A stem cell researcher at UC Davis. (Photo: AJ Cheline, UC Davis, via The Stem Cellar)Backed by $17 million in cash from California’s stem cell agency, researchers at UC Davis this month are launching “the world’s first clinical trial using stem cells to treat spina bifida before the child is born.”
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.
A failure to ride herd over a major state computer project more than tripled the cost, led to numerous delays and allowed scores of warnings to slip by without being addressed, according to a sharply critical report from the state auditor.
A dispensary's sign on Ventura Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley. (Photo: Laurie Avocado)Amid a last-minute flurry of hostile amendments and despite backing from some in law enforcement and the cannabis industry, an attempt to set up the state’s first Bureau of Medical Marijuana has been defeated in the Assembly. The action by the Assembly Appropriations Committee followed intense negotiations between lawmakers, marijuana advocates and law enforcement.
A view of the 1,400-acre Camp 4 parcel in Santa Barbara County. (Photo: Bill Macfayden, Noozhawk) More than four years after obtaining a broad swath of undeveloped land in rural Santa Barbara County, a local Indian tribe has little to show for it. Development of the property has been stalled by an ongoing and rapidly escalating conflict between tribal authorities, county supervisors and local residents, and the dispute is spilling over into the realms of state and federal agencies.
The 10 lobbying firms in Sacramento brought in more than $40.4 million during 2013, including more than $11.5 million during the final quarter of the year alone. The figures were listed Monday in the Capitol Morning Report, which provides detailed scheduling, employment, campaign and job information to elected officials, government employees, trade groups and lobbyists, among others.
Although U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin serves as poster ogre for anti-Communist crusades of the early 1950s, Congress’ most notorious “Red Scare” investigations took place under the purview of the House Un-American Activities Committee. HUAC, as it was known, pre-dated McCarthy by 14 years and continued for more than a decade after his demise.
A major conference targeting climate-changing greenhouse gases is scheduled Tuesday at UC Davis, featuring top decision makers from Australia and the U.S.
The participants include Mary Nichols, the chair of the California Air Resources Board; Karen Lanyon, the Australian Consul-General; Mark Dreyfus, the Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency; and Terry