2021 - Page 2 of 203

A homeowner is ready to leave California after selling his single-family house in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles on March 5, 2021. Photo by Damian Dovarganes/AP Photoa

Housing

Thinking of buying a house? Here’s one millennial’s experience

In the new episode of "Gimme Shelter: The California Housing Crisis Podcast." CalMatters' Manuela Tobias and the Los Angeles Times' Liam Dillon catch up with former podcast co-host Matt Levin on the homebuying process and review the zaniest California housing stories of 2021.

By

Manuela Tobias

• December 20, 2021

The offices of the California Employment Development Department in Sacramento on Dec. 18, 2020. AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

California Divide

Researchers worry that low-income Californians may have trouble repaying unemployment benefits

California is requiring unemployment recipients to retroactively prove their work history – but experts say low-income recipients could be forced to repay money they don’t have. Some even say ineligible recipients should get a pass.

By

Jesse Bedayn

• December 20, 2021

The windows of the Dior store in Union Square in San Francisco were boarded up as of Nov. 25, 2021. Videos on social media showed masked people running with goods from several high-end retailers in the storied shopping area. Photo by Samuel Rigelhaupt / Sipa USA

Politics

Fund the police: Newsom responds to California crime concerns

Gov. Newsom puts on a tough face about California crime, defends past reforms and proposes $350 million-plus to stop organized retail thefts.

By

Ben Christopher

• December 17, 2021

Assistant General Manager Elisa Gallardo serves customers from inside a takeout window at The Beehive in the San Francisco Mission neighborhood on July 25, 2020. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

WhatMatters

Fearing a big COVID surge, California reinstates rules for private workplaces — and the vaccinated

Give to CalMatters today and your gift will be doubled! Your support helps keep our nonprofit journalism free and accessible to all Californians. Donate now. The more things change, the more things stay the same. A little more than a year after the first COVID-19 vaccines arrived in California, the state is bracing for yet […]

By

Emily Hoeven

• December 17, 2021

Commentary

Do right by California’s tribes through the 30×30 conservation effort

Californians have an opportunity to begin to repair historic wrongs endured by the state’s tribes with a plan to protect the environment.

By

Guest Commentary

• December 16, 2021

Traveling nurses Candace Brim, left, and Janet Stovall, right, are based in North Carolina but have been traveling as a pair since the beginning of this year. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters

Reader Reactions

I have seen firsthand how tough and brave nurses are

Although it was tough to see how overworked a nurse could be treating COVID patients, I am willing to take on these challenges.

By

Guest Commentary

• December 16, 2021

A row of tents under an overpass in east Los Angeles on Nov. 17, 2021.

WhatMatters

How California fails its most vulnerable residents

Give to CalMatters today and your gift will be doubled! Your support helps keep our nonprofit journalism free and accessible to all Californians. Donate now. If the pandemic made one thing clear in California, it’s that the state often fails to protect its most vulnerable residents. That was the takeaway from an emotional eight-hour hearing […]

By

Emily Hoeven

• December 16, 2021

Coronavirus

Did California get its money’s worth from $1.7 billion COVID test contract?

The Valencia lab, a public-private venture between the state and PerkinElmer, processed only 1 to 8% of all Californians’ COVID tests in the first 10 months of the contract. And the lab was riddled with dozens of problems, according to an inspection report.

By

Kristen Hwang

and

Ana B. Ibarra

• December 16, 2021

A student at California State University Long Beach receives a shot of the Pfizer vaccine near the campus bookstore on Aug. 25. 2021. Photo by Jorge Villa/Daily Forty-Niner

Higher Education

Four California universities missed out on as much as $47 million in coronavirus aid. Here’s why

A state audit says four California universities could have received millions more in federal pandemic money and helped more students. University of California and California State University officials could still recoup some of the cash.

By

Julian Mendoza

,

Stephanie Zappelli

and

Sindhu Ananthavel

• December 16, 2021

Commentary

These innovations promise major change for California schools

Our outdated education system too narrowly defines student success and should move toward a competency-based approach to learning.

By

Guest Commentary

• December 16, 2021