Nonprofit COO Charged with Using Public Funds for Plastic Surgeries, Shopping
By Lisa Halverstadt | Voice of San Diego
The former chief operating officer of a nonprofit that the county once relied on to deploy life-saving overdose reversal drugs across San Diego was jailed last week for allegedly taking more than $134,000 in public funds from the organization.
Amy Knox, who had managed the Harm Reduction Coalition of San Diego’s finances, was arrested Thursday and charged with three felony counts of misappropriation of public money and three felony counts of fraudulent appropriation. She is set to appear Wednesday before a Superior Court judge.
Knox’s arrest comes months after the county last June cancelled contracts with the nonprofit led by CEO Tara Stamos that called for the organization to distribute overdose reversal drug Narcan and test street drugs in a bid to prevent fentanyl deaths.
Newsom expanded free preschool. Now private day cares can’t afford to stay open
By Jeanne Kuang | CalMatters
There were once so many children at Frisha Moore’s Elk Grove preschool that families filled up the waitlist. Now, one of her playgrounds and two classrooms sit empty because one key group of kids has stopped coming.
Dozens of families in recent years have opted not to enroll their 4-year-olds at Moore Learning Preschool and Child Care Center, she said. Instead, they’re putting their children in transitional kindergarten, California’s new public pre-kindergarten grade.
Even though she provides a full day of preschool, compared with transitional kindergarten that lasts only about 3.5 hours, Moore can’t compete: Public school is free. She hasn’t broken even in months and thinks about closing the preschool, “every single day.” That would remove 91 licensed child care spots from the county, including 20 for children under age 2, for whom child care options are particularly scarce.
Spring 2026 economic outlook Los Angeles on the global stage: World cup Super Bowl and the Olympics
by UCLA Anderson Forecast
The Spring 2026 UCLA Anderson Forecast quarterly outlook will examine whether the U.S. and California economies are at a turning point. Have we moved past the most disruptive effects of recent deportation and tariff policies, or will persistent labor shortages and supply-chain costs continue to stifle key sectors like manufacturing, construction, and agriculture? Will the massive wave of AI infrastructure investment remain a tailwind for the economy, or will it be moderated in the face of unrealized demand? Will the softening labor market begin to recover amid fiscal stimulus from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and can California’s frozen housing market finally begin to thaw amid the Federal Reserve’s ongoing interest rate cutting cycle?