Image by Manuela DursonOPINION – California is well-known for its bold and innovative policies that create equitable economic opportunities for all. But California does not have a similar tuition policy for Mexico students.
Lucia Saldivar, photo by Scott Duncan PhotographyGrowing up in San Ysidro, just this side of the California-Mexico border, Lucia Saldivar thought she was going to be a musician, like her father. “Music always helped me make sense of the world and my community,” she says. “Then in high school, I learned a new language to help make sense of the world around me, and that was politics and policy.”
Kimberly Sanchez photo by Scott DuncanThough Kimberly Yareni Sanchez grew up amid poverty and gang violence, she managed to graduate from college at age 19. Now just 21, she is an education policy analyst at NextGen, a nonprofit advocating for progressive policy.
Assemblymember Liz Ortega, photo by Scott Duncan Labor unions have been at the center of Assemblymember Liz Ortega’s life since early childhood and the centerpiece of her career.
A skateboarder in action. (Photo: Shawn Henry)Shelter-in-place has pushed consumers of varying ages to skateboarding in unprecedented numbers, creating a dramatic increase in participation and sales. Unfortunately, California’s COVID-19 regulations limiting public gatherings have also slowed the manufacturing and distribution of skateboard equipment, causing historic supply disruptions.
Illustration by Quentin Lueninghoener, Fair WarningA federal court trial under way in San Francisco could spell the beginning of the end of water fluoridation in America, potentially affecting drinking water for hundreds of millions of people across the U.S. Although fluoride can occur naturally in water, many water utilities add the chemical with the goal of improving dental health.
The border barrier between the U.S. and Mexico in Nogales, Arizona. (Photo: Manuela Durson)As the Congressional battle heats up over President Trump’s efforts to build a border wall, a number of states — including California — already have joined the fight in court. California and 15 other states have challenged the president’s emergency declaration to spend billions of dollars for the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border
Lab supervisor Marilyn Mitchell pulls samples during tests for Valley Fever at the Community Medical Center lab in Fresno. (Photo: Fresno Bee/Craig Kohlruss, 2014, via AP)The first sign that Rob Purdie had valley fever was when he woke up one day with what felt like a hangover but he hadn’t taken a drink. He had a splitting headache that was so bad that he had to stay in dark room with the blinds drawn and his sunglasses on. He was eventually diagnosed with coccidioidomycosis meningitis, the most severe form of valley fever.
Using a cell phone at a California beach to capture an image of a pier. (Photo: DCornelius, via Shutterstock)OPINION: The conventional wisdom, promoted by some advocacy groups when it suits their purposes, is that seniors are sad, helpless creatures who prefer to sit on the couch clutching their turntables and rotary phones, in front of black and white television sets, searching for reruns of Lawrence Welk. These demeaning attitudes are far from true.
Voters cast ballots at the November 2014 general election in Oak View, Calif. (Photo: Joseph Sohm) We Californians justifiably become excited about our many remarkable achievements: we make terrific movies; Silicon Valley leads the planet in technological innovation; our traffic jams are world class. But when it comes to voting, we give a statewide shrug. A mere 42.2 percent of registered voters — registered voters — bothered to cast ballots in the November 2014 general election. Los Angeles County bottomed out statewide with a turnout of 31 percent. It gets even worse: The June 2014 turnout was 25.2 percent.