Category: Northern California

Growing Division Among California Democrats Stalls Fentanyl Bill Again Amid Fiery Protests by Victims’ Families

SACRAMENTO—A series of outbursts echoed in the chambers of a Senate Public Safety Committee hearing on April 25 following comments indicating a bill—designed to warn fentanyl dealers of potential murder charges—would not proceed, with one victim’s family member yelling at the representatives on his way out the door, as Democratic lawmakers fought over amended language….


California Democratic Senators’ Debate Stalls Fentanyl Bill Again, Sparks Fiery Protests by Victims’ Families

SACRAMENTO—A series of outbursts echoed in the chambers of a Senate Public Safety Committee hearing on April 25 following comments indicating a bill—designed to warn fentanyl dealers of potential murder charges—would not proceed, with one victim’s family member yelling at the representatives on his way out the door, as democratic lawmakers fought over amended language….


California Bill to Ban Body Shaming May Advance in State Senate

A California bill that would ban body shaming in state schools may advance after a hearing April 26 by the Assembly’s Education Committee. Assembly Bill 10—which defines body shaming as “the action or practice of mocking or stigmatizing a person by making critical comments or observations about the shape, size, or appearance of the person’s…


Retired California Teachers Asked to Pay Back Miscalculated Benefits

Thousands of retired teachers in California are getting hit with significant bills from the state’s teacher retirement agency due to a miscalculation of benefits. Now, those teachers are left to repay large sums to the California State Teacher Retirement System, the second-largest pension fund in the nation, according to the system’s website. While some mistakes…


California’s Proposal to Make Housing a Fundamental Human Right Moves Forward

A proposed constitutional amendment to make housing a fundamental human right in California is moving forward in the Legislature. Democratic leadership referred Assembly Constitutional Amendment (ACA) 10—introduced by Assemblyman Matt Haney (D-San Francisco)—to the Assembly’s Housing and Community Development Committee, where it is expected to receive its first public hearing. No date had been set…


Forty Years a Teacher

Commentary At age 24, at the commencement of his teaching career—coincident with the appearance of multiculturalism, postmodernism, the idea that Western civilization is just one approach—this author understood that the career before him would be in the service of a system in decline. He could have withdrawn and chosen not to serve; instead, he followed…


Bay Area Falun Gong Practitioners Commemorate 24th Anniversary of April 25 Appeal in China

SAN FRANCISCO—Hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners from the San Francisco Bay Area meditated in Harry Bridges Plaza on April 22. This was the first in a series of events held to commemorate the 24th anniversary of a peaceful appeal made in Beijing on April 25, 1999. Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a Chinese…


San Francisco Target Store Forced to Lock Basic Items Behind Security Glass as Theft Rises

A Target store in San Francisco has been forced to place many of its products, including everyday basic items, inside locked security cabinets in a bid to deter shoplifters. Video footage of the interior of the store, reportedly located at Folsom Street near the city’s Mission District, was posted to TikTok on April 20 and showed items including…


California Bill That Would Impose Harsher Penalties on Fentanyl Dealers to Be Reconsidered

Along with several other bipartisan fentanyl bills previously shelved by California lawmakers, Senate Bill 44, which would impose harsher punishments on fentanyl dealers, will also get a second chance at life with a hearing for reconsideration by the state Senate’s Public Safety Committee scheduled for April 25. Authored by Sens. Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) and…


California Lawmakers Seek to Divest Public Pension Funds From Fossil Fuel

A bill requiring California’s two largest public pension funds to divest from fossil fuel companies is quickly making its way through the state Legislature despite opposition from the state funds. Senate Bill 252, introduced by state Sens. Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach), Henry Stern (D-Calabasas), and Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), would prohibit the boards of California…