California FocusOpinionCalifornia Focus: Don’t ‘Californicate’ us, other states again sayingThomas D. EliasOctober 13, 2021 October 13, 20210413 Memo to all those Californians thinking seriously of moving to another state. Your new neighbors might not be so happy to see you move in....
California FocusOpinionCalifornia Focus: Sacramento Democrats dump Prop. 13 reformsThomas D. EliasOctober 6, 2021October 11, 2021 October 6, 2021October 11, 20210313 For more than 40 years, Democrats in Sacramento have talked fervently about reform, but time and again they’ve done nothing....
California FocusOpinionCalifornia Focus: Newly noticed damage from fires and droughtThomas D. EliasSeptember 29, 2021 September 29, 20210133 Unseen, less obvious ill effects are turning out to be about as pernicious as the more visible direct effects seen on TV news shows nightly....
California FocusOpinionCalifornia Focus: Newsom survives, but may be weakenedThomas D. EliasSeptember 15, 2021 September 15, 20210159 This recall election wasn’t as easy as the final numbers make it seem, and the governor made myriad mistakes....
California FocusOpinionCalifornia Focus: Expect a rebellion against housing billsThomas D. EliasSeptember 8, 2021 September 8, 20210314 Senate Bills 9 and 10 are aimed at ending single-family zoning in most parts of California and allowing far more housing density....
California FocusOpinionCalifornia Focus: Voter turnout key to Newsom survivalThomas D. EliasSeptember 1, 2021 September 1, 20210126 All it will take for Gavin Newsom to survive is for most people who have voted for him before to vote for him again....
California FocusOpinionCalifornia Focus: COVID numbers show state beats Florida, Texas by a lotThomas D. EliasAugust 25, 2021 August 25, 20210170 Of the three, California has been by far the healthiest place to live over the last 18 months and Florida the least....
California FocusOpinionCalifornia Focus: Cash bail issue is the key to state’s 2nd-biggest recallThomas D. EliasAugust 18, 2021 August 18, 20210271 George Gascon, the embattled district attorney of Los Angeles County, is the No. 2 target among California officials....
California FocusOpinionCalifornia Focus: On crime, is recall side barking up wrong tree?Thomas D. EliasAugust 11, 2021 August 11, 20210201 Midyear numbers from some of the most heavily populated parts of California demonstrate there really is no new statewide crime wave....
California FocusOpinionCalifornia Focus: Housing bills could cause radical changesThomas D. EliasAugust 4, 2021 August 4, 20210213 In 40 or 50 years, most California cities would look very different if these bills passed....
California FocusOpinionCalifornia Focus: Will city, county leaders become housing realists?Thomas D. EliasJuly 28, 2021 July 28, 20210129 Bureaucrats aren't yet recognizing that the solution to the state’s housing crisis has been at hand from the moment the pandemic struck....
California FocusOpinionCalifornia Focus: Newsom gets his way; will it work?Thomas D. EliasJuly 21, 2021 July 21, 20210209 His most recent “victory” was in dissuading every other substantial Democrat in California from running in the Sept. 14 recall election....
California FocusOpinionCalifornia Focus: Rooftop solar lives on, but battle not over yetThomas D. EliasJuly 7, 2021 July 7, 202101267 A bill that could have killed rooftop solar installation in California is now itself dead, but the issue that sparked it lives on....
California FocusOpinionCalifornia Focus: Will voters’ decision on cash bail be defied?Thomas D. EliasJune 30, 2021 June 30, 20210210 Cash bail may play a reduced role in the criminal justice systems of the state’s two biggest urban centers despite a decisive vote....
California FocusOpinionOpinionsCalifornia Focus: This might be the goofiest state-split idea yetThomas D. EliasJune 17, 2021 June 17, 20210277 It’s no secret that plenty of folks in California’s rural northern counties would love to leave the Golden State and form one of their own...