Free Republic

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Tuesday that he had allocated $101 million in new spending on low-income housing in the areas devastated by the Palisades and Eaton Fires, confirming residents’ fears. Residents have long worried that state and local authorities would use the opportunity provided by the fires to build low-income housing — perhaps even for the homeless population, or for housing for illegal migrants. When Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass appointed Steve Soboroff as “chief recovery officer,” without any kind of public process, some residents suspected that Soboroff’s role would be to push for “affordable” housing. Many residents...

At the top of Yosemite National Park’s Vernal Fall on a recent holiday weekend, amid the throngs of tourists snapping photos and feasting on snacks and picnic lunches, a squirrel crept across smooth granite toward a resting backpacker.

A California man is recovering from life-threatening injuries after being stabbed with glass shards outside a GameStop following an argument over someone allegedly cutting in line to buy Pokémon cards. Officers responded to a violent altercation at approximately 9:22 a.m. on Saturday at the GameStop located on Junipero Serra Boulevard, according to the Colma Police Department. When they arrived, they found a man suffering from head wounds and multiple stab injuries. He was rushed to a nearby hospital and is now listed in stable condition. The incident reportedly began when 49-year-old Miguel OrellanasFlores attempted to cut in line, prompting...

SACRAMENTO, CA — As the federal government takes steps to attempt to solve a myriad of problems facing the Golden State, a furious Governor Gavin Newsom told reporters he won't stand silently by while Trump fixes California. While the Trump administration continued to conduct deportation operations throughout California cities, and the Department of Education proposed a plan to prevent males from competing in K-12 girls' sports, Newsom pledged to do everything in his power to prevent Trump from solving any of California's severe issues. "As long as I'm breathing, California will remain on the brink of destruction," an angry Newsom...

A woman brutally assaulted by an alleged transient in Los Angeles’ Los Feliz neighborhood is calling on city officials to do more to keep residents safe. The violence unfolded on June 18 when Donna DeChristopher, 52, was walking home from running errands in what she describes as a normally safe, walkable area near her residence on Sunset Drive. The 52-year-old spotted a homeless man that she’s seen in the area and believes lives in a nearby encampment not far from Thomas Starr King Middle School. She says the man, described as a Hispanic male in his 20’s, ran up to...

In an embarrassing moment, woke Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass admitted that her city was in such bad shape following the anti-ICE riots that it might not be ready to host the World Cup, pointing to how much graffiti had been left behind by rioters acting out in opposition to President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. For background, on June 10, 2025, LA Mayor Karen Bass reflected on the impact of the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protests that broke out on June 6 and culminated in the dispatching of the National Guard and the Marines by President Trump. During...

Public Servant Gavin Newsom’s rise in California politics and acquired power since the 1990s has been through the knavery of family and influential friends. If you ever doubted that politics is made up of the elite class who see themselves as the ruling class, but want the taxpayers to pay for everything, doubt no more: Governor Gavin Newsom and the “First Partner” (his wife) acquired a $9.1 million home in Marin County, I reported in November 2024. It’s time to revisit this issue because we still don’t have any answers on this home acquisition, or the $3.7 million Fair Oaks...

The homeless man accused of a shooting spree in Santa Monica has been charged with three counts of attempted murder amid a wave of violence from transients that has Los Angeles residents on edge. David John Hairston II, 31, allegedly ambushed and shot a police officer at a pedestrian mall in the seaside enclave on Wednesday, just days after allegedly shooting two teens who were riding a self-driving taxi, according to prosecutors. Hairston was arrested after a citywide manhunt; he faces various weapons charges on top of the attempted murders, with a maximum sentence of 104 years to life in...

Squatters have been wreaking havoc in parts of Los Angeles, setting fires and even carrying out a random attack in a troubling rash of violence that has left residents frightened. The chaos first cropped up in Beverly Grove after an abandoned apartment complex was recently taken over by a group of vagrants. “It’s been absolutely terrifying. We are on hold with our lives right now until this is resolved,” Anita Cavallo, a woman who lives in the Beverly Grove area, told ABC7.

Oakland was once again turned into a dystopian Mad Max-style hellscape as cars and fireworks exploded during multiple street takeovers in the Democrat-run city.At least one person was left critically injured as several major intersections were shut down by street 'sideshows' in the early hours of Sunday morning. Numerous cars were set ablaze, fireworks were thrown and businesses were vandalized as at least three unsanctioned car shows took over the California city.Hundreds of feral onlookers cheered and screamed as the city descended into lawlessness in scenes reminiscent of the post-apocalyptic movies starring Mel Gibson. 'It's crazy,' Oakland resident Santana Beltran...

A large mob was seen looting an AutoZone store in South Los Angeles early Monday morning, and the incident was likely connected to a street takeover that took place nearby.

Once a Great City Has Been Occupied

It could be the end of the line for the "train to nowhere." Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has released a scathing report exposing what he said is the unfeasibility of California's long-troubled high-speed rail project — and is threatening to pull the plug on a plan that already has the federal government on the hook for $6.9 billion while Californians are underwriting an additional $9 billion. Duffy said that the federal government is moving to terminate around $4 billion it has currently obligated to the project unless the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) can prove it is tenable. He blasted...

The Trump administration announced Monday that it has launched an investigation into California’s Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants, a state program that provides monthly cash benefits to aged, blind, and disabled non-citizens who are ineligible for Social Security benefits due to their immigration status.The investigation began in Los Angeles, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Los Angeles field office issuing a Title 8 subpoena to California’s Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants, the Department of Homeland Security said in a news release. According to the department, the subpoena requests all records from the Los Angeles County Department of Public...

A new poll out of deep-blue California is sending a clear message: voters want their state to work with President Donald Trump, not against him. Despite Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and his Democrat allies waging constant political war with the Trump administration, the public appears exhausted over the partisan grandstanding. Instead, many Californians are signaling they’d rather see cooperation than endless resistance, even if it means setting aside the left’s obsession with opposing Trump at every turn. According to a poll conducted by the University of California, Berkeley professor Jack Citrin, together with Politico, Californians are more interested in fighting...

SACRAMENTO, California — A progressive Democratic lawmaker is seeking a simple but jarring remedy of last resort for California’s college students navigating the state’s housing crisis: Let them sleep in their cars. While roughly half a dozen state legislative proposals this year seek to fund student or faculty housing or loosen building regulations, the benefits would come far too late for current students struggling to stay afloat. With one in four California community college students experiencing homelessness in the past year, Democrats — who have a supermajority in the statehouse — face increasing pressure to deliver on affordability issues. Assemblymember...

The Pacific Palisades fire burned more than 6,800 structures, both homes and businesses. Clearly, the rebuilding process is going to take a while for many families even if insurance covers the losses. What should not take a long time are permits for people who lost everything to get started. Indeed, Mayor Karen Bass vowed to streamline the process and made a big show when the first permit was issued.The first permit was issued March 5, less than two months after the Palisades fire destroyed or seriously damaged more than 6,000 homes in Pacific Palisades and surrounding areas.“We want this to...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) secretly paid for his own monument inside San Francisco’s City Hall, according to a book released Tuesday. Fool’s Gold: The Radicals, Con Artists, and Traitors Who Killed the California Dream and Now Threaten Us All, written by Susan Crabtree and Jedd McFatter, alleges that Newsom arranged for a bronze bust of himself to be sculpted inside City Hall to commemorate his term as mayor, using funds he controlled. Newsom then allegedly feigned ignorance of the identity of the private donors who funded the bust, as well as some uncertainty about its design. Other mayors have...

Military leaders at the highest levels of the California National Guard pledged loyalty to the LGBT community during an official ceremony led by the general whom Gov. Gavin Newsom (D.) later appointed to lead the force in 2022. One attendee told the Washington Free Beacon that members felt pressured to appear at the ceremony, which felt "culty." . . A former senior leader of the California National Guard told the Free Beacon the ceremony was the brainchild of Major General Matthew Beevers, who at the time served as deputy head of the guard and was pictured onstage during the event....

Gavin Newsom just appeared on CNN and explained that people ‘can’t rebuild the same.’ Newsom suggests that there is a new reality due to the ‘science’ and climate change, and that all of that has to be taken into account as people rebuild. In other words, Adam Carolla was right. Newsom and other authorities in California may be handing out building permits, but it’s pretty clear that there will still be red tape and new rules for rebuilding. Watch: