Orange County

Cleanup contractors deploy skimmers and floating barriers to try to stop further oil crude incursion into the Wetlands Talbert Marsh in Huntington Beach on Oct. 3, 2021. One of the largest oil spills in recent Southern California history fouled popular beaches and killed wildlife while crews scrambled Sunday to contain the crude before it spread further into protected wetlands. Photo by Ringo H.W. Chiu, AP Photo

WhatMatters

Massive oil spill batters California’s Orange County coast

California’s taking an environmental beating. Orange County was hit with its largest oil spill in three decades when at least 126,000 gallons of crude oil spewed from a leaking pipeline connected to an offshore platform. The oil slick — which was first reported Saturday and grew large enough to cover the city of Santa Monica […]

By

Emily Hoeven

• October 4, 2021

COVID-19 patient Brian Parisi, 53, from Orange County, is treated by staff in the ICU at Providence St Joseph Hospital in Orange, on July 23, 2021. Photo by Omar Younis, Reuters

Health

COVID patients have doubled in California hospitals

More than 5,300 people with COVID-19 were hospitalized in California on Sunday, almost twice the number two weeks earlier.

By

Barbara Feder Ostrov

and

Ana B. Ibarra

• August 10, 2021

Maskless patrons enjoy tropical cocktails in the tiny interior of the Tiki-Ti bar as it reopens on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles on July 7, 2021. California COVID cases are climbing, especially in Los Angeles, just weeks after the state's broad reopening. Photo by /Damian Dovarganes, AP Photo

CalMatters en Español

Casos de COVID aumentan en California un mes después de la reapertura

Read this article in English. Un mes después de que la reapertura de California quitara la mayoría de las restricciones pandémicas, los casos de COVID-19 y las hospitalizaciones están aumentando, lo que preocupa a los funcionarios de salud pública mientras lidian con la más infecciosa variante Delta y el lento ritmo de vacunación en algunas comunidades. […]

By

Barbara Feder Ostrov

• July 16, 2021

Coronavirus

COVID cases surging in California a month after reopening

Lea este artículo en español. A month after California’s reopening lifted most pandemic restrictions, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are rising, worrying public health officials as they contend with the more infectious Delta variant and the lagging pace of vaccinations in some communities. Los Angeles County has drawn particular concern, with five straight days of more than […]

By

Barbara Feder Ostrov

• July 15, 2021

WhatMatters

Golden State’s next culture war: math class

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 […]

By

Emily Hoeven

• May 19, 2021

Bartenders were masks and face shields as they work at Slater's 50|50 on July 1, 2020, in Santa Clarita. Photo by /Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP Photo

WhatMatters

Mask mandate likely to end soon

Good morning, California. It’s Wednesday, May 12. Newsom previews changes If you’re looking for a sign that California is approaching the end of the pandemic, here it is: The state may soon ease workplace rules that require employees to wear face masks and physically distance from each other. Next week, California’s workplace safety agency is […]

By

Emily Hoeven

• May 12, 2021

WhatMatters

How CA’s backlogged court system delays justice

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 […]

By

Emily Hoeven

• March 31, 2021

Justice

Waiting for justice: Defendants locked up for years awaiting trials, sentencing

Across California, 44,241 people are being held in a county jail without being convicted or sentenced for a crime. That’s three quarters of all inmates. At least 1,317 people have been waiting in county jails for more than 3 years. For 332 of them, it’s been longer than 5 years. In 32 counties that gave […]

By

Robert Lewis

• March 31, 2021

WhatMatters

Is a fourth coronavirus wave coming for California?

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 […]

By

Emily Hoeven

• March 30, 2021

Palo Alto resident Margaret Park, 91, is accompanied by her son to the waiting area after receiving her first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 9, 2021. The 49ers arena opened on Tuesday as a vaccine distribution site for Santa Clara County residents 65 and older and is expected to inoculate up to 15,000 people per day once supplies become available. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters

Coronavirus

Vaccine appointments may be backed up for several weeks

The CEO of Blue Shield predicts it will take until the end of April to ease California’s backlog. “When you make millions of people eligible overnight, there's not millions of appointments immediately available,” he told CalMatters.

By

Barbara Feder Ostrov

and

Ana B. Ibarra

• March 26, 2021