Free Republic

California’s slow ballot count isn’t just a political disgrace. It’s also a symbol of how California does everything: late, if at all. The high-speed rail was approved in 2008, to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles by 2020. Not one inch of track has been laid. The Sites reservoir was originally proposed in the 1950s. It was only approved this year, and nothing has been built. The Delta tunnels were proposed decades ago. Now the project is down to just one tunnel, and it may never be dug.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) Board of Directors today approved the launch of the initial phase of the nation’s largest track and systems installation efforts. An American-led consortium of Kiewit, Stacey Witbeck, and Herzog will install the track, overhead contact system, train control and communications infrastructure needed to transform the 119 miles of guideway completed in the Central Valley into an electrified high-speed rail system capable of speeds up to 220 mph.

On social media Friday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy identified the driver as 48-year-old Jing Dong, a naturalized U.S. citizen from China who received his CDL from New York State. Duffy said Dong does not speak English.

chilling tattoo of a human heart clutched by clawed hands may have helped federal prosecutors tie an alleged MS-13 gangster to one of Los Angeles’ most gruesome killings, a court has heard. Prosecutors claim Angel Guzman helped butcher a man while deep inside the Angeles National Forest in 2017 — stabbing him more than 100 times, carving out his heart with a machete, and dumping his body into a canyon, the LA Times reported. Now, Guzman and three other alleged members of the notorious MS-13 Fulton gang are facing federal charges tied to a bloody string of murders that cops...

A state worker union hopes to use a California environmental law notorious for obstructing the construction of new homes to block a very different kind of project: Gov. Gavin Newsom’s impending return-to-office order. On Wednesday, the union representing state attorneys and administrative law judges sent “exhaustion” letters to over 100 state departments, arguing that the return-to-office order will require more than 90,000 state workers to commute four days a week, which will negatively impact California’s environment.

Democrats will tell you crime is getting better in blue cities around the country. Does anyone actually believe that? Just ask residents of Los Angeles, where Mayor Karen Bass touts statistics showing that crime rates have lowered when, in reality, there’s been a home invasion wave, and street takeovers are as regular as the sunshine.Or you could ask the beleaguered residents of Seattle, where some residents feel forced to put up barricades to keep the perps out. They argued that they were getting no help from the police in the rainy leftist enclave where a Democratic socialist with virtually no...

Residents in a troubled Seattle neighborhood have begun erecting large homemade barricades across residential streets after a surge of gun violence left many fearing for their safety.Neighbors living near Aurora Avenue say repeated shootings, alleged prostitution activity and late-night chaos have pushed the community to a breaking point.Following another burst of gunfire over the weekend, frustrated residents took matters into their own hands by physically blocking off nearby roads in an effort to keep traffic and suspected criminal activity out of the area, Fox 13 reported.Videos circulating online show multiple streets partially sealed off with piles of dirt, chunks of...

Gavin Newsom has pleaded with Donald Trump for help in containing the Orange County chemical plant as officials warned there was still a risk of catastrophe. The California governor asked the president to issue a federal emergency declaration to bring in more support as the Garden Grove disaster continued into a fifth day. It comes as officials on Sunday revealed they had found a crack in the container that could be easing pressure in what they described as a “critically positive” moment. Meanwhile around 50,000 people have had their lives upended amid a mandatory evacuation zone in the immediate area,...

At least five officers were struck by a driver during a “teen takeover” event early Sunday in Chicago’s West Side, only the latest in the viral trend hitting American streets. Elsewhere, 19 people were shot and wounded on Memorial Day in the Windy City. Hundreds of teenagers gathered at around 3:20 a.m. along Chicago’s South Loomis Street, shutting the street down as officers responded to disperse the chaos. As officers tried to end the takeover, an 18-year-old driver hit five cops before driving over the curb and crashing into a CPD squad car, a pole, and a fence, local ABC...

A tiny home project in Watsonville is giving people experiencing homelessness both housing and hope for a better future. For Rosie Lopez, Hope Village, as it’s called, saved her life. “Because I had just lost my brother, you know, and I was contemplating suicide and I've been homeless for almost five years, and I was really at my worst,” Lopez said. Hope Village is a navigation center for people experiencing homelessness on both sides of the Pajaro River. The 34-bed center celebrated its grand opening this week. “Most folks, they're not looking for a handout. They really want an opportunity...

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency on Saturday evening as experts warned that the chemical tank that is overheating in Orange County could explode. 40,000 residents in Orange County, California, were evacuated on Friday amid a chemical leak at an aerospace facility. On Thursday, a valve overheated on a 34,000-gallon tank used to make plastics. Authorities said the tank, located in Garden Grove, could either explode or spill thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals. Several evacuation centers were opened; however, many residents are still refusing to leave their homes. On Friday evening, Orange County Fire Authority...

🚨🚨 Today - 15 individuals have been indicted for over $90 million in an alleged massive healthcare fraud scheme in Minnesota, after a sweeping FBI investigation with @TheJusticeDept and our Interagency Partners. These charges involve the two LARGEST Medicaid fraud cases ever charged in this district and first-of-their kind charges involving 7 additional Medicaid programs. As alleged, the defendants defrauded Minnesota public healthcare resources for tens of millions, targeting programs such as Housing Stabilization Services, Child Care, Medicaid programs, Individualized Home Supports (IHS), and more. In one case, defendants even developed a scheme worth over $40 million to target the...

Los Angeles public libraries are being overwhelmed by violence, drug use and homelessness with frightened families and librarians saying once-safe community spaces are often no-go zones. Even enforcement measures designed to control disruptive behavior are now buckling under the strain. Temporary Suspension Letters — which ban unruly patrons from all library branches — have surged nearly 90% from 369 in 2023 to 700 suspensions in 2025. A California Post review of 911 logs obtained through a public records request found the emergency call outs were for assaults, criminal threats, drug use, theft, mental health crises and trespassing. And reported incidents...

Walgreens has announced that it is closing a store in the Chatham neighborhood of Chicago. They claim that the store is losing upwards of a million dollars a year to theft, so the reason for the closure is no mystery. They say that this particular store loses more in theft than any other store. And yet… The political leaders in Chicago, who allow thieves to run wild, are angry at Walgreens. They caused this, with their soft on crime policies, yet they are mad at Walgreens for closing the location. FOX 32 in Chicago reported: Walgreens to close Chatham store...

California Democratic gubernatorial front-runner Xavier Becerra went viral yesterday for saying to a local Los Angeles television (KTLA) reporter, after she asked a hard question, “By the way, this is a profile piece, this is not a gotcha piece, right?” Reporter Annie Rose Ramos responded, appropriately, “These questions are fair. It’s in order to learn about you as a candidate.” Progressives responded by criticizing Becerra’s messaging. A progressive Pod Save America co-host and former Obama spokesman, posted on X, “Politicians and candidates…let your staff have these whiny conversations! Or at least don’t do it on camera!” Former Obama strategist David...

Remarkable footage captured some of the recent gang battles that unleashed 182 bullets in the middle of Brooklyn streets — with one brazen thug firing minutes after a court-ordered meeting, officials said Monday. “It’s unnerving,” admitted borough District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, who picked up a gun used in one of the crimes to show reporters at the briefing but said he wouldn’t handle another — because it still had blood on it. The chilling videos “give you a sense of the brutal war that is being waged on some of our streets,” he said. The horrific caught-on-camera gun violence included...

The founder of an organic baby formula company has branded Gavin Newsom’s plan to offer free diapers to all new babies born in the state as “grifting nonsense.” Newsom announced the Golden State Start initiative on Friday, a partnership with nonprofit Baby2Baby that will give every newborn delivered in participating hospitals 400 diapers for free.

As fraud concerns ramp up across the country, particularly involving Medicaid, North Carolina State Auditor Dave Boliek told Fox News Digital the problem is very real in his state, especially when it comes to autism therapy, an area that has been highly scrutinized in Minnesota. Boliek is sounding the alarm on potential waste, fraud and abuse within the state’s Medicaid program, specifically noting in an interview with Fox News Digital a 47,000% explosion in autism therapy billings he has flagged since taking office last year. "Those are vital services to folks and individuals that need that therapy," Boliek said. "But...

New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Mike Flynn today unveiled design concepts to put the ‘park’ back in Park Avenue... The proposed redesign would expand the avenue’s median, add pedestrian enhancements, seating and landscaping, and explore potential bike lanes and innovative streetscape amenities. The project area sits directly above the Grand Central Terminal train shed, which is undergoing a major capital rehabilitation by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)’s Metro-North Railroad. As the MTA replaces and waterproofs the structure below, the City is advancing a parallel effort to transform the...

Gavin Newsom has announced that the state of California will be paying out $20 million to the company Baby2Baby in order to provide families free diapers. However, the one issue that critics have pointed out is that the co-CEO of the company, Norah Weinstein, sits on the board of Newsom's wife's California Partners Project. Newsom made the announcement for the diapers ahead of Mother's Day, this upcoming Sunday. "California is taking on the cost of raising a family head-on — delivering free school meals, making preschool free for every four-year-old, expanding after-school programs, and now making sure parents leave the...