Gavin Newsom has said more than once that he wants California's high-speed rail project completed between the San Joaquin and Silicon valleys. "It's not a train to nowhere," Newsom told George Skelton of the Los Angeles Times in October. "It's insulting to suggest the Central Valley is nowhere. This is...
So, Hollywood, Where Is the Oscar Love for Oakland?
The best California movie scene of recent vintage is the opening of the 2018 film Sorry to Bother You. A man and his girlfriend are getting intimate when his apartment suddenly fills with daylight, making their union visible to the people outside on an Oakland street. What happened? California’s housing...
More Than 120 at Snowbound Kings Canyon Lodge Rescued
KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARK — More than 120 visitors and staff who became snowbound in a Sierra Nevada resort due to recent storms have been freed. The U.S. Forest Service says snow trapped the guests and staff on Sunday at a lodge at Montecito Sequoia Lodge in Kings Canyon National...
Sun Soaks Valley Floor, But More Snow Headed to Sierra
Thursday brought a classic winter day to the Valley floor. Sunshine, temperatures in the mid-50s, little to no wind. But rain likely will return Friday and continue through Sunday. Up in the Sierra, it was a different story, as snow continued falling Thursday. Calling it a "winter wonderland" doesn't quite...
PG&E Vows to Improve Wildfire Prevention
SAN FRANCISCO — Up to 5 million California customers could temporarily lose power this year in the name of wildfire prevention if regulators approve Pacific Gas & Electric's $2.3 billion safety proposal submitted Wednesday. PG&E unveiled the preventive blackout strategy for the first time late last year, getting regulatory permission...
Sen. Bill Dodd Proposes California Wildfire Warning Center
After four consecutive years of catastrophic wildfires, Napa Democratic Sen. Bill Dodd wants to establish a California wildfire warning center that would allow officials to turn off power and better position firefighting crews during extreme heat and high winds. “It would give us more tools in trying to make sure...
Police: Pilot in Fatal California Crash Had Fake Records
LOS ANGELES — The man piloting a small plane that broke apart over a Southern California neighborhood had false credentials identifying him as a retired Chicago police officer, authorities said Tuesday. Antonio Pastini was killed when the twin-engine plane broke up shortly after takeoff and fell in pieces in Yorba...
How California Got Tough on Guns
The modern American gun debate began on May 2, 1967, when 30 protesting members of the Black Panther Party marched into the California Capitol with loaded handguns, shotguns and rifles. As photos of gun-toting radicals from Oakland hit front pages across the country, many Americans were shocked to see who...
My Turn: We Need a Bold Vision for Juvenile Justice. Newsom’s Plan Falls Short
Over the past two decades, California’s Division of Juvenile Justice’s inmate population has fallen from 10,000 to around 660. Its annual budget is down 70 percent. Eight of its 11 detention facilities have closed. The division now spends $300,000 per year per inmate, yet three-fourths of those who are released recidivate within three years....
Plane Breaks Apart Over California Neighborhood, 5 Killed
YORBA LINDA — Five people died and two were injured after a small plane apparently broke apart Sunday over a Southern California suburb, raining debris on a neighborhood and setting a house on fire, authorities said. Four people in the house that burned in the city of Yorba Linda were...