Tag: california

Gavin Newsom Now Vowing to Eradicate Homelessness in California for the 100th Time

Gavin Newsom has been vowing to end homelessness in California for years. It all began way back when he was the mayor of San Francisco. Now he is the governor of California and he is still doing it.

The only thing that has changed in California over the years is the number of homeless people, which just keeps going up.

And of course, the only reason he is doing this now is because he is planning to run for president in 2028, not because he actually cares about the people of California.

The folks at RedState are skeptical:

You know, if California voters had a dollar for every time Gavin Newsom had pledged to eradicate homelessness in his state over the nearly three decades he’s been in elected office, they’d be rich instead of struggling to make ends meet due to the high cost of living and anti-capitalist environment in the Democrat-run Golden State…

The rampant homeless problems there have been well-documented here at RedState and elsewhere, with even prominent Democrat figures in California at various points acknowledging in so many words that the issue exists primarily in big cities run by other Democrats, like Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Predictably, Newsom has in recent months worked to give off the (false) impression that he is the “do something” governor, partly to beef up his purported 2028 bona fides and also to try to combat President Trump’s legitimate criticisms of things like the state’s soft-on-crime policies, which has played a big part in the exodus of residents over the last several years to red states like Texas and Florida.

But homelessness is where Newsom continues to demonstrate that talk is cheap, with the people ending up paying the steep price that the cost of failed leadership brings.

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Former Madera County worker arrested in CalFresh benefits theft case

55-year-old Leticia Mariscal, a former benefits eligibility worker in Madera County, has been arrested on charges of stealing over $40,000 in CalFresh benefits.

Investigators said she used the identities of more than 15 individuals, including the elderly and deceased.

U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced her arrest, saying she allegedly accessed county databases from December 2020 to April 2025 to carry out the scheme.

She reportedly approved benefits for these individuals, printed EBT cards in their names, and used the funds herself.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Madera County District Attorney’s Office, conducted the investigation.

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The Zodiac killer and Black Dahlia murderer were the SAME man: Explosive investigation unmasks single suspect behind two of America’s darkest murders

Two sadistic crimes that were the stuff of nightmares.

Two reigns of terror over California.

Two of the most notorious cases in history left unsolved for more than half a century.

But now, after all this time, one suspected killer is unmasked.

In a world exclusive, the Daily Mail can reveal that a new investigation has concluded that the Zodiac killer and the murderer of the Black Dahlia were the same man.

The FBI and California police departments are reviewing the explosive theory – and a trove of damning evidence has been unearthed by independent investigators and is undergoing forensic analysis.

If the evidence passes scrutiny, it would mean that two of the world’s biggest murder mysteries will finally be solved.

Between 1968 and 1969, the Zodiac killer terrorized northern California, murdering at least five victims while claiming to have slaughtered dozens more. The phantom taunted the media and police with letters and ciphers, daring the public to unravel his identity.

Two decades earlier in 1947, another slaying cast a shadow of fear over the state.

Aspiring Hollywood actress Elizabeth Short, who became known as the Black Dahlia, was found dead near a lovers’ lane in Los Angeles. Her body had been mutilated – severed clean in half at the waist, with a grotesque smile carved into her cheeks.

Now, after more than a half-century of mystery, countless law enforcement and amateur investigations, unsuccessful attempts to harness DNA testing, and the world’s brightest codebreaking minds left defeated, investigative consultant Alex Baber believes he has finally solved both cases.

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DOJ Charges California Food Stamp Official for Sending Benefits to Dead People – Then Spending Them

Federal prosecutors have charged a longtime California welfare worker with carrying out a multi-year fraud scheme involving food assistance benefits and dead people.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced the arrest of former Madera County benefits eligibility worker Leticia Mariscal, 55, of Madera.

Prosecutors alleged that Mariscal stole tens of thousands of dollars in CalFresh benefits by exploiting her access to county databases.

CalFresh is California’s version of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

According to the Justice Department, the alleged scheme took place between December 2020 and April 2025.

Mariscal is accused of improperly accessing identifying information for elderly and deceased individuals.

Authorities said she secretly approved those individuals for CalFresh benefits.

Prosecutors alleged that she then printed EBT cards in their names. Benefits were then deposited onto the cards and allegedly spent by Mariscal herself.

Federal authorities say that more than 15 identities were used in the scheme, The New York Post reported.

The total amount allegedly stolen was at least $40,000.

The case reportedly came to light after the son of a 91-year-old woman living in a nursing home questioned why his mother was receiving food assistance.

Investigators later confronted Mariscal with security footage, according to the complaint.

She allegedly admitted to the conduct after being shown the footage.

Prosecutors said she attempted to shift blame to a former boyfriend she had described as a gang member.

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California Faces Fuel Disaster As Refineries And Gas Stations Shut Down

The Democrat crusade to divert blame for the stagflation crisis triggered during the Biden Administration led them down a path of economic lies.  The central theme of their narrative was that corporations were “price gouging” consumers and inflation was actually a product of “corporate greed.”  In reality, helicopter money and dollar devaluation during the pandemic triggered a massive consumer demand rush as well as shortages in a variety of goods and raw materials.

The profit margins in many of these industries were paper thin as their manufacturing and labor costs skyrocketed, yet Democrats tried to scapegoat them anyway.  The word “accountability” is not in the leftist vocabulary.

We are only now starting to witness the aftermath of the legislation and policies put in place by blue states as a means to control prices.  California under Governor Gavin Newsom may have staged its own economic demise (the final nail in the coffin) after laws were passed requiring even greater state interference into oil refineries and gas stations.

Gavin Newsom ‘s major refinery law, ABX2-1 (signed Oct 2024), gives the state power to mandate minimum fuel storage levels and control refinery maintenance to prevent price spikes, empowering the California Energy Commission (CEC) to stabilize supply. This builds on earlier efforts (like SB X1-2) creating an oil market watchdog (DPMO) to increase oversight, aiming to stop refiners from manipulating supply for profit, while also adding data reporting requirements for companies.

In response, companies are shutting down refinery operations in the state.

Lawmakers in California at both the state and federal levels are warning that refinery closures could push prices higher while leaving the state more dependent on foreign oil.  At the center of the warning is the planned shutdown of two major refineries: Valero’s Benicia facility and Phillips 66’s Los Angeles plant. Together, the closures would eliminate nearly 20% of California’s in-state refining capacity.

Experts suggest prices could go as high as $10-$12 per gallon as a result of the supply squeeze, spreading outside of CA to Arizona and Nevada. Republican lawmakers say that the loss of in-state production threatens not only consumer prices at the pump but also the state’s military readiness; a matter of national security. 

The refineries make jet fuel and diesel and gasoline for military bases across California.  California is home to more than 30 military bases, many of which rely on fuel refined in-state.  Gavin Newsom has mostly dismissed concerns as exaggeration, asserting that foreign shipments of fuel will fill the supply gap.  He argued in a recent statement:

“The claim that California policies pose a national security risk isn’t grounded in fact. The state has proactively engaged defense fuel customers throughout this energy transition, and no credible concerns have been raised about future fuel supply for the military. California is leading this transition responsibly while ensuring families have access to a safe, reliable, and affordable supply of transportation fuels…” 

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California Expected To Defy Federal Pressure, And Reissue 17,000 Non-Domiciled CDLs

California is expected to begin reissuing approximately 17,000 non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses that the state had planned to revoke following federal enforcement pressure. The decision comes despite ongoing corrective action requirements from FMCSA and raises fundamental questions about federal enforcement authority when a state openly defies compliance directives.

State transportation officials confirmed to sources that the Department of Motor Vehicles will begin restoring the contested licenses to immigrant drivers who received 60-day cancellation notices on November 6. The state has not clarified the specific process but points to the D.C. Circuit Court’s November 13 emergency stay of FMCSA’s interim final rule restricting non-domiciled CDL eligibility.

What California apparently misunderstands, or is choosing to ignore, is that the court stay addressed only the September 29 interim final rule. It did not address the separate compliance failures FMCSA documented during its 2025 Annual Program Review, which found that approximately 25% of California’s non-domiciled CDLs were improperly issued under regulations that existed before the emergency rule was ever published.

The federal government threatened to withhold more than $150 million in highway funding from California over these pre-existing violations. Those threats remain fully in effect regardless of the court’s stay of the new rule.

Two Separate Problems California Is Conflating

Understanding California’s legal exposure requires separating two distinct issues that the state appears to be deliberately merging.

Problem One: The Interim Final Rule. On September 29, 2025, FMCSA issued an emergency interim final rule titled “Restoring Integrity to the Issuance of Non-Domiciled Commercial Drivers’ Licenses.” This rule dramatically restricted the eligibility of non-domiciled CDL holders to H-2A, H-2B, and E-2 visas, excluding asylum seekers, refugees, and DACA recipients. The D.C. Circuit Court stayed this rule on November 13, finding petitioners were “likely to succeed” on claims that FMCSA violated federal law, acted arbitrarily, and failed to justify bypassing standard rulemaking procedures. With this rule stayed, states can theoretically continue issuing non-domiciled CDLs under pre-September 29 regulations, except for states under corrective action plans.

Problem Two: Pre-Existing Compliance Failures. FMCSA’s 2025 Annual Program Review found California had been violating federal regulations that existed long before the interim final rule. The agency documented systemic failures: CDLs issued with expiration dates extending years beyond drivers’ lawful presence authorization, licenses issued to Mexican nationals who are prohibited from holding non-domiciled CDLs (unless under DACA), and inadequate verification procedures. These violations triggered a preliminary determination of substantial noncompliance under 49 CFR 384.307, a process entirely separate from the stayed interim final rule.

California remains subject to a corrective action plan addressing these pre-existing violations. The court stay doesn’t change that. FMCSA’s November 13 guidance was explicit: states “subject to a corrective action plan” must maintain their pauses on non-domiciled CDL issuance until demonstrating compliance with pre-rule regulations.

The Nuclear Option: Decertification

Under 49 U.S.C. § 31312, FMCSA has authority to decertify a state’s entire CDL program if the state is found in “substantial noncompliance” with federal requirements. Decertification would prohibit California from issuing, renewing, transferring, or upgrading any commercial learner’s permits or commercial driver’s licenses, not just non-domiciled credentials, until FMCSA determines that the state has corrected its deficiencies.

The consequences would be immediate and severe. Every new driver in California’s CDL pipeline would freeze. CDL schools would halt operations. Testing would stop. Carriers would face weeks or months of disruption in recruiting new drivers. The ripple effects would devastate one of the nation’s most critical freight corridors.

FMCSA recently threatened Pennsylvania with decertification after an Uzbek terror suspect was found holding a Pennsylvania-issued CDL. The agency gave the state 30 days to respond and warned that failure to correct deficiencies could result in losing issuance authority entirely. California’s defiance appears far more egregious; the state is not merely failing to correct problems but actively moving to restore licenses that federal auditors determined were improperly issued.

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10 Major Laws Taking Effect In California In 2026

The new year is right around the corner, which means a new batch of laws will soon take effect.

From banning masks for law enforcement officers and requiring gender-neutral restrooms in schools, to enhancing artificial intelligence regulations and completely banning plastic bags in stores, here is an overview of some major laws Californians can expect next year or late this year.

Law Enforcement Masks

Senate Bill 627 will ban law enforcement officers at the local and federal levels from wearing a face mask when operating in the Golden State.

It also requires agencies to create policies limiting the use of facial coverings. According to the bill, face coverings excluded from this ban include clear face shields that don’t obscure the person’s facial identity, medical masks, motorcycle helmets, or masks necessary for underwater use.

The federal government had sued the state over this new rule, saying it threatens the safety of officers who could be harassed if their identities are known. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a Nov. 17 statement that “California’s anti-law enforcement policies discriminate against the federal government and are designed to create risk for our agents.”

The mask ban is slated to take effect on July 1, 2026.

School Policies

Senate Bill 760 will require schools to provide at least one all-gender restroom available during school hours and school functions.

The bill allows schools to convert their existing restrooms to comply. The state will reimburse local agencies and school districts for the costs.

The new bathroom policy applies to both public and charter schools and will take effect on July 1, 2026.

Assembly Bill 495 will broaden who can approve school-related medical procedures.

Distant relatives and temporary legal guardians designated by a parent in a family court will be allowed to sign a child out of school and authorize medical care.

Supporters have said the move protects families that have been divided by deportation due to illegal immigration. But opponents said it could lead to kidnapping and child trafficking if someone other than the parents has authority over a student.

Taking effect Jan. 1, 2026, the law will also prohibit daycare providers from asking for or keeping immigration-related information about students or their parents.

AI Regulations

Senate Bill 243 will make California the first state to require safety regulations specifically targeting companion chatbots.

Chatbots are described by the Federal Trade Commission as artificial intelligence (AI) technology that can “effectively mimic human characteristics, emotions, and intentions, and generally are designed to communicate like a friend or confidant, which may prompt some users, especially children and teens, to trust and form relationships with chatbots.”

The new law requires a technology operator to make it clear and obvious to users that the chatbot is not a real human.

It also requires the operator to maintain a protocol for preventing the chatbot from producing content involving suicide or self-harm for the user. Details of the protocol need to be published on the operator’s website to comply with the new law.

The new chatbot regulations will take effect on Jan. 1, 2026, and chatbot operators will be required to submit annual reports on suicide-prevention protocols beginning on July 1, 2027.

Senate Bill 53 creates new regulations for frontier AI models, which include OpenAI’s GPT-4 and -5, Google’s Gemini, and xAI’s Grok.

Frontier AI models are defined as “a foundation model that was trained using a quantity of computing power greater than 10^26 integer or floating-point operations,” according to the bill.

Under the new law, large developers will have to publish their “frontier AI framework” explaining risk management practices, mitigation strategies, and evaluations by a third party. They will also be required to release transparency reports detailing risk assessments prior to introducing updated AI models. Non-compliance would result in up to $1 million in fines.

The new regulations will take effect on Jan. 1, 2026.

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Newsom’s ‘National Model’ For Homeless Wracked By Fraud

Gov. Gavin Newsom has made reducing the homelessness crisis in California a top priority, saying the scale of the state’s efforts is “unprecedented” and calling for the continued expansion of his signature effort – Project Homekey – that has already cost $3.75 billion. 

But in a state with more than 181,000 homeless individuals, or about one-third of the U.S. total, Homekey has been marred by failures and scandals, including a lack of government oversight and accountability as well as a federal investigation into allegations of fraud in Los Angeles. 

Newsom, who appears to be preparing for a presidential bid in 2028, could make Homekey, which he calls a “national model,” a talking point in his campaign. The state claims the program has created almost 16,000 permanent housing units that will serve over 175,000 people. But since the state doesn’t track outcomes – whether people placed in housing saw their lives improve or if they returned to the streets – the program’s effectiveness is unclear, according to a critical 2024 state auditor’s report. 

“[Our budget] is bloated with homeless spending, a bottomless pit and taxpayer boondoggle that doubles down on failure year after year,” the Republican-turned-Democrat Los Angeles Councilwoman Traci Park said at a meeting in May. “Hundreds of millions of dollars on bridge homes and Homekeys and interim housing sites, and no one can even tell us which ones are operational.”

What is clear is that homelessness in California has skyrocketed in the five years Homekey has been in place, growing by more than 20%, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. That’s an increase of some 36,000 people between 2019 and 2024.

Homekey has been touted by officials as a more cost-effective way to house the homeless. By hiring developers to convert excess motel and hotel rooms and other existing structures into permanent housing, the costs are two to three times lower than building new units, according to the auditor’s report.

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Byrna Files Lawsuit Against CA for Blocking Ammunition Sales of Less-Lethal Weapons

Bryan Ganz is the founder of Byrna, the less-lethal self-defense weapons, which looks like handguns but shoot powerful chemical irritants rather than lethal bullets, designed to immobilize an attacker air intruder. The weapons are legal in all 50 states. But, in California, Ganz told the Globe that the state blocked sales of Byrna’s ammunition and launchers.

Why? We thought a less-lethal weapon (some say it’s non-lethal) would be a wildly popular option, and hailed by California’s Attorney General and law enforcement. The Byrna uses a pepper-gel projectile, like a pepper spray, rather than bullets.

But it’s complicated, the Gun Zone explains, thanks to California’s highly regulated gun control laws. “Because it doesn’t discharge a projectile ‘by means of an explosive,’ as defined by California Penal Code section 16520, it technically falls outside the strict definition of a firearm. However, this doesn’t automatically grant free rein. California law, particularly when dealing with weapons designed for defense, is highly regulated.”

And it’s further complicated by brazen gun control and anti-police politics.

In 2021, California passed Assembly Bill 48 by then-Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, which outlawed “the use of kinetic energy projectiles or chemical agents by any law enforcement agency to disperse any assembly, protest, or demonstration, except in compliance with specified standards set by the bill, and would prohibit their use solely due to a violation of an imposed curfew, verbal threat, or noncompliance with a law enforcement directive.”

In 2021, with the well-funded George Floyd protests across the country, police  were confronted with violent riots and protesters, and forced to use crowd control measures. Assemblywoman Gonzalez claimed that her bill was in response to the unwarranted force used by law enforcement against protestors, journalists and others in the George Floyd protests. She objected to the injuries caused by rubber bullets, beanbag rounds, foam rounds, and other projectiles, the Globe reported in 2021.

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Mitt Romney’s Sister-In-Law Cause of Death Revealed

The cause of death for Mitt Romney’s sister-in-law was revealed on Tuesday: Carrie Elizabeth died by suicide, the LA County Medical Examiner said.

“The L.A. County Medical Examiner determined 64-year-old Carrie Elizabeth Romney died from blunt traumatic injuries after falling from the rooftop of a parking structure in Valencia, California, north of Los Angeles, back in October,” TMZ reported.

s previously reported, Mitt Romney’s sister-in-law, Carrie Elizabeth Romney, was found dead near a parking garage in Valencia, California in October.

Authorities responded to a call on a Friday night in mid-October on reports of a dead woman near a parking garage.

The woman, later identified as former Senator Mitt Romney’s sister-in-law, Carrie Romney, plunged from a five-story structure near the Valencia Town Center mall.

The 64-year-old died on scene.

Carrie Romney was married to former Senator Mitt Romney’s older brother, George Scott Romney, 81.

According to divorce records obtained by The New York Post, George Romney was trying to make sure that his wife Carrie got awarded nothing in a bitter divorce battle.

George Romney, a prominent lawyer with a very powerful and politically connected brother, sought to block his wife from receiving spousal support and said they had no shared property.

The two were married for 8 years, and their divorce was not final at the time Carried plunged to her death.

“Our family is heartbroken by the loss of Carrie, who brought warmth and love to all our lives,” Mitt Romney previously said in a statement to PEOPLE. “We ask for privacy during this difficult time.”

In September 2023, Mitt Romney announced he would not seek reelection to the US Senate.

“At the end of another term, I’d be in my mid-80s,” Romney, who was 76 at the time, said. “Frankly, it’s time for a new generation of leaders. They’re the ones that need to make the decisions that will shape the world they will be living in.”

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