Free Republic

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is in a spat with a major oil company over who is to blame for the state’s high gas prices, with the Democratic governor’s office urging drivers not to fill up at Chevron stations over Memorial Day weekend. “Pro tip: unbranded gas comes from the same refineries, storage tanks, and pipelines, and it meets the same state standards to keep your engine running clean,” Newsom’s office posted Thursday on X. “Big Oil is already making billions off Trump’s Iran War; don’t let them rip you off even more by overpaying for the brand name.” Newsom’s office...

California highway maintenance workers express safety concerns dealing with homeless cleanup. As California's homeless population skyrockets, the cost of cleaning up the state's numerous shanty towns is also hitting record highs -- and the price tag is likely to keep rising as workers tasked with tossing the vagrants' syringes, feces and buckets of urine fight for safer conditions. The Golden State's homeless population of more than 130,000 people is now about 25 percent of the nationwide total, and cleaning up after the surging group is getting costly. In an official grievance filed last week, the union representing California's maintenance workers...