Emails show California agency’s cozy ties to gas tax backers

As the political battle to overturn California's gas tax increase intensified, the state transportation agency coordinated frequently with the public affairs firm working to block the repeal on behalf of unions, construction companies and local government groups, emails obtained by The Associated Press show. The California State Transportation Agency and Sacramento-based Bicker, Castillo & Fairbanks organized news conferences and other efforts to promote legislation to raise the tax to fund road and bridge repairs, which passed the Legislature in April 2017.

Harsanyi: Democrats’ new anti-gun laws are also an attack on due process

The notion that certain Americans are pre-emptively guilty of wrongdoing, whether there's any corroborating evidence to back up an accusation or not, isn't reserved for conservatives who happen to be in contention for a Supreme Court seat. In the hierarchy of progressive values, due process is a bottom dweller.

An hour after net neutrality bill is signed, feds sue California

California now has the strongest net neutrality rules in the nation, after Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill during a last-minute flurry of bill signings and vetoes Sunday. A little over an hour after the announcement, the Department of Justice sued the state.

Misleading title hamstrings gas-tax repeal measure

California neglected maintenance of its highway and road network for decades. But last year, the Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown finally enacted a stiff increase in gas taxes and automotive fees to catch up, even though polls indicated that most Californians didn't want to pay more.

California approves tough net neutrality bill

California governor Jerry Brown has signed the United States' toughest net neutrality measure which requires internet providers to maintain a level playing field online. Advocates of net neutrality hope the move in the home of the global technology industry will have national implications, prompting Congress to enact national net neutrality rules or encouraging other states to follow suit.

The Latest: Governor rejects supervised drug injection plan

California Gov. Jerry Brown has rejected legislation that would have allowed San Francisco to open what could be the nation's first supervised drug injection sites under a pilot program. San Francisco could still choose to open such a site but it would be in violation of federal and state law.

Push to end bullet train in 2020 could signal GOP strategy

Worried they would lack big-name candidates at the top of the ticket this November, California Republicans turned to a ballot measure that would eliminate a recent gas tax increase in hopes of exciting conservatives and ensuring they show up to support lower-profile legislative and congressional candidates. A potential similar strategy for 2020 emerged Tuesday, when a conservative radio host who is the public face behind this year's gas tax initiative announced he will pursue another measure - this one eliminating the state's beleaguered high-speed rail project.

Gov. a Moonbeama says California to launch climate satellite

California Gov. Jerry Brown said Friday that the state plans to launch its "own damn satellite" into orbit to battle climate change. The man the late Chicago columnist Mike Royko famously dubbed "Gov. Moonbeam" made the announcement at the conclusion of a two-day climate summit he organized in San Francisco.

Global summit rebukes Trump, cheers on work to aid climate Source: AP

Thousands of mayors, climate activists and business leaders from around the world descended Thursday on San Francisco to cheer on efforts to reduce global warming, even after U.S. President Donald J. Trump signaled his disdain for the issue. The Global Climate Action Summit, organized by California Gov. Jerry Brown, included a report that 27 major cities around the world have seen emissions decrease over a five-year period and are now at least 10 percent lower than their peak.

Prisoners Fighting Fires Are Being Denied Justice

Evidence of global climate disruption blankets the Earth, pummeling communities with the full arsenal of nature's fury, from hurricanes, tornadoes, relentless rainstorms and thousand-year floods, to historic droughts and searing heat waves. In California, wildfires have raged in record numbers and intensity, pushing the state's firefighting crews to the limit and busting the state's firefighting budget.

California aims to get all electricity from clean sources

California has set a goal of phasing out fossil fuels from the state's electricity sector by 2045 under legislation signed Monday by Gov. Jerry Brown. Brown, who has positioned California as a global leader in the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, approved the measure as he prepares to host a summit in San Francisco of climate change leaders from around the world later this week.

‘Not Here, Not Now’: Gov. Brown Signs Bill Blocking Trump’s Offshore Drilling Plan

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Saturday effectively prohibiting new federal offshore oil drilling along California's coast, and announced that he opposes plans to expand crude exploration on public lands in the state. The legislation he signed blocks the Trump administration's plan to expand offshore oil drilling through the prohibition on new leases for new construction of oil and gas-related infrastructure, such as oil pipelines.

What Gov. Browna s emergency declaration means for Cranston fire victims

A CalFire fighter hosed down hot spots on one of the homes on Deer Foot Lane burned in the fast moving Cranston fire in the San Bernardino National Forest in Idyllwild on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. Gov. Jerry Brown's declaration of a state of emergency Thursday, July 26, for Riverside County as the Cranston fire burns in the San Jacinto Mountains brings state resources into play for both fighting the fire and helping during the recovery once it's brought under control.