This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. When Brigitta Hunter started her teaching career, she had $20,000 in student loans and zero income – even though she was working nearly full time in the classroom. “We lived on my husband’s pathetic little paycheck. I don’t...
Young Democrats Offer Lessons for Their Leaders at Party Convention
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. At age 24, Alan Vargas wants to lead the California Democratic Party. Sporting a beige cowboy hat and a pink shirt, the young progressive running for party chair evoked waves of cheers as he vowed to shake things...
California Prisons Have a Narcotics Problem. Now, More People Will Face Canine Searches
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Anyone entering a California prison — including visitors, staff and attorneys — will be subject to a canine search under a new policy rolling out across the state. CalMatters obtained a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation memo...
After Years of Undrinkable Water, Our Rural California Community Finally Has Hope
This commentary was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. We all know of mom-and-pop shops run by couples who share the workload and, if lucky, become integral to the communities they serve. Until recently my husband, Norm Benson, and I were mom-and-pop operators of a water treatment...
Trump Trade War Has Already Had Huge Effect on California Ports
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. California's port traffic is beginning to look worse now, under the effects of President Donald Trump's fickle tariff policy, than it did at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. “The vessel calls, or cancellations, that we’re seeing today...
How Gentrification Is Killing the Bus: California’s Rising Rents Are Pushing Out Commuters
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. The northern tip of the Vermont Square neighborhood in South Los Angeles gentrified in many of the usual ways over the last decade. Median incomes shot up. The neighborhood's share of Black residents declined. On the list of...
Medicaid Work Rules Could Leave a Million Californians With No Health Insurance
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. If Congress moves forward with a controversial proposal to require people to report work hours to keep Medicaid, more than a million of California's poorest residents could lose their health insurance. The budget bill that the U.S. House...
How Trump’s Vow to Revoke Chinese Student Visas Could Hurt California
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. The Trump administration's latest vow to "aggressively revoke" Chinese student visas could affect as many 50,000 students in California, a population larger than Palm Springs. Sending those students home would have far-ranging financial impacts. Foreign students not only...
A Program Paying CA Jurors $100 a Day Would End Due to Newsom’s Budget Cuts
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. In his attempts to solve a multibillion-dollar state deficit, Gov. Gavin Newsom's new budget plan would terminate a legislative experiment that increased pay for juries in an effort to make them more fairly represent the communities they serve....
‘I’m Really Scared’: Elderly and Disabled Californians Could Lose Medi-Cal Over $2,000 Limit
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Cynde Soto, a quadriplegic who requires around-the-clock care, has been on Medi-Cal for most of her life. Recently, she came into a modest inheritance, about $8,000, that has helped cover her daily expenses. But it also means that...