Gov. Gavin Newsom at a San Francisco event. (Photo: Jana Asenbrennerova, via Shutterstock)Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing a multi-billion-dollar package of monetary goodies for Californians, but how much of it will become reality is now up to legislators. The clock ticks: Lawmakers have less than a month to approve the 2022-23 budget, an unprecedented, nearly $300 billion document, and send it to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Bryndon Madison in an airplane restroom on the flight from London to San Fracnisco.Getting back to California from Europe during a global pandemic was certainly not the way I thought my trip would end. In January I arrived in Cordoba, Spain, for a two-and-a-half-month university study-abroad program and that’s where I had been living up until Saturday, March 14.
An emergency room at a hospital in Palo Alto. (Photo: Jennie Book, via Shutterstock)Today in California, the fifth largest economy in the world, we’ve made unparalleled progress toward our goal of health care coverage for all, but there are still roughly 2.8 million people without health care coverage. Take a moment to let that number sink in: 2.8 million.
An indoor cannabis farm in California. (Photo: Mitch M., via Shutterstock)OPINION: California’s legal cannabis industry is in a state of disarray. The market is chaotic, the regulatory landscape is in a constant state of flux, and at the same time, the black market continues to flourish. Consumers find themselves with limited access to quality and safe products as businesses struggle to stay afloat and keep up with a moving target.
Housing construction at a new California neighborhood.(Photo: Marilyn Volan)As California rents and property values continue to rise, it should come as no surprise that three housing-related measures will face voters on the November ballot, targeting veterans’ home loans, local rent control and housing construction for the homeless. Statewide, the average rent on a one-bedroom apartment is about $1,400, and a home costs $440,000 — far more than double the national average of $180,000.
A San Francisco fire truck and crew prepare for duty.(Photo:
Shutterstock)A worried Herald Fire Protection District board discussed the possibility last week that the fee for leaving CalPERS may be around $400,000, an amount some members fear could push the small district in southern Sacramento County into bankruptcy. Earlier this month, Transparent California reported that the suburban Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District has 216 retirees receiving annual pensions of $100,000 or more, and a dozen of those are $200,000, or more.
They’re called Veterans Treatment Courts, a little-known part of the judicial system that deals specifically with military veterans crippled by stress, drugs and the memories of war. The specialized courts can be found around the country. But only 12 of California’s 58 counties have this service for veterans.
Republican presidential contender Ted Cruz at the California GOP convention. (Photo: Jeff Chiu/Associated Press)At the top of the glistening white staircase leading to the hotel mezzanine, the amiable, white-haired activist was handing out “Cruz for President” stickers. “I’ve been scoffed at and scorned,” he said. “It was fun.”
Millerton Lake in Fresno County formed by the Friant Dam. Photo: K.J. KolbCalifornians in cities and towns across the state cut their water usage only slightly – 2.8 percent — during February compared with the same month in 2013, an indication that despite the severity of the drought, conservation is not taking hold. Felicia Marcus, the chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, said “the February results are very disturbing.”
A nationwide study, including CalPERS and CalSTRS, projects that huge pension fund losses during the financial crisis will be offset over three decades by a wave of recently enacted cost-cutting reforms — but only if several things happen.
–Pension fund earnings forecasts must hit their target. Critics say the forecasts, 7.5 percent a year