Despite, or perhaps because of, an aggressive last-minute push by progressive activists ahead of a crucial deadline, legislation to create a government-run universal health care system in California died Monday without coming up for a vote. The single-payer measure, Assembly Bill 1400, was the latest attempt to deliver on a longtime priority of Democratic Party […]
Politics
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McGuire Named State Senate Majority Leader
North Coast state Sen. Mike McGuire has a new title today — majority leader —which moves him up the Capitol ladder to the rung of second highest ranking member of the upper house of California’s Legislature. He was named to the post by Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins. “With bold leadership along with the […]
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DA Fleming Won’t Seek Re-Election
Humboldt County District Attorney Maggie Fleming announced in a press release this afternoon that she will not seek a third term in office. “It has been a privilege to serve the people of Humboldt County; I thank the voters for the opportunity,” she said in the release. “I believe that during my tenure as D.A., […]
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NCJ Preview: Vaccines and County Staff, Police Shooting Footage and Restoring the Eureka Theater
This week we’re looking at why the board of supervisors declined to require vaccines for county employees, going for weekly testing for the unvaccinated instead. We’re also going into what’s on newly released footage from last month’s police shooting of a suspect on Mad River Road, as well as how law affects what’s made public […]
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Humboldt Residents Could See a Change in Representation Under Draft Redistricting Maps
Humboldt County residents’ representation on the board of supervisors, in Congress and in the state Legislature is on the line as two commissions look at redrawing boundaries of those districts. The process happens ever 10 years after the federal government publishes census data to ensure the populations of the districts are evenly distributed. The last […]
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Huffman, Ocasio-Cortez Hosting Town Hall on ‘Build Back Better’
North Coast Representative Jared Huffman will join fellow Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York at a virtual townhall on Friday afternoon with a focus on the “Build Back Better” plan now before Congress. The $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill would also provide for social services, including free childcare, and add dental coverage to Medicare, as well […]
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What’s at Stake for Newsom’s Biggest Recall Campaign Donors
As Gov. Gavin Newsom wraps up a month of high-stakes decisions about what should become law in California, he’s also making calls that impact many of the donors who just spent millions of dollars to help him defeat the historic Sept. 14 recall. Labor unions, real estate moguls, tech titans — interest groups that lobby […]
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Eureka Council to Consider Vaccine Mandate, Police Oversight
The Eureka City Council will consider tomorrow whether to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for all city employees and mull increasing oversight of its police department. In a staff report, Human Resources Director Will Folger writes that “clinical trials, scientific research and safety monitoring” have shown COVID-19 vaccines to be safe and the most effective method of […]
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NCJ Preview: Enterprise, Burgers, Place Names and Etiquette
This week we’re looking at the future of the Ferndale Enterprise, newly purchased by North Coast Journal Inc. And it’s Burger Week, so we’re sharing what’s whetting our appetites and whether you can eat 28 burgers in 10 days. Good luck, friends. We’ll take a look at the effort to rename Patrick’s Point, its fraught […]
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Full Speed Ahead on Overhauling California Recalls
With the wreckage of the failed recall attempt against Gov. Gavin Newsom still smoldering, California Democrats have reached a new consensus: They really don’t want to do that again. On the morning after voting ended and recall candidates conceded, the chairpersons of the election committees in the state Assembly and Senate said they’re kicking off […]
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The California Recall: The 2022 Campaign Starts Now
Gov. Gavin Newsom is poised to keep his job after months spent lambasting the recall as a Republican power grab; feverishly fundraising, wooing likely supporters and wrangling fractious progressive activists; sweating the odd, unexpectedly close poll; fusing policymaking and politicking; and calling upon big-name D.C. Democrats to come stump out west. And after all that, […]
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California Recall Candidates Stretch the Truth on COVID, Climate Change and More
Everyone’s entitled to their own opinions, but not to their own facts. That holds true for politicians, including the candidates in California’s Sept. 14 recall election and Gov. Gavin Newsom. Campaigning during a resurgent COVID-19 pandemic and deadly, unprecedented wildfires, their approaches to the state’s problems can vary. But the facts behind some of those […]