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WhatMatters

Lawmakers challenge PG&E, as utility warns of more mass power shutdowns

PG&E comes under fire at Capitol. State, L.A. sue Juul Labs over e-cigarette practices. Kamala Harris sinks in presidential polls.

By Dan Morain and Judy Lin • November 19, 2019

Elections

Fact check: Do Californians really cool on ballot measures as the election approaches?

Conventional wisdom holds that support for ballot measures always declines the closer you get to election day. Is that true? We ran the numbers.

By Ben Christopher • October 16, 2019

WhatMatters

Newsom vents on blackouts as PG&E begins restoring power, Becerra’s privacy rules, and an idea for homeless courts

Politicians pile on PG&E over power shutdown. Race is on to implement privacy rules. Homeless courts proposal may be headed to ballot.

By Dan Morain and Ben Christopher • October 11, 2019

Elections

Californians surveyed: Rising homelessness concerns, a split on Newsom, and no home-state edge for Kamala Harris

A new poll suggests that homelessness is a top concern for many Californians and that more likely voters now disapprove of Newsom’s job performance than approve. Is this a new downward trend for the governor...or just a blip?

By Ben Christopher • October 2, 2019

Justice

As gun control efforts advance in California Capitol, opponents bank on the courts

While Democrats push a new round of gun control bills, California gun rights advocates are fighting back in a more hospitable venue: the federal judiciary.

By Ben Christopher • August 21, 2019

WhatMatters

Gilroy shooter’s gun, price fixing, Harris and Trump’s poll numbers, and the environment

Good morning, California. “My son had his whole life to live and he was only 6. That’s all I can say.”—Alberto Romero, San Jose father of Stephen Romero, who celebrated his sixth birthday last month at Legoland, and was killed at the Gilroy Garlic Festival on Sunday, as quoted by NBC Bay Area. What California […]

By Dan Morain and Barbara Harvey • July 30, 2019

Elections

Frontrunner no more: California poll puts Harris on top and Biden (way) down

The new poll puts Kamala Harris first in her home state. Biden, the presumed front-runner nationwide, came fourth.

By Ben Christopher • July 29, 2019

California Divide

California’s child poverty hits coastal Bay Area

More than 27 percent of children in Santa Cruz county live in poverty, the second-highest rate in California. Wages are lower than they are on the other "side of the hill" in the high-cost Bay Area.

By Erica Hellerstein • July 16, 2019

Elections

Tom Steyer wants to fix American politics by making it Californian

Ballot referenda, term limits, voting by mail. If the ideas of the newest presidential contender sound familiar, you might be a Californian.

By Ben Christopher • July 11, 2019

Justice

Any spike in repeat crimes after California sped prisoner release? New research says no

When the U.S. Supreme Court ordered California to disgorge tens of thousands of inmates from its overcrowded prison system in 2011, Justice Antonin Scalia warned in his dissent of "the terrible things sure to happen as a consequence" including the "inevitable murders, robberies, and rapes to be committed by the released inmates." But researchers who've looked at how how often those released from the state's prisons and jails in the ruling's aftermath say such fears have not come to pass.

By Ben Christopher • June 24, 2019