AltWeeklies Wire
Calif. Governor Signs Bill That Heads Off Ban on Circumcisionsnew
The controversy over male circumcisions have officially been nipped in the bud. Governor Jerry Brown on Sunday signed off on a new law that puts the kibosh local cities and counties to criminalize circumcision for males younger than 18.
Phil Angelides Talks About the Financial Crisisnew
Congress put Sacramento’s Phil Angelides, former California lieutenant governor, in charge of getting to the truth about the 2008 financial meltdown. What’d he find?
Sacramento News & Review |
Jeff vonKaenel |
03-03-2011 |
Economy
Tags: California, Wall Street
Don't Fall for the Phony Budget Crisis
Politicians and pundits from both parties tell us that the good times are over, that we've got to start living within our means. They're lying.
Would Bankruptcy Save California?new
Some people seem almost to be drooling at the prospect of a state or municipal bankruptcy; a judge, they argue, could force big reductions in employee pensions.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Tim Redmond |
12-28-2010 |
Policy Issues
Tags: California, Proposition 13
Cutting Through Smoke Surrounding California's Prop. 19new
Recent polls show marijuana legalization will go down in flames in California on Nov. 2, while some interpreting those surveys claim many voters saying no to pollsters will punch yes to Prop 19 once inside the voting booth, paving the way to victory.
Tags: California, Proposition 19
Undocumented Immigrants Barred from Visiting Loved Ones in Prisonnew
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently floated the idea of building prisons in Mexico to house the 18,000 California inmates who are in the country illegally. We have to wonder: Could a jailbird's mom visit him in Tijuana? Because if she's undocumented, she can't do that here.
SF Weekly |
Lauren Smiley |
02-17-2010 |
Immigration
When Life Takes You Out of Your House and Into Your Carnew
Maybe one has even parked on your street: a conversion van, curtains drawn, or a camper with signs of everyday life. They are so ubiquitous in Venice, Calif. that some have been trying to turn the onetime hippie enclave into a parking-permit-only town as a way to ward off "undesirables."
L.A. Weekly |
Linda Immediato |
02-05-2010 |
Economy
Obama Entrapped Me: Medical Marijuana Provider Mounts a Novel Criminal Defensenew
More than most citizens, James Dean Stacy feels betrayed by the candidate for whom he voted for president. Stacy was arrested in September when his medical-marijuana collective, Movement in Action, was raided along with 13 others.
San Diego CityBeat |
Dave Maass |
12-28-2009 |
Drugs
When Will Medical Marijuana Get the High Sign in Monterey County?new
Daniel Maniscalco dreams of getting off the road and opening Monterey County’s first medical pot storefront. “I want to provide medical marijuana patients the medicines their doctors recommend,” he says.
Monterey County Weekly |
Robin Urevich |
12-17-2009 |
Drugs
California Dopes Out Marijuana Bill as Legalization Petition Gets Passed Aroundnew
Two serious bids to legalize marijuana in California are moving forward simultaneously. And while decisions won't be made for months, both efforts have generated interest from around the world.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Rebecca Bowe |
11-04-2009 |
Drugs
Lauded Prison Drug-Treatment Services are the Latest Victim of California's Budget Cutsnew
The Amity Foundation's highly regarded Right Turn program, held up as a national model for effective prisoner rehabilitation, is being closed down at Donovan State Prison, making Donovan one of eight prisons statewide that won't provide any sort of professional in-custody substance-abuse treatment.
San Diego CityBeat |
Kelly Davis |
10-14-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Can the Colectivo Tonantzin and the ACLU Beat One City's Anti-Day-Laborer Ordinance?new
The Colectivo has concentrated on fighting for the rights of day laborers in a county that has seen cities pass increasingly stringent ordinances against them. And few are more adamant about running jornaleros out of town than Orange, the Colectivo's new target.
OC Weekly |
Gustavo Arellano |
10-06-2009 |
Business & Labor
How ACORN Foresaw the Foreclosure Crisis in 2001new
The grassroots group helped Oakland pass a tough anti-predatory lending law that would have halted the housing crisis before it started. Then subprime lenders started making campaign contributions in Sacramento.
East Bay Express |
Robert Gammon |
09-30-2009 |
Economy
A Year Late, L.A. Tries to Uninvite its Unvetted Pot Shopsnew
The Los Angeles City Council now faces one of its potentially most expensive legal battles ever, a war over medical pot that could draw in shady drug dealers, serious medical-marijuana activists, gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown -- and even U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
L.A. Weekly |
Daniel Heimpel |
09-25-2009 |
Drugs
Can California's Community Colleges Weather the Economic Storm?new
While those in the system figure out how to weather this year's cuts, they anticipate fearsome funding cuts in next year's budget and beyond. But money for community colleges should be structured in much the same way that unemployment insurance is supposed to work, so that it is there when it is needed most -- like it is today.
East Bay Express |
Jay Youngdahl |
09-23-2009 |
Education
