California’s 84 rape crisis centers are in a funding crisis. While California has experienced a steady rise in the number of reported rapes (over 5% per year since 2015), the state’s annual General Fund contribution to rape crisis centers over the past decade has been a miniscule $45,000.
The Delta-Mendota Canal near Santa Nella, Calif. (Photo: Hank Shiffman)Gov. Gavin Newsom’s veto of a major environmental protection bill angered and surprised environmentalists – and left some wondering what happens next. The measure, SB 1 authored by Senate Leader Toni Atkins and backed by an array of environmental groups, was aimed at safeguarding California’s environmental policies against the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back water, air quality and other standards in California.
People at a 2017 Laguna Beach rally demanding to see Trump's tax returns. (Photo: Steve BruckmannA federal judge tentatively blocked a new California law requiring presidential and gubernatorial contenders in California’s primary elections to release five years of tax returns — a law that was aimed squarely at President Donald Trump.U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. said he will issue a final ruling by Oct. 1. In issuing a temporary injunction, England cited constitutional grounds for his decision, saying disclosure isn’t a constitutional requirement to seek office.
The hulks of destroyed automobiles burned in the 2018 Thomas Fire in Ventura County. ((Photo: Joseph Sohm, via Shutterstock)On the final day of the legislative session, Gov. Newsom signed a complex, $21 billion bill that will dramatically change how California pays for future wildfire damages, with the customers and shareholders of California’s largest utilities covering the tab. The unprecedented measure seeks to stabilize the utility market and limit rate hikes, while establishing a blanket of financial security and compensation to victims of the devastating 2017-2018 fires.
Smoke from the Camp Fire, as seen on Nov. 8 from Black Butte Lake. (Photo: Caminor, via Shutterstock)Sunrise, Nov. 8: Firefighters were dispatched to a small brush fire near Camp Creek Road in Butte County. Within 10 minutes, whipped by high winds, dry conditions and much fuel, the brush fire had exploded. By the end of the day, the fire had a name, the Camp Fire, and the town of Paradise was under an evacuation order.
A tanker passes by two oil exploration rigs off the coast of Huntington Beach. (Photo: Ana Phelps)The rubber is hitting the road, the gloves are coming off and California leaders are suiting up for battle. At least, figuratively. When the Trump Administration announced that it would commence offshore oil drilling across all national waters — including six locations in California — federal agencies struck against decades of bipartisan environmental policy in California.
A condominium complex being undermined by rising ocean levels at a Monterey beach. (Photo: Steve Smith)As officials in Washington try to repair the nation’s flood insurance program, scientists in California are grappling with a looming threat that will complicate flooding hazards in the state: sea-level rise. Creeping ocean waters are already flooding coastal areas more frequently and eroding sea cliffs more rapidly. They’re also worsening damage from extreme weather events like high tides and torrential rains.
State Attorney General Xavier Becerra delivering remarks on sanctuary cities in August at San Francisco City Hall. (Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press) U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ “Tough on Crime” program of maximum prison sentences and crackdowns on undocumented immigrants is “absolutely wrong” and threatens to drive the country into poverty, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said Tuesday. “He’s taking us back to the days when the bogeyman drives public policy,” Becerra, the state’s top law enforcement officer, told an audience at a Venice forum sponsored by Atlantic magazine.
Carmela Coyle, incoming president of the California Hospital Association. (Photo: CHA)<Carmela Coyle is the incoming president of the California Hospital Association, a major player in the state’s intensifying debate over health care. Capitol Weekly caught up with Coyle recently in the midst of her hectic schedule relocating to Sacramento from Maryland.
U.S. Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-South Carolina, following the defeat of the failed effort mounted by him and Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, to repeal Obamacare. (Image: CNN screen capture, via YouTube)In California, people shopping for 2018 coverage in the state’s exchange, Covered California, will still have the full three months they’ve had in recent years, starting on Nov. 1 and ending Jan. 31. And the state Legislature last week passed a bill, currently awaiting the signature of Gov. Jerry Brown, that would ensure a three-month enrollment window for consumers seeking coverage in 2019 and beyond.