CBS News rewinds the tapes, and explains how the Bay Area Rapid Transit agency first went off track and began seriously losing business. When BART shifted its focus from effective service to social equity issues, it alienated key customer bases (and really, should that be a surprising outcome?).
Read MorePepperdine economics prof Gary Galles explains how two proposed '24 amendments would squash California's existing Prop 13 protections (which ensure property owners aren't taxed excessively to fund special projects). Despite County voters' clear support for Prop 13, SJ's City Council has greenlighted ACA 1 & 13, while shaking their fists at the pro-Prop 13 measure called the Taxpayer Protection Act. From the OC Register.
Read MoreSince last fall, when nine Berkeley student orgs adopted bylaws excluding pro-Zionist speakers (and possibly members), civil rights and law experts have debated if it's constitutional to only welcome certain ethnic/religious identities to participate in clubs at public universities. As relayed on the SF Chronicle, a Zionist student org filed against the UC last Tuesday for allowing and promoting antisemitic discrimination on campus—via quiet exclusion and overt violence.
Read MoreMagistrate Judge Christopher Baker's new 44-page report advises that CA Community Colleges and Kern Community College District (both of which face a lawsuit from Bakersfield prof Daymon Johnson) stop requiring faculty to submit to DEI ideology. Judge Baker explains that mandating DEI/anti-racist “proficiency” really means forcing teachers to communicate a particular message, which blatantly opposes their First Amendment rights. From College Fix.
Read MoreFor the final stop of their insightful analysis on SJ transit (parts I and II here), the Caltrain HSR Compatibility Blog remarks that a BART extension beyond SJ to Santa Clara is highly redundant, considering how connected they already are via Caltrain/VTA. By applying the brakes at SJ's Diridon Station and going no further north, BART would save $1.5 bn and open up opportunities for more efficient and effectual projects.
Read MoreWhile in office, then-mayor Sam Liccardo used personal email and text messages to conduct City business. The San Jose Spotlight recently sued Liccardo and the City of SJ for violating the CA Public Records Act, and SJ forked over an ungainly $500,000 for insufficiently searching Liccado's personal communications for public records. California Policy Center's Mari Barke comments on Liccardo's “inexcusable” transgression in this Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreCalifornia finance expert Tom Rubin analyzes MTC's proposed $10–20 bn bond measure, which would chuck some greenbacks at jurisdictions in the name of developing/preserving affordable housing. Not only does the measure lack clear performance metrics (um, are we talking 100 or 10,000 units produced?), but it neglects key market problems—suggesting instead we hand gov't (more) cash to figure everything out. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreIn sprung verse as elastic and effortless as resupine lines of code stretching over black screens, past Board of Equalization candidate Peter Coe Verbica ponders the implications of widespread AI developments—for our daily strivings, our grasp of beauty and wonder, and our uniquely human search for truth. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreThis year, Bay Area college campuses have been overrun with cancel culture circuses, leaving residents bewildered by events like: anti-free speech protests of guest speakers at Stanford/SFSU, the firing of De Anza's "not woke enough" DEI dean, and—most recently—hateful anti-Israel demonstrations sponsored by local faculty/student groups. Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott's new book The Canceling of the American Mind codifies how the Left systematically extinguishes forbidden ideas—and steps, for institutions and individuals, to restore our culture's viewpoint diversity. Below, reviews from Substack, WSJ, and Reddit.
Read MoreDespite housing advocates' cries that big bad private landlords are behind tenant evictions, a Princeton University study shows that—on the contrary—public housing's responsible for the lion's share of eviction filings. The Greater LA's Apartment Association breaks it down below.
Read MoreBig surprise: the State's sluggish money-sucker of a High-Speed Rail project asks to be accommodated by new (either elevated/tunneled) infrastructure at its SJ station. Meanwhile, the Caltrain HSR Compatibility Blog asserts that this costly renovation is a superfluous idea, and that sharing Diridon's platforms with Caltrain makes the most fiscal and logistical sense. Read Part I here.
Read MoreJohnny Khamis wonders if we start using the word “The” and the number of the highway (like our fellow CA citizens do) when describing our transportation infrastructure, will our daily “trafficgedon” garner the political respect and attention we deserve? An Opp Now exclusive.
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