Beer battle brewing over distribution

Capitol Weekly Podcast: An Economic Forecast

by Capitol Weekly Staff posted 01.24.2021

Lenny Mendonca, the former head of GO-Biz (The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development)for Governor Gavin Newsom, joined John Howard and Tim Foster to talk about the economic outlook for California as the pandemic continues, and what to expect when the era of COVID is over.

Capitol Weekly Podcast: Dan Morain on Kamala’s Way

Kamala Harris speaking at the 2019 National Forum on Wages and Working People in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo by Gage Skidmore, used by permission.

by Capitol Weekly Staff posted 01.19.2021

Journalist extraordinaire Dan Morain joined John Howard and Tim Foster to talk about his new book, Kamala’s Way: An American Life – the first biography of Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris. Morain covered Harris’ rise in real time for the Los Angeles Times, The Sacramento Bee and CalMatters; that background allowed him to write and research the entire book in a few months during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Needed: educational training in civic engagement

Students and others at a Los Angeles march targeting climate change. (Photo: Sam the Leigh, via Shuterstock)

by JOSETTE THORNHILL, BENJAMIN TARVER and RYLEE VIZVARY posted 01.19.2021

OPINION: The State Seal of Civic Education would create a shift in the collective mindset of our state’s schools toward prioritizing civic engagement education, providing guidance and resources for students to become involved in activism, and incentivizing community organizing work.

Scant COVID testing for CA’s arrested children

A teen-age girl in a juvenile detention facility. (Photo: chatiyanon, via Shutterstock)

by RAHEEM HOSSEINI posted 01.13.2021

Rasjan sat with his hands folded at a metal table inside a white-walled tank of the Sacramento County Youth Detention Facility. A mask hung around his neck as he peered into a webcam and listened to three adult voices — belonging to a judge and two attorneys — discuss whether he should be released into his grandmother’s care. On Dec. 30, 2020, the answer was no.

Recipient of $22 million from stem cell agency named to its board

Stem cell researcher and professor Larry Goldstein. (Photo: Screen capture, UCTV).

by DAVID JENSEN posted 01.12.2021

Larry Goldstein, a well-known stem cell researcher at the University of California, San Diego who has received nearly $22 million in awards from the California stem cell agency, today was named to its governing board. It was the first time in the history of the 16-year-old agency that a scientist who has received agency awards has been appointed to the board.

State leaders need to act on housing crisis in 2021

Residential housing units under construction. (Photo: Orange Grove, via Shutterstock)

by DAVE WALSH posted 01.13.2021

OPINION: Our state’s high cost of living is driven in large part by exorbitant housing prices.
Skyrocketing rents and record-high home prices are forcing many families to make the heart-wrenching decision to leave our state altogether. Californians of all backgrounds are calling out for action: We need housing now.

Battered, California GOP struggles to maintain toehold

Republicans show support for Donald Trump at a rally at the Anaheim Convention Center. (Photo: mikeledray, via Shutterstock)

by A.G. BLOCK posted 01.05.2021

Not long ago, California Republicans slugged it out with Democrats in competitive statewide campaigns and threw considerable weight into legislative policy debates. But today, after a quarter-century slide into irrelevancy and dogma, it’s reasonable to consider if the state party still has a pulse and if its future includes a revival.

Inside the Capitol: Letters to the Journal

The state Capitol in Sacramento, home of the Senate and Assembly. (Photo: Kit Leong, via Shutterstock)

by CHRIS MICHELI posted 01.08.2021

One way to help figure out the legislative intent behind a particular measure is a letter written by the bill’s author that is published in the Assembly Daily Journal or the Senate Daily Journal.