It doesn't make headlines or lead the evening news. You won't see it on a bumper sticker or splashed on a billboard. But right now, in communities all over the state, people are working together to resolve one of California's biggest challenges: our water future.

Admittedly I'm biased about bears. I don't think they're hunted enough in California. I say hunt them down with dogs.

When a government agency and special interests talk about public funds as "our money." The hair on the back of your neck should stand on end. When they justify a secret slush fund of $33.5 million as "our money," the alarm bells should sound. Welcome to the Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation (OHMVR) Division of the State Parks Department.

An unexpected development seems to have happened on the way to the Great California Train Wreck. The locomotive has gotten itself back on the rails, leaving naysayers standing along the tracks.

Gov. Jerry Brown evoked California's pioneer spirit last month in advancing a plan to build a pair of gigantic water tunnels that would dramatically alter the plumbing of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

In Aesop's fable, an ant and a grasshopper take two different approaches to confronting the coming winter. While the ant works to gather food for the coming months, the grasshopper idles away the summer.

If there is one thing I have learned in my time on the CalPERS board it's this – a little perspective goes a long way. This is especially true when it comes to the news coverage of CalPERS' recently announced investment returns for last fiscal year and the criticism of pensions in municipal bankruptcies. Let me offer a little perspective.

Not every proposed law is historic or sweeping. Some merely are pretty good ideas — perhaps even important for a low-income kid. One such bill is among the hundreds awaiting action as the Legislature heads into its final month. The measure's goal is to stop schools from socking students with illegal fees.

For Gov. Jerry Brown, his updated California water plan — the peripheral pipes — is not just bold policy, it's deeply personal. It's not merely about his legacy, it's about his family's. What his dad — the legendary builder Gov. Pat Brown — began more than half a century ago, the son is adamantly committed to finishing.

We're starting to settle into the bankruptcy that has enveloped Stockton. It's been almost three weeks since the council meeting in which the vote was a formality that capped several months of tension. What has happened since? The street sweeper was out on my block the other day. The libraries remain open. There's softball being played in Louis Park. City Hall is open and people come and go, continuing to do their business. Daily life and business go on.

The dog days of July were once a slow time in our presidential campaigns, a time when candidates could take vacations and voters could take a break. The party conventions were still a month or more away; aside from fund-raising and backroom strategizing, there wasn't much to see. But that quaint old calendar is gone now. This month, the presidential campaign has rampaged along at full force, fueled by millions of dollars in donations and polls that seem locked in a virtual tie.

Solving California's budget crisis requires both short- term solutions and long-term planning. This is especially true at a time when Gov. Jerry Brown has projected a $15.7 billion budget deficit.

Who do you think has more influence over the education, safety, health, welfare, transportation, justice, recreation and economic well-being of 40 million Californians? U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein or California State Sen. Loni Hancock? That's easy: Loni Hancock.

Democratic leaders in Sacramento point to Silicon Valley's economic rebound as proof that their ham-fisted tax policies aren't strangling business growth. Yet San Jose is writing off those legislators as it tackles the toughest budget issues on its own.

Since the implementation of "realignment," our local communities have seen violent crimes being committed by these so-called nonviolent felons as our local sheriffs and police struggle to protect our communities from the state government's actions.