From global warming to redistricting: Is Arnold back?

Hepatitis C Virus outbreak among millennials

Laboratory testing of HCV. (Photo: Jarun Ontakrai, via Shutterstock)

by ALEX MATTHEWS posted 08.17.2017

Millennials haven’t inherited the best batch of goods from baby boomers. They got a housing crisis, a shaky job market, and some enormous student loans. But until recently, viral hepatitis was the burden of boomers alone to bear. Now, millennials are also facing an outbreak of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV). 

Disputed legislation threatens hospital services

A hospital hallway and emergency room. (VILevi, via Shutterstock)

by C. DUANE DAUNER posted 08.17.2017

OPINION: AB 1250 would jeopardize access to care for millions of Californians by scrambling the current system, burying hospitals with new bureaucratic mandates, blizzards of paperwork and unnecessary red tape. Hospitals would be forced to divert limited financial and human resources from their mission of caring for patients.

Bullet train faces difficult journey

An artist's conception of the bullet train in operation. (Image, High Speed Rail Authority)

by DANIEL MARACCINI posted 08.15.2017

California’s bullet train may be in trouble again, as a recent court ruling and potential funding obstacles have plunged the transportation project into further uncertainty. The latest setbacks add to lingering questions over whether the $64 billion project can both meet its scheduled completion date and guarantee enough funding.

Stem cell agency eyes survival options

An illustration of stem cells used in research. (Photo: Billion Photos, via Shutterstock)

by DAVID JENSEN posted 08.14.2017

California’s $3 billion stem cell research agency, which is facing its financial demise in a few short years, has formed a team of its directors to tackle transition planning and examine possible alternatives, including ones that would extend its life. The first meeting of the group of directors is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 18. 

‘Green rush’ stalled in tiny Nipton?

Welcome to Nipton, a tiny California town in the Mojave Desert. (Photo: Screen capture, CNN)

by LISA RENNER posted 08.14.2017

It appears that a company’s plans to turn a remote San Bernardino County town into a marijuana tourism mecca may go up in smoke. Earlier this month, Arizona-based American Green announced it purchased the entire California town of Nipton for about $5 million to make it a hub of cannabis production mixed with bed-and-breakfast lodging and attractions like mineral baths.

How did the air fare in cap-and-trade?

Air pollution over Suisun Bay as seen from Briones Regional Park, Contra Costa County. (Photo: Sundry Photography, via Shutterstock)

by BILL MAGAVERN posted 08.14.2017

OPINION: The bills (AB 398 and AB 617) that Gov. Jerry Brown signed on July 25 and 26 represent the culmination of years of debate in the Capitol over global warming and air quality. Now that those bills have become law, what have we learned?

From toilet water to drinking water

The old 6th Street bridge in Los Angeles over the L.A. viaduct. (Photo: trekandshoot, vis Shutterstock)

by LISA RENNER posted 08.07.2017

This legislation might be hard to swallow: Lawmakers are considering a bill that would clear the way for California communities to put highly treated wastewater directly into the drinking water supply. “The media likes to start off with the catchy phrase toilet to tap,” said Jennifer West, managing director of Water Reuse, about the intensive purification process. “But there’s a lot that goes on between toilet and tap.”

Where are they now? John Dunlap

Former state Sen. John Dunlap. (Photo courtesy Napa Valley Register/J.L. Sousa)

by ALEX VASSAR posted 08.04.2017

The California Legislature’s longest-lived political dynasty was the Coombs-Dunlap family, which included four generations and stretched over 120 years. The last legislator from the family was Sen. John F. Dunlap, who at nearly 95 is currently the fifth-oldest living former California state legislator.