Shasta County

Elections

Here’s how California keeps early votes secret until election day

Some county registrars lock up equipment and threaten dismissal to protect California’s early votes from being tallied before election day. The state legislature changed election law this year so election officials could scan ballots as they come in, to deal with an expected crush of ballots well before election day. Officials wanted to be sure […]

By

Lewis Griswold

• October 26, 2020

Which ballots get counted first? Stacks of California mail-in ballots await counting in this November 2018 file photo by Paul Bersebach, The Orange County Register/SCNG

Elections

When will my ballot be counted? The perks of voting early

Flo Hodes is doing everything she can to avoid post-Election Day BS. A Democratic voter living in Oakland, she has watched with mounting concern President Donald Trump’s refusal to say whether he will abide by the reported election results, his continued efforts to undermine public confidence in voting by mail, and recent operational changes at […]

By

Ben Christopher

• October 21, 2020

WhatMatters

Wine Country under wildfire siege

Good morning, California. It’s Tuesday, September 29. Thousands evacuating, three dead The worst fire season in California’s recorded history keeps getting worse. Following a weekend of high temperatures and dry winds that blasted through parts of Northern California at more than 50 miles per hour, record-breaking blazes intensified and new fires ignited — including the […]

By

Emily Hoeven

• September 29, 2020

A fifth grade class does classwork outside while social distancing at Bishop Unified in Inyo County over the summer. Photo courtesy of Bishop Unified School District

Education

Rural California schools prepare for possible in-person teaching

While many school districts in the state’s more populous areas have been essentially forced to start the school year teaching remotely, more sparsely populated have options.

By

Ricardo Cano

• August 6, 2020

A homeless person in a wheelchair on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. The has struggled with how to provide care for people with mental illness, but a new state audit says the solution isn't lowering the criteria for compelling mentally ill Californians to get treatment. Photo by Damian Dovarganes, AP Photo

Mental Health

Audit: Don’t make it easier to force mentally ill Californians into treatment — just improve treatment

California’s half-century-old involuntary mental health treatment law isn’t broken, but much of the system meant to serve those with serious mental illness is, state auditors concluded in a much-anticipated report released today. Some critics have called for rewriting state law to make it easier to force people into involuntary treatment, particularly by expanding the state’s […]

By

Jocelyn Wiener

• July 28, 2020

Elon Musk gives a presentation on fully-autonomous vehicles on April 22, 2019. Photo by Steve Jurvetson via Flickr

WhatMatters

Why CA will likely let Elon Musk off scot-free

Tesla's Musk likely to get away with flouting shutdown order. Are the right people getting coronavirus tests? Seven counties get OK to reopen dine-in restaurants.

By

Emily Hoeven

• May 13, 2020

Health

California confronts opioid addiction, an ‘epidemic of despair’

Although the opioid crisis has not gripped California as it has some other states, rural areas have been hit especially hard. Some lawmakers say the state should do more.

By

Elizabeth Aguilera

• October 29, 2017