Posts Tagged: communications

News

At once despised and admired, California goes its own way

Hollywood Boulevard at dusk in Los Angeles. (Sean Pavone, via Shutterstock)

Americans disagree about California. And at least part of the argument hinges on politics. Republicans don’t think much of California; Democrats like the place. According to a recent YouGov study, Republicans list California as the worst state.  Only Washington D. C., which is not a state, ranks below California in Republicans’ estimation.

News

The census: ‘Don’t let anyone count you out’

The 2020 census form, international edition. (Photo: Tada Images, via Shutterstock)

Amid the piles of bills and other notices in the mail, a special invitation to complete the national census is coming to Californians beginning this week. The census, which happens once every 10 years, is a mammoth effort to get a snapshot of who is living here as of April 1. The results will be used to determine everything from Congressional representation to federal funding for health, education, child care and transportation.

News

Trump, fetal tissue and California’s stem cell agency

Human fetal placenta under high magnification. (Photo: photowind, via Shutterstock

The California stem cell agency says the Trump administration’s moves against research involving fetal tissue have had no impact on the projects that it is financing, at least so far. The agency, formally known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), was responding to a question originally raised by a reader of the California Stem Cell Report.

Recent News

Big scramble over privacy plan

An illustration of internet security, a padlock on a digital background. (Image: Titima Ongkantong, via Shutterstock)

The pressure is on: High-stakes, closed-door maneuvering involving lawmakers and the fate of a November ballot initiative is roiling the Capitol. The initiative would boost privacy rights for millions of online customers. But it won’t go directly to voters at all, the sponsor promises, if a bill emerges from the Legislature and makes it to the governor’s desk by Thursday, June 28.

Podcast

Capitol Weekly podcast: Jason Kinney

Jason Kinney. (Photo Scott Duncan, Capitol Weekly)

Midway into the inauguration week of president-elect Donald Trump, Capitol Weekly sits down with Democratic communications guru Jason Kinney of California Strategies. Kinney weighs in what he sees as California’s role as the anti-Trump, “Beacon of Opportunity,” takes note of Calexit, and even drops a reference to “Cool Hand Luke.”

Opinion

Better telecom rules help older adults, too

Using a cell phone at a California beach to capture an image of a pier. (Photo: DCornelius, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: The conventional wisdom, promoted by some advocacy groups when it suits their purposes, is that seniors are sad, helpless creatures who prefer to sit on the couch clutching their turntables and rotary phones, in front of black and white television sets, searching for reruns of Lawrence Welk. These demeaning attitudes are far from true.

Opinion

Vocational training key to skilled workforce, economic health

An apprentice engineer uses a milling machine at a training facility. (Photo: Monkey Business Images, via Shutterstock)

As the uneven economy recovery continues in California, there is one area where jobs remain available: technical workers. Workers with vocational training are currently in demand. The hardest segment of the workforce to replace has been the skilled trades, due to a shortage caused by the exodus of highly-skilled baby boomers that are entering retirement.

News

Lawyers, docs, insurers battle over MICRA — again

Medical personnel attend to a patient prior to surgery at USC Medical Center.

It’s not even on the ballot yet, but rival forces are gathering – again — over a plan to lift the decades-old cap on pain and suffering damages in medical malpractice cases. The proposal, aimed at the November ballot, also cracks down on drug- and alcohol-impaired physicians and seeks to curb over-prescribing of medications. (Above: USC Medical Center. US Navy photo)

News

Everybody comes to Simon’s

Tucked away between a car rental agency and a dry cleaner at 1415 16th street, Simon’s has become a household name for Capitol oldies and newbies alike, a place peppered with political anecdotes since its establishment in 1984.

Support for Capitol Weekly is Provided by: