SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California bolstered funding to help the Los Angeles area recover from its recent deadly wildfires under a more than $2.5 billion fire relief package approved Thursday by the California Legislature. Lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the bills, which had bipartisan support, and now head to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's...
Senate Confirms Ratcliffe to Lead the CIA, Giving Trump His Second Cabinet Member
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday confirmed John Ratcliffe as CIA director, giving President Donald Trump the second member of his new Cabinet. Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term and is the first person to have held that position and the top post at the CIA,...
Madera County Two-Vehicle Crash Claims Winton Woman’s Life
A 40-year-old woman from Winton was killed Wednesday morning in a two-vehicle collision near Firebaugh, according to the California Highway Patrol. The crash occurred at approximately 10:18 a.m. at the intersection of Avenue 7 and Avenue 7 ½, also known as Firebaugh Boulevard. CHP officers said the woman was driving...
Is Matthew Stafford Retiring? Rams Coach Wants Answer ‘Sooner Than Later’
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay says he would like to know “sooner than later” about Matthew Stafford's status for next season. McVay provided no updates on his veteran quarterback's plans for the coming year when the coach held his end-of-season news conference Thursday, but McVay sounded...
Stock Market Today: S&P 500 Drifts Higher Toward a Record
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks are drifting around a record on Thursday amid a relatively quiet day on Wall Street. The S&P 500 was 0.3% higher in afternoon trading and on track to surpass its all-time high set early last month after coming close the day before. The Dow Jones...
A Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump’s Executive Order Ending Birthright Citizenship
SEATTLE — A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order ending the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship regardless of the parents’ immigration status. U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour ruled in the case brought by the states of Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon, which argue the...
Trump Says California Must Change Water Policies, Threatens to Withhold Disaster Aid
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump threatened to withhold federal disaster aid for wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles unless California leaders change the state's approach on its management of water. In a Fox News Channel interview on Wednesday, Trump repeated false claims that the state's fish conservation efforts in the northern part of...
Selma Council Moves Forward, Makes It Easier to Remove Manager
Questions about who is a member of the Selma City Council — and who isn't — were answered when the body met for the first time in 2025 on Tuesday night. And while Fernando Santillan remains the Selma city manager, the council made it easier to remove him Despite questions...
Trump Is Already Making America Weaker and More Vulnerable
President Donald Trump said in his inaugural address that he had “no higher responsibility than to defend our country.” So what did Trump do on his first day in office? He made America weaker and more vulnerable. Trump’s move to breathe new life into TikTok in the United States is...
Oscar Nominations Snubs and Surprises, From Daniel Craig to Selena Gomez
PARK CITY, Utah — In one of the more wide-open Oscar fields in recent history, there were plenty of nominations surprises Thursday. Not too long ago, it seemed that people like Angelina Jolie and Nicole Kidman were destined for best actress nominations, while general audience disinterest in the young Donald Trump movie “The Apprentice” might have...