WICHITA, Kan. — A California man was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison for making bogus emergency calls to authorities across the U.S., including one that led police to fatally shoot a Kansas man following a dispute between two online players over $1.50 bet in the “Call of Duty:...
US Sues California, Says Water Policy Violates State Law
LOS ANGELES — The federal government sued California on Thursday over a water policy it said violates the state's environmental protection law. The U.S. Department of Justice filed suit in Sacramento federal court to block a contentious plan approved in December to increase river flows in the San Joaquin River...
Audit Finds Poor Planning Led to California DMV Issues
SACRAMENTO — California's Department of Motor Vehicles didn't properly prepare for customers lining up to get new federally approved drivers' licenses, leading to hours-long wait times last year, state auditors said Wednesday. But the long lines that angered motorists and state lawmakers alike merely highlighted significant underlying weaknesses including outdated...
Why Gavin Newsom Is No Fan of High-Speed Rail
How will California ever finish high-speed rail when it can’t finish San Francisco’s Downtown Rail Extension? Twenty-three years ago, a restauranteur named Gavin Newsom was appointed to his first political gig, as a San Francisco parking-and-traffic commissioner. Back then, a top priority of San Francisco transportation officials was a proposed...
Walters: Poll Underscores California’s Housing Crisis
Two months ago, when the Public Policy Institute of California asked the state’s residents to name the top issues that newly inaugurated Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature should address, immigration was No. 1. Jobs and environmental issues followed, with “homelessness” a distant fourth, cited by just 6 percent of...
Assembly Democrats Want Lower Threshold to Raise Local Taxes
SACRAMENTO — California voters could decide in 2020 whether it should be easier for their local governments to raise taxes and issue bonds for affordable housing, road improvements and other public projects. A constitutional amendment proposed Wednesday would lower how much voter support communities need to raise money for infrastructure...
California Crab Fisheries to Close Early to Protect Whales
SAN FRANCISCO — California crab fisheries will close for the season in April when whales are feeding off the state's coast as part of an effort to keep Dungeness crab fishery gear from killing protected whales, officials announced Tuesday. The April 15 closure, three months before the crab fishing season...
Headed to the Coast? Check Out the Majestic Lighthouses.
Depending on how you measure it, the California coastline is 840 miles to 3,427 miles long (the latter figure includes inlets and bays). Enhancing the coastline's spectacular appeal are many historic lighthouses and light stations protecting vessels from large rocks, prominent points, and other hazards. Info, Maps for Lighthouses Additional information...
Immigrant Sanctuary Cities Inspire Gun Rights Sanctuary Counties
Here are two rules of politics fully in play in the tussle between gun-control advocates and gun-rights supporters: — Copycatting is a way of life in politics. — For every political act, there is a retaliatory action from opponents. Thus, it should surprise no one that even before New Mexico...
Michael Avenatti Charged With Extortion and Wire, Bank Fraud
LOS ANGELES — U.S. prosecutors on two coasts have charged President Donald Trump critic and attorney Michael Avenatti with extortion and bank and wire fraud. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles said Avenatti was arrested Monday in New York. Spokesman Ciaran McEvoy says the lawyer best known...