San Benito County Government Digest

In a unanimous vote the Board approved a two-year contract to hire attorney Harry Damkar for public defense services beginning May 1 as they study the feasibility of establishing a public defender’s office.

San Benito Health Care District intends to appeal.

There’s so little data available, it’s impossible to even tell if several of California’s largest homelessness programs are working, according to a statewide audit released Tuesday.

Elaine Klauer and Krystal Lomanto are among Woman of the Year and Woman of Distinction in Education honorees, respectively, for Senate District 14.

Not filling open positions in state government, cutting a school facilities program and several climate initiatives, delaying funding for public transit — these are some of the first steps that California officials plan to take to deal with a looming multibillion-dollar budget deficit.

Tenants in many new privately owned, low-income units will be protected from double-digit increases. So will some in existing units, after a state committee on affordable housing imposed a rent cap.

According to emails obtained by CalMatters Capitol reporter Jeanne Kuang in response to a public records request, a range of employers have been trying to figure out if they must pay $20 ever since the law was signed late last September.

Evictions have exacerbated homelessness nationwide, increasing the rate of homeless infants and toddlers. Most of those children are not enrolled in early education programs.

Disputes between insurers and providers can lead to entire hospital systems suddenly leaving the plans.

California will miss its goals unless it can increase emission reductions threefold, according to a new study.

County’s public defense system lack of structured leadership, transparency, accountability and funds, and frequent attorney turnover, high caseloads and low litigation noted.

“Street releases” have resumed after the nonprofit that operated a migrant welcome center announced its “finite resources have been stretched to the limit.”

State officials determined that Rancho Palos Verdes can utilize an already-established state of emergency to expedite landslide stabilization efforts as the crisis escalates.

The state’s environmental tool skews which communities are designated as disadvantaged, researchers say. Some immigrant neighborhoods could be left out, while other groups are overrepresented.

Ten conservation groups filed an intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for its failure to list western wolves under the Endangered Species Act.

A study in the latest issue of Nature Communications helps explain why there is more unconscious, or implicit, racial bias in some cities than others.

A first-in-the-nation council will set work rules in the state’s fast food industry, but can labor and business agree?

Among growing concern over copper wire thefts, L.A. City Councilmembers Kevin de León and Traci Park proposed a task force anchored by the LAPD.

The numbers and letters on your car can reveal more than you think.

Fast food lives in a consumer sweet spot: demand, convenience and relative affordability. And this pay hike—equal to minimum wage increases during the past five years—will create grand economic unknowns.

The swing from a $100 billion surplus to a deficit somewhere between $38 and $68 billion in just two years illustrates the volatility of California’s tax system.

A California judge says a nearly 65-year-old law does not give the state permission to borrow the billions of dollars it would need to build a large water project.

Proposed California legislation that would ban tackle football for kids under 12 had gained momentum until Gov. Gavin Newsom made it clear he’d veto the bill.

A multi-year, $750 million California program aimed at doing away with homeless encampments has had mixed results. Local leaders say ongoing funding is needed.

California’s projected budget deficit of close to $38 billion likely means some cuts are coming. Among them, Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed ending the California State Park Adventure Pass, which offers free access to some state parks for fourth graders.

Michel Moore, chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, announced he will resign. The departure of Moore, who has been in the job since 2018, will spur the appointment of an interim chief and a nationwide search for his replacement, according to Mayor Karen Bass.

California farmers face challenges posed by multiple types of fruit flies. Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed spending just over $22 million to combat the spread of these flies.

After months of negotiations, university officials offer a 5% pay raise. The union is seeking 12 percent and plans to strike at the end of January.

A committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 2-1 to advance a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The vote came following a tense public hearing.

Caltrans has set a Jan. 25 deadline for tech companies to show how generative artificial intelligence might reduce traffic congestion in the state. This follows an executive order that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in September related to this type of AI.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has called for a March 19 primary to elect a replacement for Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who resigned from Congress in December. If a candidate doesn’t win outright, a runoff will be held on May 21.

California correctional officers train like ‘they are going to war’ to work in state prisons. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to transform San Quentin could require a kinder approach.