Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez addressing lawmakers about her labor bill, AB 5. (Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/APAssemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez wrapped up this legislative year feeling pretty good about her accomplishments. Despite often fierce opposition, the San Diego Democrat was able to pass 11 pieces of legislation, including those that protect child sexual abuse survivors and workers.
The Harbor Freeway in Los Angeles at rush hour. (Photo: Joseph SohmToyota, Chrysler, GM, Nissan, Subaru and Hyundai sided with the Trump administration in its efforts to ease mileage efficiency on rules imposed by the Obama administration. But earlier, California signed an agreement with Ford, Honda, BMW and Volkswagen that assures more stringent rules – a move that the Trump administration denounced as illegal.
Voters in their booths casting ballots in a Los Angeles election. (Photo: Joseph Sohm, via Shutterstock)One constant in California elections is change. In the past 20 years, we’ve seen changes to when the primary is held, then changed back, then back again. We’ve seen an open primary, then another version of the open primary. We shook up the Legislature with term limits, then imposed different term limits. We have moved increasingly to vote by mail, shifting the timeline of our elections.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif, chair of the House Intelligence Committee. (Image: Screen capture, ABC This Week)Throughout most of his political career, Adam Schiff has been low-key, laboring mostly in the background in the California Senate and then in Congress. Now, at age 59, he finds himself in the national spotlight as a major target of Donald Trump amid the hot glare of presidential impeachment.
Discarded e-cigarette pods and vape devices recovered by University of California, San Francisco researchers. (Photo by Jeremiah Mock).Nearly two years ago, Jeremiah Mock heard a student in Marin County complain that her school was littered with e-cigarette waste. A health anthropologist by training, Mock did some shoe-leather investigating in a student parking lot, where he found a significant amount of e-cigarette and tobacco trash.
A liquid nitrogen bank containing stem cells.(Photo: Alena Pavlovich, via Shutterstock) The 29 directors of the California stem cell agency are hearing a warning this week that certain types of their possible activities on behalf of a proposed $5.5 billion ballot initiative could lead to a criminal investigation by state or local law enforcement agencies. While that would seem to be an unlikely event, it has caught up another California public enterprise (the Bay Area Rapid Transit District).
Assembly candidates Elizabeth Betancourt, left, and Megan Dahle. (Photo illustration by Tim Foster, Capitol Weekly)A husband and wife team in the Legislature — again? On Nov. 5, voters in California’s sprawling 1st Assembly District will choose between Republican Megan Dahle and Democrat Elizabeth Betancourt in a special election.
Assemblymember James Ramos, D-Highland, 40th Assembly District. (Photo: jamesramos.org)For California’s Native Americans, times change — but sometimes very slowly. One big change: the historic election of James C. Ramos, 52 to the state Assembly’s 40th District in the Inland Empire.
A view of Los Angeles blurred by a hazy atmosphere. (Photo: evijaf, via Shutterstock) OPINION: For 11 years, Next 10 has been measuring economic and environmental indicators in the California Green Innovation Index. This year, the data is sobering. If the current pace of emissions decline continues, we will miss our 2030 climate targets by more than thirty years.
Presidential contender Elizabeth Warren at a town hall meeting in San Diego. (Photo: Jeffrey Allan Photography, via Shutterstock)Capitol Weekly’s October Democratic primary tracking survey shows Elizabeth Warren continuing to storm the field with another 7-point gain, putting her at 35% and a healthy 14-points ahead of her nearest rival, Vice President Joe Biden. Biden has risen since September by 3-points despite the massive national controversy around Ukraine and President Trump’s accusations regarding his son.