Coronavirus

Two months after Gov. Gavin Newsom called for an investigation into California’s first rolling blackouts in nearly two decades — during which time residents were twice warned that blackouts could return — a group of key state agencies released their preliminary findings. The findings raise serious questions about the ability of California’s electrical grid to […]

As schools get the green light to reopen, the form their teaching will take will vary widely, sometimes even within the same district.

Good morning, California. It’s Thursday, October 8. 1.57 million claims unresolved California’s unemployment department is in the hot seat — again. Lawmakers ripped into the besieged agency in a Wednesday oversight hearing, exposing the breadth of challenges facing the Employment Development Department as it resumes accepting claims after a two-week reset period that ended Monday. […]

A few things distinguished tonight’s vice presidential debate from the Trump-on-Biden interruption-fest that the nation suffered through last week: The two were separated by prophylactic plexiglass Tupac was invited for some reason A fly made a surprise appearance on the vice president’s head The back-and-forth was, for the most part, actually a back-and-forth, rather than […]

Pierce College theater student Sonny Lira was in the middle of rehearsing a script when his phone overheated and shut off, abruptly cutting off his performance. This wasn’t the first time technical difficulties interrupted Lira’s community college class. Since Wi-Fi wasn’t good enough at home, Lira often practiced his lines over Zoom in his car, […]

Well, it doesn’t look as though California’s big bet on a federal stimulus package that would allow the state to reverse $11 billion in budget cuts is likely to pay off. In a Tuesday tweet that sent shock waves through Wall Street, President Donald Trump announced he was ending negotiations on a coronavirus relief package […]

Good morning, California. It’s Tuesday, October 6. Gov’s first nominee Gov. Gavin Newsom made his first appointment to the California Supreme Court on Monday, nominating retired Justice Martin Jenkins to fill the seat vacated in August by the court’s most conservative member, Justice Ming Chin. If confirmed, Jenkins, 66, would be the first openly gay […]

It’s not easy to get work done during a pandemic. Even for the fortunate who kept their pre-pandemic jobs, productivity has taken it on the chin in 2020.  The same goes for those in the lawmaking business.  In March, just days after the governor instructed all Californians to shelter in their homes, legislators left Sacramento […]

It pains me to begin yet another newsletter with this line, but dangerous fire weather is expected to persist across much of Northern California through Saturday amid dry, powerful winds and elevated temperatures — likely adding fuel to the Glass Fire tearing through Wine Country. The blaze, which has already forced nearly 100,000 evacuations and […]

Socorro Diaz, who has worked cleaning houses for 17 years, was still trying to digest Gov. Gavin Newsom’s veto of a bill that would have provided protections for domestic workers. “I am very angry, very sad because I know that my work is worthy and deserves respect,” said Diaz. SB 1257, which was approved by […]