WhatMatters

Good morning, California. It’s Wednesday, May 26. Approval rating grows The scales appear to be tipping in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s favor. The governor’s approval rating is ticking back up after months of decline, with 54% of likely voters giving high marks for his job performance, according to a Public Policy Institute of California poll released […]

Good morning, California. It’s Tuesday, May 25. Two elections for same seat When you get your November 2022 ballot, it might feel as though you’re seeing double: For the first time in history, a race for the same California seat in the U.S. Senate will likely appear twice. That’s because lawmakers are rushing to tweak […]

Despite California’s high unemployment rate, many positions at restaurants, bars and retail stores are going unfilled — causing some business owners to fear they won’t be able to fully reopen even when the state gives the green light on June 15. The Golden State’s unemployment rate remained unchanged between March and April, holding steady at […]

Good morning, California. It’s Friday, May 21. Goodbye to all that Thursday was a brutal day in the state Legislature. Hundreds of bills met their demise or were watered down as lawmakers raced through an opaque process called the “suspense file,” a tool often used to euthanize proposals without having to cast a politically precarious […]

Time is running out for California counties to decide whether they want to develop programs that would give families a legal tool to get severely mentally ill relatives into treatment. After years of resistance, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to implement Laura’s Law, becoming the 21st county to do so. The […]

California’s fierce debate around educational equity is about to get a lot fiercer. Today, a state Board of Education commission is set to review public comments responding to a controversial proposal to overhaul California’s math framework for 6.1 million K-12 public school students. The state’s proposed plan — which aims to “counter the cultural forces […]

June 15 will be a big day for California. That’s when the state will ease its mask mandate to allow fully vaccinated people to forgo face coverings in most places, Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state’s health and human services secretary, said Monday. It’s also when California will lift capacity limits on businesses, permitting the state […]

It’s only May, and I’m already having to write about wildfires forcing Californians to evacuate their homes. Around 1,000 people were displaced from their homes Sunday as the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles County grew to more than 1,300 acres. The blaze, which was 0% contained as of Sunday afternoon, carved a path through dense, […]

Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing a mask dilemma. If he updates the state’s mask guidance to align with that of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — which on Thursday announced that fully vaccinated people no longer have to wear masks or physically distance in most places — he risks contradicting his own […]

Go big or go home. That seems to be the modus operandi for Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Republican candidates vying to replace him in an all-but-certain recall election. Newsom on Wednesday unveiled a $20 billion proposal to “reimagine” public schools, noting that it represents “the highest level of state school funding in California history.” […]