Governor appoints Alex Padilla to U.S. Senate

Stem cell agency, now flush with $5.5 billion, turns new page

Stem cell research using what's known as a PCR strip. (Image: Science Photo via Shutterstock)

by DAVID JENSEN posted 12.22.2020

California’s ambitious stem cell agency has launched itself on a new, $5.5 billion journey, approving a plan to hand out $182 million to researchers by the middle of next year and beefing up its efforts to bring equality to therapies and scientific labs.

Prison-inmate fraud is last straw for beleaguered EDD

An Employment Development Department office in Sacramento. (Photo: Screen capture, ABC7 News)

by MEGAN DAHLE posted 12.23.2020

‌As residents of one of the highest taxed states in the nation, Californians‌ have a right to expect the government they pay handsomely to provide the basic services their taxes fund. For‌ ‌instance,  ‌we‌ ‌expect‌ ‌that‌ ‌when‌ ‌we‌ ‌have‌ ‌an‌ ‌emergency‌ ‌and‌ ‌we‌ ‌dial‌  ‌9-1-1,‌ ‌help‌ ‌will‌ ‌arrive‌ ‌in‌ ‌a‌ ‌burst‌ ‌of‌ ‌flashing‌ ‌lights,‌ ‌sirens,‌ ‌and‌ ‌hurried‌ ‌professionals.‌

A Christmas wish-list for politicos

The state Christmas tree in front of the Capitol in Sacramento. Photo, taken with fish-eye lens: Robert Schlie, via Shutterstock)

by CHUCK McFADDEN posted 12.21.2020

The Christmas season tells us that there are only a few days remaining in 2020, California’s anno horribilis. It also means political types begin to harbor fantasies about what they would like Santa to bring them if they’re very, very good.  

Capitol Weekly Podcast: Population in decline

Beacon Portraits all 2018

by Capitol Weekly Staff posted 12.20.2020

For the second year in a row, California has seen its population decline – After generations of growth, the state is losing more people than it gains every year.

What does that mean for a state that has nearly 40 million people already? How many can we afford to lose? And, who is leaving? For this episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast we spoke with Adam Fowler, Director of Research for Beacon Economics, an independent research and consulting firm based in Los Angeles.

Women shatter glass ceiling on redistricting commission

A woman ponders a map and potential political districts. (Photo: League of Woman Voters of California)

by WILL SHUCK posted 12.16.2020

Next year, when California lays down political boundaries for a new decade, it will become the first state ever to adopt lines drawn in public by a commission in which women are the majority, election experts say.

Policymakers must fix inequitable education funding

Photo: Tony Savino, via Shutterstock)

by JEFF RICE posted 12.16.2020

OPINION: It is critical that as the budget discussions progress one sector of public school students who have been shortchanged are treated — and funded — equally as their peers: Personalized Learning public charter school students.

Capitol Weekly Podcast: Frank Mecca on three decades at CDWA

by Capitol Weekly Staff posted 12.13.2020

Frank Mecca joined Capitol Weekly’s John Howard and Tim Foster by phone to talk about his long career at CDWA, the difficulties and the successes, and what’s changed in the three decades since he took the helm.

‘Pesticide drift’ affecting California health and safety

A helicopter sprays a field in the Salinas Valley. (Photo: Dwight Smith, via Shutterstock)

by ALEXANDRA TEMPUS, FairWarning posted 12.11.2020

Angela Mancuso had just dropped off her kids at Glenwood Elementary School when she started to smell something “funky.” She was driving back to her home just a mile away in Stockton and decided to roll down her window for some fresh air. She noticed too late that a helicopter applying pesticide to a nearby walnut grove that Tuesday morning in September 2016 kept flying back and forth across the road, spraying continuously.