Free Republic

The California Supreme Court on Thursday upheld Proposition 22, the voter initiative that allows Uber, Lyft and other gig economy companies to classify drivers for their ride-hailing and delivery services as independent contractors rather than as employees. In a unanimous decision released Thursday morning, the state’s top court rejected claims brought by a group of drivers and unions that the law is unconstitutional because it interferes with lawmakers’ authority over matters dealing with worker compensation. The ruling, which was expected following a lopsided hearing in the case in May, marks the end of a years-long legal fight over Proposition 22,...

Agricultural officials in Southern California are battling an active infestation of red imported fire ants that are "highly aggressive in nature," and pose a risk to California's agricultural economy. The infestation occurred at a private property in Montecito, in Santa Barbara County, according to a recent press release from the Santa Barbara County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office. Located over 90 miles north of Los Angeles, Montecito is best known as a celebrity enclave with Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle among the town's residents. Officials did not name the owners of the private property.

Never has an NCAA Sports Day been so widely and breathlessly covered as it was on Monday.And never has it been clearer that Vice President Kamala Harris, now the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, did not just fall out of a coconut tree.With President Biden recovering from COVID-19, the task of honoring top college athletes from across the country fell to Harris, who performed the same duty last year with much less fanfare.This year, of course, the event occurred the day after Biden announced he was ending his reelection campaign and endorsed Harris as the party’s replacement candidate for president....

A legend walks among us. Shirley MacLaine, 90, made a rare public appearance in Malibu, California on Sunday. The Hollywood icon had lunch at Kristy’s restaurant, which she also visited on the Fourth of July. MacLaine wore a blue shirt with a zip-up jacket, black pants and red shoes. She also sported bright white hair and glasses and carried a small black purse.

(KTLA) — Coronavirus levels in California’s wastewater have reached a “very high” level for the first time since last winter. According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the trend matches what’s being reported in several other states. The Golden State was one of seven states with “very high” levels; the others were Arkansas, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon and Texas. In Los Angeles County, the nation’s most populous, coronavirus levels in wastewater have also increased.

Is California slated to become Gov. Gavin Newsom’s gender transition sanctuary state? Gov. Newsom just signed Assembly Bill 1955 by Assemblyman Chris Ward (D-San Diego), the bill to prohibit schools from notifying parents if their child is “gender confused” or “transitioning” to the opposite sex. Horrifyingly, the bill’s title is “Support Academic Futures and Educators for Today’s Youth Act.”

The Sacramento City Attorney’s Office warned a chain retail store that it could face a public nuisance charge due to a large number of phone calls placed to police when thieves repeatedly stole from its Land Park location. A person with knowledge of the warning, but not authorized to speak publicly due to the fear of retaliation, told The Sacramento Bee that city officials threatened the Target at 2505 Riverside Blvd. in the past year with an administrative fine. A Sacramento police spokesman confirmed the location — a site that prompted heavy ire from Land Park residents due to repeated...

a mentally ill hoarder, has turned some six acres of green space into an unlicensed dump with more than a hundred rusting vehicles, mounds of trash and scrap metal, and hazardous waste that has polluted the ground and a nearby streambed. Hypodermic needles, bags of marijuana, moldy clothes, human excrement, tires and condoms littered the street Malone, Ryan and others living nearby have begged elected leaders and nearly a dozen government agencies for help for years Fires have broken out repeatedly at Ferrera's illicit junkyard, where there are numerous containers of propane and other flammable liquids. They counted 114 vehicles,...

After a decade that saw two major droughts, and with more dry times inevitable, California is imposing permanent water restrictions on cities and towns for the first time in state history. The powerful State Water Resources Control Board on Wednesday approved a long-debated policy that will require hundreds of urban water suppliers to reduce the amount of water they provide over the next 15 years. As soon as 2027, some suppliers will have to cut back deliveries upwards of 30%, which means finding ways for their customers to use less water — either by imposing restrictions, incentivizing savings by raising...

Armed attackers killed a woman in front of her horrified husband as they attempted to rob the couple outside an upmarket Newport Beach mall, police have said. The 69-year old woman and her husband had been outside a Barnes & Noble at the Fashion Island mall when they were approached by two men at around 3.30 pm on Tuesday. A 'struggle' ensued, with one of the men fleeing the scene on foot and firing several rounds with a handgun as he did so, according to reports.

Months of speculation and complaints about when, or even if, Gov. Gavin Newsom would give his annual State of the State address ended Tuesday morning with more of a whimper than a bang. At a few minutes past 10 a.m., Newsom posted a pre-recorded speech to his social media channels. Flanked by American and California flags, the Democratic governor solemnly warned that “the California way of life is under attack” by forces threatened by the state’s diversity, pluralism and innovative spirit. “Our values and our way of life are the antidote to the poisonous populism of the right, and to...

READ MORE: The insurance on my 2012 Mazda went up 72% to $233 a month!' A prominent insurance provider has aired an ultimatum to the entire state of California. The firm, State Farm General, asked the state’s Department of Insurance Thursday to let them raise residential insurance rates for millions of citizens, or see them move out. The move indicates financial trouble for the insurance giant, which currently covers homes razed by wildfires. State Farm disclosed it is seeking a 30 percent rate hike for homeowners, a 36 percent increase for condo owners, and a 52 percent increase for renters...

A small, quaint California town has been torn apart by an internal war that has culminated in 'terrorism,' with residents allegedly deliberately swerving trucks toward each other, spraying enemies with weed killer - and now a bomb squad has been called in. The battle erupted in the idyllic, historic town called Port Costa, which has a population of 251 seemingly very angry people. The bitter townsfolk drew lines in the sand in classic 'not in my backyard' (NIMBY) fashion after a non-profit organization called the Field Semester expressed their intention to create an environmental school for high schoolers in the...

After Thursday night’s debate performance, one thing is crystal clear: The national Democratic Party must immediately announce they will seek to replace President Joe Biden as the presumptive candidate. We can do better than this. There are still nearly two months before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, scheduled for late August. Thursday’s debate made it clear that Biden must be replaced as the candidate with someone — anyone. Even California Gov. Gavin Newsom. It could be a Hail Mary play for the ages, bringing Newsom in to save the day like a handsome Hollywood leading man in a Sorkinesque...

In California, voters with no government ID can still vote so long as they show a gym membership, credit card, utility bill, or other low-security identification. Individuals wishing to register to vote in California are prompted on the secretary of state’s website to provide their driver’s license identification number and/or the last four digits of their Social Security number. But both sections give applicants the option to select a box indicating they lack that form of identification. If an applicant checks both boxes, he would later be prompted to provide other identification, the California secretary of state’s office told The...

Video footage shows California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom appearing to blame Republicans and conservative media for the state’s failures during his “State of the State” address on Tuesday. While addressing the state, Newsom discussed the problems facing residents living in areas governed by Democrats. “You hear wall-to-wall, right-wing media coverage about lawless blue cities and blue states,” he said, according to video footage circulating on social media. “In fact, California’s violent crime rate is about half of what it was in the 1990s.” The governor continued, claiming that California’s “values and our way of life are the antidote to the...

San Francisco Mayor London Breed has announced the San Francisco Reproductive Freedom Act, a ballot measure that would prevent city funds from being used to cooperate with out-of-state abortion prosecutions and create a fund to help people access abortions. It would also target pregnancy resource centers (PRCs), limiting their funding, and requiring signage for PRCs that state they do not commit abortions. Breed made her announcement during a press conference held at a local Planned Parenthood abortion business. In addition to the above objectives, she also signaled her intent to make it easier for abortion facilities to open in San...

Yet another lawsuit was this week filed against Tesla citing a "systemically … racially hostile work environment" at the company's Fremont, California plant. This one's even widening the envelope to include similar allegations of bad behavior at Tesla's battery "megafactory" in nearby Lathrop, CA. For anyone who has followed previous racial discrimination accusations against Tesla at Fremont, this latest complaint [PDF] filed this week in California's Alameda County Superior Court won't sound particularly original. The 14 Black, Hispanic and Latino plaintiffs in the case, who worked at either Tesla's Fremont or Lathrop facilities, allege they were all were targeted for...

After a brutal, unprovoked attack by a homeless man at a McDonald's drive-through in Boyle Heights that left 74-year-old Jose Juan Rangel battered and bruised and his wife Maria Guadalupe Vargas Luna brain-dead, the family has received yet another blow. This time, the LA County District Attorney George Gascón's office states they plan to file a motion to dismiss the most severe charge against Charles Green, a felony count, and only keep the lesser charge of misdemeanor battery. "The DA, in my opinion, is brushing it off. They're not really seeing the big picture of what impact the injuries that...

Los Angeles just opened a state-of-the-art luxury hotel for the city’s homeless and, unlike voting, will require a photo ID to participate. On Wednesday, city officials opened the brand new 19-story residential high-rise with 278 units that cost as much to build as a five-star resort. To lease an apartment in the downtown luxury tower, however, homeless residents must provide their “photo identification, and social security card.” Repeat Los Angeles voters, however, don’t need any photo ID to turn in their ballots. .....