Kaiser Mental Health Workers Plan to Strike
Kaiser Permanente mental health clinicians from Fresno to Sacramento say they will go on strike Nov. 16. It's the same union that led a statewide strike earlier this year. The union's complaints are the same: they say Kaiser is short-staffing its psychiatric departments, forcing patients to endure unreasonably long wait times to get care. Kaiser says the dispute is really about wages.
The Ivanpah Solar Facility's Pollution Problem
Even before it came online last year, the massive Ivanpah solar facility in Southern California's Mojave Desert was touted by its supporters -- from then-Gov. Schwarzenegger to President Obama -- as the gold standard for clean energy projects. But in a recent editorial, the Riverside Press Enterprise calls Ivanpah a "clean energy bait and switch" -- one that's taken thousands of acres of public land and over $1 billion in federal loan guarantees. But it may not be nearly as environmentally friendly as promised.