Posts Tagged: transition
Opinion
OPINION: As temperatures soared and wildfires burned across the Southland, California electricity customers recently experienced rolling blackouts for the first time since 2001. Although investigations continue, it appears that there just weren’t enough energy resources available to meet customer demand.
News
On Tuesday March 17, the nation’s first effective coronavirus shelter-in-place order took effect in California. At midnight, non-essential businesses in six San Francisco Bay Area counties – from salons to bookstores – closed. As Pete Mulvihill, co-owner of Green Apple Books, told KQED about the order, “We haven’t closed since the 1989 earthquake and that was only one day.”
News
Schools, parents and children in California are facing a steep learning curve as they switch to remote learning in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools shut down abruptly in mid-March, forcing teachers to scramble to come up with online or distance learning materials. Meanwhile, parents had to figure out how to set up home schools while balancing jobs.
Opinion
OPINION: During last month’s PG&E Public Safety Power Shutoffs, like so many across California, my family lost electricity for four days. We couldn’t turn on the lights, access the internet or charge our phones. But we didn’t lose water for a moment, thanks to the steps our water provider had taken to prepare for this kind of emergency.
Opinion
OPINION: When snowboarders Chloe Kim and Shaun White return home to California after dazzling on the halfpipe to win gold at the Olympic Winter Games, there won’t be much snow to greet them. The snowpack in the Sierra Mountains is 80% below normal, an ominous harbinger of more drought for a state already reeling from record wildfires, and a stark reminder that the most important challenge of all – the race against climate change – remains to be won.
Podcast
This past election cycle rewrote the rules for digital campaigning. Most media coverage, especially after the election, has focused on how a brand of digital terrorism – viral campaigns based on fake news stories, fueled by fake social media accounts and hacked computers – put before voters a mix of negative messages and falsehoods that had a huge impact on the U.S. presidential campaign.
Opinion
OPINION:At a time when the news is filled with political campaigns accusing each other of exhibiting divisive behavior and tactics, there is one piece of legislation on Gov. Brown’s desk that is actually bringing organizations together. Senate Bill 1062, by Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) asks California to follow the lead of the cities of Los Angeles and Oakland by banning the use of a sharp device designed to inflict pain for the purpose of training or controlling the behavior of elephants.
Opinion
OPINION: With the clock ticking down to the end of this year’s legislative session, our leaders in Sacramento are debating initiatives that will put more clean cars on the road, boost air quality and innovation, and improve the health of our residents. We must take advantage of this brief window of opportunity to recalibrate the state’s primary mechanism for encouraging electric vehicle adoption – the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) credit system.
News
Only half of California adults can be expected to vote in this year’s presidential election, and they are likely to be very different from those who do not vote—in their demographic and economic backgrounds and in their political attitudes. These are among the key findings of a report released Tuesday evening by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC).
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.