Free Republic

More than 50,000 Los Angeles County workers were on strike again Tuesday, closing libraries and disrupting administrative operations in the nation's most populous county and organizing a large march in downtown LA. The two-day walkout that began Monday followed failed negotiations with the county for a new contract after the last one expired in March, according to the Service Employees International Union Local 721. The union represents employees including public health professionals, social workers, parks and recreation staff, custodians, clerical workers and others serving a county of 10 million residents. It will be the first time all of its about...

President Trump signed an executive order Monday that requires commercial truck drivers in the United States to be proficient in English. The text of the order acknowledges the essential role that truck drivers play in the U.S. economy and the livelihood of American people. “Every day, truckers perform the demanding and dangerous work of transporting the Nation’s goods to businesses, customers, and communities safely, reliably, and efficiently,” the order said. Trump designated English as the country’s official language in an executive order in March. In his order Monday, the president said proficiency in English should be nonnegotiable for professional drivers....

While more than 55,000 unionized workers for Los Angeles County are set to strike Monday evening, county officials said there is simply no money to meet the employees’ demands. The members of Service Employees International Union Local 721, including public works employees, library workers and mental health professionals, were expected to walk off the job for 48 hours, starting at 7 p.m. Monday, accusing the county of failing to negotiate a new labor contract fairly. “We faced nothing less than disrespect at the bargaining table,” a union leader said during a rally, claiming the county's proposal was a 0% increase...

California lawmakers in the Assembly Public Safety Committee are blocking a proposal that would make it a felony to purchase 16 and 17-year-old children for sex. Assemblyman Nick Shultz, the Democratic chairman of the committee, confirmed AB 379, a bill to crack down on the consumers of the child sex trafficking industry, will move forward on Tuesday, but without the proposed felony charge. It's the latest development in a debate that has been underway for more than a year at the state capitol as lawmakers target criminals who buy children for sex. Last year, Republican State Senator Shannon Grove first...

California Democrats are pushing legislation to require background checks for gun barrel purchases, effectively taking the “ghost gun” regulatory push to its logical conclusion. The bill, Senate Bill 704, is sponsored by state Sen. Jesse Arreguín (D). SB 704 singles out firearm barrels among the many other parts of firearm, requiring a background check for any replacement barrel or aftermarket barrel upgrade purchase. […] Moreover, SB 704 specifically outlines how the costs of performing background checks for barrels must be handled, making clear that the legislation literally creates “a new crime,” albeit a misdemeanor, in the state California. …

ARMONK, N.Y., April 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced plans to invest $150 billion in America over the next five years to fuel the economy and to accelerate its role as the global leader in computing. This includes an investment of more than $30 billion in research and development to advance and continue IBM's American manufacturing of mainframe and quantum computers. "Technology doesn't just build the future — it defines it," said Arvind Krishna, IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer. "We have been focused on American jobs and manufacturing since our founding 114 years ago, and...

Health insurance giant Blue Shield of California is notifying millions of people of a data breach. The company confirmed on Wednesday that it had been sharing patients’ private health information with tech and advertising giant Google since 2021. The insurer said that the data sharing stopped in January 2024, but it only learned this February that the years-long collection contained patients’ personal and sensitive health information. Blue Shield said it used Google Analytics to track how its customers used its websites, but a misconfiguration had allowed for personal and health information to be collected as well, such as the search...

Right Wing Watch @RightWingWatch Kyle Langford, a 20-something Nick Fuentes acolyte, is running for governor of California on a platform of deporting all male undocumented immigrants and then giving all the females one year to marry a "Californian incel" to avoid deportation. 11:49 AM · Apr 15, 2025

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Friday she will be joining the bipartisan Congressional Delegation to attend Pope Francis’ funeral in the Vatican on Saturday. Despite claiming to be Catholic, in 2022 Pelosi was denied holy communion by the Archbishop of San Francisco due to her pro-abortion views, which conflict with Church teachings. ... After numerous attempts to speak with Speaker Pelosi to help her understand the grave evil she is perpetrating, the scandal she is causing, and the danger to her own soul she is risking, I have determined that she is not to be admitted to Holy Communion,”...

According to preliminary data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, California's economy is now the fourth largest in the world, surpassing Japan. Data from the International Monetary Fund and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis shows California's GDP at $4.1 trillion compared with Japan's $4.02 trillion. Only the rest of the United States, China and Germany have higher GDPs. "California isn't just keeping pace with the world -- we're setting the pace. Our economy is thriving because we invest in people, prioritize sustainability, and believe in the power of innovation," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said. "And, while we celebrate...

Wolves in California are costing ranchers millions of dollars far beyond just the price of cattle killed, .. A Wyoming rancher says the secondary costs of predation are well-known here. ... As California’s wolf population expands, the predators there are costing ranchers millions — not just in value of the cattle killed, but through collateral effects as well ... one wolf can cause $69,000 to $162,000 in “direct and indirect losses from lower pregnancy rates in cows and decreased weight gain in calves,” .. Those results should come as no surprise to Wyoming ranchers, Jim Magagna, executive vice president of...

In 2022, California made sweeping changes to its Medi-Cal program that reimagined what health care could look like for some of the state’s poorest and sickest residents by covering services from housing to healthy food. But the future of that program, known as CalAIM, could be at risk under the Trump administration. In recent weeks, federal officials have signaled that support for creative uses of Medi-Cal funding is waning, particularly uses that California has invested in such as rent assistance and medically tailored meals. Medi-Cal is California’s name for Medicaid. The moves align with a narrower vision of Medicaid espoused...

Several major blue cities in the U.S. have been marred by a slate of massive budgetary problems in recent years. City officials in Chicago and Los Angeles are currently grappling with how to address substantial budget shortfalls. Meanwhile, Philadelphia is struggling with various financial issues across several sectors, with both its school district and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), the city’s public transit system, facing massive budget deficits. Chicago is facing a projected budget gap of nearly $1.2 billion for fiscal year 2026. The city’s budget deficit has largely been exacerbated by soaring pension costs, declining state revenue and...

Rep. Eric Swalwell’s campaign spent thousands of dollars after the election on childcare expenses for the California Democrat, raising potential ethics concerns for a lawmaker who has been accused in the past of using his campaign war chest as a "personal piggybank." According to campaign finance records, the Swalwell campaign spent at least $20,000 on "childcare" from Nov. 8, three days after the election, to March 31. The payments went to two of the Swalwell family’s longtime babysitters as well as a Washington, D.C.-area Spanish language immersion preschool where tuition is around $3,000 per month. The payments raise potential ethics...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) celebrated Wednesday as his state became the world’s fourth-largest economy — albeit one that cannot fix homelessness or protect its citizens from devastating wildfires. Newsom’s office cited data indicating that California had surpassed Japan and that only the U.S., China, and Germany had larger economies, in terms of total output. He boasted in a press statement: California isn’t just keeping pace with the world—we’re setting the pace. Our economy is thriving because we invest in people, prioritize sustainability, and believe in the power of innovation. And, while we celebrate this success, we recognize that our...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California is spending $500 million to put an additional 1,000 electric school buses on the road as federal cuts and freezes paused efforts in other states to replace aging diesel-fueled fleets that are more polluting. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced Wednesday that 1,000 zero-emission school buses and related charging infrastructure will be provided to over 130 rural, low-income and disadvantaged school districts. The state grants add about 500 more charging stations for school buses to more than 200 stations already in operation in districts. The expansion contrasts efforts in other states that were hampered by the...

https://californiaglobe.com/fr/california-reparations-bill-passed-in-assembly-judiciary-committee/

Jeffrey Ferguson, 74, was convicted for the 2023 killing of his wife Sheryl, 65, in their Anaheim Hills home.. A Southern California judge was convicted Tuesday of second-degree murder for the fatal shooting of his wife during an argument. Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, 74, was on trial for the 2023 killing of his wife Sheryl, 65, in their Anaheim Hills home. Ferguson took the stand in his defense and admitted to shooting his wife but claimed it was an accident. Jurors reached their decision Tuesday afternoon after deliberating since the day before. He was also found guilty...

Homelessness keeps rising, homeless taxes keep rising and the money disappears. In Los Angeles County, spring is in the air and so are higher taxes. Beyond the usual punishing ritual of April 15, county residents also now face some of the highest sales taxes in the country. Sales taxes in the area have shot up from 9.75% to as high as 11.25% to fund still more services for the ‘homeless’. The permanent sales tax increase is supposed to raise $1 billion a year to replace the stolen billions spent by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. Families will pay even...

A federal raid at a Home Depot store in Pomona [California] has sparked concern as families and community members said a group of day laborers were taken into custody Tuesday. Immigrant rights advocates held a demonstration outside the store, protesting the targeting of those they described as innocent civilians. “Our people should not be living in fear,” one speaker said. Video of the incident showed vehicles appearing to belong to Border Patrol surrounding the store’s parking lot Tuesday morning. The people who were taken into custody were transported to an undisclosed location. A man named Carlos spoke in Spanish as...