All California Local Articles


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2023 Tahoe: State of the Lake Report

The 2023 Tahoe: State of the Lake Report, released by UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC), reveals significant changes in Lake Tahoe's ecosystem. The report, based on data collected in 2022, highlights unprecedented biological shifts and serves as a …

Image caption: In Denmark, bi-directional charging reduces the cost of owning an EV by about 40 percent.
How Electric Cars Can Boost California's Power Grid

Through bidirectional charging, owners of electric cars can sell energy to the grid or use it to power their homes. But will the technology, which is costly, become widespread?

Image caption: Barbie is suddenly a movie star, but the toy has long played a big role in one of Southern California’s major industries.
Barbie, Mattel, and California’s Toy Empire

Here's how the iconic Barbie doll and its manufacturer, toy giant Mattel, built an industry in Southern California that pours billions into the state’s economy.

Image caption: Californians experiencing mental health issues are making frequent use of a new 988 crisis hotline.
California's 988 Mental Health Crisis Hotline Gets Surge in Calls

One California mental health crisis center grew its staff by almost 50 percent to handle that number of calls from people in need of counseling that it’s received since the state launched its 988 hotline a year ago.

Image caption: If policymakers accelerate efforts to slow climate change, California could get some relief from wildfires.
Rise in California Wildfires Caused by Human-Driven Climate Change, Study Finds

Climate change caused by human use of fossil fuels is the major reason California wildfires have burned 172 percent more land than they would have over the last five decades, according to new research.

Image caption: California smokers are kicking the habit, but that means lower tax revenues for child services under Prop 10.
Child Services Takes Hit as Tobacco Tax Revenue Drops Due to Quitting

A new ban on flavored tobacco products is accelerating a decline in nicotine tax revenue that funds California’s early childhood services. Some programs are already making cuts.

Image caption: A legislative analyst’s report is sharply critical of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s shifting priorities in mental health funding.
Newsom’s Mental Health Plan May Shift $720 Million to Housing

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to rethink how California spends its millionaires tax by directing more money toward housing. Some county-run mental health programs could lose out.

Image caption: Should California adopt the Texas approach to handling the homeless problem?
4 Reasons Texas Beats California on Homelessness Reduction

The homeless population fell by a third in Texas over the past decade as it surged in California. The cost of living is a big reason Texas is doing a better job at alleviating homelessness.

Image caption: Under the Inside Safe program homeless camps have been cleared, but where do the people go?
'Inside Safe' Homeless Plan Struggles to Get People into Housing

Los Angeles’ new homelessness solution is meant to quickly get people out of encampments and into housing—as the city grapples with the state’s largest population of unhoused residents. But the program is struggling to house people and connect them with …

Image caption: There won't be big changes to the way Californians vote, but expect some tinkering around the edges.
California Lawmakers Kill Bills to Make Big Election Reforms

The most sweeping bills to change California elections got shelved in the Legislature. Instead, lawmakers are focusing on ballot measure language, local redistricting, voting integrity and campaign finance tweaks before the 2024 election.

Image caption: "Housing First" prioritizes getting the homeless into housing before anything else.
Why Hasn't Housing First Policy Worked in California?

Housing First policy works to reduce homelessness, evidence shows. But in California the policy has proven ineffective. What is the state doing wrong?

Image caption: COVID pandemic measures requiring more sick leave and family days expired, but legislators want to make them permanent.
New Legislation Looks to Improve Work-Life Balance for Employees

Supporters say a series of bills before the Legislature would improve work-life balance by expanding sick days and family leave. But opponents say the proposals would hurt struggling small businesses.

Image caption: Why can't the state say whether a $100 million per year prisoner rehabilitation program is working?
California Spent Millions to Rehab Prisoners But Did it Work?

A yearlong investigation shows that a $100 million-a-year rehabilitation program for former California prisoners grew with little oversight from the state corrections agency. It's unclear how many parolees wind up back in prison.

Image caption: In the years since she recovered from a severe illness brought on by West Nile Virus, Marie Heilman has helped spread the word about the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito & Vector Control District's "Fight the Bite" campaign.
West Nile Virus Survivor Offers a Warning and a Plea

Marie Heilman of Winters, who is happy to be alive, wants people to guard against mosquitoes and the deadly virus they carry.

Image caption: Among the events commemorated by E Clampus Vitus is the founding of the group’s first California chapter.
Atlas Absurdum

Dedicated to commemorating parts of history that sometimes offend the local chamber of commerce, E Clampus Vitus has studded California with plaques.

Image caption: The California Constitution was written, in English and Spanish, at Colton Hall, at the time the largest municipal building west of the Rockies.
Hidden History in the Birthplace of California

Pam Marino of Monterey County Weekly reports that the city government there is grappling with a unique problem: How to provide access to the places that make Monterey “the most historic city in California.”

Image caption: California Supreme Court says employers would suffer if family members who catch COVID from workers get compensation.
No Workers Comp For COVID Given to Family Members, Court Rules

A Bay Area woman sued her husband's employer after she became infected with COVID-19. The California Supreme Court found that giving her workers' comp could set a precedent that would imperil the system.

Image caption: Pres. Joe Biden decried the "hypocrisy" behind the Supreme Court's student loan forgiveness cancellation.
What Next For Student Loans After SCOTUS Ends Biden Debt Relief

The Supreme Court has terminated Pres. Biden's student debt relief program. Here's the reasoning the justices used to do it, how their decision affects Californians, and what's next for borrowers who must start paying again in October.

Image caption: Under a new bill, California's coastline could see an increase in housing development.
California YIMBY Housing Bill Threatens Coastal Commission Powers

The California Coastal Commission has broad authority to protect the state's shoreline. Now, some want to curtail its power over affordable housing proposals.

Image caption: After several failed tries, could 2023 be the year California passes single-payer healthcare legislation?
Health Care Advocates Split Over New Single-Payer Bills

Two proposals that would usher in single-payer health care have divided former allies in the fight for reform.

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