There's a new thorn in California colleges' side: students cluttering class rosters who—and here's the catch—don't exist. Fraudulent or “ghost” students are popping up all around CA, and they're created to finagle financial aid funds. College admins are struggling to keep up with enrollment deluges, and often mistakenly, unnecessarily expand class offerings when sections are over capacity. From the SF Chronicle.
Read MoreSilicon Valley office vacancy rates hover around 17%, while pedestrian activity across the whole of SJ has recovered by 99% overall (acc to Placer.ai). What's more, some retail chain types like spas and gyms have seen increased traffic compared to 2019. The Wall Street Journal untangles the strange phenomenon of downtown city center collapse, but action in the 'burbs—observed in metropolitan neighborhoods across the nation post Covid.
Read MoreSan Jose mayor Matt Mahan drew backlash for establishing no encampment zones as a priority in March's city budget. Some needlessly worried the ordinance—borne out of “humanitarian” safety and dignity concerns—illegalizes homeless folks. On 6.13, the San Diego City Council voted 5–4 on a similar law, citing the need for safer areas around schools, shelters, and in parks. From the La Jolla Light.
Read MoreStanford and San Francisco State aren't the only Bay Area universities actively combating diverse ideas. We can't overlook one of 2022's top 10 least free speech-friendly U.S. colleges: Santa Clara University. A Reason recap reads below of SCU's efforts a few years ago to shut down a conservative student club, and cogent implications re: discrimination.
Read MoreSteve Heimoff of Coalition for a Better Oakland addresses the enduring myth of “Care not Cages” (to nod to Supe Ellenberg): the idea that quickly releasing criminals back into society, coupled with reform programs, is a more humane approach for the community. On the contrary, says Heimoff, making public spaces unsafe for local families (and devaluing and failing to prevent tragic losses) isn't kind to anybody.
Read MoreContinuing an exclusive Opp Now series, constitutional law expert Dr. Margaret Russell parses CA'n Education Code provisions to answer a hot question about opt-out programs: Can parents opt their kids out of content they're morally opposed to, such as controversial sexuality-based lessons? Unlike CRI's Karen England, Russell concludes (below) that students can legally withdraw from “instruction in human development and sexuality” but not community-specific teachings.
Read MoreGabe Guidarini explains in American Greatness that the Right as a whole isn't attracting young folks—because its narratives are too-often jaundiced by cynicism and impending danger, leaving opportunity and excitement on the back burner.
Read MoreEven the Wall Street Journal concedes that billions of taxpayer dollars later, CA's efforts to ease its homelessness plight have barely scratched the surface. While cities like SJ prioritize developing barrier-free housing, the WSJ's Christine Mai-Duc and Jim Carlton remind that unhoused individuals often also need comprehensive treatment—for mental health and substance abuse disorders—to break free from the cycle.
Read MoreEarlier this year, Dr. Tabia Lee—the Foothills-De Anza Community College's Equity, Social Justice and Multicultural Education faculty director—was fired for, yep, not being Woke enough. This is just one of many incidents of local Leftists ousting moderate allies. The Cato Institute breaks down how this Black professor's earnest challenges to anti-racist orthodoxy got her the boot.
Read MoreMetro Silicon Valley's pot economist Dan Mitchell spotlights California's suffering cannabis market. While Prop 64 legalized weed back in '16, dispensaries still struggle to operate under onerous state regulations and taxes, which are forcing many locations across CA into exorbitant debt. Then, it may not blow anyone's mind that cannabis sellers are heading back to the black market, where revenue is more promising.
Read MoreIt's no secret that SF's once-booming hotel market faces a downhill plunge post Covid. Owners struggle to fill rooms amid rampant crime and filthy streets. But is San Jose's tourism industry headed for the same “gloomy” fate as SF? The San Francisco Business Times' hospitality reporter Alex Barreira shares, in this Opp Now exclusive, why less supply constraints and better street conditions could spell victory for SJ's local hotel market.
Read MoreThe homelessness epidemic is not chiefly an issue of high housing costs or welcoming weather, says the California Globe team, but drug laws. In progressive states that keep homeless numbers down, consequences for hard drug use include substantial fines and sentencing—while in CA, perpetrators get little more than a slap on the wrist, and can stay in the streets while averting needful mental health interventions.
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