California’s second gubernatorial recall election in history is shaping up to be pretty different from the first. Just 41 candidates filed all the paperwork necessary by the 5 p.m. Friday deadline to run to replace Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in the Sept. 14 recall — a field that includes GOP politicians, a reality TV star, […]
Gavin Newsom
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Newsom Visits Klamath, Talks Drought, Dams and More
California Gov. Gavin Newsom spent some time in a dugout redwood canoe on the Klamath River yesterday while visiting with Yurok Tribal leaders. A Yurok Tribe press release today reports that Chair Joseph James and vice-Chair Frankie Myers took Newsom down a “singularly beautiful” stretch of the river before discussing the ongoing drought, the juvenile […]
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Rio Dell Declares Drought Emergency
The Rio Dell City Council has declared a drought emergency, calling for a series of voluntary reductions in water use and activating its groundwater well site to diversify the water supply, reduce water intake and ease pressure on the Eel River, where the majority of the city’s water comes from. “We didn’t have this option […]
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Newsom Proposes Expanding California’s Stimulus Checks to Middle Class
At the start of the pandemic a year ago, today’s news would have seemed unimaginable: The Golden State is sitting on a budget surplus so big, it’s considering giving $600 stimulus checks to California workers making up to $75,000, paying off back rent of tenants affected by COVID and helping millions of residents catch up […]
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State Slated to Reopen in Mid-June, Humboldt Moves to Orange Tier
Humboldt County has been moved into the state’s “orange,” or moderate COVID-19 risk ranking, after long stays in the more restrictive “red” and “purple” tiers. The new status will allow more business sectors open and expand indoor operations capacity for restaurants, gyms, movie theaters, places of worship and other organizations. (Find more information here.) The […]
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Is California Blowing it on Unemployment Reform?
If not for a persistent mail carrier, Lance Hastings might not have discovered all of the fake unemployment claims. Last September, the head of the California Manufacturers & Technology Association got the first jobless claim from a worker he’d never employed. Mistakes happen, he thought, and reported the letter sent to the group’s boarded-up former […]
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COVID-19 Vaccine Line Opening to 50-Plus Next Week, 16-Plus April 15
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced today that California residents age 50 and older will join the ranks of those eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations beginning April 1, with all individuals 16 years and older entering the line on April 15. “With vaccine supply increasing and by expanding eligibility to more Californians, the light at the end of […]
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Democrats Have Newsom’s Back as Recall Campaign Ramps Up
Gov. Gavin Newsom officially launched a campaign Monday against the effort to oust him from office, as fellow Democrats closed ranks to support him and his opponents plan this week to submit the last batch of signatures needed to trigger a recall election. Since Newsom’s flashy State of the State speech last week that looked like […]
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Who Will Pay for All of California’s Unemployment Fraud?
A 1-year-old in Fresno raking in $167 a week. An ex-state employee stealing $200,000 from California’s unemployment system, some by impersonating Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Another $1.2 million swindled by a rapper who bragged about it on YouTube, $1 billion drained in the name of state prisoners, and $2 billion in jobless benefits siphoned off state-issued […]
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School Reopenings More Likely in Rural Areas, at Private Schools
New state mapping data details California’s school-reopening divide, in which hundreds of school districts — mostly smaller and rural or inland — are offering in-person instruction to elementary students while many of the state’s largest, urban districts remain indefinitely in remote learning. But the divide between public and private schools is much starker: Eleven months […]
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COVID and Churches: U.S. Supreme Court Lifts State Ban on Indoor Services, Other Lawsuits Continue
Among the beach-goers denied, the indignant gun shop owners and frustrated parents who want schools reopened, one set of plaintiffs against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pandemic shutdown restrictions have scored a big win: churches. A 6-3 U.S. Supreme Court ruling issued late Friday sided with house-bound pastors and their congregants in their claim Newsom’s bans on […]
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Ryan’s Law: Bill to Allow Dying Patients Access to Cannabis is Back
State legislators, including North Coast Assemblyman Jim Wood, are reintroducing a bill that would require hospitals and healthcare facilities to allow terminally ill patients access to certain forms of medical cannabis. Known as Ryan’s Law, the Senate Bill 311 is named for late San Diego resident Ryan Bartell, who died in April of 2018, just […]