Posts Tagged: government
Opinion
Close your eyes. Think about all the problems facing California. Think about the top 10 problems. Now think about the top 100 problems. Now open your eyes. We doubt anyone reading this thought about staffing in kidney dialysis centers. Yet this year proposition 23 was asking voters in California to have a say on the staffing requirements for kidney dialysis centers.
Opinion
OPINION: The recent flurry of stories about small business woes often miss an important part of the picture: Small businesses’ role in helping fund government’s important responsibilities. Consider the City of Placerville. Located in El Dorado County with the original colorful Gold Rush era monikers, the sometimes controversial Hangtown and the more staid Dry Diggings, the city is a tourist draw housing a number of buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.
News
While we remain in the throes of an increasingly savage pandemic, policy makers at all levels of government are trying to soften the impact of the outbreak on our physical and financial health. But they are not the only ones: A group of little-known organizations are trying to ease the impact on an especially vulnerable community — undocumented immigrants.
Opinion
OPINION The federal government and California Gov. Gavin Newsom are taking steps to help small business in this time of dire danger, but ultimately it will be individual citizens as consumers who must save the national and state economy.
News
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.
Opinion
OPINION: There are more than 55,000 children in foster care in California and about 34 percent of them will be placed with relatives according to AdoptUSKids — that is, if social workers can find their family. When a child is removed from the home and placed in out-of-home care, relatives are the preferred resource because this type of placement maintains the child’s connections with their family.
News
When former Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law curbing the distribution of plastic straws in sit-down restaurants, it received wide – and largely favorable — attention. But to some, there was a surprise: The new law continues to allow fast-food restaurants to use plastic straws. Many people believe that the state should make all eateries use biodegradable straws, especially fast-food restaurants, which are the largest consumers of plastic straws.
News
Most of us are already doing a lot of business online, from ordering products to banking to even filing our taxes. Now we will be asked to do one more task over the Internet — fill out a U.S. census survey. The next census, the all-important survey conducted every 10 years and next scheduled in April 2020, will be the first to be conducted largely online. People who choose not to will be able to respond over the phone or by mail.
News
Despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s split decision dealing a significant blow to public unions, California union leaders remain optimistic about their ability to stay viable. “We’ve got our work cut out for us, but people understand the value that the union brings to their lives and institutions,” said Matthew Hardy, a spokesperson for the California Federation of Teachers.
Opinion
OPINION: Recently introduced legislation in the California Assembly (AB 2110), would require manufacturers to provide independent repair shops with the same parts, tools, software, and other information that they provide to their authorized repair shops for the repair of Internet-connected electronics – from smart phones to home appliances to toys to fire alarms.
A dialysis nurse checks his equipment. (Photo: Saengsuriya Kanhajorn, via Shutterstock)
