Free Republic

An extensive investigative report from The City Journal examined the labor practices connected to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s wine holdings in Napa County. The report, which cites n court records, federal labor data, state oversight files, and interviews with industry sources, focused on the PlumpJack Collection of Wineries and its relationship with a vineyard management contractor. PlumpJack, which Newsom co-founded, holds more than 400 acres of vineyards in Napa. In 2022 the company purchased the 129-acre Oso Vineyard in Pope Valley for $14.5 million. Field operations at Oso are handled by Renteria Vineyard Management (RVM). RVM was established in 1987...

Gov. Gavin Newsom will commute the death sentences of all California inmates, changing the penalty for all 548 death row inmates to life without parole.The outgoing governor announced the decision Thursday following weeks of speculation. The move comes just two months before Newsom leaves office in January.When he took office in 2019, Newsom instituted a moratorium on executions, formalizing a de facto pause that had been in place since 2006.But although that rule blocked all executions during his tenure, it still left all death sentences in place. In a letter addressed to all Californians, the governor shared his decision to...

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has signed an ordinance prohibiting new oil and gas drilling throughout the city and establishing a 20-year timetable to phase out existing wells. Under the new ordinance, current drilling sites are designated as "nonconforming uses" and must cease operations within two decades, unless an earlier deadline applies. The ordinance restricts the expansion and redevelopment of existing operations while establishing limited exceptions for work strictly necessary to address public health, safety or environmental threats. Bass, who is running for reelection on Tuesday against Los Angeles City Council member and fellow Democrat Nithya Raman, framed the legislation...

The CEO of California’s high-speed rail authority resigned late Wednesday, saying he needs to focus on “important personal and family priorities,” according to a copy of the emailed resignation obtained by CalMatters. “This has not been an easy decision, as leading the Authority has been one of the most meaningful and rewarding chapters of my professional life,” wrote Chief Executive Ian Choudri. He will be replaced by Joe Stephenshaw, who has led the state Department of Finance since July 2022 after working as a policy analyst in the state Legislature for more than a decade, the board announced Thursday morning...

Garbed in purple and holding signs that read “Fair contracts now!” and “Here to serve, not to starve,” thousands of state workers rallied at government buildings across California Wednesday to protest what they describe as unfair labor practices by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration. SEIU Local 1000’s first strike in its 44-year history unfolded in several cities including Sacramento, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The union — which represents about 100,000 workers, nearly half the state workforce — has been in contentious labor talks with the Newsom administration since its latest contract expired in late June. Its members want a better...

The billionaires’ attack on the wealth tax initiative shows why it’s needed.As is the case with most election cycles, the claims and counterclaims about the ballot measures being voted on in California this time around are largely based on caricatures of the measures themselves. That’s especially true of the highest-profile measure, Proposition 40 — the California billionaire tax.What’s indisputable is that this is a “wealth tax.” It’s a one-time 5% levy on assets owned by Californians with more than $1 billion in net worth. That’s a departure from conventional state personal tax, which is levied on income such as wages...

Five of the 14 statewide ballot measures are related to taxes The one you’ve likely heard most about is Proposition 40, which, if passed, would make California the first state to introduce a wealth tax. Almost all of the tens of billions of dollars the tax is estimated to generate would be set aside for the state’s public health insurance programs Prop. 3 would make permanent a higher income tax rate for the state’s top earners that voters approved on a temporary basis twice in the past decade-plus. The tax — which expires in 2030 unless Prop. 3 passes —...

Bigger agencies, higher spending, and expanded workforces don't always make government more effective.My recent trip to Malibu from Los Angeles was my first post-wildfire drive through the Pacific Palisades and, my goodness, there's nothing like seeing something with one's own eyes to grasp the enormity of the devastation. The obliterated hulks along Pacific Coast Highway 21 months after the tragedy raise multiple issues, including ones related to the excruciatingly slow rebuilding process. This being California, the state has yet to grapple sufficiently with the reasons the wildfires started—and the failed response to them. But late is better than never, so...

‘Racial wealth gap’ – the catch-all phrase that would serve to justify anything the committees wanted When I read that “New California reparations law requires companies to disclose past profits from slavery,” I thought it was a joke. I’ve covered California Democrat’s years-long attempts to pass legislation to authorize reparations. In June, I reported “DOJ Case Applies to California: Reparations Program is Discriminatory and Illegal.” I thought once again, reparations in California is so stupid and factually ignorant – California wasn’t a slave state. Slavery has existed on every inhabited continent for at least 4,000 years of recorded history. And...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday rejected a bill that would have given the watchdog of California’s expensive, delayed high-speed rail project the powers it says it needs to quickly staff up and provide expert oversight. The Democratic governor vetoed Assembly Bill 1608, which would exempt the Inspector General of high-speed rail from a lengthy job reclassification process for qualified auditors and give it a $1 million purchase authority to avoid drawn-out contracting rules. Those tools are “absolutely essential” for its auditing, the inspector general previously said.

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,...