Frank Bäuerle. He wasted no time fireproofing his Ben Lomond home and neighborhood, clearing brush and screening vents against flying embers to bolster his property’s resistance to flames. But even as his neighborhood got … Read more
