A movement is taking place in the Golden State to turn back the clock on a fire safety standard that has provided an important layer of protection to Californians for over 35 years.

California's economy and housing market are improving, but believing that we're in the fast lane on the road to recovery is optimistic. We likely have a testing ride ahead, with a few more curves and speed bumps.

California Gov. Jerry Brown has received praise for proposing a balanced state budget for the fiscal year starting July 1. The last time California proposed a balanced budget was in 2007, when Arnold Schwarzenegger was governor.

Lane-splitting is legal in California, but the law is murky. So it’s about time state officials came up with some common-sense rules of the road.

When you compare electronic recording to a technologically savvy real-time court reporter, the court reporter is still the best, most cost-effective choice. This court reporter has the ability to create a record in real time to give the judge and attorneys an immediate rough draft as the proceedings occur, saving time for the court and the attorneys.

In 2013, overtaxed Californians will send more of their hard-earned dollars to Sacramento than ever before, growing total state spending to a record $225 billion. Higher taxes shouldn't be a surprise. After all, the majority of Californians voted for Proposition 30 in November. But one tax hike that took effect Jan. 1 is catching many off guard and driving up costs for everything from new homes to home improvement projects.

Columnist Dan Walters recently observed that California has the most ethnically diverse population in the nation. A report from theU.S. Department of Education states that only 76 percent of California high school students graduate. This puts the state No. 32 in the nation.

At a time when we're overburdened by state and federal debt and already struggling to find ways to pay for existing programs, it is unconscionable that the high-speed rail authority is pushing ahead with a project we can't afford and one that most don't have confidence in here in California.

Although NASA has retired the 30-year-old space shuttle program, that doesn't mean Americans have stopped shooting for the moon, literally or figuratively. The launch of the first privately owned space vehicle, SpaceX's unmanned "Dragon" capsule, into orbit to dock with the international space station has paved the way for a new future in the stars.

I am a senior citizen. I live on a fixed income. I'm voting "no" on Proposition 33 because it will raise automobile insurance rates on law-abiding Californians like me, who have a health problem that keeps them off the road for a period of time.

California is known as the Golden State. However, California's economy isn't golden at the moment. Higher taxes under Proposition 30 will further slow California's business and economic recovery.

Now is not the time to scale back on criminal justice. The current attempts to repeal California's Death Penalty and to weaken the "three strikes" law by way of Propositions 34 and 36 should be soundly rejected.

The most nerdy, wonky and nap-inducing measureon the Nov. 6 ballot is Proposition 31. It's not a minor measure, exactly, but it's hardly monumental either. It might do some good, might do some bad.

Campaign season is upon us, and the airwaves are filled with misleading campaign advertisements on the radio, such as the one from the Howard Jarvis Tax Association that twists a statement from my association in order to advance their agenda and mislead the public.

Officially, Proposition 34 is about whether to abolish the death penalty and replace it with life in prison. But that's not the pertinent question. The death penalty already effectively has been abolished in California.