Kratom leaves and various products, image by Here AsiaOPINION – The Kratom Consumer Protection Act (KCPA) has been enacted in 11 states – Utah, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Colorado, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Virginia, Florida, and Texas – and others are entertaining following suit. California – the largest consumer market for kratom, and its 40 million residents – should be one of those states.
Image by Adao via ShutterstockAbout a quarter of this country’s legislatures, including California, limits the number of bill introductions by their elected officials.
Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, serving as governor while Gov. Newsom is out of the state, signed a law to extend eviction protections to renters. (Photo: AP/Rich Pedroncelli)When the vacationing Gov. Gavin Newsom returned to California this week, it marked an end to a remarkable two-week period in the state’s history — the Golden State had been run by a woman. That woman is Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, and she became the first woman in the state’s 171-year history to sign a bill into law — a remarkable fact, given the state’s track record in recent decades of electing women to high office, including constitutional offices, Congress and the U.S. Senate.
Newspaper stands for alt-weeklies. (Photo: Nieman Journlism Lab)It was only seven days ago that we told you about The Stranger, the Seattle alt-(bi)weekly that was facing a financial crisis because of the city’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, which shut down concerts, bars, restaurants, and so many other events that provide the advertising fuel for an alt-weekly
An unloaded gun, with ammunition. (Photo: Sundry Photography, via Shutterstock) Under a new law barely a month old, California is the nation’s first state to require point-of-sale background checks for ammunition sales. But pieces of the voter-approved statute already are under fire in the courts.
The House membership in the 114th Congress. (Photo: Wikipedia)Nine races in November could determine which party controls the House for the next decade—and the map looks good for Democrats. This fall, Democrats face a bad map in the Senate and are in a tough battle to take back the House. But the party is on offense in nine crucial contests around the country that could determine control of Congress for the next decade.
Lab supervisor Marilyn Mitchell pulls samples during tests for Valley Fever at the Community Medical Center lab in Fresno. (Photo: Fresno Bee/Craig Kohlruss, 2014, via AP)The first sign that Rob Purdie had valley fever was when he woke up one day with what felt like a hangover but he hadn’t taken a drink. He had a splitting headache that was so bad that he had to stay in dark room with the blinds drawn and his sunglasses on. He was eventually diagnosed with coccidioidomycosis meningitis, the most severe form of valley fever.
It’s time again for Capitol Weekly’s Top 100 list, as subjective a ranking as exists anywhere in politics, and one that sparks wildy diverse reactions – even some that are positive. “Dear God, you’re not doing that again,” said one. “You’ve got people on that list who haven’t been in the building (Capitol) in years… go get some new blood!”
A blind-folded Ben Franklin on the $100 bill. (Photo: Ricardo Reitmeyer, Shutterstock)Spawned by a midnight burglary, California’s campaign ethics law propelled a young politician to the governorship and tapped into voters’ desire to rid political campaigns of secret cash. That voter-approved law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, has been largely untouchable for more than 40 years. But now it may get a rewrite.
Congressional districts in the Inland Empire, approved by California's redistricting commission in 2011. (Map: Ballotpedia)That whooshing sound you hear is the sigh of relief from California political reformers. The U.S. Supreme Court today rejected an attempt by the Arizona Legislature to dismantle that state’s voter-approved, independent commission that draws the political boundaries for legislative and congressional districts. Arizona lawmakers had argued that the commission – which California used as a model for its own redistricting commission — was unconstitutional because it cut them out of the map-drawing process.