California Watch
News stories in this section spotlight activities in California, including actions by the state Assembly and state Senate; proposed legislation; regulators like the Department of Managed Health Care and Department of Insurance; and the state ACA exchange, Covered California.
The first five months of the COVID-19 pandemic in California rank among the deadliest in state history, deadlier than any other consecutive five-month period in at least 20 years.
As the Golden State faces a triple threat of respiratory risks — destructive wildfires, toxic air quality and a deadly pandemic — there is a faint glimmer of hope.
Massive clouds of smoke from the Pacific Northwest wildfires lingered over the region Sunday, posing serious health risks for millions of people and complicating firefighting efforts even as crews reported progress in slowing some of the blazes.
The patients walk into Dr. Melissa Marshall’s community clinics in Northern California with the telltale symptoms. They’re having trouble breathing. It may even hurt to inhale. They’ve got a cough, and the sore throat is definitely there.
A day after issuing guidelines that restricted trick-or-treating and other Halloween traditions because of the coronavirus pandemic, Los Angeles County health officials walked back some of the rules on Wednesday.
California lawmakers convened this year with big plans to tackle soaring health care costs, expand health insurance coverage and improve treatment for mental health and addiction.
Helicopters rescued more people from wildfires Tuesday as flames chewed through bone-dry California after a scorching Labor Day weekend that saw a dramatic airlift of more than 200 people and ended with the state’s largest utility turning off power to 172,000 customers to try to prevent more blazes.
Oral arguments this week in front of an appeals court raise concerns that trucking’s challenge to California’s controversial AB5 independent contractor legislation could face an uphill battle.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) launched a new plan to more slowly reopen his state’s economy after an alarming spike in coronavirus cases across the Golden State over the summer.
California lawmakers on Monday wrapped up a legislative session largely defined by the pandemic as they approved new COVID-19 sick leave for food workers, added sweeping labor protections for laid-off hotel staff and made it easier for essential employees to file for workers’ compensation.