Stacked shipping containers awaiting distribution at the Port of Los Angeles. (Photo: Angel DiBilio, via Shutterstock)The pandemic economy has catalyzed changes for California businesses and consumers. Take the impacts of the state’s system of ports that connect with the movement of goods to 40 million residents.
A troubled woman alone deals with issues alone. (Photo: Stokkete, via Shutterstock)A massive and highly critical state auditor’s report has given new life to legislation to deal with California’s notoriously troubled mental-health system. The shift comes as state lawmakers, convening amid the COVID-19 pandemic, face hundreds of bills in the closing days of the legislative session.
Nurses and physicians in a busy hospital corridor. (Photo: Monkey Business Images)The California Nurses Association is still committed to pushing through its controversial universal health care bill despite stiff opposition from the Democratic Assembly Speaker and medical professional organizations. The union has a strong ally in front-runner gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom, who says that a single-payer system as proposed in Senate Bill 562 is the best way to provide health care to all.
State Capitol in Sacramento. (Photo: Shuttesrstock)In the Legislature, there are several types of amendments — amendment is a fancy word for “change” — that can be made to any number of measures, including bills, resolutions and constitutional amendments.
The state Assembly in session. (Photo: Capitol Public Radio)When a bill in the California Legislature fails passage either in committee or on the floor of the Assembly or Senate, it can be granted “reconsideration.” That can mean a bill gets a new lease on life — or not.
A vaccination in progress. (Photo: Komsan Loonprom)At least three lawsuits have been filed seeking to overturn California’s new law that prevents children from attending public or private school or day care without getting mandatory vaccinations.
The California coast along Redwood National Park, north Humboldt County, (Photo: Don Forthuber, redwoods.info)MORRO BAY, Calif. – The California Coastal Commission fired Executive Director Charles Lester late Wednesday, after several commissioners complained about a lack of communication from Lester and the staff. The action, a 7-5 vote by the 12-member commission, was taken publicly following a discussion behind closed doors.
Bixby Creek Bridge in Big Sur, south of Carmel. (Photo: Tom Tietz)For those attempting to oust Charles Lester, the executive director of the California Coastal Commission, the upcoming hearing is a referendum on his job performance. For the environmentalists who follow the commission, it’s a coup and an attempt to seize the upper hand in the power struggle between pro-development interests and an environmentalist staff that they believe has defined the commission since the reign of Peter Douglas.
The coast at La Jolla. Photo: Dancestrokes)A North Coast lawmaker has come to the defense of Charles Lester, the executive director of the California Coastal Commission who has come under fire from a number of commissioners seeking his ouster at the panel’s meeting next month in Moro Bay.
Pumpjacks in a Kern County oil field, November 2013. (Photo: Christopher Halloran)Oil and gas wells are deeply embedded in many California neighborhoods. Because we have no statewide limits on how close such wells can be to homes or schools, millions of Californians live within breathing distance of these polluting oil operations. That’s a huge concern — especially as hydraulic fracturing and other extreme oil extraction techniques spread across our state.