Amtrak is beefing up its train schedule through the San Joaquin Valley, adding weekend runs of its San Joaquins service between Bakersfield and Sacramento. The new schedule, which takes effect May 20, will feature departures every two hours from Bakersfield, Oakland and Sacramento, with stops in Fresno. This schedule is...
State Workers Misspent $427,000 in Taxpayer Money, Audit Finds. One Binged on YouTube at Work.
SACRAMENTO — A California Department of Transportation manager commuted some 450 miles to work — from San Diego to Sacramento — for two years and the state paid for it, according to an audit released Tuesday. An administrator at Valley State Prison in Chowchilla watched thousands of YouTube videos at...
ICE Arrests Man Charged with Killing 3 Near Sacramento
SAN FRANCISCO — Federal immigration agents on Tuesday arrested a suspected drunken driver who was free on bail after being charged with plowing into a Northern California trailer home and killing three sleeping family members. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Paul Prince said Ismael Huazo-Jardinez, 33, is suspected of...
Gov. Newsom Wants to End Tax on Tampons, Diapers
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, unveiled Tuesday what they call a "parents' agenda," including proposals to end the sales tax on tampons and diapers and to use revenue from legal marijuana sales to expand child care programs. "The governor and I are proud parents...
How Powerful Lawmakers are Killing California Bills—Without a Peep
Gun control, school spending, curbs on greenhouse gases: With Democrats holding more power at the Capitol than they’ve had since the 19th century, California’s legislative pipeline is full this year with big, blue-state ideas. In theory, no Democrat’s bill should be left behind. But that’s not what’s happening, and the...
California Vaccine Rules Advance Over Emotional Opposition
SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers advanced tougher rules for vaccinations late Wednesday after hearing hours of testimony from hundreds of opponents while the nation grapples with the highest number of measles cases in decades. The Senate Health Committee approved the proposal to give state public health officials instead of local doctors...
Lawsuit Alleges Assault by Ex-Leader of California Democrats
SACRAMENTO — A California Democratic Party staffer has filed a lawsuit against his employer and its former chairman alleging assault, sexual battery and sexual harassment. William Floyd's lawsuit alleges former party chairman Eric Bauman forcibly performed oral sex on him three times between 2016 and 2018, and that Bauman groped...
Lawmakers and Landlords: More Than a Quarter of California Legislators Are Both
In a quiet neighborhood on the outskirts of south Sacramento, the property looks like any other on the block: a single-story house that could use a new paint job, a large front yard that could use a little tidying, a chain-link fence circumferencing the lot. The tenants inside have no...
Gun Groups: Million-Plus Extended Magazines Flood California
SACRAMENTO — More than a million high-capacity ammunition magazines flooded into California during a one-week window created when a federal judge temporarily threw out the state's ban, gun owners' groups estimated Thursday. Reform groups said the projections are self-serving as gun rights organizations try to make the case that magazines...
Kamala Harris Backs Idea to Unionize Child Care Workers
Democratic presidential contender Kamala Harris was just about to take the stage Monday night at Sacramento’s Sheraton Grand Hotel ballroom when she spotted and ran over to a group of women sporting yellow t-shirts sitting on the right side of the auditorium. They were California child-care workers hoping to win collective...