Posts Tagged: public
News
As the state suffers through its fourth year of drought, most Californians say the lack of water is the single most important environmental issue facing the state, a dramatic increase over the number who expressed similar concerns a year ago. A survey by the nonprofit Public Policy Institute of California reported that 58 percent of Californians ranked the drought as the top issue — up 23 points from July 2014 and up 50 points from July 2011.
News
Bankrupt San Bernardino’s plan to cut costs by contracting for firefighter and other services has been aided by legislation and a court ruling. But a shortage of firefighters is causing a rough transition. A second fire station was closed earlier this month and others were hit with temporary “brownout” closures, delaying response times. New hires for 14 firefighter vacancies are not expected to complete training until next month.
News
Gov. Brown today signed one of the strictest laws in the nation requiring vaccinations for schoolchildren, saying “science is clear that vaccines dramatically protect children against a number of infectious diseases.” The new law bars parents from invoking religious or personal beliefs in order to keep their children from being vaccinated, but it does allow for an exemption with the approval of the child’s doctor.
Opinion
California is in the midst of multiple regulatory efforts to reduce methane emissions from natural gas and oil operations throughout the state. It’s a key opportunity to make a real dent in the state’s climate impact since methane, the primary component of natural gas, packs over 84 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide in the first 20 years after it is released unburned.
News
Water and the lack of it is the No. 1 issue confronting California, and most people across the state believe their neighbors aren’t doing enough to deal with the drought. The nonprofit Public Policy Institute of California reported that nearly four in 10 of those surveyed said water and drought was the most important issue, about double those – 20 percent – who saw jobs and the economy as the key issue.
Opinion
The way our government accounts for public employee pension promises is nothing short of fraud, yet no public official has gone to jail or paid a price for what surely ranks among the largest muggings of citizens in US history. Let me explain. As the stock market reaches record levels, little is heard anymore from public officials who used to blame market declines for rising pension costs.
Opinion
With news this week that California’s tax revenues came in $6-$8 billion stronger than previous estimates, California now has an undeniable choice: a high road that lifts up all our people and strengthens our state, or a low road that ignores the nearly one in four residents who live below the poverty line in the wealthiest state in the nation.
Opinion
Also known as the Health for All Act, the legislation aims to provide access to health care coverage to undocumented individuals who are not covered under the Affordable Care Act. SB 4 would expand Medi-Cal to low-income undocumented individuals and create a private insurance exchange option for those with higher incomes.
News
The Kaiser study found that, on an individual level, under-immunization—where a child misses one or more of the required doses before age 3—was higher in neighborhoods with more families in poverty as well as those with more graduate degrees. But even after adjusting for factors such as race and income, the study still found statistically significant geographic clusters of under-immunization.
News
An attempt by journalists to force the disclosure of appointment records, calendars, schedules and related material of two former lawmakers facing corruption charges in an FBI undercover probe was put on hold Friday. Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny heard oral arguments and is expected to make a final ruling within 90 days. The day before, Kenny issued a tentative ruling that favored the reporters in a lawsuit against the Legislature seeking access to the records.
Shasta Lake in August 2014. (Photo: David Greitzer, Shutterstock)
