Under current California law, more than 20 clearly violent crimes aren’t classified as violent, including rape of an unconscious person, trafficking a child for prostitution, assault with a deadly weapon and domestic violence. You can pimp a child for sex, beat a spouse or rape a young woman who passes...
Single Family Zoning Could Disappear Under State Housing Bill
SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers advanced a proposal Wednesday to spur more housing near transportation and jobs and make it easier to turn single-family homes into fourplexes as the state grapples with a lack of affordable housing. The measure, a compromise between two Democratic senators, sets different requirements for small and...
Walters: School Spending Popular, Taxes Not so Much
For years, even decades, polling has consistently found that Californians’ highest political priority is public education. That trend continues in a new survey by the Public Policy Institute of California, conducted in the wake of teacher strikes for higher salaries in three urban school districts. PPIC found that three-quarters of...
APNewsbreak: Motorist Who Hit Pedestrians Suffered From PTSD
SUNNYVALE — A California man who authorities said drove his car through a crosswalk in a quiet Silicon Valley suburb, slamming into eight people, is an Army veteran of the Iraq War who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, his mother told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Police said in a...
Law Enforcement Backs Down on Deadly Force Standard—For Now, Anyway
The political landscape in California’s debate over how to curb police shootings shifted Tuesday as law enforcement groups agreed to drop the part of their bill that would lock in the current national standard for justifying the use of deadly force. The move—intended to sustain negotiations on what could be...
Manson Follower Van Houten Gets Another Shot at Release
LOS ANGELES — Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten is getting another chance at getting out of prison following a years-long saga that has seen a board recommend her parole three separate times. Van Houten's case is being heard before California's 2nd District Court of Appeal, which will consider whether...
California Woman Charged With Dumping Puppies in Trash
LOS ANGELES — A California woman could face up to seven years behind bars on a slew of charges filed Tuesday after authorities say surveillance video showed her casually tossing a bag of 3-day-old puppies into a trash can on a sweltering day. Deborah Sue Culwell, 54, was charged with...
FBI Aids Probe After Car Plows Into 8 California Pedestrians
SUNNYVALE — The FBI is assisting California officials in the investigation of a motorist who appeared to deliberately plow into a group of people, injuring eight, authorities said Wednesday. Prentice Danner, a spokesman for the FBI's field office in San Francisco, said the Sunnyvale Police Department is the lead agency...
Parents Arrested in California After Children Found in Cages
ALTURAS — Authorities in Northern California say the parents of two boys found inside cages bolted to a bedroom wall have been arrested for child endangerment. Modoc County Sheriff Tex Dowdy said Tuesday deputies arrested 25-year-old Ramon Zendejas and his girlfriend, 25-year-old Mercadies Williams on Friday after deputies found the...
Walters: Can Newsom Finally Fix State's Tech Woes?
California is the global capital of technological innovation, but state officials are much more adept at devising catchy names for their big “information technology” projects than actually implementing them. Take, for instance, something called “BrEZee,” which is supposed to streamline how the state Department of Consumer Affairs licenses countless thousands...