An array of disposable e-cigarettes on display. (Photo: NguyeningMedia, via Shutterstock)In recent months, mystery has surrounded the ownership of a controversial e-cigarette company that has reaped millions of dollars in sales of flavored, kid-friendly nicotine products by exploiting a loophole in federal regulations.
A business in Los Angeles that was forced to close because of the pandemic. (Photo: Lando Aviles, via Shutterstock)With no compromise in sight, at appears the debate over business interruption insurance coverage will be solved by litigation, not legislation. At issue are thousands of businesses around California with insurance policies to protect them against a sudden catastrophic event that forces them to close down for an extended period of time.
Illustration by Quentin Lueninghoener, FairWarning.This sounds too good to be true, was one of Brenda Ortiz’s first thoughts when a salesman showed up at her front door in Riverside County in October 2018. He was with Vivint Solar, Ortiz recalled him saying, and was working with her local utility, Southern California Edison, to find people who qualified for free solar panels.
Rush-hour traffic in downtown Los Angeles. (Photo: TierneyMJ, via Shutterstock)Top law enforcement officials in California and New York are leading 10 other states in an attempt to retain tougher penalties for automakers that violate fuel economy standards. They filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, challenging the federal government’s decision to block a scheduled increase in the penalties for those who fail to meet fuel economy standards.
Stem cell research involving a "PCR" strip. (Photo: Science Photo, via Shutterstock)California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is remaining mum on regulation of “snake oil,” stem cell clinics as the Golden State pursues a go-slow approach to cracking down on the dubious treatments.More than 100 such clinics are operating in California, the most of any state in the nation. New York state earlier this month took the lead among states in attempting to regulate the clinics.
Gov, Jerry Brown, left, and Howard Jarvis, the architect of Proposition 13, at their first joint news conference in July 1978. Voters approved the initiative the month before. (Photo: Associated Press)Once thought of as a sacred cow, Proposition 13, the tax revolt measure passed in 1978, is now under attack. Schools and Communities First, a coalition of nearly 300 groups and leaders, has qualified to put an initiative on the Nov. 2020 ballot that would lift caps on property taxes for commercial and industrial properties.
Flags flown at houses along a southern California street. (Photo: Bill Chizek, via Shutterstock)A financial advisory firm called WalletHub recently issued a study listing the states according to how patriotic they are. Care to guess where California wound up? With July 4 loomimg, we thought we’d take a look. We’re 44th out of the 50 states.
Nursing home patients at their facility. Photo: ChameleonsEye, via Shutterstock) OPINION: In 1965 Congress passed and the president signed into law Medicaid. At that time, they decided on how much a nursing home resident should be able to keep from his or her income toward meeting personal needs. They decided that $30 per month would be a fair allowance. The Personal Needs Allowance has remained the same at $35.00 since the 1980s.
The CalPERS board of governors during a meeting at the pension system's headquarters. (Photo: CalPERS)New York state pension systems are better funded than California state pension systems, currently take a smaller bite out of state and local government budgets, and still provide pension benefits well above the national average. How do they do it?
Bicyclists navigating the streets of San Francisco. (Photo: Can Balcioglu)FairWarning: More Americans are bicycling or walking to work these days, but with little government investment in safety measures, such as protected bike lanes and sidewalks, more cyclists and pedestrians are getting killed. In San Francisco, the hit-and-run deaths of two female bicyclists in a single day in late June spurred community outrage and a plan to add 15 miles of protected bikeways, more than doubling the city’s current total.