California Connected Newsroom

The San Jose Mercury News’ Mark Emmons files part three of a five-part series on traumatic brain injuries suffered by Iraq War soldiers and the long, painful road to recovery. Today’s piece focuses on Michelle Sandoval, the wife of veteran Frank Sandoval. “There are pivotal moments in the recovery of every severely wounded service member, […]

The Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton says Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has shown great initiative in tackling the state’s aging levee system. “Give the guy credit,” Skelton writes. “If it weren’t for him, the ambitious $175-million project wouldn’t have been attempted. Not by the state, of course. Not by the feds, certainly, although it was […]

The San Jose Mercury News’ Mark Emmons files part of a five-part series today on traumatic brain injury, the signature wound of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Yesterday, Emmons focused on the story of survivor Frank Sandoval. Today, Emmons delves deeper into the medical science behind treating Sandoval’s injury.
“Military and VA doctors describe a […]

Mercury News video of Frank and Michelle Sandoval at Ward 7D.
The San Jose Mercury News ran part one of a five-part series today on an Iraq War veteran struggling to recover from a traumatic brain injury at Acute Care Ward 7D in Palo Alto. The subject, Frank Sandoval, was one of the patients featured in […]

The Los Angeles Times, Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Chronicle and San Jose Mercury News report that a federal judge has given California six more months to properly accommodate its bulging prison population. But if matters do not improve after that time, U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Karlton says he may be forced to impose a […]

The New York Times reports in-depth that power executives and economists are increasingly worried about global warming’s future impact on profits and society at large. To head off a crisis, more and more of them are calling for a federal pricing policy that taxes or caps carbon emissions and encourages technological innovation.
“Global warming can be […]

The Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Daily News report today on the epic political battle to reform the Los Angeles Unified School District. The Times reports that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has selected a five-member team to implement his administration’s reform measures. Most experts applauded his choices but the general counsel for the […]

The Los Angeles Times’ Stephanie Simon reports on cities across the country that are bypassing the Bush administration and trying to meet the greenhouse-gas reduction targets of the international treaty known as the Kyoto Protocol. Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels started the civic trend two years ago by adopting the targets and then challenging other cities […]

Solar panel installation on rooftop. Photo by Abraxas3d.
The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Craig D. Rose filed part one of his special report on California’s solar power ambitions, reporting that a new 10-year subsidy program beginning next year will pump $3.4 billion dollars into the solar panel market. That translates to 1 million solar roofs, he writes, […]

The Los Angeles Times’ Janet Wilson filed another strong story today on air pollution and public health, reporting that according to outside experts the Environmental Protection Agency has reduced the influence of its scientific advisory in determining the impact of dangerous pollutants. She reports that the EPA is replacing independent, scientific recommendations with those prepared […]