Jackie Botts

Reporte especial-nueva ruta para migrantes a eeuu cuesta 72.000 dólares y comienza con un vuelo...

Reporte especial-nueva ruta para migrantes a eeuu cuesta 72.000 dólares y comienza con un vuelo chárter - LA NACION

Reporte especial-países ricos convierten "en oportunidad de negocio" la ayuda climática a emergentes

Reporte especial-países ricos convierten "en oportunidad de negocio" la ayuda climática a emergentes - LA NACION

La Sedena asegura narcolaboratorios abandonados ante la presión de EU para que México detenga el...

Reuters.- El Ejército de México parece estar atacando sólo unos cuantos laboratorios de drogas activos cada mes, a pesar de la presión de Estados Unidos para acabar con el tráfico de fentanilo. Además, el 95% de las instalaciones aseguradas ya estaban fuera de uso, según la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional (Sedena).

Inmigrantes africanos en camino a EEUU utilizan Nicaragua para eludir los peligros del Darién

TIJUANA/CIUDAD DE OAXACA, México, 26 sep (Reuters) - Migrantes y solicitantes de asilo africanos que se dirigen a Estados Unidos están volando a Nicaragua para evitar el Tapón del Darién, un peligroso istmo selvático que conecta Panamá y Colombia, según migrantes entrevistados por Reuters y datos exclusivos de la ONU.

Rápido, barato y letal

Cómo el fentanilo reemplazó a la heroína y enganchó a Estados Unidos

México sube datos de aseguramientos en laboratorios, en medio de presión de EU sobre fentanilo

Las cifras ajustadas no son creíbles, dijeron a Reuters dos exfuncionarios policiales de alto nivel en México y EU, así como dos fuentes de seguridad mexicanas que siguen en servicio.

"Si no pagas el dinero te matan", migrantes narran secuestro masivo en México en camino a EEUU

"Si no pagas el dinero te matan", migrantes narran secuestro masivo en México en camino a EEUU

Sube presión en gigantesco campamento migrantes sur México al declararse ilegales expulsiones...

SAN PEDRO TAPANATEPEC, México, 17 nov (Reuters) - Miles de migrantes acampan en condiciones precarias en un remoto pueblo del sur de México después de que autoridades estadounidenses y mexicanas implementaran nuevas políticas para frenar el flujo de venezolanos hacia Estados Unidos.

EEUU otorga entrada rápida a algunos venezolanos bajo un nuevo programa: patrocinadores

2 nov (Reuters) - Los patrocinadores estadounidenses que solicitan traer venezolanos a Estados Unidos bajo un nuevo programa están recibiendo aprobaciones en horas o pocos días, un ritmo vertiginoso que pronto podría llenar los espacios disponibles, según patrocinadores y defensores.

Estatal eléctrica mexicana compró carbón de minas no inspeccionadas, incluido sitio de fatal...

Estatal eléctrica mexicana compró carbón de minas no inspeccionadas, incluido sitio de fatal accidente: registros

"Viajes VIP" cuestan la vida a migrantes en tragedia de Texas

TLAPACOYAN, Mexico, 1 ago (Reuters) - Al principio, los migrantes mexicanos Pablo Ortega y Julio López disfrutaron del viaje equivalente a un boleto de primera clase a Estados Unidos: cervezas de cortesía, casas de seguridad con videojuegos, incluso una semana en un rancho de cacería.

Errores complican identificación de migrantes muertos en camión en Texas

Errores complican identificación de migrantes muertos en camión en Texas

Sobreviviente del tráiler en Texas dijo a su familia que se escondía en una casa

La gente asiste a una vigilia por las víctimas encontradas en un camión abandonado en San Antonio, Texas. (AFP)

$72,000 migrant smuggling routes to the US start with charter flights

Migrants from outside Latin America are paying hefty fees to reach the US southwest border. Reuters investigates the new routes to the US used by Indians and Africans.

Rich nations are earning billions from a pledge to help fix climate

Wealthy countries sent climate funding to the developing world in recent years with interest rates or strings attached that benefited the donor nations, a Reuters data analysis found.

Under US pressure over fentanyl, Mexico wages "imaginary war on drugs"

Mexico's army appears to be raiding only a handful of active drug labs every month, despite U.S. pressure to crack down on fentanyl trafficking, with facilities that were already out of use accounting for 95% of seizures this year, according to defense ministry figures obtained by Reuters.

African migrants bound for US use Nicaragua to bypass Darien perils

African migrants and asylum seekers heading to the United States are flying into Nicaragua to bypass the Darien Gap, a dangerous jungle isthmus connecting Panama and Colombia, according to migrants interviewed by Reuters and exclusive U.N. data.

Fast, cheap and deadly

How fentanyl replaced heroin and hooked America

Exclusive: Amid U.S. pressure on fentanyl, Mexico raises drug lab raids data

MEXICO CITY, March 17 (Reuters) - Mexico's army has dramatically revised upward the number of drug lab raids it says it conducted under President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, according to government data and leaked military documents reviewed by Reuters.

'Nobody wants to come this way'

Their journey starts with a humanitarian visa for Brazil: one of the few remaining exit routes for Afghans fleeing Taliban rule. It ends - after a perilous trek overland through Latin America across at least 11 countries - with scaling the border wall and jumping onto U.S. soil.

Migrants tell of mass kidnappings in Mexico before crossing into the U.S.

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Many of the hundreds of migrants who crossed the Rio Grande from Ciudad Juarez into El Paso this week were part of a group kidnapped in Mexico as they made their way to the United States, according to nine migrants interviewed by Reuters.

Pressure mounts in giant Mexican migrant camp as U.S. expulsions ruled unlawful

SAN PEDRO TAPANATEPEC, Mexico, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Thousands of migrants are camping in squalid conditions in a remote southern Mexican town after U.S. and Mexican authorities implemented new policies aimed at stemming the illegal flow of Venezuelans into the United States.

U.S. grants some Venezuelans speedy entry under new program, sponsors say

U.S. sponsors applying to bring Venezuelans into the United States under a new program are receiving approvals in hours or days, a lightning-fast pace that could soon fill up available spaces in the program, according to U.S. sponsors and advocates.

Exclusive: Mexico state utility bought coal from uninspected mines, including fatal site -records

Mexico's state-owned power utility has been buying coal from new mines that have not yet been visited by labor inspectors, according to a Reuters analysis of coal contracts and inspection records, including the mine where 10 people died last month after flooding trapped them below ground.

'VIP trips' cost migrants their lives in Texas smuggling tragedy

TLAPACOYAN, Mexico, Aug 1 (Reuters) - At first, Mexican migrants Pablo Ortega and Julio Lopez enjoyed the smuggling equivalent of a first-class ticket to the United States: complimentary beers, safe houses with video games, even a week at a hunting ranch.

Mistakes plague identification of migrants who died in Texas truck

A week after 53 migrants died in a sweltering trailer in San Antonio, Texas, some of their nationalities are still unclear, highlighting the challenges that officials from at least four different countries face in identifying the victims of the deadliest U.S. human smuggling tragedy on record.

Families fret over fate of migrants trapped in Texas truck

OAXACA CITY, Mexico, June 29 (Reuters) - (This June 29 story corrects last name of mother of two Honduran migrants to Caballero from Castillo) Before he began the journey that ended in disaster, Jose Luis Vasquez lived in a remote mountainous community in southern Mexico, where a single telephone connects a few indigenous families to the outside world, local residents said.

Americans look north and south for abortion access in post-Roe world

June 29 (Reuters) - Some Americans without access to safe local abortions in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling are looking to the country's northern and southern neighbors for access to reproductive care.

For cops who kill, special Supreme Court protection

Effective barrier Aldaba's lament has become an increasingly common one. Even as the proliferation of police body cameras and bystander cellphone video has turned a national spotlight on extreme police tactics, qualified immunity, under the careful stewardship of the Supreme Court, is making it easier for officers to kill or injure civilians with impunity.

Shot by cops, thwarted by judges and geography

For years, the words "qualified immunity" were seldom heard outside of legal and academic circles, where critics have long contended that the doctrine is unjust. But outrage over the killing of George Floyd and incidents like it have made this 50-year-old legal doctrine - created by the U.S.

Andrew Chung, Lawrence Hurley, Andrea Januta, Jaimi Dowdell and Jackie Botts of Reuters

For an exhaustive examination, powered by a pioneering data analysis of U.S. federal court cases, of the obscure legal doctrine of "qualified immunity" and how it shields police who use excessive force from prosecution.

How Stanford students helped with a Pulitzer Prize-winning project

When then-Stanford student Jackie Botts got to help Reuters staff as part of her Stanford journalism class, little did she know it would culminate into Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage.

One man's lonely journey through California's plan to end homelessness

By the lone tent under the cement overpass, just visible from the Hollywood Freeway, Fernando Maya waited with several backpacks stuffed with clothes, electronics and food. Once a constant roar of traffic below his makeshift home, the freeway stood empty in the waning days of spring 2020 as the first wave of coronavirus tore through California.

Millions of students can't afford broadband | CalMatters

About twice a week, the $9.99 per month internet connection falters. It's often as Mario Ramírez finally wrangles his kids into their seats - the fourth-grader studies in the bedroom he shares with his 12 year-old sister, who studies in her parents' bedroom - in time for virtual class.

Why few farmworkers isolate in California's free COVID-19 hotel rooms | CalMatters

Lea este artículo en español. In the first days of August, Fresno farmworker Brenda Yamileth, lined up for a COVID-19 test alongside her mother and brother. Feverish and headachy, she held her 10-month-old daughter. Soon, all four tested positive. She quarantined with her baby in one bedroom of her Mendota house while her husband and 2½-year-old son slept in the other.

Cal/OSHA relying on letters in response to COVID complaints | CalMatters

Lea este artículo en español. Paz Aguilar continued working seven days a week at two fast food restaurants and as a janitor, even as Oakland seemed to be grinding to a halt around her. Then in late June, her life did too.

Investigation: COVID rips through motel rooms of guest workers who pick nation's produce |...

Lea este artículo en español. Beto V. heard the ambulance pull up to the Colonial Motel where he was quarantined by his employer, police sirens close behind. That was his first clue a fellow farmworker had died of COVID-19.

California's overcrowded homes fuel spread of coronavirus among workers

Until the pandemic struck, every day for the last 10 years, Isidoro Flores Contreras stood at the edge of the Sand City Costco parking lot, just a few feet from a set of McDonald's arches, selling $15 flower bouquets.

Close Quarters: The neighborhoods where COVID collides with overcrowded homes

The pandemic has layered a health crisis on top of a housing crisis on top of a class divide. A clear pattern has emerged as the coronavirus spares some California neighborhoods and strikes others: The virus takes a heavier toll in neighborhoods where people pack into overcrowded homes, according to a CalMatters analysis of neighborhood-level data from 10 counties.

California stopped charging parents for kids' incarceration. So why are some still stuck owing...

By Jackie Botts When Andrew Simmons first started getting billed for his son's stints in juvenile hall, he was shocked. "I just thought that was crazy. I mean you're going to arrest my kid and then you're going to charge me for it?" Simmons said.

Most Pa. voting machines are old, hackable, and will likely be used to count the 2020 votes - Philly

Pennsylvania ranks second in the nation for the number of registered voters casting ballots on older, hackable machines with no paper trail. At a time when elections may be in peril from foreign interference, counties are slow to update their vulnerable equipment.

5 challenges in expanding California's permanent supportive housing - and potential solutions

As the number of homeless Californians swell, the state is spending unprecedented dollars to build tens of thousands of housing units for people living in shelters, vehicles and encampments. CalMatters detailed the experience of Fernando Maya, a chronically homeless man who left the streets of Los Angeles in 2020 and landed in one of those new units.

Empower workers or government overreach? California's fast food bill tests labor laws

Amid growing awareness of inequality and jobs that don't pay enough to cover child care and housing, California is considering a radical proposal: Allow the state to negotiate wages, hours and work conditions for an entire industry.

What's the role of unions in the 21st century?

Unions have historically formed to ensure fair wages, benefits and better working conditions for their members. They negotiate with businesses and governments on behalf of employees, who either work a particular type of job or in a particular industry.

Newsom's stimulus left out many retirees, veterans and disabled Californians. Will they vote to...

Two weeks before voters decide whether to remove Gov. Gavin Newsom, a second round of stimulus payments is landing in the bank accounts of Californians who make less than $75,000 per year - with one glaring carve-out.

Unpaid utility bills? California will pay off $2 billion to avoid shutoffs

Two years ago the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power shut off electricity at Will Hollman's home in the San Fernando Valley, forcing the family to rely on a gasoline generator. In late June of this year, the department disconnected the water, too - despite a statewide moratorium on water shutoffs that Gov.

Look up your Golden State Stimulus amount

California is expanding its Golden State Stimulus program for low-income households to middle-class families. Under a new budget that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Monday night, state lawmakers agreed to spend $8.1 billion to help out millions of working families.

Will disabled Californians on SSDI get Golden State Stimulus? | CalMatters

Lea este artículo en español. A $600 check would go a long way for Janet Clendenin. The costs of the sugar-free foods she buys to manage her diabetes have risen sharply in South Lake Tahoe during the pandemic, Clendenin said. She usually has to criss-cross the picturesque region by bus to find discounts at Dollar Tree, Grocery Outlet and Walmart.

Gaslit for 400 years: Inside California's reparations committee | CalMatters

Lea este artículo en español. For more than three decades, Black members of Congress have introduced legislation to study the lasting harms of slavery on African Americans, and propose remedies. Year after year, the federal proposal languished. Now, California is going it alone.

Newsom proposes expanding Golden State stimulus to middle class | CalMatters

Lea este artículo en español. At the start of the pandemic a year ago, today's news would have seemed unimaginable: The Golden State is sitting on a budget surplus so big, it's considering giving $600 stimulus checks to California households making up to $75,000, paying off back rent of tenants affected by COVID and helping millions of residents catch up on their water and electricity bills.

Newsom doubles down on sheltering farmworkers despite few takers | CalMatters

Lea este artículo en español. Heeding the calls of advocates and lawmakers, Gov. Gavin Newsom is pumping up to $24 million into his oft-touted-but-little-used program to help farmworkers self-isolate during the pandemic, offering new financial assistance and flexibility. However, it's unclear how much will actually get spent.

'Revolutionary' federal stimulus bill could cut California child poverty by half | CalMatters

Lea este artículo en español. As President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion virus relief package heads to the Oval Office for his signature, the mammoth spending bill has the potential to reduce child poverty in the Golden State by half.

Lawmakers pass $600 stimulus checks plus boost for undocumented workers | CalMatters

Lea este artículo en español. As Congress hammers out President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus package, California has worked out its own plan to get more cash into the hands of struggling Californians, particularly undocumented families left out of federal assistance.

Economic indicators mask pandemic's true toll | CalMatters

On paper, the Golden State appears to have escaped 2020 without a personal debt crisis. Despite an unprecedented 2.4 million jobs lost in the spring, Californians joined their fellow Americans in paying down interest-heavy debt such as credit card bills while acquiring wealth-building loans by taking out mortgages.

Unpaid water bills top $1 billion in California | CalMatters

The first thing Deborah Bell-Holt does each morning is check whether water still flows from her bathroom faucet. It always does, thanks to an April executive order from Gov. Gavin Newsom banning water disconnections during the pandemic. But that didn't stop her utility debt from snowballing to nearly $15,000.

How California's budget depends on staggering wealth gap | CalMatters

Gov. Gavin Newsom's $227 billion California spending plan is setting records in more ways than one. Were his budget proposal approved by lawmakers as is, the state would spend an unprecedented amount to fend off poverty, eviction and K-12 education loss for California's most vulnerable residents in the 2021-22 fiscal year.

Finally, rent relief for a graduate starting out in the job market | CalMatters

By late December, Maya Brady and her girlfriend owed Sacramento Property Management Services about $4,000. The company sent regular matter-of-fact texts to remind them that they're late on rent. Brady imagines the same text arrives to many of her mostly working class neighbors in the apartment complex.

Will COVID spur California to ease food stamp applications? | CalMatters

A new bill could make it easier for seniors and people with disabilities to apply for CalFresh, California's version of food stamps, and allow people to enroll entirely over the phone by 2024. "California's food insecurity crisis is worse than ever, and we have a moral responsibility to make CalFresh benefits easier to access," said Sen.

New law: California offers tax credit to undocumented workers | CalMatters

In 2019 Governor Gavin Newsom more than doubled how much money the state spends on its tax credit for low income workers. But since its establishment in 2015, the credit has been unavailable for undocumented workers who pay taxes, until now.

Coronavirus wipes away recent wage gains for many California workers, report finds | CalMatters

Lea este artículo en español. In the five years before the pandemic, low-income Californians had begun to see substantial wage gains, chipping away at the income inequality gap between California's haves and have-nots that has widened over the past 40 years.

Becerra sues Amazon to cooperate with California's COVID-19 safety investigation | CalMatters

Attorney General Xavier Becerra accused Amazon of withholding information in California's ongoing investigation into the company's coronavirus protocols and COVID-19 cases at distribution facilities across the state. The move reveals fresh government scrutiny over Amazon's workplace safety practices since the online retailer has been on a hiring spree throughout the pandemic.

California emergency workplace COVID-19 safety rules | CalMatters

Lea este artículo en español. California's businesses must follow new rules to protect workers from getting coronavirus on the job, while harvesting companies must minimize overcrowding in guest farmworker housing following a California Divide investigation that uncovered rampant coronavirus outbreaks this summer among a low-wage workforce putting fresh produce on America's kitchen table.

What Cal/OSHA has - and hasn't - been doing for workers? | CalMatters

As the pandemic grinds on in California, patterns have emerged: The people who contract COVID-19 tend less wealthy and less white, and many get sick at work. From senior nursing facilities to meatpacking plants to motel rooms of farmworkers brought from other countries to Amazon warehouses, the coronavirus has appeared in many workplaces.

Exclusive: Kaiser cited for failing to treat COVID-19 as airborne | CalMatters

Lea este artículo en español. California workplace safety officials issued a serious citation against a Kaiser Permanente psychiatric facility in Santa Clara, accusing the center of failing to provide workers with N95 masks and other protection against COVID-19. But the problems facing the health care giant may run much deeper.

Santa Barbara County announces new COVID-19 protections for temporary ag workers | CalMatters

Starting this week, Santa Barbara County has adopted new rules aimed at preventing explosive COVID-19 outbreaks among farmworkers brought on a special visa from other countries to harvest produce in the U.S.

Newsom weighs aid for undocumented Californians with no safety net | CalMatters

Lea este artículo en español. Out of work for months in the spring, Mariana, who cleans houses, and her husband Gerardo, who is a door-to-door salesman, paid their landlord just $300 of their $1,200 rent for a one-bedroom apartment they crowd into with their 2-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter, in National City.

Why won't counties report workplace COVID outbreaks to the public? | CalMatters

Lea este artículo en español. Napa County doesn't collect data about coronavirus outbreaks in workplaces. Sonoma County does, but won't identify them because it would compromise the county's working relationship with employers. Alameda County won't share outbreak locations to protect privacy and to guard against what one health official called undue stigma.

Getting by without that extra $600 in unemployment benefits | CalMatters

Since the federal weekly $600 boost expired last month, unemployed Californians have been living on impossibly low budgets - and expect to do so in the coming months even if President Trump's weekend executive order helps break a partisan impasse in Congress.

How COVID is worsening California's income inequality | CalMatters

Lea este artículo en español. The decade dawned on a California that was both "the richest and poorest" state in the nation, in the words of Gov. Gavin Newsom. Wages for the top 10% of California's earners had grown three times as fast as those of the bottom 10% of earners since 1980 - all as the cost of buying or renting shelter skyrocketed.

Where to get financial help during coronavirus in California - and is it enough? | CalMatters

From hotel rooms for people who are homeless to restaurant meals for seniors isolating for their lives, California has rapidly expanded its safety net in an attempt to catch millions of residents impacted by the coronavirus and its economic aftershocks. In daily press conferences during the pandemic's first months, Gov.

Voices of California protesters: same message, different motives | CalMatters

The worries and hopes and raw fury of Californians showed that all protests, like politics, are local. Protesters had their own unique issues with their police force and their city. What and how they protest depends on where they live.

Pandemic steals most from immigrant working women | CalMatters

Lee este artículo en español. Early estimates indicate that the coronavirus pandemic has stolen jobs from non-citizen workers - including immigrants who have green cards, work visas or are undocumented - in California at higher rates than citizens. And women have suffered greater job loss than men.

Overlooked Pacific Islanders hit hard by coronavirus | CalMatters

Pacific Islander communities in California have long faced economic and health disparities that make them uniquely vulnerable to the novel coronavirus. Often overlooked by public health officials, community leaders are mounting their own response. For two weeks in March, Dr. Raynald Samoa fought to move air through his lungs.

California sued Uber and Lyft - will it help drivers? | CalMatters

In a bold strike against Silicon Valley's rideshare giants, state Attorney General Xavier Becerra used newfound enforcement powers to file a lawsuit today against Uber and Lyft for refusing to classify over half a million drivers as employees.

Governor's promise to immediately feed seniors hasn't yet delivered | CalMatters

It's the latest example of an ambitious statewide coronavirus plan that was announced before it was ready to launch. Cities and counties were caught off-guard, even though they have to implement it. The total cost could reach billions of dollars per month. Last week Gov.

California could protect stimulus checks from debt collectors. Will Newsom act? | CalMatters

Californians have begun to see money appear in their bank accounts: $1,200 for single people and an extra $500 for each kid. But for Californians with consumer debt, that money could just as quickly vanish. The payments, part of the $2.2 trillion national coronavirus response package or CARES Act prohibits federal and state governments from intercepting the payments, except to collect child support debt.

'We live paycheck to paycheck': Undocumented workers struggle as economy grinds to a halt |...

More than 2 million undocumented workers, who do not quality for many state and federal benefits, are among the hardest hit Californians as the economy is battered by the coronavirus pandemic. Congress is working to provide an emergency relief fund that could benefit U.S. citizens and permanent legal residents.

More Californians are hungry, seeking help amid coronavirus job losses | CalMatters

A line of 500 to 600 people standing six feet apart snaked around a parking lot and multiple city blocks in downtown Los Angeles. Many were hotel and restaurant workers, Dodger Stadium employees and airline chefs. All had lost their jobs or were working reduced hours amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Out of a job? Can't pay your bills? These proposals may help keep you afloat amid coronavirus

Donna Insalaco had to lay off 40 of the 45 employees at Pizzaiolo, her gourmet pizzeria in downtown Oakland, after sales fell through a "black hole." "A lot of tears," Insalaco said, "All of us here live check-to-check." Responding to a statewide call for restaurants to close their doors to dine-in customers, Pizzaiolo is now only offering pick-up and delivery.

Can't pay your power bill? Don't worry, you're safe for now as California utilities suspend...

Six utilities serving more than 21 million Californians have announced that they will not shut off customers' power for non-payment as the coronavirus continues to disrupt daily life. Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric, San Diego Gas & Electric and Pacific Power are taking the step until further notice.

California food banks face volunteer shortage as coronavirus spreads | CalMatters

On a typical day at the vast food bank warehouse in San Jose, 80 to 100 volunteers pack apples, oranges, pears, squash and cabbage into boxes to be shipped out to hundreds of distribution sites across Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. On Tuesday, just 17 volunteers showed up.

Are low-income voters Bernie's secret weapon? | CalMatters

For all the talk of electability, Sen. Bernie Sanders would have the Democratic presidential nomination in the bag if every voter were like Ryan Frye, his two adult brothers, his sister-in-law and his parents. The family, which shares a home in the small, rural town of Newman in California's Central Valley, have all pledged their allegiance to Sanders in the race.

Many low-income Californians don't use credit cards. Should stores be required to accept cash? |...

Last May, Burger Patch first opened its doors in midtown Sacramento with a sign that said "No Cash Accepted." The owners of the organic and vegan burger joint were worried that a cash register might invite theft. But customers kept showing up with only cash.

How one man found freedom from his struggle to survive in the Bay Area | CalMatters

By Jackie Botts In January, I sat among dozens of other reporters in California's Capitol as we peppered Gov. Gavin Newsom with questions about his spending plan for the year, a bulging $222 billion budget full of progressive proposals: $1.4 billion in new funds for homeless services, expansion of the state's health insurance for low-income residents, a proposal that the state manufacture generic drugs to bring prices down.

California's homelessness crisis - and possible solutions - explained | CalMatters

Updated January 8, 2020 California's most vexing issue is also its most shameful: the large and rising number of residents who lack a safe place to call home. In a state with vast amounts of wealth, more than 150,000 of its residents sleep in shelters, cars, or on the street.

'We Need the Food That We Lost.' Low-Income Families Still Reeling From Blackouts

Pacific Gas & Electric turned off power to Ana Patricia Rios' neighborhood in Sonoma County for eight days in October, three at the beginning of the month and five near the end. The mother of three young boys watched twice as nearly all of the food in her refrigerator spoiled.

College students, seniors and immigrants miss out on food stamps. Here's why. | CalMatters

A college student in Fresno who struggles with hunger has applied for food stamps three times. Another student, who is homeless in Sacramento, has applied twice. Each time, they were denied. A 61-year-old in-home caretaker in Oakland was cut off from food stamps last year when her paperwork got lost.

These bills could make life a little easier for low-income Californians

This story was updated on Oct. 14 to reflect Gov. Gavin Newsom's final decision to sign or veto each bill. Lawmakers have passed a suite of bills that aim to ease financial burdens for Californians living paycheck to paycheck.

Thousands of California renters with Section 8 vouchers can't use them. What lawmakers are doing...

As California struggles with a crisis in affordable housing, state lawmakers are trying to improve a severe shortage of housing available to renters who have federal Section 8 vouchers. The vouchers allow tenants to pay only 30% of their income toward rent, with federal assistance to pay the rest.

Getting food stamps to poor Californians is surprisingly difficult | CalMatters

Pressure is increasing on counties to sign up more people for food stamps since the state's participation rate is one of the lowest in the nation. But greater enrollment may require more money or more state intervention. In May 2017, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors set an ambitious goal: enroll 70,000 new families in food stamps in two years.

California could get $1.8 billion in food stamp funding. It just needs people to sign up

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, is a food assistance program that aids millions of low-income families and individuals. California, a state with the nation's highest poverty rate, consistently ranks near the bottom when it comes to enrolling low-income people in CalFresh, the state's name for the federal food stamp program.

Newsom Doubled Down On A Tax Credit For The Working Poor. Why Does He Think It Will Work?

By Jackie Botts, CALmatters When Berenice Solis of Bakersfield received a direct deposit of $6,775 from the government this past March, her mind raced. She could finally take her three daughters, ages 4, 6 and 9, on a trip to Disneyland. Then she thought about her goal of buying a house.

ABCs of LGBTQ History Mandated for More U.S. Public Schools

Charley Parkhurst, a legendary stagecoach driver during California's Gold Rush, also known as "One-Eyed Charley" is seen in this illustration image, released by Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History in Santa Cruz, California, U.S., on May 2, 2019.

As Fire Seasons Intensify, California Homeowners Struggle to Stay Insured

A changing climate, increasingly destructive fires, and disappearing insurance policies have left homeowners wondering how much risk is too much.

After the California wildfires, community leaders are trying to rebuild homes - and trust in...

On Oct. 21, when wildfires in Northern California were still smoldering, about 150 people gathered at a middle school gymnasium. Thousands more watched the livestream on Facebook. Officials in Sonoma County, the region most devastated by the fires, had put together a Spanish-language community forum to address the concerns of the Latino community - the first of its kind in the county.

Plastics are forever: Pacifica beachcombers still finding landfill fallout - Peninsula Press

Jeff Christner spots the folded credit card from several feet away. The white plastic pokes out from layers of crumbling sandstone, disintegrating cloth and glass. Christner brushes off decades of dust to reveal the card holder's name: HARRY HOFFMAN. The card expired in December 1959. Hoffman probably threw out the card with little thought.

Experience Bay Area capoeira in 360 degrees

The fighters circle around each other, eyes locked. One throws a swift kick at her opponent, who spins and ducks away. The pattern continues: spin, kick, escape. They're ringed by onlookers who clap and sing to the rhythm of tall drums and the , a musical bow with one string that produces a thick twang.

PODCAST: Una Isu: a Ñuu Savi warrior resisting through hip hop by Soundings from Stanford

As indigenous people from Mexico migrate to California, their languages and cultures are threatened. One indigenous trilingual rapper based in Fresno is fighting back.

Indigenous Mexican community worker fights fear and isolation in his community after North Bay fires