Foreclosures continued to climb in the Golden State in December. Also, the California Republican Party suggests a new political strategy for their candidates in legislative races.

California gets low marks when it comes to curtailing the use of tobacco among its citizens, according to a new report. Meanwhile, a renewed effort to move the state toward a single-payer model for health insurance is getting underway in the legislature.

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has until the end of the week to defend the agency's approval of a controversial pesticide used on strawberry fields. Environmental and farmworkers' groups say the state approved methyl iodide despite independent scientific research about the cancer risks it poses to children, rural communities and farmworkers.

Kathy Collins, a biochemistry professor at the University of California-Berkeley, says the outcome of the case is important to re-establish the integrity of science-based decision-making by the state's Environmental Protection Agency and pesticide regulators.

"As with any decision where the public is going to be impacted, it's very useful to feel 'in the know' - because then, you feel like the decision was thought through, and the experts in the matter weighed in on it."

DPR approved methyl iodide in 2010 as a replacement for methyl bromide, a fumigant that was found to deplete the ozone layer. The California Farm Bureau Federation maintains that the chemical is needed to fight pests and soil-borne diseases, and that methyl iodide is being used in other states.

Collins says methyl iodide is a simple chemical and, unlike most pesticides, extensive research already has been done on it. 

"So scientists like myself - and I'm not the only one - don't have to think very hard to just see in the published literature, this is a pretty strong toxin. And so, when it got approved, we were all kind of shocked."

Since the use of methyl iodide has been approved, state records show, only six applications have taken place, including two that were paid for by the manufacturer. 

More information is available here.

Governor Brown delivered his 2012 State of the State speech Wednesday morning. A day later, it continues to generate considerable reaction and comment.