In the five years before the pandemic, low-income Californians had begun to see substantial wage gains, chipping away at the income inequality gap between California’s haves and have-nots that has widened over the past 40 years. But the coronavirus pandemic is “likely stripping away many of these gains,” researchers at the Public Policy Institute of California found in a new report.

What is the biggest highlight of a presidential election? Is it the ideas or proposals presented by the candidates? Is it how the candidates appealed to the most voters possible by presenting thoughtful, comprehensive solutions to the nation’s biggest problems?

Unfortunately, it’s neither of those. Instead, the biggest highlight of any presidential election in modern history is the division between the dominant two parties -- the hyperbolic rhetoric both sides use in the zero-sum contest to get voters to hate the other side.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The historic victory in Alaska for Ballot Measure 2 for Better Elections was re-confirmed by the state’s Division of Elections, state officials announced Monday, following a hand count of all the ballots. 

The Division of Elections completed its audit on December 10, which showed that the election was administered fairly and the results were correct in what ended up being a nail-bitter of a finish for Ballot Measure 2.

US voters and reform practitioners had an opportunity over the weekend to wrap up 2020 celebrating the success of historic proposals for better elections and discuss future endeavors to give the American people a fairer, more empowering, and more accountable political process.

Before Social and Emotional Learning became widely recognized as a critical component of teen lives, Marisa Fogelman was well ahead of the curve. 

Fogelman spent two decades developing a curriculum that integrated SEL with California state standards for traditional subject matter, and put her holistic academic philosophy into practice as co-founder of the School of Universal Learning (SOUL), a charter school for students in grades 6-12. 

SOUL was perhaps the first school in San Diego County to offer such a unique concept. 

Laura Fink is an up-and-coming TV news pundit. She isn’t offended by the “talking head” label, which can carry negative connotations, but certainly would prefer “political analyst.” 

She agrees to meet and discuss the dubious current and future states of TV news. We’re not going to talk about specific issues of the day. Rather, the focus will be on the process of news presentation itself.

This is an independent opinion. Have one of your own? Email it to hoa@ivn.us

In San Diego and throughout California, COVID-19 cases are rapidly increasing, putting our state’s frontline workers more at risk than ever before.

Never-before-released data from the federal government has shed new light on the debt burden of low-income families in California.

More than 13,500 low-income students attending California’s two public university systems had parents take out federal loans on their behalf in recent years, according to a CalMatters analysis of figures released by the U.S. Department of Education last week for every college in the nation.

"The Extra Point with Jeff Marston" is aired weekly on Mightier 1090am from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday. In this episode, Marston talks to Greg Scholss, the owner of A&B Sporting Goods, which recently closed its doors in North Park. Plus, Dr. Kelly Elmore, medical director for Viva Life Health Hub, talks about how to fight against COVID-19.

Momentum continues to build for broad systemic changes to how US citizens elect their public officials. Reforms like ranked choice voting and nonpartisan primaries are growing in popularity as voters look to solutions to make the political process fairer and voter-centric.

With 2020 near its end, political reformers are looking toward the future, and what proposals are working and what proposals need more attention. One proposal that is getting more attention from some reformers is proportional representation.