Posts Tagged: funding

News

A rape crisis detailed, step by step

A traumatized woman alone in her room. (Photo: ChameleonsEye, via Shutterstock)

At 10 p.m., Jane Doe is sexually assaulted in Springville, a small town of 1,100 in Tulare County, forty-five miles west of Visalia, at the edge of Sequoia National Forest. After a night working through shock and trying to process what happened, Jane calls the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office, who dispatch an officer from Porterville. It is 10 a.m. The officer arrives 30 minutes later.

News

State offers scant funding to rape crisis centers

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.

News

Stem cell agency down to last $67 million

Blood cells in a bone marrow smear, examined as part of stem cell research. (Photo: toeytoey, via Shutterstock)

California’s state stem cell agency is down to its last $67.3 million following a decision Thursday to back research to enhance bone healing in elderly patients who undergo spinal surgery. The $4 million award went to Ankasa Regenerative  Therapeutics following little discussion among members of the governing board of the $3 billion California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

Analysis

Stem cell funding’s ‘valley of death’

A scientist performs cell research within a sterile environment. (Photo: Tonhom1009, via Shutterstock)

ANALYSIS: The California stem cell agency this week is tooting a $150 million horn and heralding its efforts to assist stem cell businesses with development of therapies that could ease the travails of everything from cancer to blindness. It is all about a financial “valley of death” that can imperil biotech firms as they seek to turn research into an actual product that can be used by patients.

Opinion

Student success: Much more needs to be done

Children at a California public school respond to a teacher's question. (Photo: Monkey Business Images, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: The new comprehensive analysis of California’s PreK-12 education system, Getting Down to Facts II, revealed that the state is moving in the right direction with reforms put in place over the last decade, but more importantly it showed much more must be done to support student success.

Opinion

For Latino health, funding the LWCF is critical

Visitors at Dolores Park in San Francsico on Memorial Day, 2018. (Photo: FTiare, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: Access to care is not the only problem the Latino Coalition is fighting to remedy. Another acute health inequity facing Latinos: woefully inadequate numbers of accessible outdoor activities and parks. With the already high rates of obesity, diabetes, hypertension and heart disease facing the community, opportunities for exercise and outdoor endeavors become all the more important.

News

Money crunch at stem cell agency

A liquid nitrogen bank containing a suspension of stem cells. (Photo: Elena Pavlovich, via Shutterstock)

California’s stem cell agency gave away $14 million this month, which could be described as less than a drop in its $3 billion bucket. But the talk at the agency’s awards meeting July 19 was not about largess. Instead it was about the lack of cash, lack of time and the need to split “babies” and “buckets.”

Opinion

Investment target: ‘Transformative Climate Communities’

A community with rooftop solar panels, a leading source of renewable energy. (Photo: Roschetzky Photography)

During the past June primary elections, the process of how the Legislature should allocate funds from California’s climate change program was front and center in Proposition 70. Voters were loud and clear in rejecting that ballot measure — which was born out of a nefarious deal with the oil industry. Now, the question of what those funds should be invested in still hangs in the balance, as the Legislature will soon decide on the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) budget for the coming year. 

News

Community colleges: Funding fix needed

Glendale Community College near Los Angeles. (Community college photo)

OPINION: Gov. Jerry Brown is trying to revamp the way funding for the state’s 114 community colleges is determined, which is smart since the current practice of funding schools in various regions of the state based almost entirely on enrollment does not do the areas with the highest need students any good.

Opinion

Paint: Time to get the lead out

Two painters in protective suits remove lead paint from an old house. (Photo: Jaime Hooper)

OPINION: Seeing no way to prevail in the courts, the Big Three filed a ballot initiative that would nullify the court judgment holding them responsible for lead paint cleanup in 10 counties, and effectively pardon them by preventing any future suits. Perhaps worst of all, the toxic paint producers’ initiative would force taxpayers to clean up the companies’ own toxic paint mess, draining nearly $4 billion dollars from our state budget.  

Support for Capitol Weekly is Provided by: