News

A landmark literacy bill awaits Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature after unanimously passing the Senate floor with a 38-0 vote.

If signed, AB 1454 moves the state one step closer to implementing evidence-based reading instruction in California classrooms — a decades-long, highly contentious state debate.

Of the dozens of wildfire-related bills that legislators were quick to introduce in the wake of the wildfires that ravaged greater Los Angeles in January, roughly half of the ones tracked by Southern California News Group have passed out of the legislature and are awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s signature in order to become law.

Lawmakers struck a deal on legislation that would allow Uber and Lyft drivers to unionize, giving the bill a big boost and an endorsement from Gov. Gavin Newsom ahead of a critical Friday vote in the statehouse. 

In a deal with Uber and Lyft, Gov. Gavin Newsom and several state lawmakers are backing legislation that would allow rideshare drivers to unionize while lowering the insurance threshold for drivers.

The agreement, if approved, would allow hundreds of thousands of rideshare drivers to form unions and bargain collectively while still being classified as gig workers, according to supporters ahead of Friday’s vote in Sacramento.

California is by far the largest food producer in the United States. In 2023, our state’s agricultural economy was worth nearly $60 billion. The state’s roughly 63,000 farms grow over a third of all vegetables and around three-quarters of the fruits and nuts produced nationwide.

The lettuce and tomato on your hamburger very likely came from California. The almonds and pistachios you snack on as well. There’s a good chance the olive oil on your pasta is from California. Did you pair that with a glass of wine? Probably California, too.

It’s taken four decades, but using phonics to teach English soon could be state policy. Phonics is where kids are taught a language with a phonetic alphabet by sounding out the letters and separate syllables. Unfortunately, in many schools students still are taught “whole word” reading.” The kids are supposed to recognize a complete word, such as “incomprehensible.”

Needless to say, it’s not working.

WATSONVILLE — Adding 72 new units to Watsonville’s housing stock — almost half of which are reserved for farmworker families — the city celebrated the grand opening of its new Sparrow Terrace apartment complex with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday.

From housing reform to immigrant protections, California State Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas is delivering real results for working families, just as his grandfather did for farm workers generations ago. 

For decades, I’ve fought to uplift the voices of workers, immigrants and underserved communities across California. And for the past 15 years, Rivas had been a true ally in that fight. 

Marion Joseph died in 2022 and therefore cannot celebrate what at long last is happening in California to improve children’s abysmal levels of reading comprehension.

SOLEDAD, Calif. —

Sen. Adam Schiff took a tour of Braga Fresh’s farm in Soledad Wednesday afternoon.

The intention behind the visit was to get an in-person look at local agricultural operations to advocate for the needs of California farmers on a national scale.

This is not Schiff’s first farm tour. The senator has been visiting farming communities across the state since becoming the first California senator in 30 years to serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee.