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California Teachers’ Pension Scolds Volkswagen on Emissions Dupe
California’s $184-billion pension fund for school teachers chided Volkswagen AG for rigging some diesel engines to cheat on U.S. emission tests and said it is evaluating its exposure to losses from the scandal.
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Startup of the Month: LeadCliq
Online referral platform helps professionals find leads through transactions
Slated for public release in October, LeadCliq is a referral generation portal, where members share relevant leads within exclusive circles or communities.
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Is it Time for a Technological Shift?
Letter from the publisher
It remains to be seen if GSAC, the Metro Chamber or the market itself will fill the void that SARTA’s shut-down has opened. While GSAC and its enigmatic new leader Barry Broome may bring more established firms (and more jobs) to the region, Sacramento isn’t big enough or rich enough to ignore the potential of smart, hungry tech innovators.
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Pushed to the Limit
California’s inflated correctional system puts pressure on civic construction projects
Last year’s state corrections budget included $500 million to fund the expansion of county jails (in addition to the jail expansion funds of $1.2 billion from years prior). But how that money should be allocated is debatable (Will adding more jails ease overcrowding? Should funds go toward community-based programs created to help people stay out of jail?), and counties are developing proposals to claim a piece of that multi-million-dollar pie.
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Full-Court Press
A roundup of the key, in-progress courthouse construction projects
In a few years, a brand new criminal courthouse is expected to open on the edge of the Sacramento railyards. Located on the corner of H and 6th streets, this second Sacramento County court building will be 405,500 square feet with 44 courtrooms. And it’s not the only new courthouse on the horizon. Right now, there are about 100 courthouses identified for development in California.
![Gov. Jerry Brown announcing the 2015-2016 fiscal year budget proposal at the State Capitol last May
(Photo: Ken James for Bloomberg News) Gov. Jerry Brown announcing the 2015-2016 fiscal year budget proposal at the State Capitol last May
(Photo: Ken James for Bloomberg News)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/sept.bloomberg.taxes_.jerrybrown.jpg?1577874531)
Super-Earners Targeted in California Tax Push as Revenue Surges
Governor Jerry Brown convinced voters in 2012 they had to raise taxes if they wanted to avoid Draconian cuts to schools. It was temporary, he said. Now, as state coffers are heavy with surplus revenue, advocacy groups and organized labor want to keep the levies in place.
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Hiding in the Shallows
As farmers switch from flood irrigation to drip, California’s water tables are falling
Agricultural groups and the federal government are actively encouraging growers to improve their irrigation systems to save water, usually by graduating from flooding, and farmers who haven’t upgraded have received stinging criticism. But drip irrigation is not necessarily a panacea for water shortages.
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Building Without Bidding
Can an uncommon delivery method fast-track construction in California?
Eighteen months. That’s how long it took to design and build the 1.2 million-square-foot California Health Care Facility near Stockton. Sound impossible? It was an aggressive effort involving numerous parties. The facility, completed in 2013 to house chronically ill inmates, was lauded for its sustainable design. But the speed of the process was the big deal.
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Are Californians absorbing the state’s water message?
The state’s top water cop on the challenges CA is up against
After years of drought and increasing government demands to cut water use and allow lawns to fade, the Golden State moniker is taking on new meaning. It has fallen to Felicia Marcus, Gov. Brown’s appointee to the head of the State Water Resources Board, to set the water-use rules for farmers, water districts, homeowners and everyone else. We sat down with the state’s top water cop to better understand the challenges she’s up against and the messages her office is communicating.
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The Many Shades of Structure
What legal structure is best for my business?
For many years, I have been making furniture that I sell to friends and family, and at local fairs and boutiques. It has become so successful that I’d like to work toward officially starting my own business. I know there are many ways I could set up my company; how do I know what will be best for me?