"Not every human problem deserves a law." That quote comes from a veto message Gov. Jerry Brown penned when he rejected Senate Bill 105, a measure that would have fined parents who failed to have their kids wear helmets while snowboarding or skiing.

Imagine for a moment that every single person living in the city of San Jose, plus an additional 150,000 or so, just up and left. Vanished. Poof. Gone. Leaving their homes, business buildings and factories behind.

On Tuesday (Feb. 22), Stockton Unified School District trustees voted to send layoff notices to nearly 500 employees, including 270 teachers.

It's been a tough winter for airlines, but not quite so bad for their passengers. Just since Christmas, four blizzards have shut down some of the nation's largest airports for at least a few hours and as much as a full day at a time.

You'd think the legislators might try something new, given voters' dark view of them. But you'd be wrong.

The oil industry is so last century, with its pumps, spills and exhaust. Amazon.com couldn't be more 21st century, with its cool technology that instantly delivers electronic books on sleek devices, at a discount.

It's an old line but true: If you sit down to play poker and don't know who the sucker is, it's you. On Tuesday, lobbyists, consultants and clients filled almost every one of the 182 seats in Room 4203 of the Capitol. It wasn't readily apparent who was getting taken to the cleaners, at least not to me.

In just under two months, students will start the new academic year at 23 California State University campuses. They'll encounter a new university, one that shows the effects of cutting $584 million from the budget.

During a prolonged drought in the early 1990s, Los Angeles' Department of Water and Power and Department of Public Works conducted an ambitious experiment. In eight homes, they installed "gray water" equipment that diverted the outflows from washing machines, showers, bathtubs and bathroom sinks to irrigate lawns and gardens.

Excerpted from Tuesday's San Jose Mercury News:

There is no dispute that our country is facing some of the most troubled economic times we have seen in decades. What can be disputed, however, is the disturbing amount of misinformation characterizing the role of the banking industry in the economic crisis, providing the mistaken impression that banks are not lending and calling into question the safety and soundness of the nation's banking system.

As Gov. Schwarzenegger launched a campaign to pass six budget-related ballot measures recently, he cited a historical factoid that may be more revealing than he intended.

One of the more convoluted pieces of the state budget package enacted last month was a provision that nearly $3 billion in health and welfare spending cuts and new income taxes would be eliminated if the state was in line for at least $10 billion in federal aid.

Events on the U.S.-Mexico border were already creepy. Now they're eerily familiar.