ALT Matt Miele, a trauma nurse, is looking for a less stressful position after 18 months of fighting COVID. Photo courtesy of Matt Miele

ALT A ranch dog drinks from the well with a solar panel and water storage tank seen in the background. Brown has attempted to make her ranch as sustainable is possible. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters

ALT Traveling nurse Janet Stovall likes to take assignments in Northern California in order to be near family and because of the strong labor laws. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters

ALT Arial view of Sacramento River and San Joaquin River Delta. Photo by Bill_Dally via iStock

ALT A chart showing How much Californians receive at different annual income levels. At $27,040, $364/week At $75,000, $520/week At $150,000, $1,300/week

ALT Assemblymember Shirley Weber, who authored the bill that established a two-year reparations task force to study and develop a plan on what reparations may look like.

ALT California Gov. Gavin Newsom announces a partnership with Civica Rx to provide insulin to Californians for $30 for 10 milliliters, which he said was as little as one-tenth of the current cost. Photo by Ringo Chiu, Sipa USA via Reuters Hed: Newsom unveils $11 state insulin for Californians: ‘We took matters into our own hands’

ALT Gov. Gavin Newsom vists IBEW local 6 in San Francisco hours before the polls close on the last day to vote in the recall election, Sept. 14, 2021. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters

ALT A police officer detains an individual in Oakland during a protest on June 1, 2020. AP Photo/Noah Berger

ALT Volunteers at the Orland Fire Department in Glenn County distribute bottled water to people with dry wells on July 28, 2021. Photo by Rachel Becker, CalMatters

ALT Stock photo of a sign that says "Universal Basic Income"

ALT Big number text: $300 Text: That’s the monthly subsidy that the vast majority of homeless people say would have kept them off the streets, according to a new study out of UC San Francisco. It provides the most comprehensive look yet at California’s homeless crisis. Seventy percent said a monthly rental subsidy of $300-$500 would have kept them from becoming homeless, while 82% believed a one-time payment of between $5,000 and $10,000 would have worked.

ALT Sprinklers irrigate a North Hollywood park in June, during California's severe drought. Photo by David Crane, The Orange County Register via AP

ALT A screen shot of the following statistics: 90% of the state is gripped by extreme or exceptional drought. Californians reduced their home water use by just 1.8% in July compared to the same time last year — despite a plea from Gov. Gavin Newsom to cut consumption by 15%. 40% of water suppliers in the South Coast region — which includes Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and Ventura counties — actually used more water than they did last year. Water systems serving 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland could receive 0% of their allocation from the State Water Project next year. 80% of endangered winter-run Chinook salmon in the Sacramento River could die this year.

ALT Phlebotomist lab assistant Jennifer Cukati, right, and Registered Nurse Carina Klescewski care for a COVID-19 patient inside the Sutter Roseville Medical Center ICU in Roseville on Dec. 22, 2020. Photo by Renee C. Byer, The Sacramento Bee via AP/Pool

ALT Californians vote YES on Prop. 1

ALT Lake Mendocino in January 2020. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters

ALT Lake Mendocino in January 2021. Photo by Bobby Cochran Photography

ALT Participants in the “Kill the Cuts” rally march against the Trump administration’s proposed research funding cuts in Los Angeles on April 8, 2025. Photo by Jules Hotz for CalMatters. Hed: Federal judge orders Trump administration to restore hundreds of UCLA research grants

ALT A stock image of a hand gun and bullets