Category: Northern California

California Bill That Would Impose Harsher Penalties on Fentanyl Dealers Stalls in Senate Committee

A bipartisan bill in the California Legislature that would have allowed prosecutors to charge fentanyl dealers with murder if someone dies as a result of them ingesting a drug they sold, failed to pass in the Senate Public Safety Committee March 28. Senate Bill 44, introduced last month by Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana), would…


High-Cost California Hampering Switch to Electric Vehicles

Commentary California policies keep contradicting themselves. Now it’s the switch to electric vehicles. Prompted by a 2020 executive order by Gov. Gavin Newsom, last Aug. 25 the California Air Resources Board approved its Advanced Clean Cars II rule. It stipulates, “by 2035 100 percent of new cars and light trucks sold in California will be…


Educators Call for More Fentanyl Prevention in California Schools

Education authorities have expressed concern about the lack of fentanyl prevention and awareness programs in California schools. Accidental overdose from synthetic opioids is currently the leading cause of death for people aged 18 to 45, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The opioid called fentanyl is known to make up…


California Losing High and Middle-Class Income Households: Study

As the so-called exodus from the Golden State continues, California is now losing both higher-income as well as middle-income households, according to a study published in March by the nonpartisan research group, Public Policy Institute of California. During the height of the pandemic, the report found, there was a decline in higher-earning families relocating to…


California Ski Resorts Report Record Snowpack, Plan to Extend Season

With another storm barreling down on California mountains this week, snowfall totals are approaching unprecedented levels in many locations, prompting mountain resorts to extend their ski season—potentially into summer for some. The Mammoth Mountain resort reported 695 inches of snow on the morning of March 29 in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times, breaking…


Newsom’s Fast-Tracked Oil Bill Will Raise Gas Prices

Commentary Gov. Gavin Newsom’s oil bill to reduce gas prices at the pump actually will increase them. It’s simple economics: Increase regulations, potential tax increases, and uncertainty into any market, and the price of its goods will go up. That’s precisely what will be the result of Senate Bill 2, introduced by state Sen. Nancy…


California Farmers Flood Fields to Boost Groundwater Basin

A field that has long grown tomatoes, peppers, and onions now looks like a wind-whipped ocean as farmer Don Cameron seeks to capture the runoff from a freakishly wet year in California to replenish the groundwater basin that is his only source to water his crops. Taking some tomatoes out of production for a year…


Newsom Signs Price-Gouging Penalty Bill for Oil Companies

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill March 28 that plans to target oil companies with a windfall-profits penalty law, after it was rushing through both chambers of the Legislature in a week. The law will create new regulations and extensive oversight for oil companies and allows an appointed commission to issue fines and penalties…


California State University Intends to End COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates

The California State University (CSU)—the nation’s largest four-year higher education system—intends to rescind coronavirus vaccine mandates for students, faculty, and staff, as reported by its faculty association March 2. The system’s office of human resources and labor relations determined it will “no longer require students to be fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus,” according to…


California Public Safety Committee Declines to Hear Fentanyl Bill AB 1058

A hearing for Assemblyman Jim Patterson’s (R-Fresno) recently introduced Assembly Bill 1058 (AB 1058), aiming to increase penalties for fentanyl dealers, was postponed indefinitely by Assemblyman Reginald Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles), chair of the public safety committee, on Thursday, March 23. In a press conference held in Fresno March 24, Patterson decried the move while flanked…