Newsletters

Monday marked the day many new California laws went into effect, including the state’s new concealed firearm restrictions that, until Saturday, had been blocked by a federal judge.  The law bans Californians from carrying firearms in various public places such as parks, stadiums and places of worship. It was passed in response to a 2022 […]

Scheduling note: WhatMatters is taking a well-deserved holiday break and will return to your mailboxes on Tuesday, Jan. 2. At various times throughout 2023, California was at the center of the debate about how states should approach their migrant populations. In June, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis kicked off a political squabble with Gov. Gavin Newsom […]

From CalMatters politics reporter Yue Stella Yu: Steve Garvey, the Los Angeles Dodgers legend running for U.S. Senate, is finally campaigning in public. Well, kind of. This week, the first-time Republican candidate is making several stops in the Imperial Valley and near the U.S.-Mexico border — but with limited media access.  The events received little […]

The fumes that wafted through the Tecate streets gave people headaches and left children vomiting. Authorities warned the community it was from a chemical leak at a place called Recicladora Temarry de Mexico. It’s a recycling facility that’s one of the biggest destinations for California’s hazardous waste. Places like Tesla, Sherwin-Williams and Sally Beauty Supplies […]

In a state with a Democratic-supermajority Legislature and a reputation for being a “climate leader,” how does Big Oil get its way? CalMatters Digital Democracy reporter Ryan Sabalow and data journalist Jeremia Kimelman dive into the curious alliance between oil companies and the powerful State Building and Construction Trades Council.  The 450,000-member union of Teamsters, […]

Health care is even more top of mind for Californians as we go through the year-end ritual of enrolling in insurance for 2024.  For those families on Medi-Cal, the state’s insurance program for the poor, it can be even more complicated, writes CalMatters health reporter Ana B. Ibarra. Six months after the state restarted its […]

Today, CalMatters launches a collection of concise summaries of what happened this year for key players and on key issues in California policy and politics.  In such a dynamic state, it isn’t always easy to remember all the important developments on the state budget, homelessness, education and more. CalMatters has you covered. The first installments […]

The biggest outcome from the United Nations climate change conference was the breakthrough agreement by nearly 200 nations to phase out fossil fuels. The pact is expected to mark the “‘beginning of the end’ of the fossil fuel era,” the U.N. declared after COP28 wrapped up Wednesday in Dubai. California is already in the process […]

Democrats in California and elsewhere are divided on the Gaza war. But there’s another bloody war, in Ukraine, and on that, key California members of Congress are also split from the White House.  Sen. Alex Padilla, the state’s first Latino U.S. senator, and Rep. Nanette Barragán, chairperson of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, are warning the […]

For the record: We have updated the headline of a Dec. 12, 2023 article and newsletter on a Los Angeles homeless housing program to better reflect what happened to displaced participants in the HOPICS rapid rehousing program. We use the terms “eviction” and “evicted” in the article and newsletter based on the common understanding of […]