Category: Government & Politics
Posted inEconomy & Business, Education, Government & Politics, Labor, News

University of California invests $53 million in two diploma mills owned by a regent

by Peter Byrne

A year ago, Richard C. Blum, then the chairman of the Regents of the University of California, spoke at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference 2009, held at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. The corporate confab was hosted by Michael Milken, the “junk bond king” who went to prison in the aftermath of the savings and loan fiasco in the 1980s. Milken, who is barred from securities trading for life by federal regulators, has since recreated himself as a proponent of investing in for-profit educational corporations, an industry which regularly comes under government and media scrutiny in response to allegations of fraud made by dissatisfied students.

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Posted inEconomy & Business, Government & Politics, Health, Housing, Labor, Land use, News, Treasure Island

Homebuilder Lennar uses federal taxpayer funds to balance its books

by Christopher D. Cook

In 2006, things were looking good for Lennar, America’s second-biggest homebuilder. That year, before the U.S. housing market’s epic collapse, the Miami-based giant pulled down $15.6 billion in revenues and closed sales on 29,568 homes. The ink was just drying on a massive and potentially lucrative deal to transform Treasure Island with new housing complexes, and the well-connected Lennar already had secured a deal to develop the Hunters Point Shipyard that the Navy was turning over to San Francisco.

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Posted inClimate Change, Environment, Government & Politics, Land use, Treasure Island

Uncertain about rising seas, developers using mid-range estimate to build up island

by Victoria Schlesinger

Most of Treasure Island will be inundated by the end of this century, if the documented progression of the ocean’s rise caused by climate change continues as predicted. Studies foresee sea-level rise ranging from as little as five inches to as much as six feet. The lowest parts of Treasure Island lie just four feet above the Bay’s low tide.

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Posted inGovernment & Politics, Media, Technology

Cheap phone calls hang in the balance in tug-of-war between FCC, cable giants

by Christi Morales

Voice-over-Internet calling is steadily growing in popularity, replacing costly long distance phone services with free or cheap options that are affordable for many low-income and immigrant communities. Bay Area residents could see cheap calls become a thing of the past depending on the outcome of a battle being waged in the halls of Washington D.C. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski wants to reclassify broadband from an information service to a telecommunications carrier with the goal of gaining some authority to regulate providers such as Comcast, AT&T and Verizon, which the companies fiercely oppose.

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Posted inCity Hall, Education, Elections, Government & Politics, Public Safety

San Francisco props A and B pass; millions more for school, safety retrofits

by Theresa Seiger

San Francisco voters approved measures to retrofit schools and emergency services facilities Tuesday in an election in which five of seven local propositions passed. Twenty-three percent of voters showed up at San Francisco’s 590 precincts, passing propositions A, B, D, E and F. Proposition A, which will extend through 2030 a special property tax that was enacted in 1990, was approved by 69.9 percent of voters. Proposition B, the Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response Bond, was approved by 79.2 percent of voters.

Posted inGovernment & Politics, LGBTQ+

Gay divorce bill removes extra hurdle for domestic couples

by Kristine Magnuson

Legislation that would make it easier — and less expensive — for same-sex domestic partners and married couples to split up has cleared the state Assembly and is now heading to the Senate. Currently, couples who had registered as domestic partners and later married have to go through separate processes to dissolve each agreement. The new law would allow for one process to handle both matters.

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Posted inAging, California, City Budget Watchdog, City Hall, Government & Politics, Health, HIV & AIDS, News, Social Services

State cuts set to slam San Francisco’s seniors, poor

by Christopher D. Cook

Already reeling from a deep recession and massive cuts to staff and services in this year’s budget, San Francisco is being hammered by a new tidal wave of state cuts — estimated at $26.5 million — which could put low-income seniors and others on the brink of homelessness and hunger, many advocates say.

Posted inCalifornia, City Hall, Government & Politics

State lacks control over grant spending, audit finds

by G.W. Schulz

Local officials in California failed to properly account for millions of dollars spent on homeland security efforts in the state, made dubious purchases that may not make communities safer, and could have overpaid millions by not seeking competitive bidding for equipment, according to an audit by the inspector general of the US Department of Homeland Security.

In one example cited, a California county bought a $96,600 generator to provide its public works department with emergency power during a catastrophe but didn’t factor in a $130,000 overhaul of its electrical system needed to accommodate the generator. So nearly two years after the purchase, the new equipment wasn’t ready for a disaster and might never be, county leaders admitted.

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