Policy

California is increasing its water allocation to 35% of requested supplies, up from 30%, due to early gains in the Sierra Nevada snowpack, which equates to an additional 210,000 acre-feet of water. The State Water Project, a system of reservoirs, canals, and dams, is a significant component of…

California’s COVID state of emergency officially ends Tuesday, to which Newsom says California is finally ready to move forward after previously resisting GOP pressure to end the said emergency. Although the pandemic solidified Newsom’s legacy as the crisis governor, his use of power turned him…

The Turkish Presidential election is occurring in May, and current President Tayyip Erdogan's odds will be significantly influenced by his response to the catastrophic earthquake that hit Turkey earlier this week. Interestingly enough, he came to power in 1999 after a poor government earthquake…

Even with some of the strictest gun laws in the country including in-depth background checks and the more recent increase in the minimum age required to purchase a firearm, California was plagued with a string of mass shootings in the first few weeks of 2023. Experts say that there are too many…

At the end of December, the state of California banned flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes. R.J. Reynolds, a cigarette manufacturer that makes Camel and Newport cigarettes, is using round-about language to reach the same target audience of menthol cigarettes, saying that they…

For the first time in 7 months California is loosening COVID-19 mask wearingrecommendations. The state has voided the recommendation that was made in mid-February forall people regardless of vaccination status to stay masked when in indoor public settings. Thiscomes in response to the decrease in…

This month, the largest climate bill in US history passed the Senate, and this event marked the first achievement to take action against climate change. Senator Brian Schatz declares climate change, along with other environmental declines, a planetary emergency, with hopes of this issue becoming a…

Widely welcomed by Taiwan and not so much China, the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi visited the island in 25 years – a sign of international support for the self-ruled democratic island. However, with increasing threats from China claiming Taiwan as its territory, pro-China demonstrators have…

A common misconception regarding student debt refers to the policymaker’s blind eye and inaction, seemingly as if time would solve the problem. With the current state of the economy coupled with COVID-19 preventative measures, colleges and universities are less likely to be see as a path to…

Over the past couple of decades, Cubans have mass emigrated in waves to the US and the rest of the Americas. However, the most recent exodus is approaching record-breaking numbers. From October 2021 through March 2022, over 80,000 Cubans arrived at the US border through Mexico following the Cuban…

The Biden administration on Wednesday introduced a plan for the future of the pandemic. The White House’s plan aims to get to a lockdown-free future. Vaccines, treatments, masks, and tests will be used to fight the virus and prepare for potential new variants all while not disrupting normal life.…

With the dramatic drops in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, California is lifting its indoor masking mandate in public settings. Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted that due to stabilizing hospitalizations across the state and a 65% decrease in cases since the Omicron peak the indoor mask mandate for…

What started as a class-action lawsuit from a woman who was with her partner for 27 years, although not married as she was not legally allowed to do so has turned into another step forward in equality for same-sex couples. Gay men and lesbians are now able to receive survivor's benefits, usually…

In light of the flattening Omicron surge, the White House has discussed what coexisting with COVID-19 without interruptions to normal life would look like. White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients on Wednesday said vaccines and other treatments will be the main tools in treating and…