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Don’t disrupt health care coverage of our most vulnerable

A physician checks the medical history of a hospital patient. (Photo: L.O.N. DsIr Cameravia Shutterstock)

OPINION: In working closely with our main partner, Health Net, I was both disappointed and disheartened to hear that the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) recently announced their intent to drop Health Net as an option for Medi-Cal patients in Sacramento County — a decision that is sure to affect the physical and mental health needs of the unhoused patients we serve.

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Dolores Huerta , a civil rights legend, continues the fight

Dolores Huerta spoke Tuesday at a meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative. (Photo: Julia Kikhinson, AP)

At age 92, civil rights icon Dolores Huerta maintains a busy schedule supporting the causes she has worked for her whole life. She speaks regularly all over the state, recently participated in a re-creation of the famed 1966 farm workers march from Delano to Sacramento, and is campaigning for Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke.

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Former Assembly Speaker John Pérez eyes top state stem cell job

A major research facility of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine at UC Merced. (Photo: CIRM)

Two persons with deep ties to the University of California (UC) have been nominated for the position of chair of the governing board of the $12 billion California stem cell agency. They are John A. Pérez, former chair of the UC board of regents and former leader of the state Assembly, and Emilie Marcus, executive strategy officer at the UCLA School of Medicine. It is now up to the 35-member stem cell agency board to choose between the two.

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Solar power and a stressed grid: Batteries may play key role

Workers install solar panels on an Oak View roof in southern California. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)>

There is one issue plaguing solar energy: darkness. When the sun sets, solar panels’ abilities to gather and deploy solar energy is depleted until it rises the next morning. Similarly, cloud cover can harm homeowners and businesses that rely on solar energy and panels as the sun is temporarily. But there may be an answer to that problem, too: batteries.

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Water treatment systems not up to snuff, auditor says

Pumps aerate and filtrate contaminated water at a treatment facility.(Photo: Michael Vi, via Shutterstock)>

Already battered by drought, dwindling supplies and climate change, California’s water treatment systems also suffer from problems that raise the specter of long-term health issues, according to a state report. Those findings – and others – were contained in an audit  by Michael Tilden, California’s acting state auditor.

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PPIC survey: Economy, inflation, jobs are top concerns

The state Capitol in Sacramento. (Photo: PPIC)

The midterm campaign season enters its final stretch after Labor Day — in the context of rising consumer prices and higher interest rates that have created financial turbulence and uncertainty about job growth. Meanwhile, Californians are feeling the impact of climate change: severe drought, heat waves, and wildfires. Recently passed federal and state legislation aims to address these issues ahead of the highly consequential Nov. 8 election.

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New law takes targets truth in advertising — especially plastics

A dog eyes a trove of dumped plastic containers in Moorpark, Calif. (Photo: Alexandra Bilham, via Shutterstock)

Approximately 85% of single-use plastics in California never get recycled. By standardizing and clarifying the labeling of recyclable waste, California’s new law aims to align manufacturing standards with state regulations in order to increase the amount of plastic material that actually gets recycled.

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‘Federal Inflation Reduction Act’ is big boon to California

A photo illustration of an inflation-ravaged dollar. (Image: SERSOLL, via Shutterstock)

California is poised to benefit strongly from the federal Inflation Reduction Act, a massive, hard-fought and newly passed package meant to address healthcare, climate change and myriad other issues across the county.

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Capitol Weekly Interview: Randall Hagar and mental health care

Randall Hagar, who represents the Psychiatric Physicians Alliance of California. )(Photo: PPAC)

Randall Hagar has been in the forefront of major mental health policy and legislation in California for decades. As the father of a severely mentally ill adult son and longtime legislative advocate for California psychiatrists, he brings to policy discussions deep knowledge of both family struggles and the complex intricacies of mental health policy and law.

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Zero waste: A battle in California against wasteful packaging

A farmers' market in Oceanside, where a heavy emphasis is placed on recycling. (Photo: Dogora Sun, via Shutterstock)

In 2019, a Californian named Zuleyka Strasner created a sustainable grocery delivery startup called Zero Grocery. Previously an operations manager at a Bay Area venture capital firm, she got the idea for her low-waste grocery service after seeing a startling amount of plastic trash washing up on the tropical Nicaraguan beach where she’d honeymooned. 

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