Posts Tagged: Alpine

‘Pesticide drift’ affecting California health and safety

A helicopter sprays a field in the Salinas Valley. (Photo: Dwight Smith, via Shutterstock)

by ALEXANDRA TEMPUS, FairWarning posted 12.11.2020

Angela Mancuso had just dropped off her kids at Glenwood Elementary School when she started to smell something “funky.” She was driving back to her home just a mile away in Stockton and decided to roll down her window for some fresh air. She noticed too late that a helicopter applying pesticide to a nearby walnut grove that Tuesday morning in September 2016 kept flying back and forth across the road, spraying continuously.

Before Election Day, votes come in

Illustration of a California voter casting a ballot. (Photo: Vepar5, via Shutterstock)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 06.04.2018

Before Election Day, fewer than one in every five California voters have cast their ballots. About 11.8 primary election million ballots were mailed during the past month — 5.3 million to Democrats and about 3.1 million to Republicans, according to figures compiled by Political Data, a firm that markets campaign information.

A push for better dental care for low-income children

A youngster pays a visit to the dentist. (Photo: Wavebreakmedia)

by LISA RENNER posted 05.22.2017

California lawmakers are considering a bill that would double reimbursement rates for Denti-Cal providers in order to entice more dentists to accept the insurance that covers low-income residents. The hope is to get dental care to more people – especially children. According to recent reports by the state auditor and the Little Hoover Commission, less than 38 percent of the 5 million eligible children actually received Denti-Cal care in 2014.

For three counties, vote-by-mail is only option

Vintage Illustration of Mr. ZIP, modified by Tim Foster/Capitol Weekly

by JOHN HOWARD posted 06.24.2016

Increasingly, California voters use the mailbox, not the ballot box. But in three of California’s 58 counties — Plumas, Alpine and Sierra — there was no other choice but mail-in voting. And they like it that way.

It’s official: Voter participation hits record low

A Californian casts a ballot. (Photo: Vepar5 via Shutterstock)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 12.13.2014

The state’s official snapshot of the Nov. 4 general election depicts a politically disengaged populace with marginal interest in deciding who will govern. Less than a third of California’s eligible voters cast ballots on Nov. 4.

Voters shun election in droves

The state Capitol, Sacramento. (Photo: Wikimedia)

by JOHN HOWARD and CONNOR GRUBAUGH posted 06.04.2014

Election 2014 An early tally shows that fewer than one in five of California’s registered voters cast ballots in this week’s primary, continuing a downward trend that has bedeviled the state’s elections. A county-by-county report from the secretary of state’s office noted that 3.24 million people voted out of the 17.72 million registered, or about 18.3 percent. When compared with the total number of eligible voters in California, those who actually cast ballots dwindled to 13.34 percent.

Three state Senators – one convicted of voter fraud and perjury and the other two facing federal corruption charges – were suspended from office Friday effective immediately. The Senate voted 28-1 to suspend Sens. Leland Yee of San Francisco, Ron Calderon of Montebello and Rod Wright of Inglewood – all Democrats.