Stem cell research in what is known as a "PCR strip." (Image: Science Photo, via Shutterstock)Legislation to help stem the tide of unregulated stem cell clinics in California is still being drafted, but is expected to be introduced by the end of this month. Art Torres, vice chairman of the California stem cell agency, is working on the measure, which is expected to be authored by Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, D-San Mateo.
The Canyon Fire 2 approaches Anaheim in October 2017. (Photo: Aarti Kalyani)OPINION: After a barrage of devastating wildfires raged across our state in recent months, it is time for all Californians to accept a sobering fact: this is the new normal. Several factors — including warmer and drier summers, and decades of fire suppression — have created a California that will be much more susceptible to wildfires in the future.
Participants in a panel discussion of Proposition 62 and 66. Attorney Nancy Haydt, right; Michele Hanisee of the L.A. County Deputy District Attorneys Association, center; and Anne Marie Schubert, Sacramento County district attorney. (Photo: Scott Duncan/Capitol Weekly)It was a wonkish wonderland. Capital Public Radio and Capitol Weekly combined forces Thursday to stage the first “California Votes” series of panel discussions on six of the most controversial ballot measures voters will face on November 8.
A marijuana plant at an indoor farm. (Photo: Syd Cinema, via Shutterstock)In late October, the California and Hawaii chapters of the NAACP gathered for a convention in Los Angeles to discuss issues facing the African-American community. Among the bevy of politicians and suits, one attend stood out: Calvin Broadus Jr., better known as rapper Snoop Dogg, famous for singing “Smoke weed every day.”
Clean-energy advocates demonstrate on the steps of the state Public Utilities Commission, which is covered by the anti-secrecy law known as the Bagley-Keene Act. A California law intended to block secret decisions in the state bureaucracy actually prevents officials from talking to each other on crucial matters, according to their testimony before a state investigative panel. The issue, which intensified in the wake of recent activities at the California Public Utilities Commission, arises from changes in the 1967 Bagley-Keene Act, which is intended to assure the public’s access to the actions of state boards and commissions.
A stealth move to rewrite state law to allow the newly elected Long Beach mayor to hold a seat on the California Coastal Commission has emerged in the final days of the legislative session.