SACRAMENTO — California has set a goal of phasing out electricity produced by fossil fuels by 2045 under legislation signed Monday by Gov. Jerry Brown. Brown, who has positioned California as a global leader in the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, approved the measure as he prepares to host...
Upon Brown's Signature, Help Is a Call Away for Foster Youth
Foster youth and their caregivers may have a new way to seek support in tough times. That new way is through Assembly Bill 2043. The bill, which Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula introduced back in February, seeks to improve living conditions for foster children and their caregivers. What the Bill Will Do...
California Bill Would Allow Medical Pot on School Campuses
SACRAMENTO — Some California parents would be allowed to give their children medical marijuana on school campuses under a bill passed Monday by the state Assembly and sent to Gov. Jerry Brown. State law has allowed minors to access medical marijuana since the 1990s but prohibits it on school campuses....
Gov. Brown Signs Bill Ending Bail Before Trial
SACRAMENTO — California will become the first state to eliminate bail for suspects awaiting trial under a bill signed Tuesday by Gov. Jerry Brown. The bill will replace bail with a risk-assessment system, although it's still unclear how the system will work. It will take effect in October 2019. Brown's...
Vidak Urges Passage of Revised Drinking Water Bill
State legislation to fix outdated drinking water systems in California has gotten a boost from a key change in the way the program would be funded. Under an updated bill in Sacramento, a voluntary fee on all public water system users in the state would be used to create a...
Bill to End Bail in California Heads to Gov. Brown
SACRAMENTO — A bill approved Tuesday by the California Senate to end bail and replace it with a risk-assessment system is headed to Gov. Jerry Brown, who has indicated he supports it. Senators approved the bill 26-12. It would make California the first state to completely end bail for suspects...
Fresno Pastor, a Cambodian Refugee, Pardoned for 1990s Gang Killing
California Gov. Jerry Brown has pardoned three former prisoners facing the threat of deportation to Cambodia, including a Fresno man, Vanna In, who became a youth pastor after serving six years in the 1990s for murdering a rival gang member. "I feel like these things don't happen to guys like...
Time to Pass Safe & Affordable Drinking Water Fund Legislation
Farmworkers plant and harvest the California fruits and vegetables that feed our families. But when they turn the faucets in their own homes, they too often encounter something unthinkable — contaminated water, infused with unsafe levels of arsenic or nitrates from fertilizer. The presence of dangerous, undrinkable water in the...
Time to Pass Safe & Affordable Drinking Water Fund Legislation
Farmworkers plant and harvest the California fruits and vegetables that feed our families. But when they turn the faucets in their own homes, they too often encounter something unthinkable — contaminated water, infused with unsafe levels of arsenic or nitrates from fertilizer. The presence of dangerous, undrinkable water in the...
Brown Denies Parole for Weidert, Who Buried Fresno Man Alive
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown has again blocked parole for the killer of a developmentally disabled Fresno man who was buried alive. Brown said Friday that 55-year-old David Weidert remains too dangerous to be released. He overruled the recommendation by a state parole panel for the second time in three...