Corn chips, tortillas, tamales, and pupusas — while all are delicious — may be missing a key vitamin for women of reproductive age. Folic acid has long been used to prevent serious birth defects and help babies develop. Medical and public health experts advise daily consumption during pregnancy, but also...
How California Legislators Got More Than $1.4 Million in Travel and Gifts in 2023
Last June, more than half of California’s lawmakers — Republicans and Democrats alike, with no particular ideological preference — attended a celebratory gala for new Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. They left with a gift: A personally engraved box worth $85.94. These gifts are documented in financial disclosures that elected officials...
Sacramento Gave Homeless Camp a Lease as an Experiment. Here’s What Happened.
When Sacramento changed its plan to demolish a homeless encampment on a vacant lot on Colfax Street, instead offering the homeless occupants a lease, activists and camp residents celebrated it as a win. The first-of-its-kind deal, which allows the camp to remain in place and govern itself without city interference,...
As PG&E Bills Skyrocket, Will California Lawmakers Hold Anyone Accountable?
Unaffordable housing, high transportation and health care costs – it’s hard enough to get by in California without also worrying about cranking up the air, turning on the stove or simply keeping the lights on. But that’s what concerns many Pacific Gas & Electric Co. customers who cannot afford to...
California Community Colleges Losing Millions to Pell Grant Scammers
They’re called “Pell runners” — after enrolling at a community college they apply for a federal Pell grant, collect as much as $7,400, then vanish. Since fall 2021, California’s community colleges have given more than $5 million to Pell runners, according to monthly reports they sent to the California Community...
California Fast-Food Workers Get Higher Wages, but Which Ones?
California’s higher minimum wage for fast food workers kicks in Monday. But which restaurants have to follow the law is still a moving target. Just this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a carve-out for fast-food places at airports, convention centers, and hotels. According to emails obtained by CalMatters...
CA Insurance Market ‘in Chaos,’ Says Former Insurance Commissioner. Can Lara Fix It?
With more California homeowners just discovering their insurance policies are getting canceled — and hundreds of thousands of others stuck with a pricey option of last resort — state Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara’s efforts to fix the home insurance market can’t come quickly enough. Lara has introduced two main regulations, with...
RFK Jr. Picks VP, but Still Isn’t on California Ballot
Presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. chose Oakland to announce his vice presidential pick on Tuesday, so it wasn’t too much of a shocker that his pick was Nicole Shanahan, a Bay Area tech attorney and philanthropist. Like Kennedy, she’s a “disillusioned Democrat” (party leaders have “lost their way”) who has never held...
Repealing Prop. 47 is a Misguided Battle Cry. It Won’t Make California Safer.
Fourteen years ago, my younger brother, Vinnie Edwards, was fatally shot as he left football practice at his college. Six years later, another brother, Vaughn Edwards, was also murdered. He was shot in his car in a random attack while leaving a Juneteenth celebration with his pregnant girlfriend and daughter....
How California’s Prized Solution for Methane Gas Is Backfiring on Farmers
Talk to any family farmer and we will tell you: Every year, keeping the business running gets harder. For many of us, family farming has been passed down for generations. We’ve hung on, with a singular determination, as massive corporate industrial operations have monopolized a larger and larger share of...