WhatMatters

Howdy, California. It’s Wednesday, April 7. This is CalMatters politics reporter Ben Christopher filling in for Emily Hoeven who really is still on vacation. Await the ides of June California’s collective year-long ordeal spent shuttered and sheltered-in-place finally has a tentative expiration date: June 15. Assuming all goes as planned, that’s the day that California […]

Good morning, California. It’s Tuesday, April 5. CalMatters politics reporter Ben Christopher here, filling in for Emily Hoeven. Emily will be back next week. Rife with indecision and inconsistencies As California nursing homes slowly recover from the COVID-19 siege that killed thousands, the role of state regulators in protecting the frail and elderly has come […]

Good morning, California! It’s Monday, April 5. I’m CalMatters politics reporter Ben Christopher, filling in for Emily Hoeven, who is enjoying a much-deserved week off. A “gold rush” amid the calamity This much is not news: California’s Employment Development Department, the state agency responsible for shelling out unemployment claims to millions of jobless Californians, is still […]

Good morning, California. It’s Friday, April 2. Note: My colleague Ben Christopher will take over the newsletter next week while I’m on vacation. See you on April 12! Baseball season off with a swing The Golden State seemed to turn a corner on Thursday. Fans were in the stands in Oakland, San Diego and Anaheim […]

Good morning, California. It’s Thursday, April 1. Future J&J supply halted Today, California’s vaccine floodgates will open to millions of people 50 and over — even as some mass vaccination sites close due to a lack of doses and health officials warn of weeks-long appointment backlogs.  Lynda Hopkins, chair of the Sonoma County Board of […]

Good morning, California. It’s Wednesday, March 31. Years-long waits It’s a shocking statistic: 75% of the inmates in California’s county jails — more than 44,000 people — have not been convicted or sentenced for a crime. Instead, they’re largely waiting for arraignment, trial or sentencing. At least 1,300 people have been waiting for more than […]

President Joe Biden said Monday that states should pause their reopening efforts amid a new surge in coronavirus cases, creating a potential political liability for Gov. Gavin Newsom as he ushers California into its fastest reopening yet. Biden’s comments came the same day that Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control […]

Good morning, California. It’s Monday, March 29. Businesses to shoulder costs California’s unemployment rate fell to a pandemic low of 8.5% in February, the Employment Development Department announced Friday — even as its jobless benefits fund sank deeper into the red, imperiling economic recovery. The Golden State recovered nearly 91% of the jobs it lost […]

Good morning, California. It’s Friday, March 26. Statewide network incomplete All Californians 16 and older will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in three weeks, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday. Under the state’s new guidelines, Californians 50 and older — a group that includes Newsom himself — will become eligible on April 1, with those […]

Good morning, California. It’s Thursday, March 25. Bonta a win for progressives By nominating Assemblymember Rob Bonta to be California’s next attorney general, Gov. Gavin Newsom is priming the state to take a significantly different approach to criminal justice — one that could help him shore up progressive support ahead of a likely recall election, […]