SACRAMENTO — California said it's safe to immediately begin using a batch of coronavirus vaccine doses after health officials urged a halt to injections and held a review because several people fell ill. Wednesday's decision frees up more than 300,000 doses to counties, cities and hospitals struggling to obtain supplies....
Home State Advantage: What a Vice President Kamala Harris Means for California
Goodbye, state of resistance. Hello, state of influence. California’s status has shifted dramatically with the inauguration of Joe Biden as the next president. The reasons are both political — deep blue California will have more inroads to a White House controlled by Democrats — and personal: For just the second...
Newsom’s $2 Billion School Reopening Fund Could Actually Cost Districts Money
In his bid to get California school campuses back open, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed giving extra money to schools that managed to open by a certain date. But the $2 billion in grant money would come attached with strings that some districts say would mean paying more than if they...
California Pins Vaccine Hopes on Biden Administration
SACRAMENTO — California officials are pinning their hopes on President-elect Joe Biden as they struggle to obtain coronavirus vaccines to curb a coronavirus surge that has packed hospitals and morgues. Doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been arriving haphazardly as they make their way from the federal government through the state...
Walters: After COVID-19, Drought Threat Still Looms
California is enveloped in balmy weather that’s more like spring than mid-winter — and that’s not a good thing. We have seen only scant rain and snow this winter, indicating that the state may be experiencing one of its periodic droughts and adding another layer of crisis to the COVID-19...
Fierce California Winds Fan Fires, Topple Trees and Trucks
SANTA CRUZ — Months-old embers from a deadly California fire were blown back to life Tuesday by powerful winds that raked the state and prompted safety blackouts to tens of thousands of people. Firefighters chased wind-driven blazes up and down the state, trees and trucks were toppled, Yosemite National Park...
Monarch Butterfly Population Moves Closer to Extinction
SAN FRANCISCO — The number of western monarch butterflies wintering along the California coast has plummeted precipitously to a record low, putting the orange-and-black insects closer to extinction, researchers announced Tuesday. An annual winter count by the Xerces Society recorded fewer than 2,000 butterflies, a massive decline from the tens...
Newsom Sets New Tone for California, White House Partnership
SACRAMENTO— After four years of sparring with President Donald Trump, California is ready for a more productive, friendlier chapter with Democratic President-elect Joe Biden. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom outlined his areas of agreement and places where he hopes to collaborate with the new administration Tuesday in a letter to Biden....
California Guard Pleads Guilty to Lies in Inmate’s Death
SACRAMENTO — A former California correctional officer pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to submitting a false report in connection with a federal civil rights investigation into the death of an inmate at a Sacramento-area prison Ashley Marie Aurich, 32, of Sacramento, lied about seeing another another former correctional officer,...
Watchdog Criticizes Newsom for Favoring Big Cities with COVID Relief Funds
California should have spent more money helping its smaller counties battle the coronavirus, state Auditor Elaine Howle said Tuesday, criticizing Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration for favoring places with big populations despite data showing the needs of rural areas “were at least the same if not greater.” And while the Newsom...