West Coast Port Workers Ratify Contract

Dock workers at West Coast ports ratified a six-year contract that improved pay and benefits for 22,000 employees at 29 ports from California to Washington state. Members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union voted 75% in favor of approving the West Coast port worker agreement that runs until 2028. Reuters says longshore workers covered…MORE

SB14 to Increase Child Sex Trafficking Penalty is Moving Forward

SACRAMENTO, CA (KMJ) – SB14, a bill to increase the penalty for child sex trafficking is moving forward after a vote Friday in Sacramento. The amended version of Senate Bill 14, made it through the Assembly Appropriations Committee. SB14 would lengthen prison terms for people convicted of child sex trafficking, and shield victims from prosecution.…MORE

Billionaires Want To Build A New City In Rural California. They Must Convince Voters First

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Silicon Valley billionaires behind a secretive $800 million land-buying spree in Northern California have finally released some details about their plans for a new green city, but they still must win over skeptical voters and local leaders. After years of ducking scrutiny, Jan Sramek, the former Goldman Sachs trader spearheading the…MORE

After Maui’s Wildfires, Thousands Brace For Long Process Of Restoring Safe Water Service

Maggie T. Sutrov showered, drank treated tap water and watered her garden before she learned that she shouldn’t be using the water in her home on Maui after wildfires devastated the island. Concerned about others making the same mistake, she quickly created a flier on water contamination from guidance she’d found on the county’s website…MORE

Brazil Now the World’s Biggest Corn Exporter

For more than 50 years, U.S. farmers were dominant in the international corn market, far and away shipping more corn than anyone else to help feed the world’s stockpiles and manufacture food. A Bloomberg article says that’s no longer the case. In the agricultural year that ended on August 31st, the U.S. gave up that…MORE

California Panel To Vote On Increasing Storage At Site Of Worst US Methane Leak Despite Risks

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California officials are expected to vote Thursday on a proposal to increase storage capacity at the site of the nation’s largest known methane leak that sickened thousands of families and forced them from their Los Angeles homes in 2015. The proposal for the Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Storage Facility has sparked…MORE

Newsom Plans To Transform San Quentin State Prison. Lawmakers And The Public Have Had Little Input

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has ambitious and expensive plans for a dilapidated factory at San Quentin State Prison where inmates of one of the nation’s most notorious lockups once built furniture, and lawmakers have given him the greenlight to start with little input or oversight. He wants to spend $360 million…MORE