This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Break out the crayons and finger paint: Every 4-year-old in California is now eligible for transitional kindergarten. Fifteen years after a handful of school districts opened the first TK classrooms, California now has the largest — and fastest...
Immigrant Students Shape California’s Future. Don’t Close the Door on Them
This commentary was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. The first time I got on a plane was for a flight from Delhi, India to JFK Airport in New York. I came to the United States as a student, first to the University of Illinois, and after...
5 Things to Know About Newsom’s Plan to Redraw CA Election Maps
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. The fight over redistricting is about to hit overdrive in California. As the Legislature returns to Sacramento today for the final month of session, Democrats are racing to finish a plan that could tilt the state’s congressional map...
Gavin Newsom Warms to Big Oil in Climate Reversal
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. The oil industry is having an I-told-you-so moment in California. For decades, the state has raced to end its reliance on fossil fuels and prioritize clean energy. Its relationship with oil companies became particularly contentious in the past...
California’s Newest Invaders Are Beautiful Swans. Should Hunters Kill Them?
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. On an early August morning, it didn’t take long to spot the first pair of huge white swans with orange and black bills and graceful, curving necks as they swam in the marsh along the side of a...
Federal Judge Orders Trump Admin to Restore Hundreds of UCLA Research Grants
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore a portion of the 800 federal science research grants that it suspended at UCLA last month, delivering a major setback to efforts to force the university into a $1...
Hidden in Trump’s Spending Package Is a Boost to CA’s Affordable Housing
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. California lawmakers are preparing for a historic surge in federal funding for affordable housing construction, a tsunami of subsidy that advocates say could as much as double the number of low-rent units produced by the state over the...
CA Taxpayers Gave PG&E a Huge Loan. Losses Are Already Mounting
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Two weeks before the 2022 legislative session ended, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration came to lawmakers with a big ask: authorize a $1.4 billion state loan to keep open California’s last nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon. The money was...
California Supreme Court Hands Victory to Rooftop Solar Panel Owners
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. The California Supreme Court has sided with environmental groups in a case seen as pivotal for the proliferation of rooftop solar power in California. In a unanimous vote on Aug. 7, justices told a lower court to revisit...
California Reveals 5th State Prison to Close Because of Falling Inmate Population
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Gov. Gavin Newsom shouldn’t expect much pushback from the next city in line to lose a state prison. Norco in Riverside County for years has been lobbying to close the California Rehabilitation Center, arguing the city can find...