Free Republic

Critics excoriated California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his fellow Democrats Thursday over a set of videos showing the shocking aftermath of looted trains in Los Angeles. The videos, posted on Twitter by local CBS photojournalist John Schreiber, showed massive amounts of opened packages, cardboard, and packaging materials strewn around the tracks. "Keep hearing of train burglaries in LA on the scanner so went to [Lincoln Heights] to see it all. And… there’s looted packages as far as the eye can see. Amazon packages, [UPS] boxes, unused Covid tests, fishing lures, epi pens. Cargo containers left busted open on trains," Schreiber...

LOS ANGELES — Cannabis advocates, small farmers and business owners called Thursday for an overhaul of the California marijuana tax system as they struggle to keep afloat amid rising operating and regulatory costs. They gathered outside the State Capitol in Sacramento to make their case and warn that the industry could collapse if steps aren't taken soon. “We’re here today because the craft cannabis industry here in California is in crisis and on the brink of collapse,” said Amber Senter, a co-founder and the executive director of Supernova Women, a nonprofit organization that works to create opportunities for people of...

If California is ever going to achieve true equity, the state must require parents to give away their children. Today’s Californians often hold up equity — the goal of a just society completely free from bias — as our greatest value. Gov. Gavin Newsom makes decisions through “an equity lens.” Institutions from dance ensembles to tech companies have publicly pledged themselves to equity...

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) took to the Senate floor on Thursday and delivered a speech that could be described as having a little something for everyone. There was, however, one little something that was much bigger than all the rest: her steadfast resolve about not getting rid of the filibuster. Knowing what the crux of this speech was going to mean for the future of the Republic, I really wanted to love it. Sinema is my senator, and so far has been an ongoing surprise for conservatives here in the Grand Canyon State. She seems to grasp the true purple...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday reversed the state parole board's decision to grant parole to Sirhan Sirhan, the man convicted of killing Robert F. Kennedy more than 50 years ago, saying he remains a threat to society. Sirhan was convicted and originally sentenced to death but was commuted to life in prison for fatally shooting Sen. Robert Kennedy, the former attorney general under his brother, President John F. Kennedy, on June 5, 1968, at the Los Angeles Ambassador Hotel. Five bystanders were also shot, all of whom survived. The presidential hopeful was slain in front of his family, friends...

Santa Clara County officials and advocates are rejoicing as the federal government agrees to reassess the use of leaded aviation gasoline nationwide. During a news conference Wednesday, County Counsel James Williams announced the Environmental Protection Agency approved a petition from the county and several environmental organizations to evaluate whether leaded fuel used by airplanes is a threat to public health and welfare. Leaded fuel for cars was banned in the U.S. more than two decades ago, but it is still used by some airplanes, including those at the Reid-Hillview and San Martin airports in Santa Clara County. "Today is a...

Last Thursday was the second anniversary of the killing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani; while the date passed virtually unnoticed in the United States, it was a major event in the Islamic Republic of Iran, featuring numerous threats of revenge from enraged Iranian leaders. One of these stood out from the others: Soleimani’s successor as Quds Force commander declared that the revenge would come from inside the United States. Iran’s state-controlled Tasnim News Agency reported that Brigadier General Esmaeil Qaani was “delivering a speech to a ceremony in Mashhad” for the anniversary...

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi have hatched a whole new scheme to federalize elections. How? They gutted a NASA bill that had already been passed by the House and had made its way to the Senate floor, stripping out the language and replacing it with language that federalizes our elections. ACLJ Director of Government Affairs Thann Bennett explained how this bill was stripped down to be used for hyper-partisan legislation: "Can you imagine being the supporters of that NASA authority bill right now when it is now being used to take over elections,...

Four people were arrested in connection to the shooting of an off-duty Los Angeles cop who was killed during an alleged botched robbery. LA County Sheriff’s investigators said the four suspects were arrested on Wednesday— two days after LAPD Officer Fernando Arroyos was gunned down in South LA as he and his girlfriend were house hunting. Sheriff’s officials didn’t release the names of the suspects or list the charges against them.

The budget blueprint Newsom detailed this week includes $2 billion over two years in grants and tax credits to incentivize housing development... “Moving away from investments in housing that don’t focus on climate, health, integrating downtown, schools, jobs, parks and restaurants.” Jason Elliott, Newsom’s top housing advisor, said the governor’s budget interlaces housing, cost-of-living and climate policies to simultaneously address California’s top issues. “The whole government...It’s better for equity, it’s better for inclusion..." The $2 billion includes $500 million in grants for nonprofit and for-profit developers or local governments to construct more units on existing, but underused, urban land close...

FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26 NEWS) — A Med-Evac helicopter trying to leave Fresno was told to stay put Monday, along with many other flights trying to leave the area. The FAA isn’t saying why it issued the ground stop, but it came immediately after North Korea’s missile tests. The Fresno Airport says it wasn’t notified of a ground stop, because the FAA oversees all air traffic and oversees the tower at FAT. The airport says there were no major delays around the ground stop. We do, know, however, that a CALSTAR Med-Evac helicopter that flew to CRMC was temporarily stuck in...

A retired sheriff’s captain who tried to unseat Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith in 2014 is trying again next year, amid a cloud of criticism over the six-term incumbent that hit a crescendo this week when the Board of Supervisors formally gave her a vote of no confidence. Kevin Jensen filed with the county registrar on Tuesday, records show, the same day that the no-confidence vote was held ...

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Amid a dramatic surge in COVID-19 infections, Los Angeles County's public health director Tuesday urged residents to avoid non-essential activities in the coming weeks, particularly those that are indoors and involve mingling with unvaccinated or higher-risk people. Fueled by the omicron variant of COVID-19, the county is experiencing pandemic-high levels of daily infection reports and the highest rate of virus transmission to date. The county on Tuesday reported 34,827 new infections, along with 15 more deaths.

On the Senate floor, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) accused Speaker Pelosi of trying to "steal an election" of Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA). Video 8:58 long

While the elite flock to Beverly Hill’s only gun shop looking for guns for self-defense, poor California minorities are finding it difficult to get through the state’s many gun control laws and acquire a firearm to use to keep themselves and their families safe. On December 30, 2021, Breitbart News noted that the rich and famous were flocking to Beverly Hill Guns for protection from the craziness that has overtaken day-to-day life in Los Angeles. FOX News now reports that other Californians, particularly minorities, are finding the acquisition of a firearm difficult. Geneva Solomon, owner of Los Angeles County’s Redstone...

Sonoma County is the first Bay Area county to restrict gatherings in response to the spread of the omicron variant in the region. On Monday, the county banned indoor gatherings of more than 50 people and outdoor gatherings of more than 100 people while asking residents to "stay home as much as possible for the next 30 days and limit interactions with those outside of their immediate household." “Our case rates are at their highest level since the pandemic began and our hospitalizations are climbing at an alarming rate as well,” health officer Dr. Sundari Mase said in a statement....

SAN FRANCISCO — A 58-story luxury apartment building in San Francisco continues to sink and is tilting about 3 inches per year, the engineer responsible for fixing the troubled building said. At the current rate without a fix, the Millennium Tower in just a few years could reach a 40-inch tilt, which would be the point at which the elevators and plumbing may no longer operate, said Ron Hamburger, the engineer. Hamburger told the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in an update hearing last week that the building remains safe and that installing 18 steel piles to bedrock is the...

This is classic word salad. I’ve never seen a column twist itself into a pretzel to justify mocking those who have died of COVID who also happened to be unvaccinated. How about this? Maybe you just don’t. Liberals have an incessant need to lecture. It’s part of their moral superiority complex. They need to explain why they’re right. The irony being that they’re almost always wrong. No one really dwells on this subject, except the Left. It’s concern trolling at its worst and this op-ed from The LA Times is a clear MVP winner in that category. Liberals are not...

Among all the ways that COVID-19 affects our lives, the pandemic confronts us with a profound moral dilemma: How should we react to the deaths of the unvaccinated? On the one hand, a hallmark of civilized thought is the sense that every life is precious. On the other, those who have deliberately flouted sober medical advice by refusing a vaccine known to reduce the risk of serious disease from the virus, including the risk to others, and end up in the hospital or the grave can be viewed as receiving their just deserts. That’s even more true of those who...

A pilot was hospitalized after their plane crashed in Pacoima on Sunday, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The crash, which occurred shortly after 2 p.m., involved a “small single engine airplane,” which was damaged when it landed on the Metrolink Antelope Valley line train tracks near Whiteman Airport, the LAFD said in a pair of alerts. The Associated Press identified the plane as a Cessna 172. After the pilot was removed from the plane by the Los Angeles Police Department, the aircraft was struck by an oncoming train, the LAPD Operations-Valley Bureau said on Twitter.