Free Republic

Governor Gavin Newsom is allegedly working with developers to rezone Pacific Palisades burn areas for multi-unit housing. California Governor Gavin Newsom is reportedly collaborating with developers to change zoning designations in Pacific Palisades from R1, which allows single-family homes, to R3, enabling the construction of apartment complexes. https://twitter.com/HustleBitch_/status/1877761634732478621? The proposed changes, which focus on areas impacted by recent wildfires, have raised questions about the future of housing development in one of Los Angeles’ most exclusive neighborhoods. Critics argue that rezoning burn areas could pave the way for large-scale developments, potentially altering the region’s character and raising concerns about infrastructure and...

Berkeley, Calif., once a bastion of liberal idealism, currently mirrors the lawlessness of the Wild West. Its streets resemble an open-air drug den, overrun by homeless encampments. Tents block streets and parking, making sidewalks impassable for pedestrians with disabilities. Human waste, syringes and hazardous materials spill directly on private property and in waterways, polluting them. Open-air fires in the middle of public thoroughfares offer scenes more reminiscent of the Great Depression than the prosperous, innovative community associated with the Berkeley name.

An 'inhuman' pedophile who was sentenced to 350 years in jail for abducting and molesting a five-year-old girl in 2003 could now be freed under a controversial California law. Charles William Mix was 47 when he kidnapped his friend's daughter and smuggled her over state lines to Utah before subjecting her to his sordid fantasies in June of that year. Her family believed he would spend the rest of his life behind bars, but 20 years later, Mix, 69, could be freed under California's relatively new Elderly Parole Program due to his age after serving just six percent of his...

A fed-up California Democratic state senator has revealed she is jumping ship to the Republican Party because her now-former party has become unrecognizable under its current leadership and policies. State Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil, a longtime Democrat, broke news of her defection late Thursday, saying the values she shared with the Democratic Party when she was elected in 2022 have now shifted. “In the past two years that I’ve been working in the Senate, I have not recognized the party that I belong to,” the lawmaker said during an appearance on Fox News. “The Democratic Party is not the party that...

The wall of the California Democrat supermajority has sprung a major leak. Democrat State Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil, who has recently conflicted with the majority of her party within the legislature, is now switching her party affiliation to Republican. Alvarado-Gil represents Senate District 4, which encompasses parts of Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Inyo, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne counties. She was first elected to her seat in the state senate in 2022 and is up for reelection in 2026.

Confidential sources inside the State Capitol confirm to the Globe that California State Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil is leaving the Democrat Party and switching her party affiliation to Republican. Alvarado-Gil has been a very interesting lawmaker to watch in committees and on the Senate Floor. She’s not been afraid to confront progressives in her party on important issues like education and crime – issues which leave voters in the state questioning how Democrats can be so tone deaf to the state’s failing schools and escalating crime issues. In 2023, Senate Bill 832, by Senator Brian Jones (R-San Diego)to help prevent the...

As Democrats make their case to voters around the country this fall, one challenge is that some of the bluest parts of the country — cities on the West Coast — are a mess. Centrist voters can reasonably ask: Why put liberals in charge nationally when the places where they have greatest control are plagued by homelessness, crime and dysfunction? I’ll try to answer that question in a moment, but liberals like me do need to face the painful fact that something has gone badly wrong where we’re in charge, from San Diego to Seattle. ...the truth is that too...

The Los Angeles Times’s editorial board announced on Thursday that it was endorsing Republican Lanhee Chen in California’s controller race, saying “California needs a fiscal watchdog.” The newspaper’s editorial board said they were endorsing Chen because they believe that the controller, who looks at how taxpayer money is being spent by government divisions and can audit government agencies, “should be as independent from the party in power as possible.”

Democrats gained a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers of the California legislature on Monday after picking up two more seats in the state Senate. Democrats Melisa Hurtado and Assemblywoman Anna Caballero were declared victors after vote totals were updated following last week’s election, The Associated Press reported. The two female candidates won seats in the Fresno area. Hurtado won the open 12th seat and Caballero beat out California Sen. Andy Vidak (R) in the 14th District. Democrats now have a two-thirds advantage in the 40-person Senate and in the 80-person Assembly. The massive supermajority gives the party the ability to...

For the last century control of the United States has cycled between the 19th Century Democratic and Republican parties. Voters choose between the old ideas of the Democratic Party and the old ideas of the Republican Party. The two parties are mired in the same old partisan conflicts election after election. The Democrats in particular seem more interested in playing partisan political games than in dealing seriously with the nation's problems. Republicans are increasingly following their example. Millennials need to decide whether they want to continue the politics of their grandparents' generation or replace the 19th Century parties with 21st...