Free Republic

There was a time when California built big things efficiently. In the 1930s, for example, the state simultaneously constructed the iconic Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge — both marvels of engineering — in about a four-year span. Both on time. Both on budget. Those days are gone. Today, examples abound of California construction projects gone (way) awry. One of those is the long-awaited People Mover at LAX. The project’s contractor, LAX Integrated Express Solutions, disclosed this month that the train — intended to whisk people around LA’s famously sprawling airport — will not open in October as most recently...

Under Assembly Bill 435, California is revising its regulations for child passenger safety. Currently, most children transition out of booster seats by age 8. But starting in 2027, kids aged 8 to 16 must. If they do not meet all five criteria, they’ll need to stay in a car seat that offers better protection, and families who don’t comply could face fines of up to $490.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Citing his violence against native tribes in the 1840s, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration is moving forward with a plan to remove the name of famed explorer John C. Fremont — a former U.S. senator for whom the Bay Area city of Fremont is named — from a state park on a prominent peak in San Benito County.

Gavin Newsom finally admits closing beaches during COVID was “insane,” and Bill Maher says he should have figured that out WHEN IT MATTERED! He adds Newsom's COVID rules were the exact OPPOSITE of what should have been done. Closing beaches was just the start: • Banned singing at church • Banned indoor church services until the Supreme Court stepped in • Shut down Bible studies in private homes until the Supreme Court blocked it • Rammed through the country's first COVID vaccine mandates for kids • Told diners to keep their masks on “in between bites” • Signed a law...

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District announced last year Sacramento electricity ratepayers would be under a new rate system that charges residential users higher rates between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. — just in time for everyone to arrive home after work and begin evening family rituals: homework on computers, dinner, television, stereo, baths, laundry, and dishwasher after dinner.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday morning that he is declaring a state of emergency ahead of what could be the strongest El Niño on record. Newsom’s office issued a statement confirming that state resources are being mobilized before the potential winter storms and associated impacts. Under the directive, state agencies can now begin protecting vulnerable communities, preparing roads and critical infrastructure, staging emergency supplies, and helping reduce risks of flooding and landslides as well as coastal erosion.

This video features independent journalist Nick Shirley as he investigates government mismanagement and potential fraud, specifically focusing on the California High-Speed Rail project and state-sponsored programs for immigrants. Key Highlights: California High-Speed Rail Investigation: Nick Shirley showcases the massive expenditure and lack of progress on the state's high-speed rail project (0:05 - 11:37). He documents that despite $15 billion spent, no tracks are laid, and the project is now estimated to cost over $200 billion. He interviews locals and a state senator, arguing that the project is fundamentally flawed and wasteful. The "Stop Nick Shirley Act": After exposing fraud in...

Federal investigators seek six years of records involving Newsom’s international travel, outside funding, and expenditures related to his residence and personal expenses. The federal government is conducting a criminal investigation related to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s international travel and its funding, according to subpoenas reviewed by The Standard. The subpoenas — which were issued in early September and requested testimony and communications with the governor, among others — seek six years of records involving the California State Protocol Foundation, a nonprofit that has paid for Newsom’s overseas travel, as well as communications with a circle of his current and former aides,...

Last December, Chief Nathan Ogbatue arrived in a motorcade outside the grand entrance of a newly built palace in Abatete, Nigeria. A videographer shouted praises in Igbo, calling him “half man, half god” and commending him for building the palace “free of charge” for the Abatete community. Ogbatue is hailed on social media as a philanthropist who has built roads and housing, sponsors annual medical clinics, and provides food for the needy in Abatete. He is also, it turns out, CEO of California Home Health Agency (CHHA), a lucrative taxpayer-funded company that provides in-home medical care and a range of...

Taxpayers did not volunteer to underwrite Assemblyman Jackson’s nonprofitCalifornia Assemblyman Dr. Corey Jackson (D-Moreno Valley), who received his Masters in Social Work, founded and directs the nonprofit Center Against Racism and Trauma (CART), which has only been tax-exempt since February 2022. Earlier this year, he named CART his legislative district’s “Nonprofit of the Year” and then steered $6 million of California taxpayer funding to it, the Globe just reported recently.Here is the proof of this $6 million going to Jackson’s charity, courtesy of the FLOOR REPORT OF THE 2026-27 BUDGET: Rather than acknowledge the obvious nefarious funding with taxpayer money,...

As students across California head back to school, it’s a good time to highlight an all-too-common contributor to asthma attacks in children: exhaust pollution from diesel-powered school buses. Thankfully, there’s a solution that’s ready and available for school districts. Electric school buses provide a zero-emission ride to and from school for kids, which means zero time spent inhaling toxic fumes from their own bus.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wine connections are raising eyebrows as his winery group becomes the only Napa operation to score a settlement after a devastating wildfire ravaged wine country. California wineries have been scrambling to recover from the 2025 Pickett Fire, which caused an estimated $56 million in wine-grape losses across Napa Valley. More than 30 winery and vineyard owners are seeking up to $90 million from Hundred Acre Winery and its owner, Jayson Woodbridge — but so far, only Newsom’s PlumpJack Group has reached a settlement.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom are offloading their Sacramento-area home — listing the palatial property for double what they paid eight years ago. California’s first couple listed the 12,000-square-foot Fair Oaks home for $7.5 million Tuesday, according to its Zillow real estate listing.

WOW 🚨 Foreign born man in California caught setting up fraudulent hospice companies and working with mortuaries to get the names of dead people to bill Medicare - He stole $27 MILLION - California didn’t care he misspelled his hospice company names, one was spelled “Holly Trinity" - He bought a Rolls Royce - His patients were dead people - He billed $33,000 per patient per year “Prosecutors are also charging 2 accomplices — the manager of a mortuary, who gave David Shachar names of people who recently passed in exchange for cash” This is the exact type of fraud...

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Saturday signed a controversial bill, officially titled “Privacy for immigration support services providers,” which expands the state’s current “Safe at Home” program. Critics have argued that the bill prevents journalists, such as the viral fraud reporting released by independent journalist Nick Shirley. The legislation builds on the Safe at Home program, which has operated since 1999. That program allows eligible individuals — including survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, elder abuse and certain “health care workers” providing abortions or sex change procedures — to use a substitute mailing address administered by the...

Gov. Gavin Newsom refused to take a position on a raging debate over standardized testing in University of California admissions — dismissing as “anecdotes” the alarming reports from college professors about students who can’t do basic math. The governor was asked at a Wednesday press conference in Hayward about an open letter from more than 1,200 UC professors, including Nobel prize winners and leading scientists, who warned of a “severe” crisis of incoming freshman who are unable to even do fractions, forcing educators to dumb down Calculus and other advanced courses. “Show me the data,” Newsom said. “I have feelings...

Ben Bergquam just did a useful thing: He walked around the actual structures that have been built in Fresno for California’s high-speed rail project, and he showed how useless and incomplete the actual construction is. Screenshot from that linked video: I laughed out loud, because I stood in that spot, and I did it in mid-August of 2025. Gavin's Keynesian HoleChris Bray · August 18, 2025 A test of “let’s just go look at the thing itself.” Read full story Click on that story and go look at the pictures and video. Sample: The difference between the way this critically...

How often do Democrats thunder that “people will die” if Republicans get their way on issues such as healthcare, climate change and gun control? Well, thanks to the sanctuary policies of Gavin Newsom and California Democrats, people have died. Consider the case of retiree Todd Stewart, recently slain on camera in Martinez just a day after his alleged killer was excused from local custody –– by a Newsom-appointed judge. Trump border czar Tom Homan on Thursday put the state and its governor on blast over the slaying –– and hundreds of other cases like it.

California’s bullet train could have a new end point: Brokeville, USA. The state’s beleaguered high-speed rail line is once again careening toward a financial cliff, as a new report — delivered last month to Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislators — says the project could run out of cash by the end of next year. The Office of the Inspector General warned that the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s funds could dry up as soon as December 2027 unless it secures financing — and the authority would need to borrow as much as $9.5 billion over five years just to keep construction...

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A recent San Francisco Civil Grand Jury report found that weak oversight within the city's homeless services system may be putting residents of supportive housing at risk, raising questions about accountability, safety and the management of taxpayer-funded programs. The report comes as city officials continue addressing concerns surrounding permanent supportive housing, where the Department of Public Health reported that 26% of all unintentional drug overdose deaths in San Francisco in 2024 occurred in such facilities. For Aisha McCain, the issue is deeply personal. [snip] The fire department was called in once the body was discovered. "He...