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Sacramento County Explainer Articles


Image caption: Protesters demonstrate against the Supreme Court’s landmark decision on affirmative action in 1978.
Affirmative Action: What SCOTUS Decisions May Mean for CA

California bans affirmative action in college admissions, but two pending Supreme Court decisions may go further than the current state law, which was passed as Prop 209 in 1996. Here’s what that could mean for the state.

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McCarty Runs for Sacramento Mayor

California State Assemblymember and former Sacramento City Councilman announced his bid the same day Mayor Darrell Steinberg declined to seek a third term

Image caption: How many innocent people have been executed? There is no way to know for sure.
Death Penalty Mistakes: When the State Kills the Innocent

More than 4 percent of death penalty convicts have been wrongfully convicted, data shows. But courts including the U.S. Supreme Court have failed to provide protections for the innocent facing death at the hands of the state.

Image caption: The death chamber inside San Quentin. Gov. Newsom has ordered the facility dismantled.
Is California’s Death Penalty Finally Dead?

The death penalty remains legal in California, but Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered a moratorium on executions in 2019. Will capital punishment end in the state? Here’s what’s happening.

Image caption: Your elected representatives want to hear from you.
Tips on Contacting Your Elected Representatives

Voting is just the beginning. Stay connected with your representatives to make sure your government is working for you.

Image caption: The $1.7 billion EchoWater Project overhauled the Sacramento Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant, which serves some 1.6 million people.
Regional San and the Life Aquatic

The Sacramento region is home to one of the West’s largest inland wastewater plants. Now, a new treatment system makes its discharge into the Delta dramatically cleaner.

Image caption: The Harvest Water Project, a recycled water initiative newly launched by Regional San, will take in tertiary-treated water from the EchoWater Project (seen above) for landscape and agricultural irrigation.
Managing Liquid Assets

After launching an advanced wastewater treatment system, Regional San will focus on an initiative to produce water for landscape and agricultural irrigation.

Image caption: The California Supreme Court has defined the state’s legal and political agenda for more than 170 years.
How the California Supreme Court Blazes Legal Trails

The California Supreme Court has kept the state at the forefront of legal issues surrounding abortion, the death penalty and same-sex marriage, starting in its earliest days in the Gold Rush era.

Image caption: They help feed the whole country, but life for California’s farm workers remains a struggle.
How California Feeds the Country

California stands as America’s agricultural powerhouse, growing half of its fruits and vegetables. Here’s how California farming has shaped the state, from the early missions to today’s “factories in the field.”

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Dr. Flojaune Cofer Running for Sacramento Mayor

Run by longtime local activist and first-time candidate could test whether Sacramento is ready for a progressive leader.

Image caption: From nitrates to arsenic to “forever chemicals,” California’s water supply faces a serious pollution threat.
Dirty Water: California Faces a Water Contamination Crisis

Almost one million California residents are forced to drink from contaminated water supplies, or pay for bottled water. Economic inequality makes the crisis worse. What is the state doing to fix it?

Image caption: Murder committed by strangers who don't know the victim remained relatively rare, data shows,
Is Crime Out of Control? What's the Reality?

Fears that violent crime is out of control on the streets of California cities rose after the murder of a well-known tech exec. But what are the facts and do they back up the rising moral panic about crime?

Image caption: Archtitectural rendering of the design for the Alice Waters Institute for Edible Education.
Alice Waters at Aggie Square

The Alice Waters Institute for Edible Education will serve as one of the anchor tenants for the $1.2 billion project in Sacramento.

Image caption: Though life expectancy has declined in recent years, Californians still live longer than most Americans.
Want to Live a Long, Healthy Life? Move to California

Life expectancy in California exceeds all but three other states, but how long you live depends on which county you live in. They're not all equal. Why? The answer may lie in political policies.

Image caption: College Corps fellows from University of the Pacific at the launch and swearing-in celebration in Sacramento on Oct. 7, 2022.
Working to Inspire

Josh Fryday, California’s chief service officer, touts the state’s AmeriCorps agencies, which offer paid service opportunities to students and others.

Image caption: State of Jefferson is only the best-known of dozens of plans for counties to secede from the state of California.
All About the Plan to Break Up California

State of Jefferson may be the best-known secessionist movement, but starting before California became a state, there have been at lest 220 efforts to divide the state into two pieces, or even more.

Image caption: The State of Jefferson Double-X flag symbolizes the California's supposed "double cross" of its northern counties.
State of the State of Jefferson

State of Jefferson is a movement by northern counties to secede from California and form a new state. Here's everything you need to know about this secessionist movement, which started in 1941 and remains strong today.

Image caption: Just because record rains have been falling, the state’s water crisis remains.
What Is Drought? Probably Not What You Think

2023’s torrential rainstorms have eased California's drought conditions. But there’s a lot more to drought than the amount of rain, and this drought isn't over yet.

Image caption: Braver Angels members discuss election reform.
Bridging the Great Divide

In a time of unprecedented polarization, Braver Angels encourages citizens to do something completely revolutionary: listen to each other.

Image caption: The future of malls looks like one where the rich get richer while lower-end malls simply die out.
Mall Culture and the American Dream

Shopping malls revolutionized how Americans shopped, socialized, and lived. Now, malls face an uncertain future. How did the dream of a new town square go so wrong?

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