California will give gun owners more time to register their legal assault weapons under a settlement announced Thursday over what critics charged was the state’s botched registration system in 2018. The settlement with the state attorney general’s office means no owners will be held liable for missing the July 1,...
NorCal Police Officers Suspended Over Degrading, Vulgar Texts
Two Northern California police officers are on paid leave after a news outlet reported that they are accused of sending degrading and violent text messages about women, people with mental illness and the homeless. Eureka Police Chief Steve Watson announced Wednesday that Sgt. Rodrigo Reyna-Sanchez and Officer Mark Meftah were on leave...
Report: Fresno Foster Farms Plant Got Advance Tip About COVID Inspection
Local health officials gave a heads-up to Foster Farms about a state inspection of their chicken processing plant during the largest known COVID-19 workplace outbreak in Fresno County, The Fresno Bee reported, citing emails obtained through the Public Records Act. Health officials also discussed media talking points during the crisis, withheld information...
California’s Becerra Confirmed to Head up Biden’s Ambitious Health Agenda
The Senate on Thursday confirmed California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as President Joe Biden's health secretary, filling a key position in the administration's coronavirus response and its ambitious push to lower drug costs, expand insurance coverage, and eliminate racial disparities in medical care. The 50-49 largely party-line vote makes the 63-year-old Becerra the first Latino to...
Schools Prepare Summer of Learning to Help Kids Catch Up
After a dreary year spent largely at home in front of the computer, many U.S. children could be looking at summer school — and that's just what many parents want. Although the last place most kids want to spend summer is in a classroom, experts say that after a year...
Fed Expects to Keep its Key Rate Near Zero Through 2023
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve foresees the economy accelerating quickly this year but still expects to keep its benchmark interest rate pinned near zero through 2023, despite concerns in financial markets about potentially higher inflation. The Fed on Wednesday significantly upgraded its forecasts for growth and inflation. It now envisions the...
EXPLAINER: Is the US Border with Mexico in Crisis?
SAN DIEGO — House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Monday during a visit to El Paso, Texas, that, “It's more than a crisis. This is human heartbreak.” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday called the wave of migrants a difficult challenge but nothing new. Spin and semantics aside, migration...
Police: Georgia Shooting Suspect May Have ‘Sexual Addiction’
ATLANTA — Georgia officials said Wednesday that the suspect in a series of shootings at Atlanta-area massage parlors that left eight people dead may have a “sexual addiction” and that it was too early to say if the attack was a hate crime. Police arrested a white 21-year-old Georgia man...
Most of California on a Reopening Roll While Central Valley Stubbornly Stuck
A year after the pandemic forced California to shut down, about 90% of the state's nearly 40 million residents can enjoy a restaurant meal indoors, watch a movie in a theater and sweat it out inside a gym after more counties were authorized to open up for business thanks to...
Schools Weigh Safety of Seating Students Closer Together in Class
BOSTON — New evidence that it may be safe for schools to seat students 3 feet apart — half of the previous recommended distance — could offer a way to return more of the nation's children to classrooms with limited space. Even as more teachers receive vaccinations against COVID-19, social...