Tag: california

San Mateo County Passes Resolution To Regulate Commercial Humanoid Robots

San Mateo County may become the first in California to regulate humanoid robots used for commercial purposes.

The county board of supervisors on Aug. 11 passed a resolution sponsored by Supervisor Ray Mueller to direct county legal and administrative staff to draft an ordinance regulating the use of untethered autonomous or semi-autonomous humanoid robots, or “mobile humanoid robots,” in restaurants, retail stores, and other businesses.

State law already regulates autonomous vehicles but not the commercial use of humanoid robots, according to a county memo. The resolution aims to create a “comprehensive permitting process governing the commercial deployment and operation” of such robots within the county.

Several companies have already started humanoid robot pilot projects.

Tau Robotics, for instance, offers cleaning services to invited San Francisco residents at $30 per hour in a pilot program launched on July 28. The robots are operated by humans and artificial intelligence, according to the company’s website.

According to the county memo, having a permitting framework in place before these robots are widely implemented would “encourage the responsible integration of emerging technologies in a manner that serves the public interest.”

The resolution directs county staff to consider having businesses pay an annual fee dedicated to HazMat and fire equipment for local first responders to handle risks from the lithium-ion batteries the robots use.

“In recent years, we’ve seen an uptick in lithium-ion battery fires due to thermal runaway,” Rich Seguine, vice president of Local 2400, which represents firefighters in San Mateo County, said in a public comment at the county board meeting. “A funding source like this in the resolution can be used to purchase necessary specialized equipment.”

The resolution also aims to require the robots to have accessible emergency “kill switches,” have clean manufacturer safety records, and be supervised by a trained human onsite.

Technological progress and protecting working people aren’t competing goals, said Julie Lind, a member of the San Mateo Labor Council, in a virtual public comment.

“Businesses should understand and account for the human consequences of deploying this technology, including potential job losses,” Lind said.

Non-humanoid robots have already been deployed in a few commercial uses in the area, including Cafe X, a robotic coffee bar in San Francisco International Airport; Artly Coffee in Stonestown Galleria in San Francisco; and autonomous sidewalk delivery company Coco Robotics.

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Actor charged with 24 felony counts in alleged child sexual abuse case

A California actor and producer is facing 24 felony charges after investigators said he used online casting calls to contact minors as part of an alleged pattern of child sexual abuse spanning decades.

Shane Ryan Gledhill, 46, of Lompoc, was arrested Aug. 3 after Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s detectives spent nearly five years investigating accusations of exploitation.

Gledhill, whose work involved projects connected to actors including Shelley Duvall, Tom Arnold, Richard Dreyfuss and Ed Harris, was initially booked on 15 felony charges. That total has now climbed to 24.

The investigation began in November 2021, when a 17-year-old survivor approached Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s investigators about what they described as suspicious and inappropriate conduct involving Gledhill when she was 15, according to authorities.

That initial report led to an investigation that eventually identified nine survivors, the Sheriff’s Office said. All were minors at the time of the alleged offenses.

In February 2022, investigators executed a search warrant at his residence in Lompoc. Investigators seized thousands of digital files, which underwent an extensive forensic examination.

The Sheriff’s Office said the investigation uncovered a pattern in which Gledhill allegedly used online casting calls and film-making projects to contact aspiring young actors.

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Cyberattack Cripples California City’s 911 System, Forces Emergency Shutdown

A Northern California city of roughly 30,000 residents was forced to shut down its entire computer network Friday after a cyberattack knocked out its 911 system, the latest sign of how vulnerable American municipalities remain to digital assaults.

Suisun City, located about 45 miles from San Francisco, declared a state of emergency Saturday after malicious software infiltrated its network shortly before 6 p.m. Friday, the California Post reported.

“Officials shut down the entire network to stop the threat from spreading and protect evidence for a federal investigation,” the outlet reported.

City officials scrambled to prevent the outage from endangering residents, rerouting 911 calls through the Solano County dispatch center. Police and fire personnel remained active and able to respond to calls for service despite the loss of the city’s own systems.

The breach reached well beyond emergency dispatch.

City services including building permits and other municipal records were rendered inaccessible, and residents were unable to pay bills online while the network remained offline.

The Suisun City Council voted unanimously to pull the plug on the network and declare a state of emergency during a special meeting Saturday morning, an extraordinary step that underscores the severity of the threat local officials believed they were facing.

The incident lands amid heightened concern over foreign cyber threats to American infrastructure since the outbreak of the Iran war.

U.S. authorities issued an “urgent warning” in April that hackers linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were actively working to disrupt critical American computer networks, a threat national security officials have long cautioned could extend to local governments with limited cybersecurity resources.

It remains unclear whether the Suisun City attack is connected to Iran-backed hacking operations.

Investigators are still working to determine how the malicious software breached the network and who is responsible, according to news reports.

City officials have not said when full network functionality is expected to be restored.

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REPORT: After Billions Upon Billions in Spending, California’s High Speed Rail Program May Run Out of Money by the End of 2027

The high-speed rail program that California has been working on for years and which has already cost billions of dollars, may run out of money as early as the end of 2027, according to new reports.

Has there ever been a greater example of the inefficiency of government to build things?

They have been at this for years and hardly any tracks have even been laid. At what point to they just give it up already?

The New York Post reports:

Gavin Newsom’s bullet train barreling toward financial cliff as cash could run dry in 2027

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 on schedule.

Inspector General Benjamin Belnap’s report noted that high-speed rail officials have “obscured basic facts about the project, hindering lawmakers’ ability to provide effective oversight of the project.”

State Sen. Tony Strickland (R-Huntington Beach), who previously called the bullet train “the most wasteful government project in probably world history,” said on Tuesday that the warning of empty coffers by the end of 2027 was “no surprise.”

“During the informational hearing this spring, both the nonpartisan [Legislative Analyst’s Office] and the Inspector General were unable to identify a reliable funding source for high-speed rail,” Strickland told The Post.

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California Orders NGO Serving As “Financial Backbone” For Singham-Linked Marxism Causes To Cease Operations

Foreign policy investigator Adam Kredo of The Washington Free Beacon revealed on Monday that California regulators ordered Arc of Justice, a nonprofit operated by left-wing Code Pink cofounder Medea Benjamin, to cease charitable operations after years of missing tax filings and unanswered questions about what happened to $51 million in reported assets. 

The state attorney general revoked the foundation’s charitable registration in January 2025, barring it from distributing assets without prior approval. A June 19 warning letter went further, directing Arc of Justice to stop soliciting, holding or spending charitable funds in California and warning that board members could face personal liability for unauthorized distributions.

Kredo cited an investigation by the watchdog group Intelligent Advocacy Network (IAN) that said since California first revoked the foundation’s charitable registration 18 months ago and ordered it to provide a full accounting of $51,445,599 in outstanding assets it held as of 2023, “no public document establishes what has happened to the money, where it is held, or whether any of it has moved.” 

The California Franchise Tax Board subsequently confirmed that the foundation was no longer in good standing or certified as tax-exempt. At the same time, the Secretary of State listed the organization as suspended.

“The silence from Arc of Justice raises unanswered questions about a foundation that has long served as the financial backbone for a network of radical advocacy groups tied to Benjamin and her Code Pink cofounder, Jodie Evans,” Kredo wrote in the report. 


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California City Pulls Plug on It’s Computer System After Cyberattack

A northern California city of 30,000 people had to disconnect its entire computer network after a cyberattack, idling the municipality’s 911 emergency line for police and fire dispatch.

Officials in the city of Suisun City, located about 45 miles from San Francisco, had to find a workaround for emergency calls and did by forwarding 911 calls to a county dispatch center.

The city declared a state of emergency Saturday after malicious software invaded its computer network and system shortly before 6 p.m. Friday, according to the California Post.

“Officials shut down the entire network to stop the threat from spreading and protect evidence for a federal investigation,” the Post reported.

Despite the attack, Suisun City officials say they found a work around to prevent residents from being put in immediate danger during emergencies.

First responders remain active and dispatched, with city emergency operators routing calls through he Solano County dispatch center.

That way police and fire personnel are able to respond to calls for service,

The attack also disrupted non-emergency city services, including access to municipal records such as building permits and idled residents ability to pay bills online.

The complete shutdown came after the city council voted unanimously to pull the plug and declare a state of emergency at a special meeting Saturday morning.

Cybersecurity for municipalities and infrastructure systems have been in the news during the Iran war after U.S. authorities earlier this year issued an “urgent warning” that hackers backed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iran were attempting to disrupt American computer networks.

Investigators are still at work in an effort to determine how the malicious software got inside the network and who was behind the attack, according to news reports.

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A California startup won approval to launch a 59-foot mirror into orbit that beams sunlight to a chosen spot on Earth, helping crews work after dark

ight falls, solar panels stop producing, and emergency crews often turn to fuel-powered generators and floodlights. A California startup now wants to offer another option by redirecting sunlight from orbit to a chosen place on Earth for a few minutes.

On July 9, 2026, the Federal Communications Commission authorized Reflect Orbital to deploy and operate Earendil-1, one experimental satellite carrying a reflector about 59 feet by 59 feet. From an orbit roughly 388 miles above Earth, the spacecraft is intended to create a moonlike patch of light about 3.1 miles wide while testing whether that footprint can be aimed and controlled accurately.

A mirror that follows the Sun

Earendil-1 will not make electricity or store solar energy. Its thin reflective film will act like a giant heliostat in space, turning so it can intercept sunlight while the satellite remains sunlit and redirect that light toward a location that has already entered darkness.

Because it moves quickly through low Earth orbit, a single pass would illuminate a target only briefly. Reflect Orbital says its planned 2026 demonstration is designed to provide around 0.1 lux for up to five minutes, equal to roughly 0.009 foot-candles and comparable to a clear night under a full moon.

The light can be removed from the ground by changing the spacecraft’s orientation. That steering ability is at the heart of the mission, since the test must show that the reflector can unfold, point accurately, hold its footprint, and turn away when service ends.

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California Judge Greenlights Democrat AG Rob Bonta’s Biased Ballot Title Claiming Voter ID Measure “PROHIBITS CITIZENS FROM VOTING”

A Sacramento Superior Court judge on Thursday upheld radical Democrat Attorney General Rob Bonta’s last-minute, heavily slanted ballot title and summary for Proposition 39, California’s common-sense voter ID initiative, locking in language that frames the measure as one that “PROHIBITS CITIZENS FROM VOTING UNLESS THEY PRESENT GOVERNMENT-ISSUED IDENTIFICATION.”

Judge Jennifer K. Rockwell denied the petition for writ of mandate filed by Californians for Voter ID, Yes on 39, and registered voter Donald DiCostanzo.

The court ruled that Bonta’s materials “accurately describe the effect of the measure” and fell within the “considerable latitude” the Attorney General enjoys under California election law.

The bold, capitalized lead language that will confront voters on the November 3, 2026, ballot is exactly what Yes on 39 supporters called false and designed to prejudice the electorate against the popular reform.

Proposition 39 would amend the state Constitution to require government-issued identification for in-person voting and the last four digits of a designated government-issued ID number on mail ballot envelopes.

It also directs election officials to maintain accurate voter rolls, use best efforts to verify citizenship, and report annually on citizenship verification rates.

The state would provide free voter ID cards on request. Election officials would only count ballots after verifying identity and that the person has cast only one ballot.

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Federal Judge Blocks California From Disciplining Doctors for COVID Medical Advice That Contradicts Public Health Officials

A federal judge has barred California medical regulators from investigating or disciplining three physicians based on the viewpoints they share with their patients about COVID-19.

In an order signed Wednesday, Senior U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb granted a renewed motion for a preliminary injunction in favor of Dr. Pierre Kory, Dr. Le Trinh Hoang and Dr. Brian Tyson.

The injunction applies only to those three doctors. It remains in effect pending the outcome of a lawsuit the doctors filed in January 2024 against California’s attorney general and two state medical boards. Children’s Health Defense (CHD) is funding the lawsuit.

“While the order technically only applies to our three doctor plaintiffs, it puts the boards on notice that a federal judge has found their Covid misinformation policy unconstitutional under the First Amendment,” wrote attorney Rick Jaffe, who represents the doctors in the case. “Every investigator and every board member now knows how this judge sees it.”

CHD CEO Mary Holland called the preliminary injunction a victory for the physicians.

“Fantastic news that doctors can still be doctors and not just mouthpieces for the state,” she said. “It verges on the absurd that Dr. Kory had to go to the U.S. Supreme Court and back to the California district court to establish that he — not the state — can be a doctor to his patients. But there it is.”

Writing today on Substack, Kory said, “Free speech prevailed. We do not have to parrot pharma-government nonsense to keep our licenses. That principle was worth every day of this fight.”

Ruling doesn’t resolve underlying lawsuit

Under the order, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Medical Board of California Executive Director Reji Varghese, Osteopathic Medical Board of California Executive Director Erika Calderon and others acting on their behalf are prohibited from investigating, prosecuting, accusing or sanctioning the three physicians based on “the viewpoint of the information, recommendations, or advice they give a patient about COVID-19,” even if that information contradicts the positions of public health authorities.

The judge said regulators may not characterize a physician’s refusal to communicate the government’s position on disputed COVID-19 issues as either an informed consent violation or a departure from the applicable standard of care.

However, Shubb’s order makes clear that the injunction does not prevent state medical boards from pursuing other disciplinary action against the physicians. This includes failures to obtain informed consent regarding material risks or reasonable treatment alternatives, or other conduct that can be regulated independently of their views on COVID-19.

The ruling does not resolve the underlying lawsuit, which will continue as the court considers the merits of the physicians’ claims.

Aaron Bone, chief of Legislative and Public Affairs at the Medical Board of California, told The Defender that the board “has no comment on this matter.”

Requests for comment sent to the offices of Bonta and Calderon by The Defender went unanswered.

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Pelosi Slams Dem Trying to Replace Her in House for ‘Sexist’ Campaign Chatbot

Watching the woke eat their own is an entertaining sideshow — and while it’s unfortunate when it won’t end up benefiting a Republican, at least we can take heart that Nancy Pelosi will go out slamming a thoroughly woke gay man who’s poised to replace her in Congress.

California state Sen. Scott Wiener is locked in a two-Democrat race with San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan to replace the retiring Rep. Pelosi (or, as other Democrats love to refer to her, “Speaker Emerita Pelosi”). Wiener was first in the jungle primary in June, but given that the top two advance and second place was Chan, it’s woke vs. woke, and Pelosi has endorsed Chan’s version.

Part of Wiener’s problem in a heavily Democratic district is that he’s Jewish and won’t call Israel’s war against the terrorist group Hamas a “genocide,” which means that anti-Semitism has reared its ugly head. In addition to Pelosi’s endorsement, the San Francisco online news outlet Mission Local reported that third-place finisher Saikat Chakrabarti endorsed Chan as well, and he “shares a progressive-leaning voter base with Chan.”

Polls show the race as close; while both are crazy in their own way, Wiener tends more toward the culturally woke, trans-the-kids side, while Chan tends toward the anti-development, defund-the-police woke side. It’s like a reverse “Sophie’s Choice” — you have to keep one.

And, as in any campaign between wokeistas, there are going to be intersecting claims of prejudice. To that end, we have the rich irony of Wiener getting accused of sexism, in a letter reported by Politico, for launching a chatbot that chronicles his opponent’s foibles.

“Women have spent generations fighting to have our own voices heard in the halls of power,” Pelosi wrote in the letter, which was signed by several other female Democrats.

“We should not have to fight against artificial intelligence putting words in our mouths.”

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