A homeless man sits on a bench just steps from the state Capitol in Sacramento. (Photo: christianthiel.net, via Shutterstock)Three days after a deadly mass shooting downtown, the Sacramento City Council voted 7-2 to place a homeless measure on the November ballot. If voters approve the Emergency Homeless Shelter and Enforcement Act of 2022, could it be a statewide template?
A worker inspects planks at a California timber yard. (Photo: sirtravelalot, via Shutterrstock)The year 2021 was a long year battling COVID-19. As coronavirus restrictions ease under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s SMARTER Plan in 2022, we turn to the Golden State’s labor market. Is it on track to rebound to its pre-pandemic shape? Here are the employment numbers, then and now.
A research scientist examines a capsule with a DNA double helix. (Photo: Dan Race, via Shutterstock)One year ago this month, a $5.5 billion wave washed over California’s ambitious stem cell agency and left it refreshed and renewed for another decade or so of searching for “miraculous” treatments for a host of deadly, incurable afflictions. It is now on a pace to hand out $38,000 an hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That would amount to $519 million in awards between this time last year and the end of the agency’s current fiscal year in June.
Surgeons at work performing an organ transplant procedure. (Photo: David Tadevosian, via Shutterstock)OPINION: With over 100,000 Americans waiting for a lifesaving transplant, and about 20% of them living in the Golden State, it’s critical for us to remember the importance of Donate Life Month, which takes place nationally every April. It’s a symbolic time to recognize the miracle of life that organ donors give to recipients and encourage all Americans to consider registering to be possible donors.
Students at San Diego State University, pre-pandemic. (Photo: Pictor Picture, via Shutterstock)A long and steady increase in the number of California students seeking financial aid came to an abrupt end this year, and while it’s too soon to know exactly why 25,000 fewer students filled out federal aid forms than last year, all signs point to the pandemic.
An eastbound driver on Interstate 15 near Baker at the Death Valley turnoff. (Photo: TS Photography, via ShutterstockGrowth – rapid, buoyant, unstoppable – has been part of California’s DNA since tough and greedy men from around the world came here in search of gold 170 years ago. Now it may be a thing of the past. There are even websites giving prospective emigrants tips on how to make stress-free moves to various states, such as Oregon, Texas and Idaho.
Image by gguy, via ShutterstockCalifornia stands to gain additional clout in Washington when Joe Biden is inaugurated as the nation’s 46th president on Jan. 21st. We already have Californians in powerful Washington positions, of course — including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, who was just reelected easily to her post, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield.
A look at the L.A. skyline at sunset on a clear day. (Photo: Nadia Yong, via ShutterstockNot everything’s been “doom and gloom” on social media during the coronavirus pandemic as trending posts have shown “Los Angeles without smog,” clear skies in India’s often-polluted airspace and dolphins swimming through the canals of Venice. But what can we actually learn about climate change during this virtually global, economic shutdown?
A clinical researcher with a multi-pipette arrangement of cancer stem cells. (Photo: Science Photo, via Shutterstock)One of the nation’s leading regenerative medicine industry groups is touting multi-billion dollar savings that may be achieved with the type of stem cell and gene therapies that are being developed with cash from California’s financially beleaguered stem cell program.
A voter casts a ballot in the 2016 primary election in Ventura County. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)In 2016 California had a late primary, and it looked like the Golden State would deliver deciding votes in both the Republican and Democratic nominations. If it weren’t for Trump’s victory in Indiana just weeks before, California would have been the last stand for Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, John Kasich and others who were mounting a late push to block a Trump nomination.