Month: November 2013

In San Diego, an effort to restore justice

Southern California’s first juvenile system restorative justice project is close to being launched in City Heights, one of San Diego’s most diverse neighborhoods. The program aims to keep first-time juvenile offenders out of the criminal justice system by putting them right back into the community they’ve offended – and by making them work with the victim to get both the offender and the victim back on track.

Californians' love-hate relationship with direct democracy

Californians have a love-hate relationship with direct democracy.

We love that we have the ability to set the politicians straight, either by getting a jump on them on the next big issue or reversing course when we think they’ve made a big mistake.

But we’re not wild about reading through all those damn initiatives that appear on the ballot every year, or sorting through the claims and counter claims of the interest groups that sponsor and oppose them. And we don’t like the way that big money pays to get most measures on the ballot and then underwrites the campaigns.

Those are among the findings of recent research by the independent Public Policy Institute of California, a non-partisan think tank which also suggested a few reforms.

California among leaders in reducing premature births

California is one of just four states to reach a national goal of reducing premature births to 9.6 percent of deliveries, according to a new March of Dimes report. Preliminary numbers show that the state reduced its premature birth rate from 9.8 percent to 9.6 percent in 2012, the organization said. The national average is 11.5 percent. That leaves the state behind just Maine, Oregon

Covered California Turns to Facebook to Reach the Masses

Dan Butler spent “days and days and days” calling for health insurance at the beginning of October, when he first could enroll in the new Affordable Care Act. When online technical glitches delayed the 55-year old, retired San Diego school bus driver from getting through, he took his frustrations to Facebook.

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