Sunlight streams through the bars of a prison cell. (Photo: nobeastsofierce, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Proposition 57’s 50 percent good time credit should be applied retroactively to all incarcerated people, including lifers who committed violent crimes. Contrary to popular fears, releasing reformed lifers may be the best thing we can do to reduce violent crime.
A political rally last year in Santa Monica. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)OPINION: In this political climate, you don’t have to look far to find pessimism and finger pointing when it comes to our problems. But look a little deeper and there are some important – and inspiring – examples of problem solving in California that rise above politics and division.
A high-resolution image of human egg cells. (Jezper, via Shutterstock)The president of the California stem cell agency, Randy Mills, yesterday said that the firms that responded to an ambitious proposal to create a $150 million public/private partnership were seeking to make a “better deal” than the agency had offered. Mills said that the agency was “not going to give away something that is not in the best interests of the people of California.”
Image by Tim Foster, Capitol WeeklyOne of the state’s most respected polls has begun incorporating online surveys for the first time, underscoring the increasing difficulty of relying on telephone questioning. The Field Poll, which was founded in 1947, started using online surveys to gather voter opinion on nine of the 17 statewide ballot propositions that will appear on the Nov. 8 ballot.
A Californian casts a ballot. (Photo: Vepar5 via Shutterstock)OPINION: All the votes from the June primary elections are finally counted. We now have the second highest number of votes—more than 8.5 million—ever cast in a California statewide primary. While this is good news for our communities and for the state, we have a lot more work to do when it comes to ensuring that more Californians have a say in the political process.
In the Amazon rain forest of Acre, Brazil. (Photo: Andre Dib, Shutterstock)OPINION: Protecting our climate is very important to the indigenous people of the Amazon. In the Brazilian state of Acre, where I live, we’re already seeing terrible heat, floods and droughts that we never used to experience. That’s why cooperation with California to protect our forests is important to people here.
A California voter casts a ballot. (Photo: Vepar5)OPINION: In a fairly rare occurrence, this year’s primary election in California could actually matter in terms of who becomes the Republican Party’s nominee. California had a chance of being relevant with March primaries in 1996, 2000 and 2004; however, Bob Dole and George W. Bush already had largely sealed their deals.
A California physician examines a patient's medical information. (Photo: bikeriderlondon, via Shutterstock)Californians eat more fruits and vegetables than other Americans, refrain from smoking, keep their blood pressure under control and do a decent amount of physical activity. But our health, overall, is still worse than the residents of 21 other states, according to a recent report. Why? A big reason might be a category in which California ranks at the very bottom of all 50 states — health disparities, according to an annual report published by the United Health Foundation.
A smog-tinged view in black and white of Century City, Beverly Hills and West Los Angeles. (Photo: Trekandshoot, via Shutterstock)Last year, the high point of the GOP’s Election Day was the Democrats’ loss of their supermajorities in the Legislature, even though Democrats retained control of every statewide elected office. But in early November, Republicans scored a major victory: a seat on the South Coast Air Quality Management District. For the first time in years, GOP members will control the powerful board that has jurisdiction over four counties and 17 million people.
The Lime Complex fire in Northern California's Trinity Mountains. (Photo: Paul Higley)Analysis: California forests are threatened by a maelstrom of environmental drivers of change, which have intensified across four years of drought. Horrific recent events should inspire reform of not only wildfire management, but also of our overall forest-health stewardship and governance. We need a new vision for managing our wildlands with policies based on science and acting in the interest of the greatest public good.