When Colette Barss sold her Seaside home this spring, her new east Garrison-area home had been sitting on the market for about 190 days. She ended up buying it for about $60,000 under asking price. Today, that would be extremely unlikely. The price of real estate has soared across the country since the...
How California Renters Are Bracing for an Eviction Tsunami
Two million Californians could be forced from their rental homes early next year, and the bad omens are happening now, all around them. They’re in the credit card bills they stack in a corner, the personal relationships they test by borrowing money, the hours waiting on the phone hoping to...
Vaccines Getting Closer: Governor Outlines Priorities for Who’s Up First
Californians will likely see the first doses of Pfizer’s new COVID-19 vaccine arrive between Dec. 12 and 15, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday as he unveiled the state’s distribution plans for its initial allotment of 327,000 doses. The coveted first batch is reserved for health care workers directly caring for...
Opinion: Agencies Should Follow CARB’s Leadership on Emissions From Gas Appliances
California led the nation earlier this year with the country’s first gas-powered vehicle phase-out, but the state’s air regulators aren’t stopping there. An overlooked directive during a recent California Air Resources Board meeting was the first step in phasing out gas-powered appliances in our homes, citing the health and climate...
COVID-19 Infections Hit Record High in California Prisons
Inside California’s prisons, coronavirus cases have exploded, reaching 3,861 active cases last week — the highest so far. Yet the state has slowed its early releases of inmates, raising questions about overcrowding as the infections spread through the prisons. Over the summer, jails and prisons released thousands of inmates through...
California Lawmakers Demand Unemployment Answers From Bank of America CEO
A bipartisan group of California lawmakers is asking Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan for answers about unemployment payment problems that have upended the lives of thousands of jobless Californians who rely on the bank’s prepaid debit cards. The letter made public today comes days after CalMatters detailed how the state’s exclusive...
Real Reforms Needed to Deal With Affordable Housing
California’s housing costs have been rising for decades, making buying a home a dream very few families can afford. The California State Auditor’s scathing report about the $2.7 billion in wasted affordable housing funds demonstrates yet again that the Democrats’ attempts to spend our way out of the housing crisis will not...
After This Year’s Wildfires, California Must Spend to Manage Forest Health
By Robert Dugan and Jeff Harris, Special to CalMatters The uncontrolled wildfires that raged across California this year devastated lives, homes, forests and entire watersheds. We set a dubious record for most acres burned in a single year: 4.1 million and counting. It takes a long time to recover from such intense fires....
How California Reached Historic Voter Turnout Despite Pandemic, Distrust
Californians faced the naysayers and voted by mail in record numbers this election, potentially avoiding a pandemic super spreader event and showing the nation it could be done. CalMatters interviewed voting officials in most of the state’s 58 counties and their verdict is in: The experiment with voting by mail...
Despite the Distancing, Making a Connection This Holiday Could Save a Life
The holidays are here, and it’s time to put out an SOS. Much like the signal transmitted by a ship in distress, this SOS is a call to action, a request for help: Start a conversation. Offer a connection. Save a life. The 2020 holiday season will be unlike any...