The state Christmas tree in front of the Capitol in Sacramento. Photo, taken with fish-eye lens: Robert Schlie, via Shutterstock)The Christmas season tells us that there are only a few days remaining in 2020, California’s anno horribilis. It also means political types begin to harbor fantasies about what they would like Santa to bring them if they’re very, very good.
A woman ponders a map and potential political districts. (Photo: League of Woman Voters of California)Next year, when California lays down political boundaries for a new decade, it will become the first state ever to adopt lines drawn in public by a commission in which women are the majority, election experts say.
Frank Mecca joined Capitol Weekly’s John Howard and Tim Foster by phone to talk about his long career at CDWA, the difficulties and the successes, and what’s changed in the three decades since he took the helm.
A helicopter sprays a field in the Salinas Valley. (Photo: Dwight Smith, via Shutterstock)Angela Mancuso had just dropped off her kids at Glenwood Elementary School when she started to smell something “funky.” She was driving back to her home just a mile away in Stockton and decided to roll down her window for some fresh air. She noticed too late that a helicopter applying pesticide to a nearby walnut grove that Tuesday morning in September 2016 kept flying back and forth across the road, spraying continuously.
Gov. Newsom at a 2019 briefing in Sacramento. (Photo: Associated Press)A perfect storm of events is giving Gov. Gavin Newsom political headaches, and he is yet again the subject of a recall movement that claims to have already collected more than 800,000 signatures. It marks the sixth attempt by various Republicans to oust Newsom – the other five fizzled. Few veteran political observers give this one any chance of success, either, although California politics is full of surprises.
A check-cashing outlet in Los Angeles, often used by low-income families. (Photo: image_vulture, via Shutterstock)A solid majority of Californians say children growing up in the state today will be worse off financially than their parents, while more than two-thirds say the gap between rich and poor is widening. In the past year, more than four in ten households with annual incomes below $40,000 had work hours or pay reduced, and an equal share had to cut back on food.
The state Capitol in Sacramento, the seat of California government. (Photo: Always Wanderlust, via Shutterstock)That $26 billion dollar “windfall” that California lawmakers learned about last month may not withstand a second round of economy-squelching lockdowns, and the risk of losing what little leverage they have is a top concern for state budget writers.
A medical researcher at work. (Photo: National Cancer Institute, via Wikimedia Commons.Capitol Weekly’s John Howard and Tim Foster were joined by Dr. Dean Blumberg, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, UC Davis School of Medicine and Acting Chief, Pediatric Infectious Disease Section, UC Davis Medical Center.
Beachgoers in April at Huntington Beach, despite stay-at-home orders. (Photo: Matt Gush, via Shutterstock)California, like the rest of the nation, is seeing a dramatic rise in COVID infections and deaths — and Los Angeles County has some of the most dire statistics. Health officials reported more than 7,500 new cases in the county on Tuesday, shattering the old record, set last week.
Illustration of California flag and the pandemic. (Image: bekulnis)Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to announce a tougher response to a surge in coronavirus infections that includes a three-week cutback on nonessential services and renewed stay-at-home restrictions affecting most Californians.