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A doctor listens to a man's breathing at a clinic in Bieber, California on July 23, 2019. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

Pandemic snafu: State mistakenly drops Medi-Cal coverage for some low-income Californians

by Ana B. Ibarra August 5, 2020August 11, 2020

An error involving the state’s automated system for Medi-Cal renewals triggered at least some of the drops in coverage, despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s orders that recipients remain on the rolls during the coronavirus crisis.

2018 Women's March San Francisco attendees raise fists and hold signs in support of missing and murdered indigenous women. Photo by Pax Ahimsa Gethen via Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

California Divide

“Pervasive failure to investigate:” Report finds lack of scrutiny in cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women

by Laurence Du Sault August 3, 2020September 16, 2020

For generations, order and cleanliness had been Christina Lastra’s family’s way of fighting off poverty. But the day in July 1991 when her mother’s mysterious death was ruled an accident marked the end of the orderly life Lastra had been leading in Humboldt County. “We didn’t get peace. No one ever even thought of looking […]

An all-electric Proterra bus operated by San Joaquin Regional Transit District, shown beside its "Fast Charging" station. Image via Creative Commons. California’s clean-air programs take a hit in new funding cuts.

Environment

Exclusive: California’s clean-air programs take a hit in new funding squeeze

by Rachel Becker July 30, 2020July 30, 2020

Projects that tackle vehicles, pollution in low-income communities, prescribed burns and even cows have lost 14% of their original budgets because of cap and trade shortfall.

A truck pulling a livestock trailer leaves Central Valley Meat Co. in Hanford in a 2012 file photo. The meat processing company has had at least 183 COVID-19 infections among employees. Photo by Eric Zamora, The Fresno Bee

California Divide

San Joaquin Valley company ‘encouraging’ COVID-19 infected employees to work, lawyer says

by Manuela Tobias July 28, 2020September 16, 2020

The company “disregarded inescapable evidence of rising infection levels among its workers,” the lawsuit says.

Caroline Harrison, left, Jackson Harrison Shirk, 11, right, and his mother, Virginia Harrison, far right, visit with Jackson’s grandmother, Debbie, center, at The Chaparral House, the Berkeley skilled nursing facility where Debbie has lived for the past three years. Debbie, who family members refer to as mama bear, suffers from dementia and is largely unresponsive during her family's near-daily socially distant visits. “She doesn’t talk about it but she knows we’re here,” said Jackson. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

Health

Through the looking-glass: Family members fight restricted access to loved ones in long-term care

by Barbara Feder Ostrov and Jocelyn Wiener July 23, 2020July 24, 2020

As the pandemic drags on, families and nursing home watchdogs are mobilizing in California and nationwide to urge state officials to allow in at least one “essential caregiver” to watch over loved ones, many of whom suffer from dementia.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JULY 13: Dan Makevich, of San Francisco, poses with his husband Timothy Gilmore, and their dog Cognac while in their apartment in San Francisco, on Monday, July 13, 2020. Makevich, a senior citizen, is enrolled in a program for digital literacy for low-income elders. Seniors are most affected by COVID-19 and through a program by Community Tech Network they are assisted with training, internet connection and a tablet. Photo: Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group

California Divide

Coronavirus: The Bay Area seniors who are left behind by a telehealth tech divide

by Laurence Du Sault July 20, 2020September 16, 2020

Without internet access, getting health care is harder than ever.

A fifth grade class does classwork outside while social distancing at Bishop Unified in Inyo County over the summer. Photo courtesy of Bishop Unified School District

Education

Rural California schools prepare for possible in-person teaching

by Ricardo Cano August 6, 2020August 12, 2020

While many school districts in the state’s more populous areas have been essentially forced to start the school year teaching remotely, more sparsely populated have options.

Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs speaks during a press conference by Big City Mayors, a coalition of mayors from California’s 13 largest cities focused on finding solutions to homelessness, at the California Capitol on March 9, 2020. Tubbs has launched a universal basic income initiative, Mayors for Guaranteed Income, following the success of a similar program in Stockton. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

California Divide

Coronavirus pandemic puts a spotlight on Stockton’s guaranteed income experiment

by Laurence Du Sault July 26, 2020September 16, 2020

Mayors for a Guaranteed Income is the brainchild of Michael Tubbs, the 29-year-old mayor of Stockton, California.