Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a bill Monday that would have required school districts that have zero-tolerance policies toward drugs or alcohol use to hold community-wide conversations on whether expulsions related to substance abuse deter students from seeking help for mental health problems.

The first bill proposed by a Palo Alto state assemblyman to be signed into law will make it easier for low-income California residents to access emergency food services.

Assemblyman Marc Berman, D-Palo Alto, who was elected in November, said that the bill works to eradicate food insecurity.

The bill, which Gov. Jerry Brown signed earlier this month, allows revision to the national 2-1-1 referral service so that residents can use the free phone number or online database to find entities that provide food to needy residents, including those with pending CalFresh applications.

Assembly Bill 323, authored by Assemblyman Marc Berman, was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday, July 17, allowing counties to connect CalFresh applicants to emergency food providers through a referral from a 2-1-1 service. The new law is Berman's first bill signed in the state Legislature.

CalFresh assists low-income households in purchasing the food they need at grocery stores. Berman, D-Palo Alto, said that state residents often won't apply for CalFresh until they hit their lowest point, but the application can take up to 30 days to be approved.

Students who rack up debt attending for-profit colleges were supposed to get some additional protections this month. If their school was found to have misled them into borrowing money to attend, a new rule would have simplified the process for seeking loan forgiveness.

Just as an abysmally short commercial salmon season concluded in the region, federal officials recommended a $1.4 million grant toward a creek restoration project aimed at rejuvenating the dwindling species and reducing flooding in Pescadero.

Fish die-offs and road closures have plagued the coastal area for years, prompting a local nonprofit to begin a dredging and sediment reuse project along a nearly 8,000-foot stretch of riparian habitat.

I recently served on a panel of speakers at a self-driving car event in Silicon Valley and met a fellow panelist, Assemblyman Marc Berman, known for his savvy awareness about self-driving cars. During the panel, Marc offered numerous insights that showcased his prowess in understanding the nature of where self-driving cars are today and where they are heading.