California Voices

Guest Commentary written by Julia Barzizza Julia Barzizza is a graduate student at UC Davis. She is the winner of the 2026 UC Davis Center for Poverty and Inequality Research Black History Month Student Essay Contest, from which this commentary was adapted. California was the first state to make ethnic studies a high school graduation […]

The Los Angeles Times reports Mayor Bass has been pressuring fire officials to soften or downplay findings in reports about the city's wildfire response.

Arbitrators in medical disputes are supposed to be unbiased, but this couple suspected there is an incentive to favor HMO’s in arbitration.

A poll shows three Democrats and two Republicans have voter support percentages in the teens. The top two vote-getters in June will face off in November.

California trucks much of its organic waste to landfills instead of recyclers, largely because of an exclusive franchise hauling system.

Some of the supporters of the phonics curriculum California adopted last year are now urging statewide math screening for young students.

A proposed California law — if it made it to the ballot — would cap medical payouts in vehicular accidents and shrink lawyers’ payments in lawsuits against rideshare companies.

A nonprofit created a reader-friendly explainer of California school district ratings, a decade after the state created its confusing data dashboard.

The 2026-27 proposal fails to respond to President Donald Trump’s cuts. Nor does it help families meet needs for housing, food and health care.

Poor children are struggling at school because of undetected and uncorrected vision problems. Medi-Cal has been neglecting vision care.