Opinion
OPINION: California’s investor-owned water providers remain focused on delivering safe, reliable, and affordable water service to 7 million people; essential to sustaining communities, the economy, and our food supply. All this is at risk as California experiences the third straight year of severe drought, the driest period in 1,200 year
Opinion
OPINION: The largest public university system in the nation sounded the alarm this summer declaring that it was struggling to attract and retain qualified staff. (Spoiler alert: It is not due to a worker shortage.) The Chancellor for the California State University, Steve Relyea, wrote: “It is not an overstatement: The CSU’s mission is in jeopardy if it is unable to recruit and retain qualified employees to serve its students and to fulfill the significant role that the CSU plays within California’s economy.”
Opinion
OPINION: Look around. California’s population is aging and growing more diverse. Aging independently in one’s own home with economic security has become particularly challenging for too many older adults who for years have endured discrimination, inequities and health disparities. These challenges have only intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic and amid surging costs of living.
Opinion
OPINION: When Californians received an emergency text alert recently urging them to cut energy use, they probably didn’t know how much they were needed to avoid power outages. Electricity demand almost surpassed supply during a record heat wave worsened by climate change. And yet, unlike August 2020, outages never came.
Opinion
OPINION: The California Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom worked together through the budget process this year to support the CSU on many initiatives to improve student success and increase access to higher education. But now a measure headed to the governor’s desk for his signature would require the CSU to divert funds from student services and graduation initiatives and could lead to tuition increases and academic and faculty layoffs.
Opinion
OPINION:Hidden behind the headline are some facts suggesting the state is headed toward a recession-like slowdown in the economy and job market. First, job growth was not evenly distributed across the state — roughly 74% of the June job growth was in the Bay Area and Los Angeles unemployment increased by 7,000 claims.
Opinion
OPINION: An increasing number of children report feeling sad, hopeless, and, in the most extreme cases, suicidal. We cannot wait any longer to ensure every child has the behavioral health support they need, regardless of how they receive their health care coverage.
Opinion
OPINION: Just weeks before COVID 19 shut down California and the entire country, the University of California’s largest labor union ratified new contracts for nearly 30,000 of UC’s frontline service and health employees.
Opinion
OPINION: As much as we all might yearn for everything to go back to just the way it was before the novel coronavirus uprooted the world, we know that there are things that can never go back. Workplaces have forever been changed.
Opinion
OPINION: Two weeks ago, another attempt to recall Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón failed decisively, with proponents unable to muster support from even 10 percent of voters despite spending over $8 million on this latest effort. Like the June primary results, this failure reminds us that L.A. voters, like voters across California, continue to support meaningful justice reforms and candidates who embrace them.
A cement pipe near the Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Plant. (Photo: Sundry Photography)
