News

LAT: ‘Secret Life’ of former USC Med School dean, stem cell agency director

Carmen Puliafito (right), a member of the governing board of the California stem agency, and Robert Klein, then chairman of the agency. (Photo: USC, 2009)

The headline in the Los Angeles Times this morning said: “An overdose, a young companion, drug-fueled parties: The secret life of USC med school dean.” He resigned his $1.1 million position as dean in March 2016, declaring he wanted to pursue outside opportunities. He still serves, as a gubernatorial appointee, on the board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), as the stem cell agency is formally known.

News

Cap-and-trade deal heading for showdown

A California power plant at dusk. (Photo David Crockett)

A hotly disputed agreement to extend California’s cap-and-trade program to 2030 reflects the power shift under way in the Legislature in which moderate, business-friendly Democrats are increasingly flexing their political muscle. It also shows the lobbying clout of the petroleum industry and divisions within the environmental community.

News

Nurses’ RoseAnn DeMoro zeroes in

RoseAnn DeMoro of the California Nurses ASssociation and National Nurses United, speaks to reporters outside Gov. Brown's office.(File Photo, 2014: AP/Rich Pedroncelli)

Amid an increasingly partisan and uncertain political climate, RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of National Nurses United, isn’t afraid to call out politicians on both sides of the aisle.“We’re doing the exact opposite agenda of the Democrats who are just about Trump,” DeMoro said.

News

Stem cell agency hunts for new leader

The Lorry I. Lokey stem cell research building at Stanford University, a major facility of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. (Photo: CIRM)

California’s $3 billion stem cell research program is looking for a new president to carry the state agency through what may be the last three years of its life. The search committee of the agency’s 29-member governing board meets July 17 to discuss the matter behind closed doors.

News

Where are they now? Roger Niello

Former Assembloyman Roger Niello. (Photo: rogerniello.com)

He was elected to his last term in the Assembly nearly a decade ago, but it’s hard to drive around Sacramento without seeing his name constantly. From Acura to Volvo, the Niello name can be found on license plate frames throughout the region.

News

Veterinary law emerges from the shadows

A family pet receives care in a veterinary hospital. (Photo: Didesign021, via Shutterstock)

A California statute governing blood-banking programs and transfusions for dogs has flown under the radar for the past 7 years, causing private veterinarians to break a law that they did not know existed. The issue would still be cloaked in obscurity had it not been for comments that emerged during a recent veterinary seminar at UC Davis.

News

Kamala Harris goes to Washington

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-California, questions a witness at a June 7 hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee. (Photo: AP/Susan Walsh)

Getting interrupted on two occasions during nationally televised Senate hearings has proved to be a political boon for Sen. Kamala Harris. California’s junior U.S. senator has drawn positive headlines and support on social media for what some perceive as sexist treatment by her Republican male colleagues. Media outlets across the country have identified Harris, a Democrat, as a possible presidential candidate in 2020, though she has said it is too early to think about that.

News

$5 billion stem cell bond scrapped for 2018 ballot

A photo illustration of human DNA. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Plans to ask California voters in 2018 to approve a $5 billion bond issue to finance the California stem cell agency have been shelved, a director of the agency said Thursday. Jeff Sheehy, a San Francisco county supervisor, said that the key backer of the proposal had informed him that no bond measure would be offered to voters before 2020, presumably at the presidential general election.

News

Stem cell agency faces leadership challenge

Human embryonic stem cells. (Photo: California Institute for Regenerative Medicine)

California’s 12-year-old stem cell research effort is expected to give away tens of millions of dollars in public this week, but its most important matters — issues that deal with its survival and future — likely will be discussed behind closed doors at a meeting Thursday of its governing board. On the table is the leadership of the $3 billion organization, which is scheduled to run out of cash in just three years.

News

Affordable housing crisis grips California

A view towards Palo Alto, Stanford and the cities of south San Francisco Bay, where housing is at a premium.(Photo: Sundry Photography)

California lawmakers are in midst of trying to solve a housing crisis that has spread throughout the state. The state’s Department of Housing and Community Development — an agency that works to expand access to affordable housing — says California has built an average of 80,000 homes a year for the past decade, which is less than half of the 180,000 new homes needed to keep up with the predicted population growth through 2025.

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