Free Republic

On Monday, The Hill reported that Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., walked out of a moment of silence on the House floor for victims of Sunday’s mass shooting at a Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Lieu said he “will not be silent” after yet another massacre. “My colleagues right now are doing a moment of silence in the House of Representatives’ chambers,” he said. “I respect their right to do that and I myself have participated in many of them.” “But I can’t do this again, I’ve been to too many moments of silences. In just my short period in...

State Department investigation provides insight on Democrats’ imported electorate. President Donald Trump estimated that three to five million illegals had caused him to lose the popular vote, which Hillary Clinton carried by 2.8 million votes. Trump duly launched a commission on voter fraud headed by vice president Mike Pence and Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach. That probe had Democrats bellowing through their bullhorns. “There’s simply no evidence of widespread voter fraud in this country. Period.” That was California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 84, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, who is seeking another term next year. As it happens,...

California to tax pot as much as 45% by Aaron Smith @AaronSmithCNN October 31, 2017: 2:24 PM ET Buying legal marijuana in California could be pricey enough to keep the black market healthy. Between customers, retailers and growers, taxes on cannabis may reach as high as 45% in parts of the state, according to a Fitch Ratings report. Those high taxes may keep consumers away from legal marijuana stores once the recreational retail market goes live on January 1. "High effective tax rates on California cannabis may complicate the state's efforts to establish legal markets" said analysts Stephen Walsh and...

Santa Clara County officials said they “are not going to be intimidated” by the Trump Administration’s hard-line immigration crackdown after the county was targeted in a nationwide series of federal immigration sweeps that yielded nearly two dozen arrests in the South Bay.

Just one day after California Governor Jerry Brown compared supporters of President Trump to cave dwellers, he told the United Nations the U.S. is not run by Trump. Speaking at a UN roundtable event on Tuesday, the Democrat vowed to fight climate change despite Trump’s stand on the issue.

Jail and court records showed Mejia, an admitted gang member, had been arrested and jailed at least five times in the ten months between his release from state prison and murders. Each time Mejia was arrested he spent only a few days in jail while under the supervision of County probation officers, according to booking records. The secret report is said to detail how carefully the probation officers kept tabs on Mejia, and why efforts were not made to impose a more significant consequence for the repeated arrests, County officials have said. "The public's right to know must be balanced...

Following the Trump administration's announcement that it would rescind DACA, fifteen states and the District of Columbia sued the U.S. government over the decision. Although California was conspicuously absent from the list, the state's attorney general has announced that he's filing a separate lawsuit against the government for rescinding DACA. The agreement came on the same day the state sued the Trump administration over its decision to end a program that shields young immigrants from deportation. Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, agreed to changes demanded by Brown following fierce opposition from sheriffs and other law-enforcement officials........

The woman who created the 2012 deportation amnesty for Dreamers filed a lawsuit Friday protesting the Trump administration’s move to phase out the program, saying the decision was done on President Trump’s executive “whim.” Janet Napolitano, who as President Obama’s Homeland Security secretary created the DACA program, is now the president of the University of California, and is leading the school system’s lawsuit demanding the program be reinstated. She said her school system stands to lose money and the chance to educate some of its 4,000 illegal immigrant students, as well as perhaps having to let go its illegal immigrant...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Californians could see their water bills increase under a measure passed by lawmakers Thursday. The legislative bill approved by the state Assembly would let local governments charge residents for storm water management systems without voter approval. Supporters of the measure say it will help cities and counties prevent flooding and save water. Opponents say it violates Californians' right to vote on taxes.

The fridge, which had been left in the middle of the street, was spotted shortly before 6 a.m. by a male passerby, who opened it and saw the deceased man inside, Ontario police Sgt. Jeff Higbee told the San Bernardino Sun. The passerby immediately alerted authorities, who responded to the scene to investigate. ... A cause of death was not immediately known, but there were no obvious signs of trauma on the body, which was fully clothed, Higbee told the newspaper. It was also not immediately clear how or when the fridge was placed in the street...

A first grader at a California charter school was sent to the principal’s office this week after she accidentally “mis-gendered” a transgender classmate in what’s being called a “pronoun mishap.”This Isn’t the First Time We’ve Heard of Rocklin The incident occurred at Rocklin Academy, a school rocked by controversy after a kindergarten teacher led an in-class discussion on transgenderism that included a “gender reveal” for a little boy who was transitioning to a little girl.For kindergartners.Parents were furious because they were not informed in advance and were not given the chance to opt-out their five-year-olds from the classroom transgender...

Language is malleable, right? After all, a dictionary doesn't define a word's spelling, it simply gives the most common version of it. Well, how about a name? UCLA's The Den tweeted Monday morning that a recently unveiled statue at the new $700 million USC Village displays a typo.

On August 1st, 2017, in Victorville, California, a suspect attempted to rob the Star Market on 7th St. In the image above, the armed robbery suspect is "fleeing" the scene.  A clerk pulled out his gun, and the suspect took off. The suspect was armed and brandishing a gun when the clerk accessed his defensive weapon. Many will tell you that once an attacker starts to flee, they are not a deadly threat and cannot be legally engaged with gunfire. In cases where the attack is committed with hands and feet, or with a contact weapon, that may be...

California Labor Commissioner Julie Su has ordered state employees to prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from entering the department’s offices without a warrant. According to the Sacramento Bee, Su issued the directive last month, ostensibly to protect illegal aliens reporting employee abuse at the hands of employers. One Democrat Assemblyman from San Francisco is pushing it one step, further the Bee reports, proposing a law to limit ICE accesses to workplaces: “The atmosphere of fear created by Trump and ICE’s expanded dragnet hurt all California workers,” said Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, who sponsored the bill that would...

California has faced a number of setbacks in implementing the state's latest gun-control measures, causing a number of deadlines to be pushed back and leaving some measures in legal limbo. After passing laws that expand the definition of "assault weapon" and make it illegal to possess gun magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition, the state is facing myriad problems in trying to enforce the new laws. The first trouble came when the California Department of Justice (DOJ) attempted to draft their plan to register all of the rifles in California which have "bullet button" reloading devices...

When the mayor of Visalia, located in California's agricultural Central Valley, mentioned to a local Sikh businessman that the city of 120,000 might have to forego a July Fourth fireworks display due to financial concerns, the religious community jumped.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California’s efforts to strengthen what already are some of the nation’s strictest gun laws took two blows this week, the latest coming when a federal judge blocked a law set to take effect Saturday that would have barred gun owners from possessing high-capacity ammunition magazines.

On 6 June, 2017, at a quiet residential home in Fresno, California, a home invasion resulted in a gunfight . The 30 -year-old  victim who fought back was wounded, two home invaders were killed, as was another victim, the father of the wounded defender. Another man was wounded. His name was not released. The defensive firearm used was described as an AR-15. From abc30.com: Yang said the family was preparing to celebrate her brother-in-law's birthday when in the early morning two armed suspects walked through their front door. The father, 69-year-old Chong Yee Yang, hollered to warn his children--...

Democrats in the state Legislature are walking a tightrope, seemingly oblivious to potential danger. First, they raised gas taxes and vehicle fees. Then the Senate passed a ridiculously costly universal healthcare plan. Now, the Legislature is getting close to helping undocumented criminals avoid deportation. How far left can the majority party careen, even in deep blue California, before Republicans start benefiting at the ballot box? California voters only like state taxes that other people pay. A recent poll by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies found that 58% of voters oppose the transportation funding plan. In contrast to the gas-tax...

Napa, Calif., Jun 1, 2017 / 04:24 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- What’s a good way to reach a lot of young people all at once?Plant yourself at an entrance of a popular music festival with a sign, some free stuff, and a smile.That’s what Catholic priest Fr. David Jenuwine did last weekend, at BottleRock Napa, a three-day music festival with roughly 30,000 in attendance.His sign read simply: Catholic priest. Blessings, Prayers, Confessions, Answers.Fr. Jenuwine, parochial vicar at St. Apollinaris Parish in Napa, California, told CNA that he had been trying to brainstorm creative ways to reach out to young adults...