Free Republic

The Biden administration could allow California to implement a rule designed to push green locomotives, but a growing list of stakeholders are warning that the regulation would severely impact the state’s economy and the national rail industry. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could soon determine whether it will allow the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to move forward with a state regulation that would ban the use of locomotives that are more than 23 years past their manufacturing date unless they run using zero-emissions technology, according to Progressive Railroading. The rule could disrupt supply chains and saddle the state’s railway...

Republican state Sen. Shannon Grove of California blasted her Democratic colleagues for weakening a bill that would make buying a child for sex a felony offense. The bill, which Grove introduced in February, would have made soliciting a minor for sex a felony charge with the potential for up to four years of prison time, a fine of up to $25,000 and required those convicted to register as sex offenders. Democratic lawmakers on the Senate Public Safety Committee passed amendments to the bill Wednesday, without Grove’s approval, that dropped chances of prison time to a max of one year in...

In sunny California, solar panels are everywhere. They sit in dry, desert landscapes in the Central Valley and are scattered over rooftops in Los Angeles’s urban center. By last count, the state had nearly 47 gigawatts of solar power installed — enough to power 13.9 million homes and provide over a quarter of the Golden State’s electricity. But now, the state and its grid operator are grappling with a strange reality: There is so much solar on the grid that, on sunny spring days when there’s not as much demand, electricity prices go negative. Gigawatts of solar are “curtailed” —...

n a couple of weeks, California's Public Utilities Commission will vote on whether or not to adopt a new fixed charge for electricity, one that will likely be based on income.When I first wrote about this proposal a year ago, the utilities were suggesting that fee could be as high as $85 a month for some households. That's not including whatever the utilities charge for actual usage of electricity. The new fixed fee as proposed was essentially an income tax being paid via your electric bill. Since then, the proposal has been scaled back quite a bit but some version...

The Brightline West system will reach speeds of 200 miles per hour across a 218-mile route between Las Vegas and three California stops including Rancho Cucamonga, about 40 miles east of Los Angeles...The project received $3 billion in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the rest will be privately funded...

Apparently there is an emergency that not enough babies are being killed in California. Never mind that California allows abortions up to birth and funds abortions at taxpayer expense. Now, Governor Gavin Newsom is proposing “emergency” legislation to allow Arizona abortionists to come to California to kill more babies in abortions. The move comes after the Arizona Supreme Court upheld an abortion ban that protects babies from abortions but allows an abortion if needed to save a woman’s life in an emergency. Hence, there is no emergency – because all emergency care is allowed in Arizona for pregnant women, including...

A teacher in San Jose, California, has been arrested after being accused of raping a student 20 years ago and then coercing her to have an abortion. Shawn Thomas was a teacher at Leigh High School, as well as a football and track and field coach at Los Gatos High School. The alleged abuse took place between 2002 and 2003, but the victim did not report the crime to police until March 3, 2024. She has also filed a civil lawsuit against San Jose’s Campbell Union High School District, claiming that after forcing her to have an abortion, Thomas continued...

The University of Southern California has cancelled all of the speakers scheduled to speak at the commencement ceremony amid controversy. On April 15, the prestigious private university announced its decision to ban the valedictorian from speaking at this year's graduation on May 10. Asna Tabassum, 21, was banned for being outspoken in her pro-Palestinian support, which has led her to be labeled anti-Semitic.

Watchdogs have slammed California local government for spending billions in overtime pay – with police officers, firefighters, linemen and utility workers earning up to $792,000 in a single year. Short staffing, poor planning, generous union deals and expensive hiring costs all contribute to civil servants relying heavily on overtime, experts told DailyMail.com. It has given frontline workers a golden opportunity to earn several million dollars since 2019. But tax watchdogs say it is a raw deal for the taxpayer. Senior Los Angeles fire captain Jason Getchius had a salary of $169,764 in 2022, the latest figures provided by the city....

Police in Los Angeles arrested a suspect following a break-in at the home of Mayor Karen Bass on Sunday morning, officials said. Bass and her family were not harmed when a suspect gained access to Getty House, the LA mayor’s official residence on Irving Boulevard. “Around 6:40 AM this morning an individual smashed a window to gain entry into the Getty House while occupied,” the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement on social media, adding that police responded and took a suspect into custody without incident.

After months of delays, the battle between landlords and tenants in one Bay Area city has come to an end. A rent control ordinance in the city of Concord went into effect Friday after its opponents failed to get enough signatures to place the issue on the November ballot. “We are thrilled that the people of Concord have spoken again in favor of people over corporate greed,” Rhea Elina Laughlin, executive director of advocacy group Rising Juntos, said in a statement. The ordinance reduces the annual percentage by which landlords can raise rent in Concord and bolsters certain eviction protections....

Almost 700 migrants from China have been apprehended for illegally crossing the California border from Mexico, according to new reports. The number only includes those caught in the San Diego region during the third week of April.

Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom released an ad on Sunday showing Alabama police forcing young women to undergo pregnancy tests. “Alabama’s abortion ban has no exceptions for rape or incest. Now, Republicans are trying to criminalize young women’s travel to receive abortion care. We cannot let them get away with this,” Newsom said on X as he shared the video. The video features two young, 20-something women driving an SUV toward the Alabama state line. We’re almost there. We’re gonna make it,” one woman says to the driver after looking back to see if they are being followed. Just then,...

A vote to stockpile abortion pills in order to reduce “greenhouse gas emissions” of “individuals traveling to specific destinations for this medication” proposed by the San Diego county Board of Supervisors has failed for now, according to the Times of San Diego. Live Action News previously documented efforts at the state level to procure the deadly drugs, but this is the first known attempt by a county to stockpile abortion pills. Attempts to justify abortion pill stockpiling as an ‘imperative’ drug to treat ‘pregnancy losses’ The San Diego Board of Supervisors consists of five members. Only three members were present...

In California, a Foster’s Freeze location closed and laid off its workers due to a new $20 per hour minimum wage that took effect April 1st. The wage increase was mandated by Governor Gavin Newsom under a law raising the fast food minimum wage by 25% to $20 an hour. The assistant manager said the owner could no longer afford the higher salaries. Some employees initially thought it was an April Fool’s joke. Prior reports indicated many California restaurants had already begun layoffs anticipating the wage hike. While economists debate the impacts of minimum wage increases, the restaurant industry is...

Santa Monica city officials last week approved a multimillion-dollar apartment unit for the homeless just days after the release of an audit which found California could not account for the $24 billion it spent on the state’s burgeoning homeless crisis. The 122-unit building for the homeless will include a mix of studio, one, two and three-bedroom apartments, along with ground floor retail and residential and commercial parking spaces. A design concept available on the city's website shows that the multi-apartment unit will cost more than $123 million, for a cost of just over $1 million each for the 122 apartments....

A California bar court judge ruled in late March that John Eastman should be disbarred for helping President Donald Trump challenge the outcome of the 2020 election. Before the California Supreme Court reviews the case, Mr. Eastman asked a judge to pause the order prohibiting him from practicing law, so he could fund his defense in the criminal case brought against President Trump and his attorneys in Georgia. Jeffrey Clark, who also tried to help President Trump, is facing a similar disbarment hearing in Washington. The focal point is a “proof of concept” letter he drafted for President Trump in...

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said he voted against additional aid to Israel to oppose a “blank check” to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Khanna was one of the 37 Democrats who voted against sending more funding to Israel on Saturday amid its ongoing war in Gaza. The House approved a long-awaited foreign aid package on Saturday that includes more funding for Ukraine, Israel and U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific region.

A group of House Democrats on Tuesday announced they would move to codify federal protections for transgender people. The proposal, dubbed the “Transgender Bill of Rights,” would codify the Supreme Court’s 2020 Bostock v. Clayton County decision that protects employees against discrimination for being gay or transgender. The proposal would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to explicitly include protections for gender identity and sex characteristics, expand access to gender-affirming care and ban conversion therapy. It would also require the attorney general to designate a liaison dedicated to overseeing enforcement of civil rights for transgender people and invest in...

Came across this website. It’s intriguing. Cant vouch for its credibility, but very interesting. “In late 2021, the internet was abuzz with the leaked audio of one amazing phone call. The caller was a man named Richie Albertini, who phoned Child Protective Services in California and told a riveting tale that began in his teenage years in 1980s Los Angeles and covered the decades that followed as he worked at some of Hollywood’s hottest clubs and became involved with the mob”.