Earlier this month, an invasive species that threatens crops was found near Sacramento’s Meadowview neighborhood. The Sacramento County Agricultural Commissioner and state agencies confirmed that two oriental fruit flies (Bactrocera dorsalis) were detected in the Sacramento area, which may trigger another quarantine. The oriental fruit fly is a tropical species that is widespread through much […]

College athletes in California could soon be getting paid, thanks to a proposed legislation introduced earlier this year. However, the money will not be coming from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). State Senator Nancy Skinner introduced Senate Bill 206 (SB 206), which would allow players to get compensated for sponsorship opportunities. The proposed legislation […]

Last month, the Sacramento Bee submitted a records request for written communications to or from California Secretary of State Alex Padilla and his chief of staff regarding a batch of around 1,500 registration errors. Padilla’s office responded to the request with 268 pages of material, but half the pages were newsletters Padilla received from news […]

According to the Sacramento Bee, the California Department of Motor Vehicles cited 2,485 people this fiscal year for abusing the cards that are designed to accommodate people with limited mobility. The DMV issued 1,625 citations the previous fiscal year, which is a 58 percent increase. The disabled placard violations are misdemeanors that carry fines of […]

Last month, CalPERS voted to increase the compensation package it offers for two top executives as it tries out to replace outgoing Chief Investment Officer Ted Eliopoulos and to fill a vacancy at chief financial officer. The next chief investment officer will be able to earn $1.77 million in a single year, which is about […]

According to the Sacramento Bee, California state attorneys are going to fight court rulings directing the state to pay about $40 million in back wages and benefits to about 3,000 current and former judges who claim they were shortchanged during the recession. The state must pay 10 percent annual interest on the back wages and […]

According to the Sacramento Bee, about one-third of all recyclables collected by Sacramento County, estimated to be 290 tons, was packed into trucks and dumped at a county landfill for one week in early February. The amount of recyclables taken to the landfill totaled about 8.5 percent of the 3,400 tons of recyclables collected monthly. […]

By: Renee Pinel A recent opinion article on glyphosate is a classic example of the environmental community’s awkward relationship with science and facts (“Don’t let EPA and Monsanto hide the truth on Roundup,” Viewpoints, Jan. 17). When it comes to climate change, the enviros are all in. But for everything else, science apparently doesn’t matter. […]

According to Dan Walters of The Sacramento Bee, California tolerates a K-12 school system that’s failing to properly educate millions of poor minority students. Under Jerry Brown’s governance, per-pupil spending has increased 50 percent up to $11,000 for the first time with his new budget this year. Most of this increased money has been allocated […]

When surveys began in 2002, biologist estimated a Delta Smelt population around 112,000 and this year that population has dropped to 13,000. To many in the environmental community, the Smelt are viewed as a species indicative of the overall health of the Delta and this has made it a point of contention between various groups […]