Modesto has banned firearms, glass bottles, baseball bats, and other items that can be used as weapons at rallies and protests. The Modesto City Council approved the ordinance Tuesday that also prohibits participants from wearing masks or anything that hides their faces. City spokesman Thomas Reeves says the ordinance initially...
California Counties Sue Over Public Benefit Immigration Rule
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco and Santa Clara counties filed the first lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's new rules to deny green cards to migrants who use Medicaid, food stamps, housing vouchers or other forms of public assistance. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, came after the Department of Homeland Security's announcement Monday of...
Armenian, Jewish Groups Upset Over Exclusion in State Curriculum
According to a draft proposal of the state's ethnic studies model curriculum, Armenians and Jews aren't worthy of inclusion. Neither are their genocides. Organizations representing both groups want that fixed. Listen to this article: The curriculum is supposed to make California high school students more aware of...
Under Newsom, California Housing Crisis Gets Worse, Not Better
Gov. Gavin Newsom's grand plan of building 3.5 million housing units by 2025 is off to a terrible start. In the first six months of 2019, builders gained approval for 51,178 new homes in California, nearly 20% fewer than the same period a year earlier. That puts the state on track...
Sex Misconduct Complaints Against Calif. Doctors Up Sharply
LOS ANGELES — The number of complaints against California physicians for sexual misconduct has risen 62% since fall of 2017 — a jump that coincides with the beginning of the #MeToo movement, according to a newspaper investigation published Monday. A Los Angeles Times analysis of California medical board data found complaints of...
Vaccines, Guns, Housing Bills Await California Legislature
SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers return to work Monday with one month left to pass bills before adjourning for the year. The Legislature was busy before the July recess, passing a $214.8 billion operating budget and setting up funds to pay future wildfire victims and clean up drinking water. But lawmakers still have lots to do...
Vaccines, Guns, Housing Bills Await California Legislature
SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers return to work Monday with one month left to pass bills before adjourning for the year. The Legislature was busy before the July recess, passing a $214.8 billion operating budget and setting up funds to pay future wildfire victims and clean up drinking water. But lawmakers still have lots to do...
Valley Democrats Declare War on Invasive Swamp Rats
Rep. Josh Harder of Turlock put on waders and traipsed through the water in search of swamp rats recently. The goal: Publicizing a bill that he and three other California Democrats have introduced targeting nutria, an invasive species from South America creating havoc with irrigation canals and levees. What the...
Tired of Plastic Junk? Recycling Bills Propose Dramatic New Rules
As bills that take aim at plastic waste make their way through California’s legislature, the damage they intend to fix already is rippling through the state’s recycling economy. On Monday, rePlanet, a major collector of beverage bottles and cans, shut its 284 collection centers in California, citing lower subsidies from the...
Tired of Plastic Junk? Recycling Bills Propose Dramatic New Rules
As bills that take aim at plastic waste make their way through California’s legislature, the damage they intend to fix already is rippling through the state’s recycling economy. On Monday, rePlanet, a major collector of beverage bottles and cans, shut its 284 collection centers in California, citing lower subsidies from the...