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Medi-Cal is broken. It’s billions over budget, and the patients who rely on it are struggling to get access to high-quality, reliable care. Just last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom was forced to pour an additional $6.2 billion into Medi-Cal after it ran out of money. We need an audit to get to the bottom of these cost-overruns to stabilize the program for vulnerable people who depend on it and prevent painful cuts to other critical services provided by the state. Over the past six years, Medi-Cal spending from California’s General Fund has surged to $42.1 billion. Total spending has increased…

After California released its statewide test scores late last year, the president of the state board of education boasted that, “California’s public schools are making encouraging gains, and these gains are largest for our most vulnerable groups of students.” Yet those numbers revealed only the slightest boosts, with a paltry 47% of California students meeting or exceeding English standards—up a mere 0.3% from the previous year. Test scores remained below pre-pandemic levels, according to a CalMatters report. Black and Latino students made bigger gains, but their proficiency levels were at a shocking 30.3% and 36.8%. Consider those numbers against the…

The fighting between the Russian Federation and Ukraine drags on, taking a terrible toll on both countries. It has already wreaked havoc for over a thousand days. Though hopes for peace rose after Trump took office, recent diplomatic gaffes have sent them plummeting. Rather than ending, the conflict now seems more likely to continue and even escalate. Russia and Ukraine will end the war when they want to, on their own terms. The problem is not that the parties want to keep fighting—both doubtless want the war to end, albeit subject to certain terms. The problem is getting them to…

Sheryl Rowling of Morningstar Beyond the emotional strain of a “gray divorce,” managing your finances is critical. Related Articles Here’s what some exporters in China say about Trump’s trade war We call them palm trees but they really are something else Freak sell-off of ‘safe haven’ US bonds raises fear that confidence in America is fading Irish privacy watchdog investigates Elon Musk’s X’s use of personal data to train Grok AI chatbot San Bernardino County restaurants shut down by health inspectors, April 3-10 The first step is hiring an experienced divorce attorney. Although it might be tempting to avoid legal…

LOS ANGELES — Lakers coach JJ Redick, who is usually thoughtful and thorough in his responses to questions from reporters, only needed a one-word response when asked whether he finds coaching more rewarding than being an NBA player – his job for 15 seasons. “Yes,” Redick quickly responded to the question, with barely any time passing between the query and his response. When asked why, Redick appeared to not fully know. “I tried to figure that out for the last six months, I’m not sure,” he said. “But I will say, I think anybody that was around me as a…

LOS ANGELES — Freddie Freeman pulled into Dodger Stadium at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, a good 6½ hours before first pitch, and fans were already lined up at entrances to ensure they’d be among the 40,000 to receive bobblehead dolls commemorating the first baseman’s walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of last October’s World Series. “It was kind of crazy,” said Freeman, the 2024 World Series MVP who came off the injured list for the series opener against the Chicago Cubs. “I do appreciate it. This is really cool.” Freeman caught the ceremonial first pitch from his 8-year-old son, Charlie,…

CHINO HILLS — Kimmy Aleman cruised for six innings. Suddenly, she needed to deliver one of her biggest pitches of the game. Chino Hills scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Aleman rolled a ground ball to second base and stranded the tying run at third base as Etiwanda escaped with a 3-2 win over the Huskies in a key Baseline League battle Friday afternoon. “They scored two, but so what? We still had the lead,” Aleman said. “I wasn’t worried about that. I went right after the next batter.” Aleman is headed to…

SACRAMENTO — The Clippers’ longest win streak of the season has kept them in the thick of a crowded Western Conference playoff race, but the drama is nearly over. James Harden had a triple-double with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, Kawhi Leonard scored 28 points and the Clippers held off a late flurry in the final two minutes to beat the Sacramento Kings, 101-100, on Friday night for their seventh consecutive win. Ivica Zubac had another double-double (17 points and 10 rebounds) for the Clippers, and Norman Powell added 16 points. With one regular-season game left, the Clippers…

LOS ANGELES — The reward, and challenge, for the Lakers on Friday night was laid out pretty clearly for them before their final regular-season home game against the Houston Rockets. Win and the Lakers would not only secure their first 50-win season since winning the 2019-20 NBA championship, and their first in an 82-game season in more than a decade, but they’d also secure the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference playoff bracket. The challenge: bringing the same level of intensity, especially on the defensive end of the court, against a Rockets team that sat most of its rotation…

IMSA GTD driver Robert Wickens, left, heads back towards the garage area following the second practice session at the 50th Grand Prix of Long Beach on Friday, April 11, 2025. Wickens severed his spinal cord during a 2018 Indycar crash in Pocono and now drives a specially designed race car which allows him to race again. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG) IMSA GTD driver Robert Wickens is carried away from his race car by Josh Gibbs as the teams other driver, Tommy Milner (not pictured) prepares to take over the seat during the second practice session in…