Skip to main content

Five SoCal Must-Reads: 12 Media Outlets Team up on High-Speed Rail Coverage

Support Provided By
5reads011012
In Los Angeles | Photo by cyan79 via KCET's Southern California Flickr Pool

A big picture look at the region:

  • What will mobility be like by mid-century in San Diego? Lots of public transit, highways, or some balance in between? The Atlantic Cities' Eric Jaffe talks about the 2050 Regional Transportation Plan in A Fight for Future of San Diego.

  • With budget slashing at municipalities and the state, there's a power shift going on in California, says Chapman University's Fred Smoller at Zócalo, and it's merging at the county government level. As an example, Smoller asks if Orange County can learn something from Nassau County in New York where the county is the dominate government service provider.

  • Two lesbians, one from West Hollywood and the other from Long Beach, made Miss California USA history by being the first openly gay contestants in the pageant's 60 years of existence, according to Ruben Vives at the LA Times.

  • A dozen California media outlets, including a number from Southern California, teamed up with the Fresno Bee to send a reporter to Spain where its high-speed rail system has the most in common with the one planned for here. "The trip was a major step forward in a growing collaborative effort by California news organizations to cover high-speed rail in a way that makes good business sense," said Mark Katches at California Watch.

  • It's has not been a landmark season for winter storms and that could mean an increased fire risk. Orange County Registar's Sciencedude Pat Brennan looks at it through lens of his audience, but the map tells the story statewide.

    Support Provided By
    Read More
    Gray industrial towers and stacks rise up from behind the pitched roofs of warehouse buildings against a gray-blue sky, with a row of yellow-gold barrels with black lids lined up in the foreground to the right of a portable toilet.

    California Isn't on Track To Meet Its Climate Change Mandates. It's Not Even Close.

    According to the annual California Green Innovation Index released by Next 10 last week, California is off track from meeting its climate goals for the year 2030, as well as reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.
    A row of cows stands in individual cages along a line of light-colored enclosures, placed along a dirt path under a blue sky dotted with white puffy clouds.

    A Battle Is Underway Over California’s Lucrative Dairy Biogas Market

    California is considering changes to a program that has incentivized dairy biogas, to transform methane emissions into a source of natural gas. Neighbors are pushing for an end to the subsidies because of its impact on air quality and possible water pollution.
    A Black woman with long, black brains wears a black Chicago Bulls windbreaker jacket with red and white stripes as she stands at the top of a short staircase in a housing complex and rests her left hand on the metal railing. She smiles slightly while looking directly at the camera.

    Los Angeles County Is Testing AI's Ability To Prevent Homelessness

    In order to prevent people from becoming homeless before it happens, Los Angeles County officials are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to predict who in the county is most likely to lose their housing. They would then step in to help those people with their rent, utility bills, car payments and more so they don't become unhoused.