GUEST COLUMNS
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
A recent appellate ruling may come as a surprise to the defense bar, which might have assumed that general, even categorical, warnings to clients taking plea deals that their convictions "will have the consequence of deportation" would satisfy the requirement to provide competent immigration advice.
Those who want voters to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom joined crime victim advocates at the state Capitol last Tuesday to accuse the governor of being too lenient on lawbreakers as the state experiences a new wave of crime.
Across the country, states will begin redrawing their political districts based on population data collected from the 2020 Census in a process known as redistricting.
From potential fires to active shooters, schools usually have a plan for emergencies. Tasked with guarding society's youngest members, administrators don't usually leave a lot to chance.
A new cost-of-living study reveals a hard truth that millions of Californians now face: In many parts of the Golden State, having a job is far from enough to ensure financial stability.
David Gross, an executive at a New York-based advertising agency, convened the troops over Zoom this month to deliver a message he and his fellow partners were eager to share: It was time to think about coming back to the office.
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
In response to the pandemic, Gov. Gavin Newsom took a bold step to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus and save lives by ordering large sectors of California's economy closed. Millions of Californians suddenly hit the unemployment lines, and the state's unemployment insurance fund began distributing unprecedented sums of benefits.
Schools aren't exactly known for their expansive budgets.
California's bizarre and dysfunctional housing politics have hit a new low. An unassuming bill that would allow (not require) cities to rezone transit-accessible parcels for small housing projects without the expensive studies usually mandated by the California Environmental Quality Act is being portrayed as an unconstitutional assault on democracy itself.
California took a major step today towards regulating dangerous "forever chemicals" in drinking water by proposing new health limits for two of the most pervasive contaminants.
Soni Kapoor wanted to stay ahead of the game on his personal finances and retirement planning.
Monday, July 26, 2021
A dressing room invasion and a dispute between neighbors are the subjects of recent appellate decisions.
One day last spring, water pressure in pipelines suddenly crashed In the Antelope Valley, setting off alarms.
In many ways, the campaign to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom is evolving just as Newsom hoped it would.
Californians must change the debate about conservatorship and focus on the people and their families who are waiting for real reform.
One in five Americans are currently unpaid caregivers, and as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, that number is on the rise.
Friday, July 23, 2021
Over the past few weeks, there have been a number of news articles and stories about police officers playing popular music during a citizen/officer interaction that is being filmed by the citizen.
The horrifying collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Florida last month that killed at least 95 people is a reminder of how frail a seemingly sturdy structure can suddenly become.
Federal conspiracy charges against dialysis giant DaVita and its former CEO have cast one of Sacramento's biggest political spenders in an unflattering light.
Get ready for whiplash: After receiving $1.3 billion in new money from lawmakers this year, the University of California now wants to raise tuition on each incoming undergraduate class. Every year. Indefinitely.
Thursday, July 22, 2021
Last week, the Los Angeles Times published a damning article about the state agency that is supposed to police California's physicians.
Two years ago the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power shut off electricity at Will Hollman's home in the San Fernando Valley, forcing the family to rely on a gasoline generator.
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
Climate change can seem like such an enormous problem that individual actions would have little impact. Consider Europe's wide-ranging proposals this week to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, including eliminating sales of new gas- and diesel-powered cars in the next 14 years.
Tuesday, July 20, 2021
There is a silent assassin roaming the streets of California and targeting our children and young adults. This assassin does not see race, ethnicity, religion, party affiliation, gender, sexual orientation or income — it is an equal-opportunity, lethal killer. The synthetic opioid fentanyl has murdered thousands of Californians a year.
We are a bit better prepared for this drought than for the 2012-2016 drought, but Californians, individually and collectively, will always need to expect and prepare for drought.
Latest 'menstrual equity' bill would require California's public colleges to provide period products
Similar campus initiatives across California have come and gone. With many students still recovering from the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, Leung says now is the time for legislative action.
While incidents like the Colonial pipeline ransomware attack and the Kaseya attack received international attention, schools and universities have also been on the wrong end of cybercriminals.
Monday, July 19, 2021
Using a singular noun "budget" no longer describes the tortuous process by which the governor and state legislators decide how to spend the state's money.
Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, a Democrat from San Diego County, authored a bill this year to increase that percentage — making it more realistic for low-income earners to use the leave that they're required to fund with 1.2% of every paycheck.
On July 8, Gov. Gavin Newsom expanded two earlier drought emergency declarations to cover 50 of the state's 58 counties.
The state's paltry public data on high schoolers going to college is the result of one-time funds from 2017-18, not an integrated data system with regular updates.
If you are considering your options to expand your family, it's important to understand the associated financial realities and develop a plan to deal with them.
Friday, July 16, 2021
Now more than ever, we need comprehensive social policies designed to help the women and children most affected by inequity but least represented in government relief and recovery efforts.
Packaged as yet another silver bullet to California's housing crisis, SB 10 is aimed at increasing housing supply in areas that are already developed; however, loopholes could still allow building in undeveloped areas.
Thursday, July 15, 2021
The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana metropolitan area, the study found, is the nation's sixth most segregated region of 200,000 residents or more.
According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, California is one of the most prominent sites of human trafficking in the U.S. In 2018, of the nearly 11,000 cases reported nationally, more than 1,600 came from California. About 150 of those cases were reports of labor trafficking.
Monthly $300 payments are in the works for California families struggling to make ends meet.
Wednesday, July 14, 2021
Part of the For the People Act (H.R. 1) would attack the FEC's problem of not being able to form a quorum.
Last month, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a statement to creditors and debt collectors that it would be illegal to seize the federal Child Tax Credit payments for purposes of satisfying individual debts.
Last month the Supreme Court affirmed a Northern District of California judgment finding that the NCAA had violated antitrust laws by restricting education-related benefits provided to college football and basketball players.
Loud parties, surveillance cameras and a neighbor dispute? The Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District in California was recently faced with these issues in a case involving claims that one neighbor's use of surveillance cameras violated the other neighbor's right to privacy.
As extreme drought claims most of the state, California Gov. Gavin Newsom today asked Californians to voluntarily cut their water use by 15%.
Tuesday, July 13, 2021
State-funding efforts to shelter unhoused residents in converted motels could be a game-changer for Motel Drive, an area of Fresno that city leaders say has long been overrun by drugs, human trafficking, and prostitution.
For Mona Janochoski, a chemist who ran a laboratory at 3M in St. Paul, Minnesota, working from home during the pandemic was the deciding factor.
Monday, July 12, 2021
Think about the financial impact if you were unable to earn a paycheck for an extended period.
Friday, July 9, 2021
The project known as the Liberty Canyon Wildlife Crossing is one step closer to happening now that Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a budget that includes $7 million to help build it — and another $54.5 million for similar projects in other parts of the state.
Thursday, July 8, 2021
California voters will decide on Sept. 14 whether to throw Gov. Gavin Newsom out of office, making him the second governor in state history — and just the fourth nationwide — to face a recall.
This is an apt topic for Independence Day — whether the U.S. Supreme Court struck a blow for privacy and free speech last week or undermined California's justifiable effort to require a controversial (and conservative) political organization to reveal its donors.
Wednesday, July 7, 2021
In hard-hit Napa Valley, which has burned multiple times this last decade, successful winemakers and longtime residents are weighing their options to rebuild or move out entirely simply by looking at their property insurance policies.
About 7,550 out of more than 19.5 million Californians who were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 have contracted the disease, a minuscule percentage that provides strong evidence of the vaccines' effectiveness, according to state data.
Since our last annual United States Supreme Court roundup article, the Court issued four decisions that may affect California employers. We summarize these rulings below.
Tuesday, July 6, 2021
California’s state budget is accompanied by “trailer bills,” which have become vehicles for special interest goodies having little or nothing to do with the budget.
The California Public Utilities Commission vote against rooftop solar favors utilities over consumers and derails efforts to meet the state’s climate change goals.
If your employer provides you with this benefit, it's important to understand how the employee stock options (ESO) work, and the most effective ways to take advantage of them.
Friday, July 2, 2021
Unfortunately, the pop star's experience is a common one for people with developmental disabilities or mental illness, whose fundamental life choices are restricted "for their own good."
This is how California's water crisis is going these days: The only functioning well in the rural community of Teviston broke in early June, leaving more than 700 residents without running water as temperatures in the Central Valley soared to triple-digits in a drought.
California schools are poised to get a record-breaking amount of money in the state budget to help students recover from the 15 months of chaos, virtual classrooms, hybrid schedules and ever-shifting guidance.
As a neurologist, I see patients with chronic medical conditions. While these diseases are not curable, they are treatable with appropriate strategies, including medications that can give patients their best chance at a full and productive life.
As of October 1, California ratepayers with overdue utility bills will once again be at risk of disconnection.
Patents protect inventions. However, patents protect only certain inventions.
Thursday, July 1, 2021
California renters, who are still struggling to pay the rent even as the pandemic wanes, will be shielded from eviction through Sept. 30, under a last-minute deal announced today by Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders.
California lawmakers are set to vote today on a record-busting state budget that reflects new agreements with Gov. Gavin Newsom to expand health care for undocumented immigrants, spend billions to alleviate homelessness and help Californians still struggling through the pandemic.
Drought may be the sneakiest of natural disasters. Although human history teems with people engulfed by abrupt aridity — the Akkadians of four millenniums ago, the Maya in the ninth and 10th centuries A.D., the Great Plains farmers of the 1930s — even today drought is a poorly appreciated phenomenon.
Wednesday, June 30, 2021
Gavin Newsom's penchant for extravagant — and ultimately false — promises, predictions and claims of achievement makes him his own worst enemy.
California lawmakers have advanced a budget proposal to stop collecting child support debt from some parents who are receiving cash assistance, but the proposed solutions are a far cry from what advocates for those debt-holders sought in January.
Tuesday, June 29, 2021
While investing can be an intimidating topic for those just getting started, it doesn't need to be.
California's housing crisis is a multi-front guerrilla war, pitting those who want to lower legal and political barriers to construction against those who see new developments as threats to the environment and/or the ambience of their neighborhoods.
As Californians endured another extreme heat wave last week, millions hoped to avoid a repeat of last year's crisis, when power blackouts eliminated air conditioning as the final refuge from sweltering temperatures.
As the violence against Asian Americans erupted to climax with the tragic mass shooting in an Atlanta-area business this spring, our community reckoned with what it means to be Asian American. Of the nearly 7,000 hate incidents against Asian Americans, including vandalism, assault and even murder, 40% happened in California.
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