Podcast

Capitol Weekly Podcast: Lobbyist John Latimer eyes the new landscape

Sacramento lobbyist John Latimer. (Photo: Capitol Advocacy)

Capitol Advocacy, a prominent Sacramento lobbying firm, celebrates 20 years in the business this month. Founder John Latimer sat down to chat with Capitol Weekly’s John Howard and Tim Foster about the nuts and bolts of the of lobbying, the impact — or not — of term limits and what’s changed since he launched the firm two decades ago.

News

ADEMs are crucial — and a bit of a mystery

Gov. Gavin Newsom addresses a January ADEM gathering in San Francisco. (Photo: California Democratic Party, via Bay City Beacon)

Few Californians are familiar with the state Democratic Party’s Assembly District Election Meetings, known as ADEMs. Even fewer – under 40,000 – vote in them. But as Democrats in 2019 wield nearly absolute power in state policy, the ADEMs – grassroots, internal elections held every two years designed to connect party insiders with the base – are gaining attention as a battleground between the party’s progressive and moderate blocs.

News

Republican foot soldiers urge back to basics

Travis Allen addresses delegates at the GOP state convention in Sacramento on Feb. 23. (Photo: Steve Yeater/Associated Press)

If the Republican Party wants to make a comeback in California, it’s going to have to stand up against voter fraud and stick to its principles, according to an unscientific sampling of party stalwarts, many of them angry, at the weekend’s GOP state convention in Sacramento.

News

California, other states in border wall fight

The border barrier between the U.S. and Mexico in Nogales, Arizona. (Photo: Manuela Durson)

As the Congressional battle heats up over President Trump’s efforts to build a border wall, a number of states — including California — already have joined the fight in court. California and 15 other states have challenged the president’s emergency declaration to spend billions of dollars for the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border

News

Amid fiscal turmoil, Sac Unified faces possible state takeover

A teacher with her elementary school class in the Sacramento City Unified School District. (SCUSD photo)

As the Sacramento City Unified School District faces a $35 million budget shortfall and a possible takeover by the state, the teachers’ union is pointing fingers of blame at district administration. The Sacramento City Teachers Association asked newly elected state Superintendent Tony Thurmond for an investigation into potential misuse of public dollars and a conflict of interest involving the district superintendent.

News

Lawsuit targets Becerra over police secrecy

State Attorney General Xavier Becerra addresses reporters in Sacramento. (Photo: AP/Rich Pedroncelli)

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who has filed 40-plus lawsuits against the Trump Administration, has been a darling of many California Democrats. Now he finds himself in a court fight against some of his admirers.

News

CA120: California is the gorilla in the 2020 primary closet

A voter casts a ballot in the 2016 primary election in Ventura County. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)

In 2016 California had a late primary, and it looked like the Golden State would deliver deciding votes in both the Republican and Democratic nominations. If it weren’t for Trump’s victory in Indiana just weeks before, California would have been the last stand for Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, John Kasich and others who were mounting a late push to block a Trump nomination.

News

Shortage looms of health care professionals

Medical professionals screen people at a 2018 festival in Costa Mesa. (Photo: David Bruckmann, via Shutterstock)

California faces a dramatic shortage of healthcare professionals over the next decade, and the state should take steps now to deal with the problem, according to a new report. “In just 10 years … California is projected to face a shortfall of more than 4,100 primary care clinicians and 600,000 home care workers, and will have only two-thirds of the psychiatrists it needs,” said the study, Meeting the Demand for Health.

News

What happens when the next big wildfire hits?

Fire safety has suddenly become far more politically fraught and expensive. Here, firefighters respond to 2017 Ponderosa Fire. Photo courtesy of Cal Fire. (Photo: CalFire, via CALmatters)

Don’t be fooled by the precipitation, the snowpack, the wildflowers. When winter ends, it’s unlikely that California’s iconic landscape will sustain the moisture to withstand the 100-degree summer and fall. California has yet to recover from the 5-year drought that began in 2012. For four years, record wildfires have ravaged the state, including the Tubbs Fire in Napa and Sonoma in 2017 and the Camp Fire last year that wiped out the town of Paradise in Butte County.

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