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In the Driver’s Seat
James Corless, new CEO of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, on transportation, housing and autonomous vehicles
James Corless has been called “a world-class visionary and leader” in transportation, land use and creative urban planning by Roseville Mayor Susan Rohan. He became CEO of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments in April, after serving as the founding director of Washington D.C.-based Transportation for America. We sat down with him to discus the future of the Capital Region.
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California Warns Senate Taking Step to Gut Auto Efficiency Rules
Gov. Jerry Brown criticized a U.S. Senate bill that aims to simplify auto efficiency standards, warning the measure represents a step toward decimating requirements that manufacturers produce cleaner cars.
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Uber to Play by the Rules in California for Self-Driving Cars
Uber Technologies wants to re-introduce its self-driving cars in California — legally this time.
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Leader of the Flock
For years, California has led the way in energy policy — what happens when the federal government shifts course?
It wasn’t taken as a joke or a typo or an anonymous quote from some trolling conspiracy theorist. It was a real-live tweet from a billionaire with mystery hair: “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.”
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Driving the Economy By Taking Our Hands Off the Wheel
If you are like me, you hate being stuck in traffic. But most of us don’t have a hired driver and public transportation isn’t always convenient.
Carmakers are working on what they think is a better idea — let the car do the driving. Autonomous vehicles sound very Jetson-like. But as futuristic as it sounds, many vehicles already on our streets rely on computers.
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Tesla Flips the Switch on the Gigafactory
The Gigafactory has been activated.
Hidden in the scrubland east of Reno, Nev., where cowboys gamble and wild horses still roam — a diamond-shaped factory of outlandish proportions is emerging from the sweat and promises of Tesla CEO Elon Musk. It’s known as the Gigafactory, and today its first battery cells are rolling off production lines to power the company’s energy storage products and, before long, the Model 3 electric car.
![Photo by Kelly Barr](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/1_kb.jpg?1577874530)
Comstock’s Top 10 Stories of 2016
Last year was one for the history books. But as we start the new year, we wanted to take one last look back at some of our best-performing and most-read articles of 2016. Take a look and see if you missed any of our greatest hits — or if something might deserve a second read.
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What Sacramento Can Learn From Stockholm
Writer living abroad shares lessons both cities can learn
Sacramento to Stockholm: It takes about a day to travel between these two capital cities. But they have more similarities than you might think, considering they are half a world apart. They also have lessons to teach each other.
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California Drivers Pay for Underfunded State Patrol Pension
Californians in April will start paying more to register their cars — not to help maintain roads, but to keep the pension checks rolling for the motorcycle cops who policed them.
![The Art-Through-Pod project creates portable sleeping shelters for people who are homeless. The pods fit in a parking space and are designed to be moved every 72 hours.](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/1216_blog_culture1.jpg?1577874530)
Art-Through-Pod Exceeds Goal to Help Homeless
Oak Park residents will surpass goal of 10 portable shelters for homeless — and keep on going
Oak Park neighbors Aimee Phelps and Kevin Greenberg delivered their first Art-Through-Pod in September and by year-end will exceed their initial goal of 10 mobile housing units for the homeless.
But they don’t plan to stop there.