News
California may well have the toughest gun laws in the country, but criminals still get automatic weapons and everyday people still head to the gun store in times of trouble. And the pandemic with its parade of woes has motivated thousands of first-time gun buyers. It turns out, while some Californians hoarded toilet paper and hand sanitizer, others bulked up on firepower.
News
When the vacationing Gov. Gavin Newsom returned to California this week, it marked an end to a remarkable two-week period in the state’s history — the Golden State had been run by a woman. That woman is Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, and she became the first woman in the state’s 171-year history to sign a bill into law — a remarkable fact, given the state’s track record in recent decades of electing women to high office, including constitutional offices, Congress and the U.S. Senate.
News
Compensating the families of Black Californians who were scarred by slavery is a delicate, complex and controversial task — as the unprecedented state panel pondering the issue is finding out. The “fact that California is taking the first steps toward reparations for slavery is a major milestone,” Justine Leroy an assistant professor at UC Davis whose research specializes in the history of slavery and emancipation, said of the March 29 vote.
Podcast
Just a quickie this week! We’re taking a little Spring Break from the regular podcast so all we have for you this time is the Worst Week in California Politics– and if you’ve been following the news you won’t have a hard time guessing who it was…
We’ll be back with a regular
News
The health information exchange, or HIE, has received little public attention. But it would cover 40 million people in California’s 58 counties, and would in part quickly inform emergency room doctors and nurses of a patient’s medical history, e.g., a preexisting condition, before her care.
Podcast
We are joined today by San Diego Assemblyman Chris Ward. Ward represents the 78th District, which like most of the state, has been hard hit by the lack of affordable housing. While most housing affordability advocates approach this problem by focusing on strategies to increase supply, Ward has introduced a bill, AB 1771, that aims to keep prices in check by deterring house-flippers.
Podcast
With gasoline prices hovering in the mid $5 range, many Californians are taking a new look at the option of driving an Electric Vehicle. We spoke with former Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, a longtime EV fan, who established himself as one of California’s leading experts in energy, telecommunications, and technology policy while in the legislature. Will spiking gas prices move California drivers to the EV tipping point?
News
California’s stem cell agency, created as a way to develop revolutionary cures based on human embryonic stem cells, has awarded $316 million over the last 12 months, most of it backing a type of therapy that was not even on the agency’s radar when it was created in 2004.
News
The pandemic-prompted shift to at-home work dramatically reduced the number of cars on the road, so people drove faster, drank more, paid less attention and got lazy about their seatbelts, all of which contributed to the highest rate of fatal accidents in more than a decade.
News
Newsom’s plan would create an entirely new system of civil court supervision, connecting individuals with intensive treatment and, equally important, housing. By his estimate, it would help 7,000-to-12,000 severely mentally ill people each year, many with chronic physical conditions that are worsened by life on the streets, clearly unable to care for themselves. It would not replace existing programs.
A gunsmith works on a 300 Blackout AR rifle in a Placerville gun shop.(Photo: SvetlanaSF, via Shutterstock)
