Stockton is halfway through an 18-month program that provides $500 a month to 125 people from low-income ZIP codes. Proponents say the program is a step toward economic equality; opponents say it’s unrealistic and enabling.

Women comprise nearly 50 percent of the American workforce, but they make up barely a quarter of all senior executives at large U.S. public companies — and only around 5 percent of Standard & Poor’s 500 companies have female CEOs.

Comstock’s spoke with Laurel Brent-Bumb, CEO of the El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce, about efforts to make this largely rural region a desirable place to do business.

Doctors, real estate agents and hairdressers can keep their independent contractor status — but not truckers, commercial janitors, nail salon workers, physical therapists and “gig economy” workers.

With tens of thousands of undergrads applying each year for limited spots, California’s college systems have approved admission criteria for assessing incoming freshmen. While the strength of a student’s academic record is one of its top considerations, the University of California system has established 14 factors — both academic and nonacademic — for undergraduate admissions.

PairAnything, run by an eight-person team, won the $10,000 Food + Agriculture Sector Award at the 2019 Big Bang Business Competition at UC Davis.

Over Labor Day, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared his support for reclassifying an estimated 2 million California workers as employees instead of independent contractors. But while Democratic presidential candidates have seized upon labor standards of gig workers as a campaign issue, many questions remain about AB 5’s implications.

In the 2019 American economy, the big are getting bigger. Mergers are everywhere — the number of mergers and acquisitions exceeded 15,000 in 2017, a record for a single year, with 2018 a close second.

Pressure is increasing on counties to sign up more people for food stamps since the state’s participation rate is one of the lowest in the nation. But greater enrollment may require more money or more state intervention.

A momentous Supreme Court decision. A presidential candidate weighing in. A noisy late-August demonstration outside the Capitol. Not Washington, but Sacramento. Not abortion or guns — Dynamex.