Statewide Region Local News

Chronic absenteeism dropped to 20% last school year, but that is still higher than the pre-pandemic rate of 12%.

Gov. Newsom gets the first of 13 regional plans to boost economic development across the state. The others are to be ready in January.

Floodwaters devastated the small communities of Pajaro and Planada in early 2023. California gave each town $20 million to recover – but as residents face down another winter, much of the aid has yet to reach them.

Cal State has a goal to graduate 40% of its freshmen within four years. It now graduates 36% — it’s highest rate ever. On other goals, the system is further behind.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Racial Justice Act into law in September 2020, following the police murder of George Floyd. For the first time, defendants can put bias from any brush with the criminal legal system — from arrest to sentencing — on the stand.

The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office projects a $2 billion shortfall for 2025-26, but says the state can’t afford big new programs. Gov. Newsom has complained about attention on the office’s deficit estimates.

History will — or at least should — see a $165 billion error in revenue estimates as one of California’s most boneheaded political acts.

As California public universities try to balance campus safety with students’ right to protest, community colleges are squaring off in court with students and staff who argue that the schools are violating their freedom of speech, explains CalMatters community college reporter Adam Echelman.

Gov. Newsom just bought a $9 million house in Marin County, but his sources of income haven’t been made public recently. He had pledged to release his tax returns.

Bird flu has been spreading among dairy workers in California’s Central Valley, jumping from cows to people. A new suspected case in the Bay Area came from an unknown source.

The California Voter Foundation launched a tool tracking daily vote counts in 18 close contests for Congress and the state Legislature. The tracker aims to show how counts change over time and dispel misinformation about election fraud, the group says.

Voters in California’s farm belt, stretching more than 400 miles from Kern County on the south to Tehama County on the north, delivered solid majorities for Donald Trump in this month’s presidential election.

Between the summer session of the California Legislature featuring hot topics like AI regulation and money for journalism, and a special one focusing on gas prices, powerful corporations poured in record-setting money to influence lawmakers.

Declining enrollment, the end of pandemic relief funding and uncertain state funding are forcing school districts to make some difficult decisions.

Trump’s promise to “end” the offshore wind industry could threaten CA’s renewable energy goals, potentially cutting off federal funding.

The University of California anticipates more than a $500 million budget gap next summer, so It’s considering a $3,402 jump in tuition for new nonresident students next fall. Meanwhile, the system is planning billions in construction projects.

More than 115,000 children in California were undocumented in the most recent census count, and it’s estimated almost half of California children have at least one immigrant parent.

Trump has threatened new, higher tariffs on two of California’s biggest trade partners, China and Mexico. The state’s workers and economy could feel the most impact.

Immigration advocates are sounding the alarm over the prospect of mass deportations upending California immigrant communities, which Donald Trump has vowed to initiate when he returns to the White House in January.

California wants to protect witnesses in workplace investigations from deportation, but the Biden administration program for undocumented employees is at risk with Donald Trump’s return to the White House.