By Chris Finnie The April 1 issue of The Nation magazine says about one dump truck of plastic waste leaks into the oceans every minute—8 million tons each year. “Only 9% of it is recycled. The rest is thrown away, burned, or buried, left to wash into streams and riversRead More →
By Chris Finnie On June 19, 2012, the State Water Board adopted the Water Quality Control Policy for Siting, Design, Operation, and Maintenance of Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems—what most of us call septic systems. The goal is to protect groundwater and surface water. At the time it was adopted, theRead More →
By Chris Finnie Special districts are a form of local government created by a local community to meet a specific need. When residents or landowners want new services or higher levels of existing services, they can form a district to pay for and administer them. Special districts may cross cityRead More →
By Chris Finnie – The United States government was designed with three co-equal branches of government. In the order listed in the Constitution, they are: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. They are set up to form what’s commonly called a system of checks and balances. In other words, the various branchesRead More →
By Chris Finnie In a word—fire. Electric equipment has sparked a number of huge wildfires in recent years, all over California. The losses have been enormous. So has the legal liability for the public utilities that owned the equipment. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which has regulatory authority overRead More →