Wildfires

WhatMatters

Mental illness, PG&E’s settlement, gun ownership, and fallout from carmakers’ deal with Trump

California fails to achieve parity in mental health care. PG&E reaches settlement with wildfire victims. Study breaks down who owns guns in California.

By Dan Morain • December 9, 2019

Capitol

Will fires, outages land California students in ‘disaster relief’ summer school?

Some 800,000 kids have lost as much as three weeks of class time this autumn. Public schools cherish local control in California, but they're asking the state to step in.

By Ricardo Cano • December 5, 2019

WhatMatters

Feds hit California on climate amid fire and torrential rain

A Thanksgiving week storm batters California, and firefighters give thanks in Santa Barbara. Plus, cities grapple with cannabis, and the state with Trump.

By Laurel Rosenhall • November 27, 2019

Environment

When it comes to wildfires, should California be more like Australia?

The system Down Under fosters self-reliance, giving homeowners tools to protect themselves when expecting firefighters’ help is not realistic.

By Julie Cart • November 26, 2019

WhatMatters

Newsom, Democrats lose effort to force Trump to release taxes—and it wasn’t close

California loses battle for Trump's taxes. State to sue Trump administration over Delta water shipments. Power shutoffs leaves residents hungry.

By Dan Morain • November 22, 2019

California Divide

“We need the food that we lost.” Low-income families still reeling from blackouts

Pacific Gas & Electric turned off power to Ana Patricia Rios’ neighborhood in Sonoma County for eight days in October, three at the beginning of the month and five near the end. The mother of three young boys watched twice as nearly all of the food in her refrigerator spoiled. She threw out at least […]

By Jackie Botts • November 22, 2019

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

Housing

Podcast: Is it really the end of California as we know it?

On this episode of Gimme Shelter: The California Housing Crisis Podcast, CalMatters' Matt Levin and the Los Angeles Times' Liam Dillon interview New York Times columnist Farhad Manjoo about whether California has reached a true tipping point, and why the state can't fix some of its fundamental flaws.

By Matt Levin • November 18, 2019

WhatMatters

Senate to focus on power shutdowns, as fire weather returns

Senate to scrutinize power shutdowns. Lack of emergency-evacuation system hinders fire victims. State to shun some carmakers.

By Dan Morain • November 18, 2019

Environment

Sirens, texts, even church bells. California wildfire alerts and evacuations still ad hoc

There is no statewide standard for emergency evacuation, no set of uniform, comprehensive plans that can be called upon in emergencies, not just for fire but for floods and earthquakes.

By Julie Cart • November 15, 2019