Free Republic

San Francisco health authorities are raising urgent concerns after a powerful synthetic opioid was detected in the city for the first time, and is already being tied to a fatal overdose earlier this month. Officials with the San Francisco Department of Public Health say the drug, known as cychlorphine, surfaced in a counterfeit pill, prompting alarm over its extreme potency and unpredictable presence in the illicit drug market. “We believe it is more potent than fentanyl. It was found we believe in someone using a counterfeit pill,” Daniel Tsai, director San Francisco Department of Public Health told ABC7. Law enforcement...

An unconscious tree trimmer stranded high above a San Jose neighborhood was dramatically airlifted to safety Friday after suffering a medical emergency while working roughly 75 feet up a palm tree. Emergency crews rushed to the 2900 block of Sunburst Drive around 10 a.m., where the worker had become incapacitated while cutting the tree, according to the San Jose Fire Department. Initial attempts to reach him from the ground failed due to the height and distance from the street. With time critical, officials called in a Cal Fire helicopter to execute a rare aerial extraction. The operation proved difficult, taking...

President Trump took aim at insurance giant State Farm and other providers by accusing them of abandoning Southern Californians devastated by last year’s wildfires. In a scathing Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump singled out State Farm, calling the company and others like it “horrendous” for failing homeowners who had faithfully paid premiums for years. “People have been paying them large premiums for years, only to find that when tragedy struck, these horrendous companies were not there to help!” the president wrote.

A rising San Francisco political figure has been sidelined by a sudden health crisis, and insiders say her future in office is now hanging by a thread. Jackie Fielder, one of the city’s most outspoken progressive supervisors, has been hospitalized after disappearing from public view for roughly two weeks, according to a report. Her office confirmed she’s dealing with what it described as an “acute personal health crisis,” but offered no further details about her condition. Sources told The San Francisco Standard there has been significant internal upheaval within Fielder’s office in recent weeks, and that she has privately indicated...

California Democrats were warned to get their act together months ago. Back off, consolidate, pick a front-runner or risk splitting the vote. They ignored the advice. Now the numbers are in and the results are brutal. A new UC Berkeley-LA Times poll shows the 2026 race for governor is a total mess for Democrats. Support is scattered across a crowded field while Republicans Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco have quietly pulled ahead. The data tells the story. Not a single Democrat tops 13% while the GOP contenders sit in the high teens. 16% of voters remain undecided leaving the door...