Free Republic

Voter ID is crucial to restoring public trust in our democratic process. That’s why I encourage all Californians to vote yes on Proposition 39 this November and restore confidence in our elections. “Every vote matters” may be a cliché — but it’s true. In 2024, Orange County Republican Rep. Michelle Steel was defeated by 653 votes. In the Central Valley, Republican Congressman John Duarte was defeated by an even smaller margin: just 187 votes.

Gavin Newsom’s official calendars show the lefty governor listing zero government business on a staggering 18 taxpayer-funded workdays in the first four months of the year, The California Post has learned. The uber-secretive Newsom — who only finally released his calendars after a monthslong delay that required legal intervention by The Post’s lawyers — marked the 18 non-holiday weekdays as “no official business,” or about one in every four days. The governor’s calendar also includes 53 murky entries only described as “work time,” blocking off the large chunks to tinker on unknown tasks. On Feb. 6, for example, Newsom’s sole...

Verizon customers across Southern California were experiencing service outages Sunday after multiple fiber lines were vandalized, the company said. The damage was affecting some wireless and internet customers in Los Angeles and other parts of the region, according to a Verizon spokesperson. The company did not specify exactly where the vandalism occurred or how many customers were impacted. Verizon engineers were working with third-party vendors at the affected sites to make repairs and restore service. The company described the vandalism as a threat to public safety, saying damaged communications infrastructure can leave entire neighborhoods without access to essential services, including...

A court temporarily blocked an anti-voting measure from happening in a red-leaning California county where it would have imposed restrictive voter ID rules and stopped early voting. The new election policies, called Measure B, were passed by Shasta County voters in June. The measure would have also eliminated mail voting, required hand-counting ballots and created a separate voter registration system disconnected from the state’s voter rolls. In granting a preliminary injunction to halt the initiatives, Shasta County Superior Court Judge Benjamin Hanna said most of them violated state law. “Measure B seeks to create a whole new electoral system that...

Eighty-two years ago, on November 1, 1942, America's distilleries were faced with a second prohibition, this time coming from the War Production Board. No more liquor would be produced by the nation's distilleries, as the entire efforts of their industry was needed to produce war alcohol. It is one of the many ways that America's booze was affected by the World War. Bullets and Booze: How WWII Changed America's Drinks | 16:30 The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered 1.64M subscribers | 150,246 views | November 1, 2024

A California city pulled the plug on its entire computer network after a cyberattack knocked out key systems, including 911 routing and police and fire dispatch. Suisun City declared a state of emergency Saturday after malicious software breached its IT systems at about 5:45 a.m. Friday. The city’s response was drastic. Officials shut down the entire network to stop the threat from spreading and protect evidence for a federal investigation. Despite the digital chaos, Suisun City officials said residents are not facing an immediate danger. Emergency crews remain on the streets, with city dispatchers routing calls through the Solano County...

America's most powerful banker has made a huge bet on San Francisco by investing $200 million in Bay Area housing and opening a new headquarters there. JPMorgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon designated the region as a new corporate center for the bank this week, after pledging to fund hundreds of waterfront units in the city. Dimon praised the Golden City's booming economy and the stunning comeback it has made on public safety since the initiation of Mayor Daniel Lurie in January 2025. Speaking at the San Francisco Chase Center on Monday, Dimon said Lurie has been 'doing all the right...

Fire and looting erupted across Los Angeles in the early morning hours Saturday as two unruly street takeovers spiraled into chaos just hours apart. The disturbing incidents unfolded in East Los Angeles and the Gramercy Park neighborhood. Both sprang from rowdy street takeovers, despite mounting public outrage and a steady infusion of city resources dedicated to stopping them. A car fire erupted after a street takeover in the southern part of the city. Los Angeles fire officials told The California Post that an engine responded to an auto fire around 4:52 a.m. and put out the massive blaze. Footage from...

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has joined a coalition of 19 attorneys general in supporting a federal lawsuit challenging Idaho's law that bars transgender students from using school restrooms and other sex-separated facilities that align with their gender identity. The coalition filed an amicus brief urging a federal judge in Idaho to block enforcement of the law while the lawsuit moves forward, arguing that the measure is unconstitutional and undermines the rights and safety of transgender students. Idaho's House Bill 264 prohibits transgender people from using restrooms and other sex-separated facilities consistent with their gender identity in certain public educational...

The most interesting race in California may be Gloria Romero’s run for the oft-ignored position of Lieutenant Governor. What makes this race different is that Romero is a different kind of Republican whose background constitutes a vigorous challenge to the standard-brand Democrat, Treasurer Fiona Ma. Romero is a 71-year-old Republican — but also a former Democratic State Senate majority leader and onetime leftist firebrand. Republican National Committeeman Shawn Steel calls her nomination “the most important development for the California GOP in a generation.”

Former NBA player Brandon Clarke died of a lethal combination of drugs, according to officials. The County of Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner announced on Friday the 29-year-old passed away from “the effects of heroin and cocaine.” It added that the manner of his passing was an accident. Clarke died inside of a San Fernando Valley home on May 11, and according to the LA County DME, medical personnel first located him “unresponsive in his bedroom” at around 5 p.m. He was ultimately pronounced deceased at 5:15 p.m. Drug paraphernalia was discovered near his body and the initial investigation...

A small California city came into national view this week after a late-night host publicized its police department’s widespread surveillance network and questioned why its cameras had recorded a hotel property and its pool “for hundreds of hours.” In response, the spokesperson for the police department in Rialto, an Inland Empire city east of Los Angeles, downplayed concerns, saying the footage was only “passive monitoring.” John Oliver, host of “Last Week Tonight” on HBO, delivered a segment on police surveillance technology on Sunday. The comedian took jabs at several systems that have proliferated across the Bay Area, including Flock, the...

A man wanted in connection with the sexual assault of a child in Canada more than 30 years ago was arrested in Santa Cruz, according to ICE San Francisco. Charles Peter Billone, 64, was found hiding in Santa Cruz after decades on the run from Canadian law enforcement. He has been wanted since 1991 for allegedly sexually assaulting a child. According to ICE San Francisco, Billone also has previous convictions for possession of stolen property, assault and drug-related offenses. He is currently in ICE custody pending removal. Articles published by Canadian news outlets in 2014 reported that Billone had been...

Eric Swalwell leveraged his past romantic relationship with Katie Miller, wife of top Trump official Stephen Miller, to keep potentially embarrassing FBI files behind lock and key, a shocking new report revealed Thursday. The news that the disgraced former Democratic Congressman from California — who resigned after several women claimed sexual assault and rape — once dated the now-wife of a top conservative leader stunned Washington. “I was an intern working on Capitol Hill,” Miller posted on X about the situation. Then Katie Waldman worked as both an intern and communications director on Capitol Hill in her 20s before moving...

Eric Swalwell once dated Katie Miller, the woman now married to Trump's top deputy Stephen Miller, and the long-buried romance has reportedly surfaced at the center of the fight over the FBI's 'Fang Fang' files. Lawyers for the disgraced former Democratic lawmaker brought up the relationship as they battled to stop the Justice Department from making public its investigative file on his ties to suspected Chinese spy Christine Fang, according to the Sources Say newsletter. Fang, who fled to China in 2015 as the FBI closed in, spent years cozying up to rising California Democrats, helping bundle donations for Swalwell's...

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed Thursday that one of two Jordanian nationals who tried to sneak onto a Marine Corps base in Virginia this month had entered the U.S. illegally across the southern border in April. ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) confirmed in a statement to Fox5DC that the Jordanian national, referred to as “noncitizen 2” had entered the U.S. illegally less than a month prior: On April 8, 2024, the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) arrested Jordanian noncitizen 2 near San Ysidro, California, following his unlawful entry into the United States. On April 9, 2024, the USBP...

Los Angeles has any number of problems: crime, homelessness, and productive people are leaving due to the idiot policies of the city and the state of California. Now, we can again add that ancient curse of big cities: Disease. The other thing Los Angeles shares with so many other large cities throughout human history is rats. Rats have accompanied humans almost everywhere, and they bring disease with them. That, too, is happening right now in Los Angeles. In Los Angeles County (L.A.), rats abound. You may see only an occasional rat dart across an alley or root through a restaurant...

(KRON) — A new competition will award up to $150 million to people with ideas to help improve San Francisco. The initiative, called Boundless San Francisco, will award grants of up to $50 million to as many as three organizations with winning proposals. Eligible nonprofits, businesses, academic institutions, and other organizations from anywhere in the world can apply, as long as their idea is designed to benefit San Francisco. Projects can focus on a variety of issues, including housing, education, public spaces, transportation, homelessness, crime prevention, or other ideas that could make the city a better place to live. Organizers...

OAKLAND, Calif. - The Alameda County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday agreed to pay $12 million to the grandmother of an 8-year-old girl who died after years of abuse and neglect by her mother, despite several complaints made to the child welfare system, whose workers had determined she was safe.

Yolanda Olejniczak Marodi, 54, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the stabbing death of her wife, Cal Fire Capt. Rebecca Marodi, at their Ramona home in February 2025. The killing comes two decades after Olejniczak Marodi fatally stabbed her husband in her prior marriage; she faces up to 36 years to life in prison at sentencing in September. Home security video captured Rebecca begging for her life before the attack, investigators say. For the second time, Yolanda Olejniczak Marodi has been found guilty of killing a spouse — both times with a knife.On Tuesday in San Diego County Superior Court,...