Ballots from last week’s election are still being counted and it will be weeks before the final numbers are tallied, but with that caveat, it appears that a $15 billion school bond issue — the only statewide ballot measure — has been decisively rejected. That’s something of a shock. Public schools...
Cruise Ship Remains Off SF Coast as Passengers Await Virus Test Results
SAN FRANCISCO — Passengers on a cruise ship off the coast of San Francisco were instructed to stay in their cabins as they awaited test results Friday that could show whether the coronavirus is circulating among the more than 3,500 people aboard. A military helicopter crew lowered test kits onto...
Walters: Newsom’s High-Stakes Medi-Cal Overhaul
The old adage about tiny acorns growing into mighty oak trees is not confined to dendrology. It applies as well to governmental programs and there’s no better example than Medi-Cal, California’s program of health care for the poor. An addendum to the landmark federal legislation creating Medicare coverage for the...
California Declares Emergency After 1st Coronavirus Death
LOS ANGELES — California's first coronavirus fatality — an elderly patient who apparently contracted the illness on a cruise — prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a statewide emergency on Wednesday as six new cases, including a medical screener at Los Angeles International Airport, were confirmed. The measure makes California...
Walters: Finally, a School Data System Emerging
California has a very fragmented approach to education — a collection of institutional silos that only occasionally communicate with each other and often are more competitive than cooperative. That fragmentation is very visible in the perpetual conflicts between traditional K-12 schools and parent-directed charter schools, and in the battles among...
Sanders Wins California, Super Tuesday's Biggest Prize
LOS ANGELES —Bernie Sanders won Super Tuesday's biggest prize, taking California on a night he sought to blunt the momentum of a suddenly surging Joe Biden in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. California was only one of 14 states that voted Tuesday, but its more than 400 delegates...
California Low on Test Kits and Face Masks in Its Battle Against Coronavirus
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday that the state is monitoring 8,400 people who may have been exposed to the coronavirus and has only 200 kits for diagnosing it, even as California is addressing the problem with urgency. Other officials said the state may not have enough face masks to protect...
Governor: Coronavirus Changing 'By the Hour' in California
As the number of cases and urgency around the coronavirus increases, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that California is on high alert and working closely with the federal government on the return of Americans from overseas. But in a state that has more people in quarantine than any other, many...
Walters: Climate Change and Water Supply
California, as everyone knows, receives virtually all of its precipitation during a few fall and winter months and in 2019, some early rain and snowstorms promised a bountiful water year. This year, Mother Nature kept that promise in Southern California, where precipitation is running at or above the normal, but...
PG&E CEO Assures Utility's Safety Issues Are Being Fixed
SAN FRANCISCO — PG&E Corp. CEO Bill Johnson blamed negligence by the company's past management for a cascade of catastrophes that killed nearly 140 people as he tried to persuade California regulators Tuesday that he is steering the utility to make safety its top priority. Johnson, who was brought in...