Posts Tagged: 100000

News

Q&A: Tim Johnson, California Rice Commission

A California rice field at sunset. (Photo: Sirisak Baokaew, via Shutterstock)

This September, 300,000 of California’s 550,000 acres of rice fields lay barren—over half the state’s rice crop. Instead of miles of soft green grasses swaying amid shimmering water, the state’s rice fields were cracked bare dirt, some crowded with weeds. “It is now just a wasteland,” a third-generation rice farmer told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Opinion

Microbusinesses play increasingly crucial role in California

An owner of a small business is ready for customers. (Photo: SaiArLawKa2, via Shutterstock)

OPINION:  As the fifth largest economy in the world, California is home to heavyweight economic industries: Silicon Valley, the entertainment industry, agriculture, tourism, and more. But anyone who lives here knows that there’s also a boom in the number of people who are starting their own microbusinesses.

Recent News

Amid pandemic, California murder rate shows shocking rise

Police at a Vallejo crime scene, where three people were shot during an armed robbery. (Photo: Francis Arrostuto, via Shutterstck)

Preliminary numbers from California’s biggest cities suggest that 2020’s stunning 30-percent increase in the statewide murder rate – the largest since 1960 – has continued to rise this year, and crime experts have as many questions as answers. “We’re seeing a continued trend” in rising murder rates throughout 2021, said Mangus Lofstrom, a policy director and senior fellow at the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.

Analysis

California’s homicide numbers can be misleading

An officer exits his vehicle prior to conducting a search in Ventura. (Photo: Glenn Highcove, via Shutterstock)

ANALYSIS: In late July, the Office of the Attorney General released Homicide in California 2020, its annual report on the state’s murders. Media outlets in California and elsewhere quickly covered the report. The story, targeting a “31 percent increase in murders, the most in 13 years,” was reported by a variety of news organizations.

News

California confronts lack of qualified teachers

Students participating in a discussion with their teacher. (Photo: Alex Brylov, via Shutterstock)

California is experiencing a lack of qualified teachers even as enrollment rates in preparation programs rise. “Growth in teacher demand as the economy has improved has collided with steep declines in the supply of new teachers, leading to significant increases in the hiring of underprepared teachers, especially in districts serving high-need students,” the Learning Policy Institute reported last year.

Recent News

CA120: Voter registration: The 2018 spike is not what it seems

Photo illustration of of highway alerting people tom coming elections. (Image: Jim Vallee, via Shutterstock)

Earlier this year, the state established a new system that could fundamentally change the relationship between Californians and their voter registration. In a series of changes—most notably the way that voter sign-ups are done at the Department of Motor Vehicles—California has entered an era of nearly automatic voter registration.

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