President Trump's portrait superimposed on the California FlagOn Wednesday Feb 26th, Capitol Weekly held its first conference of 2025, and the only one of four this year held online. Throughout three panels and the keynote address by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, participants discussed the state’s longstanding battles with President Donald Trump in three key issue areas – health care, the environment and immigration.
Scheduler Anna Esparza. Photo by Ellie Appleby, Capitol WeeklyGetting a meeting with a lawmaker at the California State Capitol is often an exercise in patience and flexibility, one that generally has multiple moving parts. And no matter who is doing the asking, the process almost always starts with the same person – the scheduler.
Image via Pechanga Fire Department Facebook pageThe southern California Pechanga Band of Indians, perhaps best known for its gaming resort in Temecula, has for 30 years invested in its own fire department, building a reputation for coming to the aid of major fires and other incidents throughout not only California, but also across the country.
Smoke blanketing California's coastline. Image courtesy of NOAA website. A wave of life-threatening air pollution is now being reported widely as refugees from the devastating fires in Los Angeles return to what is left of their homes. Research being funded by the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine could help uncover how fine particulate matter from wildfires, vehicle emissions, and industrial sources affects stem cells and brain development.
An owner of a small business is ready for customers. (Photo: SaiArLawKa2, via Shutterstock)OPINION: As the fifth largest economy in the world, California is home to heavyweight economic industries: Silicon Valley, the entertainment industry, agriculture, tourism, and more. But anyone who lives here knows that there’s also a boom in the number of people who are starting their own microbusinesses.
A woman checks her plans at a construction project. (Photo: Serhii Krot, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Historically, the industry has been dominated by males, and while that is still true today, we are slowly challenging this reality as the number of women in construction is steadily increasing. In 2021, women made up 10.9% of the United States construction industry which is up from 9.9% in 2018.
The 2020 Silverado Fire burns toward homes in Orange County, northeast of Irvine. (Photo: markmandersonfilms, via Shutterstock)Sarah Mapel bought her dream home in Santa Cruz County’s Boulder Creek neighborhood in 2018. Later, she purchased fire insurance through the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) plan, a state-mandated program for consumers unable to acquire such insurance due to high-risk factors. “It was quite expensive,” she said.
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.
Students studying in a California classroom. (Photo: GagliardiPhotography, via Shutterstock)OPINION: One of the charges I hold seriously is to ensure every child in California has the resources they need to succeed. As a product of California’s K-12 public schools in the Central Valley, I can still recall the deficiency in resources as well as the knowledge of those that were appointed to secure that my future endeavors were aligned for excellence.