Joe Biden visited the Santa Cruz County beach towns of Aptos and Capitola a couple winters ago following bad storms that wrought the kind of destructions that coastal communies are facing due to the climate crisis. Last week, his administration delivered a big pile of money to help these communities and their neighbors build resilience.
This week we meet Robert Mazurek, who has been working on conservation issues in the Monterey Bay Area for decades, and is now overseeing a $71 million coastal resilience grant. He explains how this historic win came to pass, what it means to the region and the world, and why this money should be seen as a mere down payment on a sustainable future.
California Marine Sanctuary Foundation Wins Big
The conservation community in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties has been punching above its weight for generations—for example, by working to create the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, a resource of global significance. Last week, these ambitious protectors of the magnificent environment they call home scored a huge win—the biggest federal grant given to an NGO in California historey.
• Californians: Your Rent May Go Up Because of Rising Insurance Rates
The state’s landlords see rising insurance costs, so they say they’re going to have to raise rents. But they complain about laws that limit how much they can do so.
(08/12/2024) → CalMatters
• California Is Giving Schools More Homework: Build Housing for Teachers
Some California agencies are offering incentives and hosting workshops for school districts that want to build affordable housing for teachers.
(08/12/2024) → CalMatters
• CA Rent Control Back on the Ballot, Twice
Sky-high rent is among Californians’ biggest concerns. Nearly 30% of tenants spend more than half their income on rent; and the median rent is $2,850 a month, 33% higher than the national average.
Two propositions on the Nov. 5 ballot address this issue — though one does so in a rather roundabout way.
(08/08/2024) → CalMatters
• Dangerous Herbicide Used on California Crops Banned
The chemical, used for decades, can harm babies’ developing brains. Farmworkers and people living near fields are most at risk. The EPA issued a rare emergency order.
(08/07/2024) → CalMatters
• CA Democrats Push Retail Theft Bills
Legislators are pushing ahead with a retail theft bill package in their continued opposition of Proposition 36 — a November ballot measure backed by law enforcement groups and Republicans (and some Democrats) that would roll back parts of 2014’s Prop. 47.
(08/07/2024) → CalMatters
• California Battles Onslaught of Wildfires With Help From Mutual Aid: ‘More Resources Than Rest of US Combined’
So many intense wildfires all at once require an intricate chess game for maneuvering firefighters and equipment around the U.S.
(08/06/2024) → CalMatters
• Audit: California Risked Millions in Homelessness Funds Due to Poor Anti-Fraud Protections
A critical new federal audit calls out California for doing too little to prevent fraudulent spending of homelessness funds. Nearly $320 million was at risk.
(08/06/2024) → CalMatters
• CA Budget Deficit Sidelines More Bills
The Senate appropriations committee sent dozens upon dozens of bills — that have a price tag of at least $50,000 to $150,000 and that may also be politically dicey — to the dreaded suspense file, where many could die quickly on Aug. 15.
(08/06/2024) → CalMatters
Humpback whales lunge feeding in Monterey Bay.
