During the first decade of the 21st century, demographers in California’s Department of Finance and those in the U.S. Census Bureau found themselves in a genteel conflict. Years by year, the two agencies’ estimates of California’s population diverged, finally reaching a gap of about 1 million human beings. It was...
GOP to Newsom: You’re Failing the People You’re Supposed to Serve
In his inaugural address one year ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom said of California, “This is where America’s future is made. This is our charge. That is our calling.” Gov. Newsom has had a full year, and a supermajority of Democrats in the Legislature. And yet with this power and ability...
Nearly Half of California Students Can’t Read at Grade Level. Here’s What We Must Do About It.
The number of California students who cannot read is shocking. Results from the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress show that only 32% of fourth-graders are reading proficiently. These results put California below the national average and behind 25 other states. While the ranking is cause for concern, the difference in absolute...
Biden Seeks to Upstage Buttigieg in Fight for California
LOS ANGELES — Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg chased California votes on Friday in dueling events, looking to sway Democrats in the state that delivers the largest haul of delegates in the presidential contest. Appearing at a short-term housing complex for the homeless, Buttigieg promised a new era of help...
Appeals Court: California City Bound by Sanctuary Law
SANTA ANA — A California appeals court on Friday ruled that a state law limiting police collaboration with federal immigration agents doesn't interfere with a charter city's right to run its own police force. The decision reverses an Orange County judge's 2018 ruling that cities that create their own charters,...
Here's How Independents Can Vote in Cal Presidential Primary
SACRAMENTO — More than 5 million independent voters, called “no party preference” in California, are eligible to vote in the March 3 presidential primary. Here's what you need to know: Who Can They Vote For? The Democratic, Libertarian, and American Independent parties allow California voters without a party to vote...
‘Not the Golden State Anymore’: Middle- and Low-Income People Leave California
In 2017, Susanna Cardenas-Lopez left her home in Salinas to visit her brother in Idaho. Three days into her trip, she called her husband and told him they needed to move there. Back in Salinas, Cardenas-Lopez and her husband were left out in the cold after their landlord decided to...
As Wildfires Get Worse, Smoke Spreads, Stokes Health Worries
PARADISE — First came the flames, a raging firestorm propelled by 50 mph wind gusts that incinerated Kelsey Norton’s house and killed 85 people in her community. Then came the smoke — not just from the forest but also from 14,000 houses and their contents that burned, generating a thick...
California Could Be 1st State to Sell Own Prescription Drugs
SACRAMENTO — California could become the first state with its own prescription drug label under a proposal that Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled Thursday in a bid to lower prices by increasing competition in the generic market. Newsom wants the nation's most populous state, home to nearly 40 million people, to...
Fresno Teen Grateful to Be Alive After 30 Hours in Utah Mountains
Nicolas Stacy-Alcantara, who survived nearly 30 hours alone in the snowy Utah mountains, said Wednesday he kept himself awake with phone alarms, built a snow cave for shelter and held a special beaded bracelet to keep his hopes up. The 17 year old Fresno teenager was visiting Utah to see...