Opinion

Dams, a key part of state infrastructure, must be kept safe

O'Shaughnessy Dam in Hetch Hetchy Valley, Yosemite National Park, is a key source of water to the SF Bay Area. (Photo: SveKo, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: We applaud Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature for taking bold action last year to fund climate resilience and related water infrastructure in the fiscal year 2021-’22 state budget. In light of the current budget surplus, funding for climate resilience and water infrastructure should remain a key priority for investment in California.

Opinion

Affordable health care threatened by hospitals’ mark-up costs

Photo illustration of money and medical care. (Image: ShutterstockProfessional, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: If passed, SB 958 would severely limit specialty pharmacies’ ability to deliver lower cost medications to patients, while also making it even easier for hospitals to markup the cost they charge patients for critical medications, and in the end, we would see higher health care premiums for California’s employers and individuals.

Analysis

Gov. Gavin Newsom and the race for the top prize

Gov. Gavin Newsom during a visit last fall to San Francisco. (Photo: Jana Asenbrennerova, via Shutterstock)

Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared flatly that he is not interested in running for president. “I have sub-zero interest,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle’s editorial board recently. “It’s not even on my radar.” Right.

Opinion

Health care: Sickle cell disease strikes hard at people of color

The hands of a man suffering from sickle cell disease, or SCD.(Image: Sickle Cell Disease Emergency Department, Duke University.)

OPINION: Growing up in Nigeria meant living in the shadow of sickle cell disease (SCD). In 2010, an estimated 90,000 newborns in Nigeria had sickle cell anemia – the highest incidence of SCD worldwide. I vividly remember being about 10 years old and the pain of learning why my neighborhood friend had stopped coming over to play.

Opinion

A crucial effort to expand home internet access

Students accessing broadband from a computer lab. (Photo: J. Lekavicius, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: Students all know the pains – dropped Zoom calls, spotty reception and failed downloads. COVID-19 has changed college campuses forever, expanding the classroom to wherever we can connect to the internet. While the transition has opened more access for students, it also  leaves behind many, including the 3.5 million Californians who do not have internet access at home.

Opinion

A math professor’s effort to dismantle remedial classes

An instructor in a college math class prepares to call on a student. (Photo: Juice Dash, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: I helped create these remedial structures because I believed they would help students be successful. But over the last decade I’ve worked to dismantle them, eliminating both remedial courses and placement tests. Why? Because enrolling in a remedial class makes students less – not more – likely to be successful in college.

News

CA120: Numbers showing sparse turnout for the primary

Signs at a site in San Francisco show the way to the polls. (Photo: Kevin McGovern, via Shutterstock)

Going into this gubernatorial primary election, one could have rightly expected to see a pretty good turnout. There are more than 30 open legislative seats for the first time in nearly a decade and competitive congressional races after the shakeup of redistricting. But with just a few days to go, we are at just 13% total turnout statewide. In some key battlegrounds, like the hot L.A. Mayor’s race, turnout is even lower at just 10%,

Opinion

Call it what you like, but solitary confinement equals torture

An artist's rendering of an inmate in solitary confinement. (Photo: LaHellen, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: Prolonged solitary confinement is torture. Whether it is referred to as administrative segregation, secure housing, or protective custody, the effect on an individual is the same. Significant psychological harm, and mental and physical damage that can be permanent.

Analysis

Bitterness over speakership fray permeates the Assembly

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon. (Photo: Rendon's Twitter feed.)

Timing is crucial in politics, and the battle over the Assembly speakership is no exception. The clock is ticking. If Rendon continues through the end of the current two-year session, then any change in the speakership will be decided in the next session, following the November elections, when all 80 Assembly seats are up for election.

Recent News

State stormwater permit would stall housing, infrastructure

A stormwater runoff system under construction. (Photo: Maksim Safaniuk, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: Gov. Gavin Newsom has boldly promoted the goal of building more than 3 million new homes by 2025 to address the significant supply/demand imbalance and bring down the cost of housing. Given California’s challenging regulatory processes, we’re already falling woefully short of those ambitious goals. In spite of this, an excessive new proposal by the State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board) – comprised of gubernatorial appointees — will further stall new housing production.

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