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Mental illness cases up in California jails

Image of an inmate behind bars. Illustration: PhoelixDE, via Shutterstock)

Mental illness cases in California jails have significantly increased since 2009, health policy experts reported Thursday. California Health Policy Strategies, a Sacramento-based consulting group, gathered administrative data from the Board of State and Community Corrections and discovered a 42 % increase in mental health cases reported and an 80 % increase in inmate medication prescriptions over the last 10 years.

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Caught in the crossfire between hospital chain, insurer

Zoe Friedland and her husband, Bert Kaufman (Photo courtesy of Bert Kaufman)

After Zoe Friedland became pregnant with her first child, she was picky about choosing a doctor to guide her through delivery. “With so many unpredictable things that can happen with a pregnancy, I wanted someone I could trust,” Friedland said.

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CSU faculty, workers air concerns

Students heading to classes at San Diego State. (Photo: Pictor Picture, via Shutterstock)

The fiscal outlook at California State University is good and the sprawling, 23-campus system that serves nearly a half-million students is in the midst of expansion. But there appear to be segments of CSU that aren’t all that happy — the faculty and the university’s workers.

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The March primary is coming hot and fast

Illustration of a California voter casting a ballot by mail. (Image: Vepar 5, via Shutterstock)

In the March 3 primary election, Super Tuesday, we are expecting to see an earlier vote than ever before. Over 15 million California ballots are being mailed, mostly today, and we are expecting to see a ton come back in the first week or 10 days. With three-quarters of the electorate being mailed ballots, we know records will be broken.

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Stem cell agency refi: LAO sees $7.8 billion price tag

A pipette and vessels usd in stem cell research. (Photo: CI Photos, via Shutterstock)

The price tag for refinancing California’s unique and ambitious stem cell research program could run to close to $7.8 billion, give or take a few hundred million dollars or more. So says the state’s legislative analyst in a financial analysis of a proposed ballot initiative that is likely to be on next November’s ballot. 

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Mental health care: From the snake pit to the streets

Illustration of a person suffering from mental illness. (Image: GrAl, via Shutterstock)

The modern history of mental-health care in California begins more than half a century ago with passage of the landmark 1967 Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, an ambitious — but ultimately disastrous —  overhaul of a draconian “system” of hoary old mental hospitals throughout California. Most of the hospitals were closed, but the “community care” that was to take their place never materialized.

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New California law eases path for sexual abuse victims

A young boy dealing with the aftermath of abuse. (Photo: 271 EAK MOTO, via Shutterstock)

Sexual abuse victims with decades-old claims say they are grateful to finally get a shot at justice through a new California law that widens the period in which civil claims can be filed. The law, AB 218, went into effect Jan. 1. It allows a three-year “look back” window when victims can file civil claims regardless of when their abuse took place. In cases where the child became a victim because of an institutional coverup, the victim can collect triple the damages.

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CA120: A crucial look at voters’ second choices

Presidential contender Elizabeth Warren at a 2019 rally in San Diego. (Photo: John Hancock, via Shutterstock)

For the past year, Capitol Weekly has conducted over 10,000 surveys of likely Democratic primary election voters. These surveys have emailed Democratic and nonpartisan voters each month, asking them to complete a survey, and tracked their responses back to their voter registration to allow us to analyze candidate support by ethnicity, age, partisanship, and other factors.

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PPIC: Voters target homelessness, favor Trump’s removal

Tents of the homeless along a Los Angeles street. (Photo: Philip Pilosian, via Shutterstock)

Less than two months before California’s presidential primary, the Democratic primary remains a three-way race between Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, and Elizabeth Warren. Most Californians say President Trump should be removed from office and disapprove of his handling of the situation with Iran. These are among the key findings of a statewide survey released today by the Public Policy Institute of California.

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State just starting to grapple with climate change

An aerial view of the freeway system feeding downtown Los Angeles. (Photo: trekandshoot, via Shutterstock)

California’s vulnerability to climate change — from deadly fires to sea level rise — has been well documented. But the Legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal adviser says the state, with rare exceptions, has only just begun to assess the risk climate change poses to roads, dams, parks and schools.

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