Mary Rees

The Oakland police department has announced it will reduce the number of officers in the city’s most violent blocks, following complaints from residents of the Oakland hills and North Oakland that burglaries have increased in their neighborhoods, according to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle. Six months ago the 100 blocks identified as the most dangerous saw an influx of officers, under Mayor Jean Quan’s plan to increase police presence and the availability of social services there…

Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum bowed out of the race today, leaving the GOP field clear for Mitt Romney. Romney’s success in the primaries has far outpaced the remaining candidates, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Republican Ron Paul...

What's in a name? After a controversy over competing tax initiatives on the November ballot, Governor Jerry Brown has renamed his tax plan after one of the competing plans. The Governor’s tax is now called the “Millionaires’ Tax,” the name of the now-defunct plan proposed by the California Federation of teachers. But it begins taxing individual income at $250,000...