Posts Tagged: american

News

California’s water chief steps up to fight historic drought

Joaquin Esquivel at a water board meeting. (Photo: Water Education Foundation.)

As a native of the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs where it hardly ever rains, Joaquin Esquivel has always known that water is precious. His uncle often took him to the Salton Sea, and he had family served by a well. He carries that respect for the resource as chair of California’s State Water Resources Control Board.   “Growing up in the desert, you are very aware of water,” he said.

Opinion

Memo to Biden: Let’s rebuild infrastructure together

Workers repairing Polk Street near Pacific Avenue in San Francisco. (Photo: Susan Leg Anthony, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: President Biden wants America to Build Back Better — and we at the Associated Builders and Contractors Northern California (ABC NorCal) completely agree. The foundation for the country’s economic rebound will depend on the big infrastructure plans the president has for the country.

Opinion

Parks are a public health solution waiting on our doorstep

A section of the Rubicon Trail at D.L. Bliss State Park in South Lake Tahoe. (Photo: AJ9, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: It’s time to shift the conversation around parks in California. New data is illuminating the need to look at state parks in communities a bit differently. Rather than measuring their value by their undeniable beauty, new research illustrates a clear opportunity to measure parks by their impact on our public health and communities.

News

Capitol Weekly Interview: Jodi Hicks

Jodi Hicks at her office in Sacramento in November 2017. (Photo: AP/Rich Pedroncelli)

Jodi Hicks is co-chair of Mercury Public Affairs’ Sacramento office. She is the first woman and the first Asian-America to serve in that role and is regarded as one of the Capitol community’s foremost advocates of quality health care. Capitol Weekly’s Chuck McFadden caught up with her recently for a chat.

News

Reagan, Schwarzenegger … Winfrey?

Oprah Winfrey at a campaign rally for Barack Obama. (Photo: Krista Kennell)

Will she?  Will she really? “She,” of course, is Oprah Winfrey.  And after her thunderous speech at the Golden Globes last week, she’s become the latest California-based celebrity to be touted for high political office.

Analysis

Reflections on Cadillac Desert

William Mulholland, pointing. Mulholland, who pushed water development in L.A., was the superintendent of the Los Angeles Water Department. (Image source: Los Angeles Times, via California WaterBlog)

In 1987, when Mark Reisner published his book Cadillac Desert, I had just begun professing on water management. The book went “viral,” before the word viral had its present-day internet-intoxicated meaning. The book offered a compelling revisionist history and understanding of water development in the American West, based on economic self-interest, ideology, and Floyd Dominy’s personal drives.

Opinion

Illness doesn’t discriminate — and neither should health care

Elementary school students in a California classroom. ((Photo: Monkey Business Images)

Right now California has the opportunity to lead the nation in one of the most pressing issues of our time: immigration reform and health for all. Governor Jerry Brown recently signed a budget that will offer Medi-Cal access to all children, regardless of immigration status, sometime next year. While this is a significant investment in

News

A ‘wave goodbye’ to Lawrence Karlton

Obit: In his three decades on the federal bench, Lawrence Karlton presided over many high-profile cases including several involving California’s troubled prison system. In 2009 he forced the overhaul of California’s prison health care system and ordered the state to reduce prison overcrowding.

News

Historic moment for Black, Asian caucuses

Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, second from right, former chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, speaks at a 2013 Capitol ceremony. Others include Assemblyman Reginald Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, the new caucus chair, left; Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, and Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, right. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

California’s Legislature has reached a historic moment for diversity. Latinos are still wining seats in the Assembly and Senate as demographics shift favorably in their direction, but this election year brought a surge in California’s other ethnic caucuses. The number of members in the Black Legislative Caucus has reached a historic high, as has the Asian and Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus. The Latino Legislative Caucus fell by two members.

Opinion

Clean air: Charging ahead with electric vehicles

A traffic jam in downtown Los Angeles. (Photo: Prayitno, Wikimedia)

OPINION: Cleaning up the air is a big challenge, so everyone needs to be part of the solution. Now is the time for elected leaders and residents around the state to join the American Lung Association and charge ahead to electric cars instead of guzzling gas.

Support for Capitol Weekly is Provided by: