State Watch

CONNECTING CALIFORNIA - Question: In the exclusively Democratic constellation of California statewide officials, how many places are there where a Republican star might fit?

CALIFORNIA WATCH - No state advertises its egalitarian bona fides more than California. Governor Gavin Newsom brags that his state is “the envy of the world,” a place that is “not going to abandon our poor people.”

GAS PRICES - There’s a collective groan, rippling across California, as drivers pull into gas stations and see prices above $5. 

POLITICS WATCH - Dear Peeps:  Part of the new electronic world order, LACDP continues to meet remotely as did the CA State Convention this past week.

STATE ECONOMY - California is rapidly losing its diversity. So why aren’t we hearing more about it from our diversity-obsessed media and politicians?

STATE OF THE STATE - Gov. Gavin Newsom gave a pep talk to Californians tired of COVID and worried about crime, homelessness and inflation.

COST OF EDUCATION - America's student loan crisis has Washington tied in knots.

HOMELESS POLITICS - Gov. Gavin Newsom today unveiled a much anticipated proposal to address a mental health crisis increasingly visible on trash-strewn sidewalks and in cramped jail cells around California.

CALIFORNIA HOMELESS - As she headed to her car after two hours of counting and surveying Sacramento’s homeless population, the state’s top housing official acknowledged there is a long road ahead.

THE STATE OF OUR STATE - Has the California proposition changed fundamentally? And does it matter for real estate?

CALIFORNIA MATTERS - “The Big Short” was a 2015 film about how some financial whizzes, realizing that the nation’s overheated housing market was on the verge of collapse, made billions of dollars by betting on failure.

THE DOCTOR IS IN - Once upon a time, L.A. and California were bastions of moderate to conservative citizens who grew their region and state with the understandings of political and forward-thinking paradigms that demanded both vision and pragmatism, and both personal opportunities and personal opportunities.

EDUCATION - Anthony Pritchett, a senior at Nevada Union High, sat nervously at a school board meeting on Tuesday night as angry crowds yelled at each other over a vote to violate state law and lift the mask mandate for its students.

PANDEMIC ANALYSIS - Recessions in California tend to widen the gap between rich and poor.

SILICON VALLEY - The record meltdown of Meta stock earlier this month suggests turbulence in the tech world and a difficult period ahead for the company formerly known as Facebook.

 WHAT'S UP WITH CALIFORNIA - Democratic politicians frequently and vehemently express their admiration for and support of what they call “working families,” while contending that rival Republicans lack such empathy.

HOUSING CRISIS - I work and live in California, the poster child of the national housing crisis.

SACRAMENTO WATCH - California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday endorsed legislation that would allow private citizens to enforce the state's ban on assault weapons.

WHAT’S UP IN SACRAMENTO - Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration is very gingerly lifting the restrictions on personal behavior that were imposed to counter the omicron surge of COVID-19 — particularly the requirement to wear masks inside public places.

CALIFORNIA MATTERS - As we gear up for what will likely be another challenging summer, millions of families will have to make the unthinkable choice between keeping the lights on, paying their rent, buying groceries or paying for their prescriptions.

CALIFORNIA POLITICS - Governor Newsom made a self-imposed pledge to dismantle San Quentin's  California's Death Row for good and transfer all of  the death row inmates to one of 7 other California state prison facilities and place them in their general prison population.