California Insider

“The landslide area is about a mile wide right now. Parts of that landslide are moving 50 feet per year, about one foot per week. It’s actually the largest landslide complex in North America,” says John Cruikshank, mayor of Rancho Palos Verdes.

California is experiencing an unprecedented landslide in the city of Rancho Palos Verdes. Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency for the area. We head out to the city to see how the residents are doing and what’s happening there. We also sit down with the mayor, public works director, and a geologist to discuss the city’s efforts to mitigate the landslide.

*Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.

“The California we know today is really only possible because we move water around—moving water from areas of abundance to areas of need, literally causing the desert to bloom,” says Geoff Vanden Heuvel, Director of Regulatory and Economic Affairs at Milk Producers Council.

Siyamak sits down with Geoff Vanden Heuvel, who will explain why this water release may have little impact on the Delta smelt and what it means for the rest of California.

“We really cannot afford to waste water in the state. We have to make sure that when we dedicate water to the environment, it does good and protects the environment. We absolutely want to do that and have an obligation to do so, but we must maximize the amount of water we store in wet years so we have it in the dry years,” says Vanden Heuvel.

*Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.

“We’re now talking about contaminated marijuana that is out in the legal market. We had 15 pesticides on the marijuana product that the state isn’t even looking for. Five of them are 100% banned in the United States, and they’re not allowed to be used at all. Some of these pesticides, if you look at them, it says fatal if inhaled,” says Jeremiah LaRue, Siskiyou County Sheriff.

Siyamak sits down with Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue, who will tell us how he discovered that illegal pesticides are getting on legal marijuana in California.

“There is all kinds of corruption going on at different levels. There are certain labs that are testing, and if they come back with bad tests, they just clear it anyway. There is no way of knowing if the weed you’re consuming is safe,” says LaRue.

*Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.

“A lot of people think that insurance carriers are just multi-billion-dollar companies living the good life. That’s not always the case. In the last three to five years, we’ve been losing so much money that we just can’t do this anymore,” says Harry Crusberg, a fire marshal and former president of American Agents Alliance.

Home insurance rates are skyrocketing in California because of fire risks. Join us as we dive into California’s ongoing insurance crisis. We'll explore why insurance companies are dropping policies, leaving homeowners with no options but the costly FAIR Plan, or going without insurance entirely.

“Our first year of fire insurance was $7,000. By the third year, it went up to $12,000, which we could no longer afford. We never imagined putting ourselves in a position where we would own a house without insurance,” says Michael Daneau, a homeowner who lost his second home to fires in six years.

We also speak with state leaders about what they are doing about it.

“The Legislature is taking this issue very, very seriously. ... The cancellation of these insurance policies isn’t just happening to people in high fire-threat areas. For heaven’s sake, I had my own insurance policy canceled,” says Senator Dave Cortese, who’s working on a partial property coverage by insurers to expand options for consumers.

*Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.

As public safety takes center stage in California’s political debates, all eyes are on Proposition 36, which would reform Proposition 47 if passed by voters in November. Some experts believe Proposition 47 has contributed to the rise in homelessness, drug addiction, and retail theft in California, while others argue that the link is hard to prove and that reforming the law could negatively impact the state’s judicial system.

To get the full story, be sure to check out our previous episode with Matt Gonzalez, who provides insight into why Proposition 47 should be kept intact. We present both sides of the argument to help you make an informed decision this November.

*Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.

“To make a theft a felony, keep in mind that felony cases are now going to be in a courtroom alongside homicides, rape cases, aggravated assaults, armed robberies, and you’re going to have a petty theft with a prior—where nobody served any substantial misdemeanor jail time—competing for a courtroom and resources. This distracts prosecutors from serious cases, who now have to litigate these other cases,” says Matt Gonzalez, Chief Attorney at the Public Defender’s Office in San Francisco.

Siyamak sits down with Matt Gonzalez, who will discuss Prop 47’s impact on crime and why reforming the proposition is not the solution.

“I received a couple of emails, and they were just thank-you messages saying, ‘Hey, I got my life together. I really appreciate what you did. You fought for me. You kept me from getting these felonies.’ You know, they turned their lives around, and when I was dealing with them, they were just strung-out heroin addicts. So the question is: Do we want to make a decision that satisfies public safety concerns but increases the likelihood that these accused people have a chance moving forward to turn their lives around?” says Gonzalez.

Most cities in California have been impacted by homelessness. Recently, a Supreme Court ruling granted local governments the authority to clean up encampments. We sat down with Los Angeles City Councilwoman Traci Park to discuss what this ruling means for her city and how the city plans to navigate this issue.

“There are a lot of unanswered questions, and as a matter of policy, we need to get it right. Otherwise, I’m concerned that problems here in LA could actually get worse,” says Park.

We also spoke with Dane White, mayor of Escondido, one of the first cities in California to ban homeless encampments. He shares his personal experiences with homelessness and how they shaped his approach to policy.

“I’m of the mindset that jail is not good rehab for people on drugs, but we’ve created a situation where there are no alternatives. I was given the choice: jail or rehab,” says White.

Additionally, we talked to Greg Anglea, CEO of Interfaith Community Services, an organization that assists over 20,000 homeless individuals annually. Join us as we explore the future of homelessness in the Golden State and whether the Supreme Court decision could be a turning point in addressing the crisis.

*Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.

Siyamak sits down with Grisham, an Oakland resident, and Leighton Woodhouse, an independent journalist and documentary filmmaker who has been covering the situation in the city. We also spoke with Ken Houston, founder of Oakland’s Beautification Council and a third-generation Oakland resident, who has been affected by the city’s high crime and vandalism.

“This is my home. So whoever’s doing this out here, they’re interfering with my neighborhood. This is not their neighborhood. We’ve got to take back our streets. The criminals don’t run our city. ... This is our city,” Houston says.

*Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.

“There is actually a resale market in California that’s quite healthy. We have a black market on the streets, and this is easily visible. They are selling things at a fraction of the cost of if you go into the store and actually purchase it yourself. I’ve talked to police and law enforcement, and they tell me there’s a direct correlation here between drug addiction, retail theft, and these illicit black markets,” Mr. Gillmore says.

Siyamak sits down with Travis Gilmore, reporter with The Epoch Times. He'll explain what’s going on with retail theft in California and how the policymakers are trying to deal with it. We also sit down with Rudy Blalock, Epoch Times’ reporter, who’s going to share what he has seen on the ground investigating retail theft.

“As long as it’s below $950, then he would just walk out of the store. And he had a friend that would sell them on OfferUp, and he told me that he gets about a 30% exchange rate. He estimated about $50,000. People on the streets understand the law, the drug dealers understand the law, and they’re using it to their full advantage,” Mr. Blalock says.

*Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider

In November, California voters will decide on a new minimum wage increase. It’s one of the ten ballot measures and could raise the current minimum wage from $16 to $18 an hour. Join us as we delve into what it means for Californians.

“Just since the minimum wage increase that went into effect for fast food employees, we have seen 98% of them raise prices since April here in California. 89% have had to scale back hours or benefits for their workers, and 70% have had to make cuts. Who doesn’t want a few extra dollars in their pocket, right? But we ask, with a minimum wage increase, at what cost? At what price?” says John Kabateck.

To understand the impact of Prop 32, we sit down with We also sit down with Mr. Kabateck, California State Director of NFIB, which represents 14,000 small businesses in the state. He'll share his concerns about the impact of Proposition 32. Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage, a leading advocacy group for service workers, and the director of the Food Labor Research Center at the University of California–Berkeley.

“One in three Californians lives and works in poverty. The cheapest county in the state of California is Modoc County. In Modoc County, one person with no children needs over $20 an hour just to cover the very basics like rent, food, and transportation,” says Ms. Jayaraman.

*Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.