The Biden administration’s environmental justice office is investigating whether California’s water agency has discriminated against Native Americans and other people of color by failing to protect the water quality of San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s investigation was triggered by a complaint filed by tribes and environmental justice […]
Government
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Harbor District to Talk Labor Agreement Amid Request for Delay
When the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation Commission convenes Thursday at Eureka’s Wharfinger Building, it will face two large and related agenda items. First, it will consider authorizing staff to submit a U.S. Department of Transportation mega grant application hoped to total in the hundreds of millions of dollars to go toward construction of the […]
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Don’t Call it ‘Toilet to Tap’ — California Plans to Turn Sewage into Drinking Water
Californians could drink highly purified sewage water that is piped directly into drinking water supplies for the first time under proposed rules unveiled by state water officials. The drought-prone state has turned to recycled water for more than 60 years to bolster its scarce supplies, but the current regulations require it to first make a […]
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California Needs Thousands of Nurses, but Leaders Can’t Agree on How to Fill Jobs
Ashley Hooks always planned to retire at Lakewood Regional Medical Center, where she has been a nurse for 12 years. But now, Hooks said, staffing issues are so bad and burnout so severe that she’s rethinking how she wants to spend the rest of her career. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the number of nurses […]
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California Forbids Plans to Unmask Workers at In-N-Out — and Most Other Workplaces
For at least another year and a half, California employers won’t be able to follow In-N-Out’s lead in banning workers from wearing masks on the job. The state’s COVID-19 workplace rules protecting workers’ rights to decide for themselves whether to wear face coverings are locked in at least until February 2025 and could be extended. […]
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NCJ Preview: Rodeo, a Teacher Pays it Forward and a Food Truck Heads North
We’re talking about local photographer Mark Larson’s rodeo pictures, hunger in Humboldt, a teacher’s quest to give back and the Pineapple Express food truck’s improbable and delicious journey. Hit subscribe for weekly updates on Humboldt stories.
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NCJ Preview: Fungi, Schneider Home Coming Down, Blue Lake on Parade
We’re talking about Humboldt County’s bounty of fungi and what to do with it, developer Travis Schneider’s home coming down, Annie and Mary Days in Blue Lake and more. Hit subscribe for weekly updates on Humboldt stories.
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CA Legislature Mulls Expanding Paid Sick Leave
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020, California’s three days of paid sick leave for full-time workers was not enough to cover quarantines or vaccine side effects. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law requiring companies to offer as much as 80 hours of supplemental sick leave for employees. The temporary measure was restored in early […]
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PlanCo Approves Permits for Tear Down of Schneider Home
After an emotional apology from the developer, the Humboldt County Planning Commission voted unanimously Thursday to approve the permits and permit modifications necessary for Travis Schneider to tear down his partially constructed family home overlooking the Fay Slough Wildlife Area. After amassing a host of permit violations during construction of the more than 20,000-square-foot home […]
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Troubled Nursing Home Chain Owner Shlomo Rechnitz Gets New Licenses Just Before State Reforms Take Effect
The state is moving forward with licensing two dozen nursing homes whose primary owner’s companies have a lengthy track record of problems – as uncovered by a CalMatters investigation – despite a new law designed to provide better oversight of the facilities. The nursing homes in question are owned by Los Angeles businessman Shlomo Rechnitz, […]
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Arkley Hosted Justice Samuel Alito on His Luxury Fishing Vacation With GOP Billionaire Who Later Had Cases Before the Court
This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Series: Friends of the Court Clarence Thomas’ Beneficial Friendship With a GOP Megadonor In early July 2008, Samuel Alito stood on a riverbank in a […]
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Four Things California Can Do as Home Insurers Retreat
After State Farm declared in late May that it wouldn’t sell any new home insurance policies in California, people shopping around for new insurance had one fewer option. When days later it was revealed that Allstate had quietly made the same decision last year, Californians are now left wondering: How bad is this? And how […]