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Russell Nichols

Russell Nichols

Staff Writer

Russell Nichols is a GOVERNING staff writer. He is a former city reporter for the Boston Globe and has written stories on business, education, health, arts and religion for numerous publications including the Los Angeles Times and Sacramento Magazine.

Gov. Jerry Brown hires a former bank executive as jobs czar and prepares to unveil new plans to boost job creation in struggling state.
A coalition of social welfare groups urges Californians to cancel Amazon accounts until the online retailer starts collecting state sales taxes.
California's high-speed rail project suffers another blow as federal cuts threaten its future. Can a trip to China help legislators put the project on the right track?
To save redevelopment agencies, cities and organizations have two bleak choices: sue or pony up $1.7 billion.
Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone believes that the state is “ungovernable” and proposes that 13 conservative counties split from California.
In opposing the strict federal education law, state education leaders seek to take control by defying requirements.
In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court shot down a California law, which bans the sale of violent video games to minors.
On the heels of a comprehensive study about the huge price tag on California's death row, one state senator proposes to abolish the death penalty once and for all.
Stanford University lawyers gear up with a political consultant to pitch a reform initiative for one of the harshest sentencing laws in the nation.
After four decades of destructive drug control policies, will the U.S. change its ways?