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One year ago today, the Palisades and Eaton wildfires erupted in Los Angeles County. Together they burned more than 58 square miles of land — destroying over 16,000 structures, displacing thousands of households and claiming at least 31 lives. As one of the costliest wildfires in history, the estimated economic losses caused by the blazes […]

The top artificial intelligence and tech companies in California may be swimming in cash for now, but as skepticism grows over whether this current AI boom will continue or bust, so do concerns over the state’s budget and its reliance on the AI industry. As CalMatters’ Levi Sumagaysay explains, California’s biggest source of revenue is […]

California legislators return to Sacramento today to kick off the second year of the Legislature’s two-year session. In addition to dealing with a state budget deficit projected to reach nearly $18 billion this year and a 2026 primary election, lawmakers will introduce and weigh in on new bills. Expect many: In 2025, more than 900 […]

Scheduling note: WhatMatters is taking a holiday break and will return to your inboxes on Monday, Jan. 5. For five years, 39-year-old Sarah Jolly has been trying to start a family with her husband. After both participated in multiple tests, the Central Coast couple has yet to receive a clear-cut answer to their infertility issues.  […]

A mental health clinician with a bullet-proof vest is helping change the way a Bay Area city responds to some of its emergency calls. That’s what CalMatters’ Cayla Mihalovich found when she visited the San Mateo Police Department earlier this month to check out a new approach for mental health calls.  The city was one […]

You can kill someone with your car in California and not even have a point on your license.  A criminal justice reform bill passed in 2020 allows judges to effectively erase a misdemeanor case from existence, shielding people accused of “low-level” crimes from the stigma of having a conviction on their record, something that can […]

Gov. Gavin Newsom introduced CARE Court in 2022 in part as a way to bring people with serious mental illnesses off of California’s streets. But data from the state and counties, as well as interviews with service providers, CARE Court participants and their family members, highlight the ways in which the program is struggling to […]

In 2022 Gov. Gavin Newsom floated a new concept to get seriously mentally ill individuals the help they need, and get them off the street. Many Californians, especially family members of people that need extra help, felt buoyed by this promise.  Newsom’s idea became CARE Court, and it rolled out to a few counties at […]

The law firm Fitzgerald, Alvarez and Ciummo has earned a nickname: The WalMart of public defense.  Over three decades, the firm has won county contracts to provide poor people with criminal defense in the state’s rural stretches. It’s done so by making aggressively low bids.  Old iterations of the firm’s website asked local politicians what […]

From CalMatters health reporter Kristen Hwang: Gov. Gavin Newsom has tapped two prominent former U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials with jumpstarting a new public health initiative — though details of what precisely the initiative will accomplish in the coming months are sparse. Former CDC Director Dr. Susan Monarez and former chief medical […]