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.
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where some student researchers are among those at all 10 UC campuses favoring a strike. (Photo: Lawerence Berkeley Laboratory)Tis’ the season to strike? University of California Student Researchers United (SRU) from all 10 campuses and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have voted yes, 10,622 out of 10,890, to authorize a recognition strike to form a labor union local with the United Auto Workers (UAW).
A helicopter sprays a field in the Salinas Valley. (Photo: Dwight Smith, via Shutterstock)Angela Mancuso had just dropped off her kids at Glenwood Elementary School when she started to smell something “funky.” She was driving back to her home just a mile away in Stockton and decided to roll down her window for some fresh air. She noticed too late that a helicopter applying pesticide to a nearby walnut grove that Tuesday morning in September 2016 kept flying back and forth across the road, spraying continuously.
A group of millennial friends looking out at an urban landscape. (Photo: Eugenio Marongiu)Millennials are better educated than previous generations; they are technologically savvy. For political types, they are a headache. They are the largest living generation. Even though there are 9.4 million California millennials, making them a potentially rich source of votes, they don’t vote in very high percentages unless they’re thrilled. They get more excited about general elections than midterms. That’s true of the electorate as a whole, usually, but it’s especially evident among millennials.
An illustration of self-driving vehicles in operation. (Image: Posteriori, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Now that the California Legislature, the autonomous vehicle industry and the general public all have had their say, California’s self-driving future is in the hands of bureaucrats at the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles, whose final regulations will govern testing and deploying the technology in the Golden State. Unfortunately, a look at those rules offers plenty of reason for concern.
Voters in Ventura County cast ballots during a recent election. (Photo: Spirit of America, Shutterstock)California’s clogged, high-stakes November ballot is riveting voters’ attention – and raising fears among those who have to count the votes. It’s a perfect storm: Intense interest in the presidential general election, a deluge of six dozen ballot in initiatives cleared for circulation, labor-intensive signature-verification requirements and the likelihood that the potential initiatives will be submitted in a tight time window, thus further straining resources.
A tiny Asian citrus psyllid enjoying some eats. (Photo: UC Riverside)It’s a barely visible, tiny insect but it could be a huge headache for California’s $2 billion citrus industry. The Asian citrus psyllid, only few millimeters long, has turned up in the San Gabriel Valley and authorities are plotting a strategy to contain it.
SB277 removes the right of informed consent from California parents. It slid through the Senate Floor on a Democratic Party line, and paused briefly at the Assembly Health Committee Hearing June 9th, drawing over 5,000 people in protest to the Capitol stairs and hallways of Sacramento. Its next stop, this week, the Assembly Floor Vote.
Young California football players practice for the big game. (Photo: bikeriderlondon, via Shutterstock)Over the years, traumatic brain injuries in sports were never really discussed and stories of career-ending accidents were often glossed over. However, the winds are changing. Individuals suffering from serious head injuries are gaining a voice and have begun raising awareness through both the media and legislative efforts. As more and more stories of career-ending injuries pepper the news, the topic is finally getting the attention it deserves.
Elementary school students in a California classroom. ((Photo: Monkey Business Images)All kids deserve an equal chance to succeed. Unfortunately, many achieving African-American and Latino students in California schools are being unfairly denied advancement to the mathematics courses critical to their educational and career success. Despite earning the grades and assessment test scores that show promise of their ability to benefit from instruction in higher math, too many are not getting into the classes they need and can handle.