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https://archive.ph/Kziyj

There will be an in-person training in Orange County on June 1 and a virtual training on June 8. Deadline to apply is Sunday, May 19.

Sorry if you encounter a paywall!

The union representing 48,000 graduate student teaching assistants, researchers and other student workers across the University of California’s 10 campuses have voted to strike and cause “maximum chaos,” alleging that their workers’ rights have been violated at several universities by actions against pro-Palestinian protests, union leaders announced Wednesday evening.

Though the vote gives the union permission to strike as soon as Wednesday night, it was unclear when or where the walkouts would occur. The union represents teaching assistants, tutors, researchers and postdoctoral scholars.

Rafael Jaime, the union’s co-president and a PhD candidate in UCLA’s English department, said the goal would be to “maximize chaos and confusion” at universities where the union alleges officials have violated workers’ rights over workplace conditions during student protests against the Israel-Hamas war.

“Our members have been beaten, concussed, pepper sprayed, both by counter-protesters and by police forces. As a union, it is our responsibility to stand beside them,” the union said in a statement. “In order to de-escalate the situation, UC must substantively engage with the concerns raised by the protesters — which focus on UC’s investments in companies and industries profiting off of the suffering in Gaza.”

The academic worker strike would be modeled after last year’s “stand up” strikes at against Ford, Stellantis and General Motors and similar to recent strikes at Southern California hotels. The walkouts would not target all campuses at once, Jaime said, but one by one based on how receptive administrations are to pro-Palestinian activists.

The Fair Representation Act has been re-introduced in Congress. This bold solution can stop gerrymandering and make Congress work for every American. 

The Fair Representation Act can solve partisan gerrymandering, make every congressional district competitive, and encourage politicians to represent all of us instead of just their base. It does this by combining three reforms: 

• Multi-member districts. In three- or five-member districts, nearly every voter will elect a candidate they support. Voters like Massachusetts Republicans and Oklahoma Democrats will be represented in Congress. Gerrymandering will become nearly impossible.

• Ranked choice voting for all U.S. House and Senate elections. RCV frees voters to support their favorite candidates, and encourages candidates to reach out to more voters for second-choice support. When RCV is used in multi-member districts, it is a form of proportional representation.

• Uniform rules for congressional redistricting 

The Fair Representation Act can be passed without a constitutional amendment. It truly has the potential to transform our political system and create a more inclusive and deliberative government which respects and empowers all voices.

Assemblymember Matt Haney has introduced AB 3068, a bill intended to streamline the process for getting historic building converted into housing. | Source: Estefany Gonzalez/The Standard

“This will punish people who use less energy,” said Jenn Engstrom, the state director at consumer advocacy group CALPIRG. “This will encourage high consumption and it will increase bills for millions of Californians.”

Commissioner John Reynolds dismissed the concerns before he voted for the proposal. “The public discourse has been disappointing,” he said.

He agreed that under the change some customers’ total bills will go up, while others will see a decline. But the focus, he said, should be on the reduction in the rate per kilowatt hour, which is needed as the state tries to move more people away from fueling their cars and homes with fossil fuels to electricity, which is increasingly coming from wind and solar farms.

I'm glad this was passed. Only worry I have is that the the corporations will have the money to take a hit in California. Keep the amount of money they siphon from CA high, translating to higher costs to the CA businesses and, despite the fact that more of their businesses will struggle, use that as evidence that this law should be repealed.

In a move that underscores the growing financial impact of climate change on the insurance industry, Travelers Insurance, one of California’s leading home insurers, has announced significant rate hikes and policy non-renewals due to increased wildfire risk. This development is poised to reshape the insurance landscape in California, signaling a critical shift as insurers deal with the escalating threat of natural disasters.

Sorry for the paywall (but kinda not sorry since the LA Times is worth subscribing to)...

With little debate two years ago, state lawmakers passed a complex energy bill that enabled a sweeping change in how most Californians are billed for electricity.

The legislation was what Pacific Gas & Electric had asked for from the state public utilities commission three months before: a transformation of electric rates so that households would pay a fixed charge each month in exchange for lower rates for each kilowatt hour they used.

Gov. Gavin Newsom submitted the bill as part of a massive 2022 budget revision. In four days, it was passed out of an Assembly committee hearing without discussion, approved by the full Assembly and Senate and signed by Newsom.

...But opponents say the legislation was a financial gift to PG&E, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric, and will cause millions of Californians who live in small homes or apartments that use little electricity to pay more, while residents in large homes that use a lot of electricity will save money.

"If you wanted to design a policy that would send the signal that conservation doesn’t count, this would be it,” said Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group."

In January, Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, Democrat from Thousand Oaks, proposed a bill named AB 1999 to reverse much of what Newsom’s bill had done.

The opposition was angered even more when Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) and other Assembly leaders stopped debate on Irwin’s bill late last month with a procedural move that shelved it for the legislative session.

Bigger "tax break" for these dispensaries should mean cheaper products, and less struggling businesses. This should also mean, less black market marijuana.

Presidential proclamations enlarge the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/14932598

Watch live views of students protesting at UCLA in Los Angeles. The university canceled classes on Wednesday after dueling groups of protesters clashed overnight, shoving, kicking and beating each other with sticks as pro-Israel demonstrators tried to pull down barricades surrounding a pro-Palestinian encampment.

Follow latest updates on college protests here:

https://apnews.com/live/college-protests-palestine-updates