
Inside California’s New Paid Family Leave Law
California recently approved a longer paid family leave, allowing workers whose blessed events fall on the right side of the new law to take up to eight weeks off with partial pay to bond with a new baby. How’s that going to work?

While Needy School Districts Get More Money, Poor Students in Affluent Districts Suffer
California's 5-year-old school finance overhaul is working for disadvantaged students, but a study still finds that poor students aren't being helped in better-off districts
The study’s findings come amid pressure from lawmakers and advocates who have been concerned that the new system isn’t effectively channeling the extra state money to students, and that more progress hasn’t been made on the achievement gap.

Poll: Californians Ready to Spend to Thwart Wildfires
Californians want the state to lead the world in fighting climate change — and many are ready to tackle the problem on the road, at the ballot box, and even with their pocketbooks.
The majority of Californians believe global warming is happening now and that it’s a serious threat to the Golden State’s future, according to the results of a recent poll. What’s more, Californians are ready to cast their votes and spend their money to fight it.

Status Check: Home Kitchens
Yolo County alleges that Foodnome had been operating illegally
Prior to 2019, the California Retail Food Code had strict limits on which facilities could store, package and serve food at the retail level. These restrictions were put in place for health and sanitation purposes.

Still Going Strong: Catching Up with Eleni Kounalakis
When Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis appeared with her brother, Kyriakos Tsakopoulos, on the cover with the headline “Generation Next,” she was president of AKT Development Corporation, a company she joined in 1993, though she actually started working there at a much younger age.

California’s Struggle to Get Food Stamps to the Hungry
The Golden State leaves a lot of federal money on the table as low-income residents struggle to put food on theirs
With full participation in California’s food stamp program, the state’s poor would receive an additional $1.8 billion in federal funds each year. Pending legislation would require the state to close in on that goal. Some say it’s too ambitious for a state where 58 counties manage an arduous application in a variety of ways.

Status Check: Sacramento iHub
Local business and tech leaders continue to develop the local innovation hub
Brandon Weber stood in front of a group of Sacramento entrepreneurs and local leaders, including Mayor Darrell Steinberg, and confronted a truth: Efforts to support the regional chapter of the California Innovation Hub have slowed in recent years.

Still Going Strong: Catching Up with Christopher Cabaldon
West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon says the city he used to lead “is young enough to still remember what it was like when it wasn’t a city.”

Preschool Teachers Ask Why ‘Cashiers at McDonalds’ Get Better Pay
Gov. Gavin Newsom has ambitious plans to improve California’s early childhood education, but experts say he’s forgetting a key group: preschool teacher salaries.

Employers Urged to Find New Ways to Address Workers’ Mental Health
Last year, California passed legislation that made it the first state to establish voluntary standards for workplace mental health. Companies like Sutter Health, Walgreens and Bank of America quickly signed on to address mental health wellness in the workplace. Will others follow suit?