Days from the end of the legislative session, political observers are once again asking themselves whether a bitter, unresolved battle over labor standards will spell the end of California’s most ambitious proposal to solve its housing affordability crisis. Assembly Bill 2011, which would unlock commercial real estate for residential use, potentially leading to more than […]
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Wiyot Tribe Reclaims Mouralherwaqh
The fog gave way to the sun late morning on Friday, Aug. 19, as dozens of people gathered around the podium positioned in the meadow. Spruce trees and huckleberry bushes stood in the near distance as the scent of saltwater and highway traffic drifted up from the bay and road below. Tribal Chair Ted Hernandez […]
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California Legislature: Slouching Toward Sine Die
California lawmakers have less than two weeks to wrap up their work before the end of the legislative session on Aug. 31. And so begins the final legislative traffic jam, as bills line up for final votes. A piece of legislation’s particular place in that line is the complex product of political horse-trading, the competing […]
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California’s Fast Food Bill Could Link Chains to Wage Theft and Other Workplace Violations
California lawmakers this month are considering a fast food bill that would significantly shift the relationship between restaurant workers and the corporate chains whose products they sell. If Assembly Bill 257 passes, California would be the first state to assign labor liability to fast food corporations and not just their individual franchise owners. The bill’s […]
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Back to School: California Republicans Bet Big on Local Board Races
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 this election. The meeting […]
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Suspense File: Which Bills did California Lawmakers Kill?
On most days, California lawmakers deliberate, debate and decide bills out in public for every Californian to see. Aug. 11 was not one of those days. In simultaneous marathon hearings, the appropriations committees in the Assembly and Senate rattled through hundreds of bills in a single discharge of rapid-fire legislating. Many proposals lived to see […]
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Initial Candidate Filing Period Drawing to a Close
The door is closing for candidates interested in entering a slew of local races in the upcoming November election, with dozens of seats on the boards of special districts and school boards across Humboldt County, as well as city councils, going before voters. The candidate filing period ends today unless an incumbent chooses not to […]
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Six Rivers National Forest Implements Emergency Closure Due to Wildfire
The U.S. Forest Service announced yesterday that it is closing all roads, trails and land on in the Six Rivers National Forest Lower Trinity Ranger District immediately and indefinitely in an effort to protect the public and firefighters responding to the Six Rivers Lightning Complex Fire. “Extreme fire behavior and fire perimeter spread are unpredictable, […]
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California Monkeypox Response is Bumpy, but Builds on Some Lessons from COVID
Hundreds waiting hours for a monkeypox vaccine only to be turned away. Residents taking to social media to detail struggles getting diagnosed and treated. State and local leaders demanding federal action. Emergency orders declared. At face value, these details paint the picture of a country and state in crisis, struggling to apply lessons learned from […]
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Officials Warn of ‘Long Battle’ As Reinforcements Arrive to Fight Six Rivers Lightning Complex
About 100 residents from the Willow Creek area crammed into a small church on State Route 96 on Monday, where billows of smoke could be seen from a large, pane glass window spiraling into the sky across the Trinity River from the Bremer Fire as it continued to encroach on Willow Creek’s eastern edge. They […]
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Can Californians Afford Electric Cars? Wait Lists for Rebates are Long and Some Programs have Shut Down
When Tulare resident Quentin Nelms heard California was offering a hefty state subsidy to help lower-income residents buy electric cars, he applied right away. But it wasn’t as easy as he thought it would be. Nelms spent four months on a waitlist before he was accepted into one of the state’s clean-car incentive programs in […]
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Buckle Up for a Busy Month in Sacramento
Welcome to the final countdown. Today, state lawmakers will reconvene in Sacramento after a month-long summer recess — during which some traveled abroad on trips funded by special interest groups that lobby them on various issues — for the final, frenzied month of the legislative session. Legislators face an Aug. 31 deadline to determine the […]