Now, for the first time in years, there is growing recognition that we can end unsheltered homelessness, if we expand our concept of acceptable housing to be broader than someone’s forever home.

Surviving millions of cars amid the spaghetti tangle of Southern California’s freeways is just one peril that mountain lions and other wild animals encounter in our ever-growing state. Combine this threat with other risks, such as more frequent and intense wildfires, pollution, habitat loss and fragmentation, and you get a true appreciation for why thousands of California voters in 1990 invested permanently in habitat conservation by supporting Proposition 117.

Californians have long supported the idea of eliminating single-use plastic bags from grocery store checkouts. In fact, nearly a decade ago, both the state’s voters and the California Legislature approved a proposition to do just that.

The news organization Cal Matters investigated the effectiveness of California’s gun safety laws in domestic violence cases a few years ago, and it found that many domestic abusers never turn in proof that they had relinquished their firearms as required by law.

There it was — the headline flashing across phones and computer screens — the San Clemente hillside below Casa Romantica was giving way, and the rail tracks below were in danger. Train operations ceased “for the foreseeable future.”