Friends, loved ones and former colleagues will gather to remember the life of former state Assemblymember Patty Berg at a memorial service from 2 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 1, at the Baywood Golf and Country Club in Arcata. Berg, the founding executive director of the Area 1 Agency on Aging who went on […]
Legislature
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Top Democrats Say They Won’t Just ‘Trump-proof’ California — They’ll Make it Affordable Again
The leaders of the state Legislature have a message for voters: We know you’re frustrated with how expensive California is — and we’re going to fix it. After a painful election that sparked recriminations and soul-searching among Democrats across the country, state Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas are returning […]
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Medical Debt Wouldn’t Hurt Credit Under California Bill
Medical debt weighs heavily on the lives of millions of Californians. It can ding their credit scores and hurt their chances of landing a rental or securing a home mortgage. Earlier this year, the Biden administration announced a proposal to stop medical debt from showing up on credit reports. That proposed rule is under consideration […]
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Newsom: Dark Forces Are Threatening California
Months of speculation and complaints about when, or even if, Gov. Gavin Newsom would give his annual State of the State address ended this morning with more of a whimper than a bang. At a few minutes past 10 a.m., Newsom posted a pre-recorded speech to his social media channels. Flanked by American and California […]
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State Bill Aims to Address Cyberbullying Off Campus
In response to his daughter receiving a swastika on social media, a California Jewish lawmaker is pushing for a bill that would give school administrators authority to suspend or expel students if they cyberbully fellow students away from school and outside of school hours. But Long Beach Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal’s Assembly Bill 2351 is coming […]
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New Plan Could Help Humboldt Foster Kids Afford Extracurriculars
Foster kids often miss out on Little League or music lessons. That’s one of the consequences of changing homes, or living with a family on a tight budget. Now California has a new plan to give them opportunities for the kinds of extracurricular activities that can build character and community. It’s included in a proposed […]
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Lawmakers Want to Know Why Billions in Spending isn’t Reducing Homelessness
The state has spent billions of dollars on homelessness in recent years. So why is the crisis getting worse instead of better? That’s what a bipartisan group of California legislators is trying to get to the bottom of by calling for a first-of-its kind, large-scale audit of the state’s homelessness spending. The state has stepped […]
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California Homelessness: Where are the State’s Billions Going? Here’s the New, Best Answer
In Sacramento, there’s a word that keeps popping up during discussions about the state’s homelessness crisis: “accountability.” Gov. Gavin Newsom has scolded cities and counties for failing to get more people off the street, hundreds of millions in state spending notwithstanding. “Californians demand accountability and results, not settling for the status quo,” the governor said […]
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California Lawmakers Try Again to Cap Insulin Costs
As many diabetics across the Golden State struggle with insulin costs, California’s efforts to make the medication more affordable have yet to yield results. This year, lawmakers will revisit legislation that would address at least one piece of the affordability puzzle. Senate Bill 90, by Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, would limit what […]
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Newsom Signs Abortion Protections into Law
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of 12 bills Tuesday, establishing some of the strongest abortion protections in the nation — a direct reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn federal abortion guarantees earlier this year. Collectively, the new laws aim to improve access and protect patients and clinicians by strengthening privacy […]
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Reparations Task Force: State Could Owe Black Californians Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars
California’s task force on reparations has begun putting dollar figures to potential compensation for the various forms of racial discrimination, generational pain and suffering Black Americans experienced in the state. The rough estimates by economic consultants may mean that hundreds of thousands of dollars could be due to Black Californians who are descendants of enslaved […]
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‘Mandela’ Bill Would Limit Solitary Confinement in California Prisons and Jails
In solitary confinement, a former California inmate recalled, there were two kinds of people: One kind would read books in their cells, exercise and do and re-do crossword puzzles. The other kind would scream and curse, refuse to dress and throw their feces at the walls. The goal in solitary confinement, he said, was to […]