Free Republic

The Trump administration on Monday terminated a civil rights settlement with Sacramento City Unified School District aimed at ensuring a transgender student’s right to equal opportunity to education. The terminations of six agreements with educational institutions across the country are an escalation of President Donald Trump’s efforts to enforce an executive order that the government recognize only a person’s sex assigned at birth, according to the New York Times

California's delayed, over-budget high-speed train from Los Angeles to San Francisco is running fast in only one direction: Rising costs to even get rolling, which are now estimated to be $126 billion. "Today, we estimate with the right optimization just over $125 billion," California High Speed Rail Authority board member Anthony Williams told CBS's "60 Minutes" on Sunday. "I think $126 billion is the current estimate for that." Snip "We’re now in 2026: There are no trains; there’s no track laid; it was a complete bait and switch," Rep. Vince Fong, R-Calif., told "60 Minutes," saying the project "needs to...

With California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) nearing the end of his term, numerous candidates have stepped up to replace him in the upcoming gubernatorial primary race on June 2. Sixty-one individuals appear on the official certified list of candidates competing for California's top office. While there is currently no clear front-runner, several notable candidates have emerged. These include former Rep. Katie Porter (D), Rep. Eric Swalwell (D), climate advocate and businessman Tom Steyer (D), Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco (R), and Fox News host and small-business owner Steve Hilton (R). President Donald Trump released a post on social media on...

California will spend up to $19 million in taxpayer funds on a public relations campaign, with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration awarding the contract to Edelman through the state’s Office of Business and Economic Development.The campaign will run from April 6 through the end of the year. It will promote California’s economy and tourism while countering what Newsom’s administration describes as “negative narratives” circulating online and in partisan media. The contract follows a request for proposals issued last month seeking a campaign to improve the state’s national image, including outreach tied to business development, tourism, workforce messaging, and potential investors. The...

June Lake is part of Mono County, which has the highest average gas price in the United States. “My husband and I were watching the news this morning, and it came on about $4 gas and I said, ‘Well, where are you? Ours is $7.50!’” she said, citing the price at the only gas station in her town.

For all his lightweight intellect and vanity-oriented preoccupations, Rep. Eric Swalwell is a very angry man.He's put out this threat to FBI agents who investigated his romance with a communist Chinese honeypot trapper and those who would release those files to the public as he runs for governor of California, saying he's got friends in Congress who will come to get them if they don't "come forward" as if they were guilty culprits:Swalwell is now threatening to haul FBI agents who don’t “come forward right now” before congress if Democrats retake the House: “To the FBI agents who are being...

Political media habitually use “race” to describe contests for public office. However the word implies movement and therefore would be inaccurate if applied to this year’s election of a new governor. Sixty-one names will be on the June 2 primary ballot, including 10 leaders who profess to be serious about seeking the office. However, they aren’t racing. Rather, the eight top-polling Democrats seem to be in a children’s game, sitting in a circle staring at each other, waiting for someone to blink. Meanwhile, the two top Republicans are taking potshots at each other, potentially undermining the GOP’s only chance to...

On a warm Sunday afternoon in February, the Huntington Library was packed with Lunar New Year festivities and early spring fever. A dozen giddy preteens gathered at the entrance, eager to walk on the pristinely landscaped San Marino grounds. Sporting brown berets and screen-printed vests with colorful hand-sewn badges, they followed chaperones inside as guests waiting in line recognized them. "Oh, my God," one fangirl said as another clapped. "It’s the Radical Monarchs!" Remaining calm and composed amid the applause, the tightknit group of girls strutted straight past bright red-clothed calligraphy tables and tea ceremonies to the MaryLou and George...

Gavin Newsom’s transport secretary has admitted criticism of California’s high-speed rail is justified — as estimates of the project show it will be a struggle to be completed. Officials now say it will cost an eye-watering $126 billion to finish the line from Los Angeles to San Francisco — which is more money than Amtrak has ever received from the federal government since it was established in 1971, a damning 60 Minutes report revealed. That’s and a huge uptick when compared to the $33 billion voters were told the rail would cost when it was announced way back in 2008....

Colorado attorneys are starting to push back after a certification prompt began appearing when they log into the state’s court e-filing system. The requirement traces back to Senate Bill 25-276 and related statutes, including C.R.S. § 24-74-105, which deal with how the state handles nonpublic personal identifying information. Under that law, access to certain data comes with a certification—made under penalty of perjury—about how it will be used. On paper, the statute applies broadly to third parties accessing protected data. In practice, though, the certification has now been built into Colorado Courts E-Filing (CCE), meaning attorneys are being asked to...

An alleged fraudster within the Los Angeles Unified School District appeared in a downtown court on Friday charged with taking part in a huge money laundering scam. Hong “Grace” Peng, 53 — who worked as a technical project manager for LAUSD — pled not guilty to facilitating an alleged eye-popping $22 million kickback scheme. The case comes as the scandal-plagued school district reels from fraud claims against Superintendent Alberto Carvalho.

There’s no doubt that oil prices have gone up since the war began. However, there’s also no doubt that they’re nowhere near as high as they’ve been in the not-so-distant past, including just a few short years ago during Joe Biden’s presidency. In California, as well, the prices far exceed those of any other state. ChatGPT collated the prices for me:AdvertisementHow in the heck did California’s fuel prices get so high?AdvertisementAn essay at the Marin Independent Journal provides some insight for its local readers, leading with the equivalent of “it’s mostly Trump’s fault.” However, what struck me about the essay...

What do you get when you cross the Corleone crime family with the Sopranos pulling off a heist even bigger than the Lucchese crime family's multimillion-dollar Lufthansa caper in 1978? I dunno, but it's got nothin' on California. If you haven't already read Rick Moran's excellent "Gavin Newsom, 'The Celebrated Jumping Fraud King of Calaveras County'," open that in a new tab, take a gander, then come back here. Because when I first read Rick's piece, I thought, "That's some massive theft going on, but how big is it, really?"Longtime Sharp VodkaPundit Readers™ know I can't look at the big...

The FBI arrested a married couple Thursday accused of fraudulently billing Medicare for $7.45 million while running a hospice with a survival rate reported to be more than 97% after five years. They were the first in a series of arrests planned Thursday, federal officials told CBS News. A high survival rate at a hospice provider is one of a series of red flags identified by state auditors for fraud because most people enter hospice care in the final stages of a terminal illness. In past cases of fraud, operators were found to be using false or stolen identities to...

Albertsons is closing additional stores and cutting jobs nationwide as it works to stabilize operations following the collapse of its $24.6 billion merger with Kroger, intensifying pressure on the grocery chain.The Boise, Idaho-based company — which operates banners including Safeway, Vons and Pavilions — has announced a new round of closures in recent weeks as it pivots to cost-cutting and operational changes.

California is a cash machine. The state collects some of the country’s highest income, business, and fuel taxes, and now spends more than $300 billion per year. And yet, everywhere you look, California seems to be falling apart. Mismanaged wildfires have turned neighborhoods into ash. Drug addiction and homelessness have metastasized, turning parts of Los Angeles and San Francisco into no-go zones. And the cost-of-living crisis is pricing middle-class taxpayers out of basic necessities like groceries and gas, even as the state spends billions on welfare programs that never seem to lift anyone out of poverty. Where is all this...

President Trump took aim at insurance giant State Farm and other providers by accusing them of abandoning Southern Californians devastated by last year’s wildfires. In a scathing Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump singled out State Farm, calling the company and others like it “horrendous” for failing homeowners who had faithfully paid premiums for years. “People have been paying them large premiums for years, only to find that when tragedy struck, these horrendous companies were not there to help!” the president wrote.

Three alleged members of MS-13 hunted humans across California and Nevada during a murder spree to boost their standing in the gang, a court has heard. Joel Vargas-Escobar, David Arturo Perez-Manchame and Jose Luis Reynaldo Reyes-Castillo, face charges including murder, attempted murder and kidnapping in aid of racketeering, and weapons charges in connection with the brutal killing of 11 people from 2017 to 2018 in California and Nevada. In the Lloyd D. George courthouse in Vegas on Monday, the jury was told the three alleged Salvadoran gangsters looked for people they could mutilate and abduct most nights. They went out...

Los Angeles County saw the largest decline of any county in the United States in 2025, according to new census data published on March 26. Nearly 54,000 people moved out of L.A. County between July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2025, U.S. Census data shows. The decline is part of an ongoing trend. In 2020 L.A. County was estimated to have more than 10 million residents. As of 2025, the county was thought to have just under 9.7 million residents. It’s unclear where the fleeing Angelinos are moving. However, the neighboring counties of Riverside and San Bernardino saw a combined...

An evil man will burn his own nation to the ground to rule over the ashes.” ~ Sun Tzu Nearly two weeks ago President Donald Trump announced he was invoking the Defense Production Act, and ordered the override of California laws blocking the restart of offshore oil production and the Santa Ynez Pipeline System to restart an oil pipeline project off the Santa Barbara coast, in the name of the “National Defense Resources Preparedness.” U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright directed Sable Offshore Corp. to restore operations of the Santa Ynez Unit and Santa Ynez Pipeline System to address supply...