News
Los Angeles is close to becoming the largest U.S. city to achieve a “no kill” policy for healthy animals placed in municipal shelters. When the trial program launched in 2012, the “save rate” — a measurement that reflects the percentage of cats and dogs not euthanized — at L.A. city shelters was 57.7 percent. Through the first quarter of 2017, the save rate rose to 89.4 percent.
News
There are ways to communicate successfully with elected officials that constituents, interest groups and even experienced lobbyists should keep in mind. So we offer a few basic tips for getting your message through, whether by writing (paper letter or email), telephoning or making a personal visit to the lawmaker’s state Capitol or district office.
Opinion
OPINION: In California — and all across the country — there are “digital deserts,” places where it’s impossible to get high-speed Internet access at home and thus impossible to do homework, apply for jobs and be a full-fledged member of the digital economy. These digital deserts also prevent farmers from using Internet technology to improve efficiencies in growing crops and getting them to markets.
News
For decades, polling relied on a strong pool of easily reached voters with a traditional land-line telephone. Before caller-ID became prevalent, nearly every call was answered as long as someone was home. But now more voters are untethered from traditional phones (I haven’t had a land line since 1998), and those who do still have them complain that most incoming calls are from telemarketers.
Opinion
OPINION: According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s report The Supplemental Poverty Measure: 2015, nearly eight million people in California were living in poverty in 2015. The report indicated that the state’s poverty rate was 20.6 percent—well above the national rate of 15.1 percent—and surpassed the rates of every other state in the nation.
News
History tells us that presidential-year new voters are likely to skip mid-term elections. Will the new voters of 2016 be any different? The answer to that question could have a profound impact on the 2018 elections.
News
New legislation to overhaul California’s youth criminal justice system includes a key provision that bars life-without-parole sentences for juvenile offenders. Currently, the United States is the only country in the world to impose life-without-parole sentences on minors. Throughout the past decade, the U.S. Supreme Court has handed down decisions that have begun to reverse the trend.
News
Should someone convicted of a felony have to admit that on the first application for a job? Several Democratic lawmakers don’t think so. They are pushing a bill that would prohibit a public or private employer from asking a prospective employee, on an initial application for employment, if they had been convicted of a crime .
News
Gov. Jerry Brown’s state budget draft is a no-frills document reflecting fears about the policies of the Trump administration, a Republican-led Congress and the likelihood of an economic recession. “The potential of a federal reduction in aid to California is real enough,” Brown noted, as he unveiled his revised $180 billion spending plan for 2017-18.
News
California is deciding whether to add a popular herbicide’s ingredient to the list of officially recognized cancer-causing compounds — a move that has run into a legal road block. At issue is glyphosate, a prime ingredient in the Monsanto Company’s herbicide Roundup.
Out for a spin in L.A. with the family dog. (Photo: Oneinpunch, Shutterstock)
