Zocalo Public Square » Connecting California

SLO down, California. Even in pandemic, you move too fast. This new year, perhaps we should all resolve to model the spirit of SLO, the acronym that embodies San Luis Obispo, perhaps the easiest ...

https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/san-luis-obispo-county-california-pleasure/

If you’re having a hard time processing the scale of death produced by the COVID-19 pandemic, you’re not alone. In the face of mass casualties, many of us have chosen the path of denial, embr...

https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/forest-lawn-covid-dead-cemetery-memorial/

Admit it. You miss me, don’t you? No? OK, maybe you’re not ready to recognize how much you need me. I understand. I know you’ve never liked me, and for that I’ve never blamed you. You Cal...

https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/california-traffic-covid-19/

Welcome, Californians, to the era of Medi-Cal for All. “Medicare for All,” the political dream of extending federal health program for the elderly and disabled to all Americans, still gets th...

https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/medi-cal-health-care-connecting-california-joe-mathews/

There may be no better symbol of Sacramento’s failure as California’s capital than the 18-foot-tall stainless-steel sculpture outside the city’s downtown sports arena. The work, by famed co...

https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/sacramento-statue-piglet-centralized-power-capital-jeff-koons-california/

When you hear cops reporting widespread looting in California, you should believe them. Because they are true experts. Indeed, for many decades, the most successful looters in our state have been...

https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/california-police-officers-salary-benefits-pension-city-government-political-power/

Monterey turns 250 years old next month. And the rest of the state should claim the date as its birthday too. California is an orphan of a state, and Monterey’s beginnings are the closest thing...

https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/monterey-250-birthday-california-history-future-peninsula-city/

If California is really the global tech capital it claims to be, why is it so hard for the state’s small towns to get the top-notch internet broadband service they need? You’ll find one answe...

https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/gonzales-california-central-coast-15-year-fight-universal-broadband/

I’m proudly doing my duty as a California parent. I’m flunking distance learning. Distance learning is the term for our new COVID 19-era educational regime, which forces teachers and students...

https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/distancing-learning-covid-19-education-students-parents-broken-system/

California is finally getting the local government apocalypse it has long needed. And, thankfully, it’s going to be even worse than I had hoped. For the record, I love and revere local governme...

https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/joe-mathews-local-government-school-boards/