Free Republic

Sacramento - California voters agree with Gov. Jerry Brown that tax increases should help close the state budget deficit, and they want to vote on his plan for raising the revenue. Sixty percent of those surveyed, including majorities of both Democrats and Republicans, said they back such an election. The alternative being pushed by most GOP lawmakers — forgoing an election and balancing the budget by cutting more from state services — was supported by just 33%. Support for the cuts-only approach dropped to 25% when voters were informed that it would probably require reductions in school funding, according to...

California is America's most physically beautiful state. From her snow capped mountains, to her gorgeous beaches to her silicon-enhanced starlets, it is a state very whose image conveys transcendent beauty. For much of California's long history she also represented the ideal of the American Dream. Miners flocked to the gold mines. Traders came to San Francisco. Men and women with a dream to be famous departed for Hollywood. The Beach Boys sang about the lifestyle that came from such easy living in mild weather. Even the money was better: in 1950 Californians enjoyed a per-capita income that was 24% higher...

California's gubernatorial primary is still 10 months away, but the multimillion-dollar race for campaign cash has already picked up a quick pace, with former eBay CEO Meg Whitman at the front of the pack. It's no surprise that the billionaire Internet exec, who has never held elected office, has lots of money in the bank to spend on her campaign. According to a tally Saturday, she has some $19 million in cash available--and that's after spending $6.1 million to get her campaign operations up and running. It's also after she contributed first $4 million, then $15 million of her own...

ChartOne Inc., a California medical records provider, is closing its San Jose headquarters and shifting its operations to Irving and Massachusetts. (snip) ChartOne joins a growing list of California companies relocating or expanding in the Metroplex. Others include beverage-vending machine manufacturer The Vendo Co., which will relocate to North Texas from Fresno, Calif., by December; Los Angeles-based 21st Century Insurance Group, which will bring as many as 1,300 new jobs to Lewisville by 2009; and Calabasas, Calif.-based Countrywide Mortgage, which plans to hire as many as 2,000 in Fort Worth and 1,000 in Plano over the next several years. According...

Former San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery publicly excoriated the city's leadership on Thursday for failing to act forcefully amid scandals involving questionable fundraising by Mayor Ron Gonzales and accusations of corruption against Councilman Terry Gregory. McEnery, the sole person testifying before a San Jose city task force intent on shoring up ethics laws, also said the council's inability to quickly and publicly address these issues, coupled with the growth of lobbyists and failures to monitor potential conflict-of-interest violations, have eroded citizens' trust. He said that could affect support for city goals like attracting a Major League Baseball franchise. ``Respectfully, the...

The city of Irving is seeing a burst of activity from the financial-services sector, with four projects in the works that could add several thousand new jobs and close to 1 million square feet of office space. Seattle-based Washington Mutual Inc. and New York-based Citigroup Inc. are both planning expansions that would create a total of at least 1,300 new jobs over the next several years. Irving also is a finalist in California-based Ameriquest's hunt for a regional center that could add about 1,400 jobs. In addition, the city is in the running for a "major" relocation from another California-based...

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has been asked by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works to study nine regional dams to assess the threat of terrorism and other risks. "It's not like we think we're a big target but you never know," said Ken Pellman, the county's public works spokesman. "We're taking precautions just in case. Why wouldn't our dams be taken out? They're there for a reason." Big Dalton, Big Tujunga, Cogswell, Morris, Pacoima, Puddingstone, San Dimas, San Gabriel and Santa Anita dams will be studied at the request of county officials. Santa Fe Dam in...