California isn’t short on lofty goals: Lawmakers have vowed to zero out the state’s carbon emissions by 2045, build 2.5 million new homes by the end of the decade and swap gas-burning appliances with electric ones in 7 million homes over the next 12 years. Now California’s chief utility regulator...
Making Water Conservation a ‘California Way of Life’: Controversial State Rules Could Cost $13 Billion
Saying the targets to cut water use in cities and towns will be costly and difficult to achieve, water agencies throughout California have raised concerns about an ambitious state proposal that would require more water conservation statewide beginning in 2025. The State Water Resources Control Board’s proposed regulations would mandate...
How Laphonza Butler Could Reshape CA’s U.S. Senate Race
Laphonza Butler — Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pick to succeed the late U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein — will be sworn in today, making history as the first openly LGBTQ person and the second Black woman to represent California in the Senate. But how long does she want to keep the job?...
Newsom Vetoes Unemployment Benefits for Striking Workers
Supporters who celebrated as Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a fast food bill Thursday bemoaned his decisions Saturday night when he announced he had vetoed two other high-profile labor bills. Newsom rejected Senate Bill 799, which would have paid striking workers California unemployment benefits after two weeks, and SB 686, which would have extended workplace safety protections to...
With Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s Passing, Who Will Newsom Appoint?
The death of Dianne Feinstein, California’s groundbreaking senior senator for more than three decades, was announced today, scrambling politics in both her home state and Washington, D.C. With more a year left in Feinstein’s term, Gov. Gavin Newsom must now appoint a replacement, a possibility he dismissed only weeks ago as...
Will CA Gunmakers Go Extinct in a State Where Democrats Don’t Want Them?
HUNTINGTON BEACH — There are two decisions about the future of gun rights in California that the employees at Rifle Supply are closely watching these days. Like many firearms enthusiasts, they anticipate the imminent end of California’s ban on “large-capacity magazines” capable of holding more than 10 rounds, a potential...
Newsom Signs Grove’s Bill Making Child Sex Trafficking a Serious Felony
Gov. Gavin Newsom has decided the fate of two more high-profile bills — one on criminal justice and the other on public schools. On Monday, the governor signed Senate Bill 14 into law, reclassifying child sex trafficking into a serious felony that increases prison sentences, saying that “California is going...
Which Controversial Bills Will Gov. Newsom Sign Into Law?
It’s California’s most diverse Legislature ever, and one-fourth of lawmakers are new. But some things never change: Legislators wait until the last days of the session to pass a lot of bills. In recent days, they have sent Gov. Gavin Newsom some significant legislation — to tax guns and ammunition, ban caste discrimination and decriminalize some...
Soaring Chronic Absenteeism in California Schools Is at ‘Pivotal Moment’
As a new school year gets underway in California, districts are desperately trying to lure thousands of missing, tardy and truant students back to the classroom in what many view as a pivotal moment for education in California. In 2021-22, 30% of students in California’s public schools were chronically absent,...
California COVID Rising Again. Here’s the Latest on How to Handle It
Another COVID-19 wave is hitting California as the summer ends and kids head back to school. It’s a familiar story by now, but one that has become perhaps more confusing with time because of changing public health recommendations, new vaccine boosters, and our evolving understanding of the virus. There’s no...