Author Archives: Public Press staff

By Laurel Rosenhall, CALmatters Many California communities could open centers inviting addicts to shoot up hard drugs under a little-noticed bill that has cleared the state Assembly and now awaits a vote on the Senate floor. The goal is to reduce deaths. Here’s how the concept — modeled after a supervised drug injection facility in […]

By Miranda Leitsinger, KQED News Fix President Donald Trump’s announcement early Wednesday that transgender people would no longer be allowed to serve was met with swift reaction and strong opposition among California’s transgender military community and congressional delegation. Trump made the announcement in a series of tweets, concluding with: “Our military must be focused on […]

By Ben Christopher, CALmatters California boasts some of the toughest “fair pay” laws in the country — yet the average full-time working woman has been earning only 86 cents for every dollar earned by a man. A recent study concluded that gap won’t close before the year 2043. Two female lawmakers don’t intend to wait […]

By Emma Foehringer Merchant, Grist  A veil of dust covers the windowsills of Ray Kidd’s home. Outside, in his backyard, particles coat a lemon tree, sticking to the fruit’s pimpled, yellow skin. “Diesel pollution,” says the 72-year-old Kidd, who has lived in West Oakland since 1973. “It’s just pervasive.” Across town, close to Lake Merritt […]

By Carolyn Jones, EdSource Tiaira Breaux spent much of her childhood in foster care, served time in the juvenile justice system and had to fight for sole custody of her three sons. But nothing, she said, nothing was tougher than learning high school algebra. “I could not do it. My mind could just not process […]

By Jenny Manrique, New America Media Hate crimes are on the rise nationwide, including in San Francisco, where the city’s diversity also happens to be a hallmark of the San Francisco Police Department’s Hate Crimes Unit. It’s one of just a handful of such units across the country, and officials say its diversity is a key part […]

By Laurel Rosenhall, CALmatters Minutes after a bipartisan coalition of California lawmakers voted to extend the state’s landmark climate-change policy for another decade, Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown stood in front of a bank of television cameras and compared the plan to one championed 30 years ago by GOP icon Ronald Reagan. Back then, the Republican […]

By Angela Johnston, KALW/Crosscurrents If you drive east on the Bay Bridge out of San Francisco and look down at Treasure Island, it’s hard to miss what look like enormous piles of dirt. These mounds are actually the remains of old Navy barracks, ground into pieces. Now, they signify some of the first visible steps […]

By Elena Shore, New America Media If immigration agents show up at a worksite, employers don’t have to let them in. That is one of the key messages immigrant rights advocates are sending out as a new bill that would increase protections for workers makes its way through committees in the California Legislature. Employers across the country […]

By Ashley Hopkinson, EdSource In the midst of a statewide teacher shortage, the new California state budget includes $5 million to address a shortfall of bilingual teachers, a shortage a new study concludes will continue following the passage of Proposition 58 and the expected growth of bilingual programs. The new state law, in effect on […]