Posts Tagged: pandemic

Opinion

California must not backtrack on COVID safety net

Image by Maliutina Anna

OPINION – Families across California experienced a decline in violence and poverty in the wake of COVID-19, but according to the Public Policy Institute of California, the rate of poverty has since grown from 11.7% in 2021 to 13.2% in 2023.

News

Convoluted ‘California Blackjack’ battle may finally go to court

California Blackjack, image by VictorWard

A long-simmering and incredibly convoluted fight over “California Blackjack” may finally be decided in court, thanks to a bill pending in the Legislature. Senate Bill 549 by Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, would give California’s gaming tribes legal standing to sue California cardrooms over an arcane system they employ to offer Blackjack, which the tribes insist is in violation of state law.

Podcast

A chat with BART’s Homelessness Czar

Daniel Cooperman, BART's Senior Manager of Social Services Partnership (Photo/BART)

CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (which everyone calls BART) is a the lifeline of the Bay Area. Connecting the suburbs to urban cities through 131 miles of track, BART serves a wildly diverse customer base. One of the groups most dependent on BART is the region’s homeless population – and that dependence that became even more pronounced during the COVID pandemic. We speak with BART’s first Homeless Czar, Daniel Cooperman.

News

Amid pandemic, air quality remains critical environmental challenge

A nearly empty freeway interchange near downtown Los Angeles, photographed in April 2020. (Photo: Time Media)

In 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, California’s greenhouse gas emissions dropped by almost 9%, and the state’s smoggy skies briefly cleared. This was particularly true during the pandemic’s first months, when schools closed, offices went remote, and statewide shelter-in-place orders kept millions of Californians at home. That spring, clogged freeways went vacant. Fewer semis rattled down roads.

Recent News

Hoping to beat historic odds, GOP hopeful eyes controller’s office

State controller candidate Lanhee Chen, center, speaking with potential voters. (Photo: Chen campaign committee)

Lanhee Chen decided to become a Republican at age 10 after watching the 1988 presidential debate between George H.W. Bush and Michael Dukakis. He has a vivid memory of watching Bush talk about “compassionate conservatism” and how important it is to encourage people to help one another. “Government is not the reflexive solution to everything,” said Chen, 44. “That was the vision.”

News

‘Long COVID’ still a mystery as California fights pandemic

An illustration of California battered by the coronavirus pandemic. (Image: bekulnis, via Shutterstock)

More than two years after California imposed the nation’s first lockdown to stop the spread of COVID-19, the deadly disease persists, fueled now by the highly infectious subvariants and clouded by fears that the malady will stick around awhile — a long while.

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