Kratom leaves and various products, image by Here AsiaOPINION – The Kratom Consumer Protection Act (KCPA) has been enacted in 11 states – Utah, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Colorado, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Virginia, Florida, and Texas – and others are entertaining following suit. California – the largest consumer market for kratom, and its 40 million residents – should be one of those states.
A PG&E vehicle at the intersection of Oliver and Skyway in Paradise during the 2018 Camp Fire.(Photo: Dylan Mittag, via Shutterstock)Rather than fixing its system during its five-year felony probation, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. instead spent the time, which ends today, “on a crime spree” of negligence, causing 31 wildfires, 113 deaths, thousands of lost structures and a half-million charred acres, according to the federal judge who oversaw the probation.
An illustration of employment in California. (Photo: David Carillet, via Shutterstock)California employers added 47,400 nonfarm payroll jobs in September, the state reported, sending a mixed signal about the state’s economy with less than half of August’s 104,300 new hires. The Employment Development Department said September’s unemployment rate of 7.5% matched August’s 7.5%.
Regional Recycled Water Advanced Purification Center Grand Opening 10, Oct 2019In this episode John Howard and Tim Foster welcomed the longtime but soon-to-be-retired Metropolitan Water District of Southern California head honcho Jeff Kightlinger for a wide-ranging discussion that covered the status of the Delta Tunnel Project, climate change and the snow survey, the drought, working from home, jukeboxes and his punk rock roots.
Then Sen. Barack Obama and Roger Salazar in Nevada, 2008Democratic political operative Roger Salazar has worn many hats over the years, working high profile gigs for political heavyweights like VP Al Gore and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. In 2008 Salazar headed to Nevada to help with the launch the then-new Nevada Caucus.
Illustration of a California voter casting a ballot by mail. (Image: Vepar 5, via Shutterstock)In the March 3 primary election, Super Tuesday, we are expecting to see an earlier vote than ever before. Over 15 million California ballots are being mailed, mostly today, and we are expecting to see a ton come back in the first week or 10 days. With three-quarters of the electorate being mailed ballots, we know records will be broken.
A 2018 political rally at San Francisco City Hall. (Photo: Sheila Fitzgerald, via Shutterstock)Voter participation dramatically increased in California in the 2018 midterm elections, part of a nationwide trend. About 51.9% of California’s 25.1 million eligible voters hit the polls in the 2018 general election, up from 36.6% in 2014, the previous midterm election, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
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.
Illustration of a California voter casting a ballot. (Photo: Vepar5, via Shutterstock)Before Election Day, fewer than one in every five California voters have cast their ballots. About 11.8 primary election million ballots were mailed during the past month — 5.3 million to Democrats and about 3.1 million to Republicans, according to figures compiled by Political Data, a firm that markets campaign information.
Windmills in the California desert. (Photo: Patrick Jennings)FairWarning: Despite the Trump Administration’s ardent support of coal over renewable energy, the percentage of U.S. electricity from renewable sources continued its gradual rise in 2017. Wind, solar and hydroelectric energy accounted for 16 percent of power production during President Trump’s first year in office, up from 13 percent in 2016 and nearly double the level when Barack Obama became president in 2009, according to a Natural Resources Defense Council analys