An illustration of a son and his father facing the future. Image: Jacob-09)OPINION: An increasing number of children report feeling sad, hopeless, and, in the most extreme cases, suicidal. We cannot wait any longer to ensure every child has the behavioral health support they need, regardless of how they receive their health care coverage.
The railroad trestle over Gaviota Creek. (Photo: Robert Ashworth, via Wikipedia)Approximately 75% of California’s population lives along the state’s 1,271 miles of coastline. By some estimates, half a foot of that coast will be lost by 2030, and as much as seven feet of coast by 2100. Along with rising sea levels, increasingly strong king tides, flooding, and El Niño events will affect low-lying areas with greater power and frequency.
A stormwater runoff system under construction. (Photo: Maksim Safaniuk, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Gov. Gavin Newsom has boldly promoted the goal of building more than 3 million new homes by 2025 to address the significant supply/demand imbalance and bring down the cost of housing. Given California’s challenging regulatory processes, we’re already falling woefully short of those ambitious goals. In spite of this, an excessive new proposal by the State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board) – comprised of gubernatorial appointees — will further stall new housing production.
A display of "rhino pills," seen in many gas stations across the country. (Photo: Amy Martyn, FairWarning)In 2015, Nam Hyun Lee, a South Korean living in Southern California, got into the lucrative business of making herbal, over-the-counter sex supplements for men. He put an aggressive-looking rhinoceros on the label, and over the next several years shipped 10,000 capsules of “Rhino 69 9000” or “Rhino 8 8000” to distributors in Maryland and Texas, according an indictment by a federal grand jury in Santa Ana.
An unlined segment of the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct south of Manzanar near U.S. Route 395. (Photo: Gann Matsuda)What does a Central Valley almond farmer have in common with a San Diego homeowner? The answer is simple: Water. More specifically, the amount of water they need to sustain their respective lifestyles — which is a lot.
California's 25th Congressional District. (Map: Federal Elections Commission)It’s been a wild year for politics in 2019, from the national to the state scene, and one of the wilder spots is California’s 25th Congressional District. The year started off with Democrats cheering as millennial Katie Hill took the seat, flipping it blue after a 25-year run in Republican hands.
A portion of the California Aqueduct in the Central Valley. (Photo: Hank Shiffman, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Ask me what tops the list of California’s most critical infrastructure, and I’ll tell you it’s the State Water Project. It’s hard to argue with the fact that water is a prerequisite for all life and a healthy economy. That’s why financing the operation and maintenance of the State Water Project in a responsible, cost-effective manner should be common sense — not a political volley that puts California’s lifeline at risk and threatens ratepayers with a surge in water rates that is easily avoidable.
Republican state Sen.Ted Gaines remembers the day when Democratic presidential contender Jimmy Carter visited Sacramento. As the 1976 presidential race heated up, Carter’s appearance offered a defining moment for the future legislator working as a Gerald Ford campaign volunteer.
UC Irvine neurobiologist Hans Keirstead, a Democrat running for Congress against Rep. Dana Rohrabacher in Orange County. (Photo: UC Irvine)A relatively obscure stem cell scientist last week one-upped — sort of — one of the more powerful lawmakers in the United States Senate. It was not a direct, head-to-head contest — just sort of a rough comparison involving Democratic politics in California.
Gov. Brown delivers his 16th state of the state address. (Photo: Screen capture, ABC 7 Los Angeles).Jerry Brown professes to not be interested in legacies. Yet his 16th and final state-of-the-state speech last week was all about a legacy – his own. The governor talked about how dire the state’s fiscal situation was before he became governor. Then he talked about how good things are now that he’s been in charge for the last seven years.