Editorials

President Barack Obama never was Mr. Smith.

Slowly but surely, nonprofits and local communities are exploring what they can do to keep open the 70 state parks slated to close on July 1.

The biggest attack on religious freedom "in memory or history." "Unprecedented." "Radical." Really? What's the hubbub all about?

Just maybe, Congress is on the verge of finally agreeing to follow the same rules as everyone else that ban insider trading.

Millions of Americans owe more on their homes than their property is currently worth. For many of these "underwater" homeowners, Thursday's self-congratulatory announcement by federal and state officials of a $25 billion settlement with big mortgage servicers probably sounded like "too little, too late."

Many more kids will be cooling off in Sacramento's city pools this summer because an area company is stepping forward just in time. As The Bee's Bob Shallit reported Thursday, Save Mart Supermarkets will match dollar for dollar as much as $500,000 in donations to open the pools.

Proponents for Proposition 8 have long claimed that their efforts to ban same-sex marriage in California were all about protecting "traditional marriage" and were not an attempt to discriminate against gays and lesbians.

The day before a House Ways and Means Committee hearing last week, Republican leaders sprang a radical change to U.S. transportation policy.

It may turn out to be merely a statistical blip that already this year, Sacramento County sheriff's deputies have fired at six suspects. That's more officer-involved shootings for the department than in any recent full year except 2009, when there were seven.

Since the Great Depression of the 1930s, Americans have had access to a basic safety net to see them through hard times, from food stamps to unemployment insurance.

To get a strong mayor plan on the ballot, Mayor Kevin Johnson is making concessions to remove any and all reasons for City Council members to object.

I don't watch "Glee" or "Keeping Up With The Kardashians," "Kourtney & Kim Take New York" or "The Real Housewives of New Jersey," Atlanta or Dog Patch. I'm addicted to Turner Classic Movies, Hollywood fare mostly from the 1930s, '40s and '50s.

Results from investigations into the Nov. 18 incident, where student protesters were pepper-sprayed by campus police, have been delayed.

If we had our druthers, we'd let voters decide this November on the once-delayed $11.1 billion water bond, passed by lawmakers in 2009. The sooner voters dispatch this albatross, putting it out of its misery, the sooner California can get serious about smarter and more equitable alternatives for financing needed water infrastructure.

The blockbuster Facebook public stock offering will produce a welcome windfall for the state.

California voters made a pact in 1988 when they approved Proposition 98.

Years from now, students of public relations will examine Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation's actions over the past week as an object lesson on what not to do.

Few people believe the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation when its leaders say they cut off funding for Planned Parenthood because that organization was under congressional investigation. Why should they?

The message from last weekend's fatal collision between a Regional Transit light-rail train and an SUV is obvious: Never, ever drive around railroad safety gates.