Posts Tagged: 15

News

CA120: The math of the March primary

(Vintage engraving of a donkey, modified by Tim Foster, Capitol Weekly)

As we barrel toward the March 3 primary election, most eyes are on national and statewide polls showing a tight contest between four top contenders, with the latest Capitol Weekly polling showing Senator Bernie Sanders with a slight lead over Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Vice President Joe Biden, followed by Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of Southbend, Ind.

Opinion

Let’s get plastic out of our food — now

Plastic garbage on the beach, tossed there or brought in by the tide. (Photo: Larina Marina, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: You’ve probably heard the phrase, “You are what you eat” a thousand times. It’s a motto usually used to encourage skipping the fries or chips for the recommended servings of veggies and fruits. But lately this phrase has a taken on an alarming new meaning. We are eating plastic.

News

Ballot admission price: $48 million

A California ballot box. (Photo illustration, Hafakot, via Shutterstock)

It’s like a poker game: If you want to play, you have to ante up. And this year, the ante for Nov. 8 was nearly $48 million. That’s how much the rival interests for an array of initiatives paid to get on the ballot. That’s not money spent on the merits of the initiatives. It’s the money spent simply to get the propositions before the public.

News

Exit poll: Harris dominates Senate rivals

CA120: Even with 34 U.S. Senate candidates on the ballot, an exit poll of absentee voters shows that Kamala Harris is lapping the field. Slightly more than half report having voted for Harris, more than three times the level of support for her closest rival in Tuesday’s top-two primary, fellow Democrat Loretta Sanchez. Republicans would need a strong late consolidation of support behind Duf Sundheim to have any hope of preventing an all-Democratic general election.

Opinion

Does Trump affect down-ballot races?

A California voter casts a ballot. (Photo: Vepar5)

OPINION: In a fairly rare occurrence, this year’s primary election in California could actually matter in terms of who becomes the Republican Party’s nominee. California had a chance of being relevant with March primaries in 1996, 2000 and 2004; however, Bob Dole and George W. Bush already had largely sealed their deals.

News

Despite need, 15% fewer dentists serving Medi-Cal patients

A state review of a dental program that serves low-income Californians shows that significantly fewer dentists are accepting those patients, despite a surge in demand. According to the California Department of Health Care Services report, released July 1, the number of dentists accepting Medi-Cal patients fell by 14.5 percent between 2008 and 2013. That’s a loss of 1,354 providers for the Denti-Cal program, which is the dental portion of Medi-Cal.

News

*Cost fuels fight over greenhouse gas law

California motorists in a traffic jam. (Photo: Shutterstock)

In this dry summer, water is on everyone’s mind, but the Legislature will be dealing with the cost of another liquid precious to Californians – gasoline. Starting Jan. 1, gasoline prices are to be raised by an estimated 15 cents per gallon as a consequence of an increased tax on oil and gas companies to help curb release of greenhouse gas emissions.

News

Judges’ pension contributions eyed

Payments seven judges make toward their pensions would be cut nearly in half by a bill approved last week in a Senate committee, despite a warning from the chairwoman of a “slippery slope” undermining the governor’s pension reform.

News

Public pension bill eyes ‘excess earnings’

Calpensions.com: The bill said to represent three years of talks mainly between the IRS and the Orange County system, the informal leader in the negotiations, moved out of the Assembly public employees retirement committee with no discussion.

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