Dan Walters

California has the nation's highest poverty rate, COVID-19 has hit poor families the hardest and they must now contend with escalating inflation of living costs.

Downtown Sacramento has been hard hit by COVID-19, stalling its recovery from years of decay. Can it snap back?

Gov. Gavin Newsom is creating a new system to collect data on education that should tell Californians how well schools are performing, but healthy skepticism is warranted.

California's liberal politicians are talking tough on criminals as the state sees an upsurge in robberies, homicides and other crimes.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom once promised to bring single-payer health coverage to the state but is now content to settle for something less.

As California politicians boast about nation-leading policies, they are also unwinding older policies that once led the nation.

Faced with myriad social pathologies, California will try a new approach - more integrated and aggressive treatment.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom's new budget would spend nearly $300 billion in the 2022-23 fiscal year, but will the revenues support the plan?

California's huge public school system is in crisis, with declining academic achievement and financial squeezes, but Gov. Gavin Newsom new budget gives it short shrift.

The notion of creating a single-payer, state-managed health care system for 40 million Californians is on the political agenda again.