Editor's Note: This piece originally published in the Portland Press Herald, and has been republished with permission from the author.

‍

The presidential election on Nov. 3 is nearly upon us. No matter who’s elected, it will have an immense impact on our nation.

In Florida, another vote is looming that may have just as great an impact. Why? It takes the first steps toward true structural election reform.

Protesters throughout the U.S. marched this week after a Kentucky grand jury determined it would not bring charges against Louisville officers who shot and killed Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman and health care worker.

Taylor is just one of many Black Americans who have been shot by police officers in recent months, prompting protesters to demand for racial justice and police reform and accountability.

Diana Marrone felt alone and out of options.

The single mother of a 5-year-old kindergartener had struggled to balance her full-time job while guiding her daughter’s remote learning. Marrone’s mother would ordinarily assist with childcare, but coronavirus exposure concerns ruled that out. Still, Marrone balked at the idea of sitting her daughter, Sienna, out for a year, worried she would fall behind academically and resent school.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on The Fulcrum and has been republished on IVN with permission from the publisher.

‍

Voting in the presidential election ends in 40 days, and states are still making adjustments to their rules and procedures.

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

California’s early 20th century reformers sought to thwart an obviously corrupt political system that benefited entrenched interests and ignored the larger public.

Their reforms included ways for voters to bypass the system through direct ballot box action — the initiative, the recall and the referendum.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in The New York Times and has been republished on IVN with permission from the author.

‍

Incredible investigative work1 by Dorian Hargrove and the NBC7 investigative team laid out how City of San Diego officials allowed a questionable land deal to go through that generated significant profits for politically connected and influential special interests while causing taxpayers to waste hundreds of millions of dollars.

A stinging report issued by California’s state auditor today slams the University of California for a culture of privileging wealth and access over merit in its admissions process, galvanizing concern that talented low-income students and students of color are displaced by less qualified but better connected students.

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

COVID-19 has presented our society with a public health crisis, but a larger problem exists if we don’t act now. Childhood domestic violence is on the rise as a result of the stresses caused by the pandemic.

"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 Fox 5 sports director Troy Hirsch and KUSI sports reporter Maddison Sinclair about the concerns surrounding Aztecs playing in Carson. Plus, we talk to local seniors about how they are doing during the pandemic.