An illustration of the functions of a skilled nursing facility. (Image: Kheng Guan Toh, via Shutterstock)OPINION: As the coronavirus pandemic progresses, it’s become increasingly evident that its most pervasive threat is to vulnerable older adults with underlying health conditions. In California, across America and around the world, the virus’ toll has been most severe in places where that population is concentrated.
A lineup of mailboxes in rural California. (Photo: Elena Koulik, via Shutterstock)The campaign to save California’s stem cell research program from financial extinction is making an “unprecedented,” electronic sprint to gather the final signatures to qualify its $5.5 billion rescue measure for the November ballot.
Signature gathering in Ventura County during the 2018 election cycle. (Photo: Michael Gordon, via Shutterstock)The current coronavirus emergency and the practice of social distancing are likely to put a crimp in gathering signatures to qualify a $5.5 billion stem cell initiative for the November ballot in California.
A liquid nitrogen bank containing stem cells.(Photo: Alena Pavlovich, via Shutterstock) The 29 directors of the California stem cell agency are hearing a warning this week that certain types of their possible activities on behalf of a proposed $5.5 billion ballot initiative could lead to a criminal investigation by state or local law enforcement agencies. While that would seem to be an unlikely event, it has caught up another California public enterprise (the Bay Area Rapid Transit District).
John Burton smiles as he chats with reporters in 2004 as he leaves the state Senate because of term limits. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)To say that John Burton is wrapped up in politics is a bit like saying the Pacific Ocean is a large body of water. Few California political figures can match his decades of back-and-forth between Washington and Sacramento. Burton was elected to the Assembly in 1965 and served there until 1974; then he served in the House from 1974 until 1983; then he was back in the Assembly from 1988 until 1996; then he was in the state Senate from 1996 until 2004, serving as Senate leader from 1998 until term limits forced him out.
As you are no doubt aware, we are sponsoring a privacy initiative to appear on the November 2018 California ballot, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018. The measure would allow California consumers to protect their personal information from the type of breach that just occurred at Facebook.
Traffic on the 405 in Los Angeles, the nation's busiest freeway. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)California’s new gas tax hike to fund billions of dollars worth of overdue road repairs has only been in effect for a little over a month but Republicans are already trying to overturn it. On Nov. 1, Senate Bill 1, signed by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown in the spring after a fierce political battle, increased the excise tax on gas by 12 cents a gallon and the excise tax on diesel fuel by 20 cents a gallon.
A house goes up for rent. (Photo: Andy Dean Photography)So far, most of the sound and fury in California politics has revolved around candidates. But there are increasing signs that ballot initiatives may trigger additional uproar in 2018. The latest November filing is an effort to remove a 20-year barrier to local rent control, the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act.
A view across the rail years of downtown San Diego. (Photo: Welcomia, via Shutterstock)Calpensions: In another ruling allowing pension cuts, an appeals court last week overturned a state labor board ruling that a voter-approved San Diego pension reform was invalid because the city declined to bargain the issue with labor unions.
Synthetic cells, a 3D illustration. (Jurik Peter, via Shutterstock) The $3 billion California stem cell agency said it is losing one of its top leaders, James Harrison, one of the authors of the measure that created the agency and who most recently is serving as its “unflappable” general counsel.