A hospital's Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRI. machine. (Photo: KaliAntye, via Shutterstock)OPINION: As an organization committed to prioritizing patient access, affordability, and safety, we watched with alarm as state Legislatures across the country became the target of a coordinated campaign to weaken and roll back quality and safety framework.
Students attending a lecture. (Photo: sirtravelalot, via Shutterstock)Stressed by classes, grades, jobs, personal issues and COVID-19, some California community college students are turning to mental health counseling. But the service is scarce and demand is high. One major study found that community college students reported higher rates of academic impairment due to mental health struggles than students attending than students at the University of California or California State University.
Illustration by Quentin Lueninghoener, FairWarning.This sounds too good to be true, was one of Brenda Ortiz’s first thoughts when a salesman showed up at her front door in Riverside County in October 2018. He was with Vivint Solar, Ortiz recalled him saying, and was working with her local utility, Southern California Edison, to find people who qualified for free solar panels.
A traumatized woman alone in her room. (Photo: ChameleonsEye, via Shutterstock)At 10 p.m., Jane Doe is sexually assaulted in Springville, a small town of 1,100 in Tulare County, forty-five miles west of Visalia, at the edge of Sequoia National Forest. After a night working through shock and trying to process what happened, Jane calls the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office, who dispatch an officer from Porterville. It is 10 a.m. The officer arrives 30 minutes later.
Closeup of a woman's hands using a computer keyboard to compose email. (Image: Nata Fuangkaew, via Shutterstock)OPINION: For incarcerated Californians, the ability to communicate with loved ones on the outside can be a literal lifeline, helping them survive their time in prison and preparing for successful reintegration into society after their release. Five correctional facilities in our state – including California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility in Corcoran where my fiancé, Michael, was incarcerated – now offer access to secure email.
A view of Barstow, a community in the Mojave Desert. (Photo: Nuria Kreuser, via Shutterstock)OPINION: While political disagreements rule the day, most people do agree that greater economic and social mobility is needed so that all Californians are able to contribute, and to afford the basics – a secure home, food, health care, child care and education. With a new Governor and Legislature eager to achieve this goal, we believe the time is right for action. But government alone cannot solve these problems.
Chuck Pattillo, former general manager of the California Prison Industry Authority. (Photo: CalPIA)The head of the California Prison Industry Authority, an internationally known agency that trains inmates for such diverse occupations as carpentry, deep-sea diving, computer coding and farming, is retiring after more than a decade on the job.
State Schools Superintendent Tony Thurmond at the Sacramento Press Club in September. (Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press) Abandoned by his father and orphaned at age 6 after the death of his mother to cancer, Tony Thurmond believes he could have easily ended up in prison. Instead, the 50-year-old Richmond resident is the new state superintendent of public education. He is the second African-American in the position after Wilson Riles, who served 1971-83.
Police officers deployed at a Los Angeles parade. (Photo: Betto Rodrigues)OPINION: California’s Assembly Bill 931, which would modify the state legal standard governing police officers’ use of deadly force, is a promising advance on existing law, but the current proposal is deeply flawed. To meaningfully reform police practices and properly regulate the use of deadly force, some significant amendments are necessary.
A man surveys the charred debris of Glen Ellen home following a 2017 wildfire. (Photo: Rebecca Jane Call, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Recently Capitol Weekly printed an article by David Farber (“Don’t fix unbroken system for claims adjusters,” April 16) asserting that the California Department of Insurance (CDI) was advocating for a bill, SB 1291 by state Sen. Bill Dodd, which would, in Farber’s words, “create a shortage of claims professionals” in the aftermath of last year’s devastating wildfires. Farber couldn’t be more wrong.