News

Let's face it, $15 doesn't go far in a city as pricey as Los Angeles.

Currently, that's the daily stipend a juror in California is paid for serving in a trial. And critics say, low jury pay is having a negative impact on the criminal justice system.

"We had been hearing from all of our justice partners that juries were trending towards being full of people of means and white people predominantly," says Anne Stuhldreher, who runs The Financial Justice Project at the city and county of San Francisco.

... All the while, the Student Coalition for Fair Admissions formed to keep the pressure up with protests, press conferences and organizing the student body. After previously adopting a name specifying Asian Americans, the group changed its name to expand the fight for other historically excluded students, Chang said.

Governments on both coasts of the U.S. want to persuade the small percentage of drivers who use the most gas to switch to electric vehicles – and some leaders are taking the first steps toward incentives to make it happen.

To help BART and other Bay Area transit agencies avoid cutting rail and bus service, a group of progressive state lawmakers is proposing raising tolls on seven state-owned bridges in the region.

Every Thursday at the Fairfield Farmers’ Market, many customers don’t pay for their fruits and vegetables with cash, credit card or Apple Pay. Instead, they go to the information booth, swipe their CalFresh EBT card and receive paper vouchers to spend on produce. 

Under Market Match, California food aid recipients get as much as $10 in matching money — meaning they have at least $20 to spend every week at their local farmers’ market. 

Still yet to strike a budget deal with Gov. Gavin Newsom, legislative Democrats have put their own spending priorities into a bill that they plan to pass this week ahead of a critical deadline.

The proposal, which was published online late Sunday, represents an agreement between the Democratic caucuses of the state Senate and Assembly, both of which hold supermajorities and can pass any measure without Republican support.

... Multifamily properties are incredibly difficult to build in the state’s major cities for reasons including lack of space, environmental laws, andneighborhood opposition. But build an ADU — a small detached house with its own utilities and entryway — and practically no one bats an eye.Multiplied thousands of times over, as has been occurring in recent years, and the structures begin to look like an important, if only partial,solution to the state’s affordable housing needs.

A plan to save lives in San Francisco and beyond, a unique mass casualty training called "Stop the Bleed" was held today to teach people to stop bleeding after accidents or mass shootings before emergency personnel get there. There was hands on instruction on using tourniquets and gauze pads. 

While the Supreme Court mulls the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan, California moved to provide some relief to borrowers who had student loans forgiven during the pandemic.

Part of a slate of budget bills signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this week is legislation exempting Californians from paying income taxes on forgiven federal student loans and some pandemic-era emergency grants.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and Sacramento lawmakers have one month left before they must pass a state budget, and it appears unlikely it’ll include a $5 billion bailout for BART, SFMTA and the state’s transit agencies.