An illustration of California battered by the coronavirus pandemic. (Image: bekulnis, via Shutterstock)More than two years after California imposed the nation’s first lockdown to stop the spread of COVID-19, the deadly disease persists, fueled now by the highly infectious subvariants and clouded by fears that the malady will stick around awhile — a long while.
An illustration of the unknown road ahead. (Image: Pro-Studio, via Shutterstock)California faces many challenges now. One is the climate emergency. Another is economic recovery. Add COVID-19 positivity. That is a partial list. You get the picture. Why imagine scenarios for the Golden State over the next decade or century? We turn to Marina Gorbis.
A beach in Carlsbad, San Diego County, which has the nation's largest desalination plant. (Photo: Sherry V Smith, via Shutterstock)Here we are again: California is enduring another punishing drought, this one only a few years after the last one ended, which was the most severe drought in the state’s nearly 500 years of recorded history. Low winter snowpack combined with scorching summer temperatures and the driest winter months in 100 years have severely impacted the state’s water supply. Lake Oroville, an important reservoir in Butte County, had sunk to 49% of capacity by July 1
The Barona Resort and Casino in Lakeside, located on the Barona Indian Reservation in San Diego County.(Photo: Sherry V Smith, via Shutterstock)With California’s statewide top-of-ticket races stacking up as weak-challenger romps, attention – and spending – turns to seven ballot measures, which taken together may well add up to the costliest state election ever. Experts say this could be the year that election-related spending tops $1 billion – a figure more in line with a presidential campaign.
A liquid nitrogen bank containing a suspension of stem cells for biomedical research. (Photo: Elena Pavlovich, via Shutterstock)California is planning on spending $49,000 an hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week during the next year to help scientists develop what some describe as “miraculous” cures and treatments for currently deadly afflictions. The spending plan was approved with no fuss last month while state lawmakers and the governor wrestled more noisily with a $308 billion state budget
A photo illustration of hundred-dollar bills. (Image: iQoncept, via Shutterstock)Staunch Donald Trump allies and the far right of the Republican Party have found deep-blue California – the state they love to hate – to be a treasure trove. California, where Democrats hold every statewide elected office and overwhelmingly control the Legislature, has long been a political ATM for campaigns across the county, especially Democrats.
Photo illustration of gambler using cell phone to place bets. (Image: WPadington, via Shutterstock)Odds are, in coming months you’ll become keenly aware that sportsbook operators and gaming tribes are waging a high-stakes ballot battle for control of sport gambling in California, and you may well get sick of it. That’s because both sides have $100 million war chests, ready to deliver their messages on every imaginable platform.
Night view of the California state Capitol, where an effort is underway to allow staffers to unionize.(Photo: trekandshoot, via Shutterstock)The clerks, receptionists, and those who get the coffee in the Capitol have historically been “at will” employees – meaning the legislators who employ them can fire them whenever they wish. That may be about to change.
A pipette drops stem cell research fluid on a special container. (Photo: CI Photos, via Shutterstock) The “bubble babies” saga and a California-financed cure for their life-threatening affliction has hit another snag, more than two years after a British company abandoned the effort. It is a story that involves more than $40 million from California’s stem cell agency, federal regulators, the University of California, the agonizingly slow pace of science and 20 children who have been denied care — not to mention a company called Orchard Therapeutics PLC.
An illustration of seismic activity coupled with California. (Image: Allexxandar, via Shutterstock)The Northridge earthquake in 1994 killed people and damaged property. That is not all. That disaster also created the California Earthquake Authority, a public entity that oversees earthquake insurance coverage and makes it available to those who want it.