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On the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, we should celebrate its successes. San Francisco has stopped the dumping of raw sewage into the Bay. Rivers no longer catch on fire due to flammable contaminants. Wildlife has returned to once abandoned estuaries and wetlands. California has made great strides in protecting our waters for swimming, fishing, and other human activities — in affluent areas.

State officials are at work to make the life easier for single new parents relying on welfare.

Assembly Bill 1728, introduced by Assemblymembers Robert Rivas (D-Salinas) and Blanca Rubio (D-Baldwin Park), would automatically make single parents receiving CalWORKs benefits exempt from having to fulfill “welfare-to-work” program requirements for the first three years of their child’s life.

On most days, Rosalia Martinez finds it unbearable to live in the converted garage she shares with her husband and three young children. It’s a single room without privacy and the rent—$1,350 a month—is a lot more than the farmworker family can afford. But in Greenfield, an agricultural town on California’s central coast, it’s the best they could find.

“It’s uncomfortable, but here we are,” said Martinez. “We want to move, our children need more space, but there are no other homes for rent, there is literally nowhere else to move.”

On the steps of the California State Capitol, the state’s first and only California Native American serving in the state’s legislature stood with colleagues urging for a change in the way Native American history is taught in school districts statewide.

"This is just the beginning of a long process, and we're not going to sit back and take no for an answer," Assemblymember James Ramos said. "We're going to keep moving pieces of legislation with strong support with strong allies till we get the curriculum changed for factual information."

CALIFORNIA — As the state legislature resumed last week, Assemblymember Robert Rivas is reminding the public to participate in his office’s third annual “There Ought to be a Law” Program. 

First introduced in December 2019, the program invites constituents of the 30th Assembly District to submit state policy proposals for the upcoming 2022 legislative session. Deadline to submit a policy proposal is Friday, Jan. 14.

Two scourges that sometimes appear together but have not been definitively linked to each other continue to threaten lettuce: Pythium wilt and Impatiens Necrotic Spot Virus (INSV). The state budget allocated $1 million in new research funding aimed at developing more strategies to effectively protect the major crop. In addition, the California Leafy Greens Research Program received three grant proposals in December and will be reviewing them and voting on funding on Jan. 25, according to the program’s Jennifer Clarke.