CalMatters

“Despite identifying 1,053 violations in employee housing facilities in 2022, the last year for which data is available — including electrical hazards and exposed wiring, mold, living rooms with more than seven beds, missing fire extinguishers and windows that didn’t open — the department did not issue a single citation.” State inspectors are supposed to visit all farmworker housing to ensure its safety. Some used FaceTime instead. Story via Felicia Mello , me, Data journalist Erica Yee and huge thanks Nicole Foy Alejandra Reyes-Velarde for helping us get it started many many months ago. And huge thanks to Andy Donohue. 🙏🏽 https://lnkd.in/gXgmzQ76

When Antonio Bravo stepped into the Salinas hotel in May 2020, he first noticed a foul smell. Then he saw the bare metal cot with no mattress that his employer, which supplied workers to pick strawberries for brands like Driscoll’s, had given him to sleep on after long days in the fields. When he and his roommates asked a supervisor to eradicate the bedbugs in their room, they say he told them to buy their own insecticide. Through an attorney, several workers complained to state regulators, who visited the hotel in the summer of 2020 but said in inspection records they found no violations of state law. As the number of agricultural guest workers like Bravo has risen dramatically in California, the episode highlights how state regulators have struggled to ensure that farms are providing safe housing to their workers. 🔗 Read Felicia Mello's investigation: https://cal.news/3xE5Aly 📸 Enrique Castro #CA #California #CalMatters #agriculture #guestworker

🎉 👏 CalMatters journalists were honored Thursday night with awards for “deep” and “compelling” coverage in the Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego awards contest. Kervy Justo Robles and Alejandra Reyes-Velarde were awarded first place for feature reporting on a serious subject for their story, “Border Patrol dropped 42,000 migrants on San Diego streets. Now county, groups are seeking help.” Alejandro Lazo was awarded first place for reporting on housing and development for his story, “Corporate landlord’s California buying spree alarms tenants: ‘I only earn enough to pay the rent.’” And Kristian Carreon, a freelance photojournalist for CalMatters, was awarded second place for a feature photo on the story, “California child welfare agencies under fire for pocketing foster kids’ Social Security money.” More info: https://cal.news/3XIMOnR 📸 Ariana Drehsler for CalMatters

For decades, the California Legislature has wrestled with how to fix workers’ comp — in some recent years, lawmakers proposed nearly two dozen bills. In 2020 lawmakers took a major step, adding a legal shortcut or “presumption” to the state labor code, stipulating that firefighters and other first responders are considered at high risk for PTSD in the course of doing their job. In practice, experts say that, despite the law, proving a mental health claim is still as difficult to overcome as the psychological injury itself. Break a leg while fighting a wildfire, and, when it’s backed up with x-rays, claims are approved. But break your mind after decades of exposure to on-the-job trauma? Prepare for battle. Read Julie Cart's story: https://cal.news/3RICMit 📸 Loren Elliott #CA #California #CalMatters #CalFire #CAMentalHealth #CaliforniaFireFighters #PSTD #FireFightersMentalHealth

CalMatters is pleased to announce that we're participating in the UC Berkeley School of Journalism’s California Local News Fellowship program. Cayla Mihalovich will cover criminal justice with a Bay Area focus for CalMatters, and Joe Garcia will report from Los Angeles for CalMatters for the next two years. Mihalovich, a recent graduate of UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism, has documented the forced sterilization of California state prison inmates. Garcia, a formerly incarcerated journalist, wrote a viral story for The New Yorker called "Listening to Taylor Swift in Prison." They'll join CalMatters this fall. The fellowships were funded through a provision in the 2022 state budget that allocated $25 million “to expand coverage of local public affairs throughout the state.” #California #Journalism #BerkeleyJournalism #LocalNews

Whether you missed a session or want to revisit and share insightful discussions, you can now watch each individual discussion from the 2024 Ideas Festival at your convenience. Day one sessions: https://cal.news/4bpwhbH Day two sessions: https://cal.news/3VOiqa4 🔗 Read more about the event: https://cal.news/4c67lH5 📝 Sonya Quick 📸 Fred Greaves

🎉 🏆 CalMatters’ second Emmy win comes thanks to our partnership with CBS Sacramento. The award in the “Crime/Justice” category honored CalMatters criminal justice reporter Nigel Duara and CBS investigative journalist Julie Watts for their segment on how California investigates shootings by law enforcement officers of unarmed civilians. It was announced Saturday night by the Northern California chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Read more about the segment: https://cal.news/4b9UP86 🎨 Miguel Gutierrez Jr.

The two-day CalMatters Ideas Festival wrapped Thursday June 6 with more than a dozen events examining critical policy issues impacting the lives of millions of Californians. In addition to discussions about climate change, reparations and transportation, the conference also explored California’s electorate, labor force and homelessness crisis. https://cal.news/3xeoZtd 🎊 Did you miss the Ideas Festival? Read our coverage of the panels, and then stay tuned for video of the event, coming soon. 📸 Fred Greaves

The CalMatters Ideas Festival is all sold out! Thank you to everyone who bought tickets. Don't have one yet? Don't worry. Free virtual tickets are available starting today. Register for the link to watch the festival on June 5-6: https://cal.news/4aMP1S1 📸 iStock

As our team comes together in Sacramento this week to produce The CalMatters Ideas Festival, our first multi-day event, we could not be more grateful for the hard work of our team and the support of our sponsors, partners, an A-list of speakers, and hundreds of attendees. Over the two days, we will have smart conversations about California's important issues such as homelessness, healthcare, education, workforce and the economy, and climate change to spark solutions and empower change. CalMatters is a 9-year-old, non-profit, non-partisan, multi-platform news organization dedicated to covering the state of California politics and policymaking. Our events and award-winning content reach over 6+ million readers each month, which are essential in holding decision-makers of the fifth largest economy in the world accountable while keeping the public informed. A few event tickets are available through our website, and our always-free content, including our Voter Guide, can be found on our website, newsletters, mobile app, PBS Southern California, Apple News, and more.