As California’s 2022 water year ends this week, the parched state is bracing for another dry year — its fourth in a row. So far, in California’s recorded history, six previous droughts have lasted four or more years, two of them in the past 35 years. Despite some rain...
Be Informed Before You Vote With Nonpartisan CalMatters Guide
We get it, California voters. You’ve been busy lately. Just two years ago, you and 17.7 million of your civically-minded neighbors helped decide who ought to become the next president, who should sit in the Legislature and congressional delegation and how the state should handle issues such as property taxes,...
Big Changes for Big Rigs as California Phases Out Diesel Trucks
New big rigs and other trucks will have to be zero-emissions in 2040 — ending their decades-long reliance on high-polluting diesel — under a proposed regulation unveiled by the California Air Resources Board. Under the proposal, manufacturers couldn’t sell new medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks fueled by diesel or gasoline that...
Kings County Has California’s Highest Incarceration Rate
Shasta County in rural northern California has some of the state’s highest incarceration rates. Ask Robert Bowman what’s going on, and he takes a long, deep sigh. “It’s a perfect storm of bad,” he said. Bowman, director of the county’s program that helps formerly incarcerated people transition back to...
CA Republicans Bet Big on Local School Board Races With ‘Parent Revolt’ Strategy
When California Republicans gathered in Anaheim this spring, attention focused on candidate speeches and endorsement battles as the party tries to win its first statewide race since 2006. But a little-noticed, hour-long session in a small conference room at the Marriott could very well be more consequential for the state GOP...
Abortion and Assault Weapon Foes Use Bounty Hunters to Enforce Laws of Rival States
In Texas and California, new laws call on the people of each state to watch and report their neighbors — and reap a reward for doing so. Unusual, yes — although it’s a concept that dates back to the earliest days of the American republic. But what do Civil...
California Counties Siphon Social Security Benefits From Foster Kids
When she was 15 and had been a ward of the courts for half her life, Kristina Tanner learned the cost of her stays in group homes and with foster families was coming out of her own pocket. She had qualified for monthly survivor benefits checks, a Social Security program...
This Program Will Help Californians Buy Homes Without Busting the State Budget
California wants to help Californians — especially middle-income and first-time buyers locked out of the housing market — buy a home, and it is willing to put money down to make that happen. Even better, a new program, California Dream for All, won’t break the housing market and would...
Served With an Eviction Notice? This California Website Can Help
In April, Juan Carlos Cruz Mora received an eviction notice from his landlord that alleged he caused property damage and dirty, unsafe living conditions in the Sacramento suburb duplex he had called home for the last 10 years. He had only five days to file a response in court....
Abortion Pills Are Coming to All CSU, UC Campuses
As California’s efforts to enshrine abortion access continue, the University of California and California State University are working to provide medication abortions on all campuses by Jan. 1, 2023. So far, none of the Cal State campuses offer medication abortions, and access within the UC system varies from campus...