California Governor Gavin Newsom withdrew his competing ballot measure to reform the state’s reduced prosecution of drug dealing and theft just days after Democratic legislators rejected his supported amendments to their anti-crime bills. Newsom’s measure would have required the majority of legislators’ support on July 3 to make it on the November ballot, and would be in competition with another prosecution reform measure that earned nearly one million signatures. The official website and Twitter account of the Office of the Governor of California took down mention and links to a July 1 press release from Newsom, Senate President pro Tempore Mike McGuire, D-North Coast, and Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, announcing their drug and theft initiative, which initially had a vote set for Wednesday, July 3. 

Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-foundation/ce052532-b1e4-41c4-945c-d7ce2f52c38a?source_code=xxxxxx

Full story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/california/article_9013597a-396d-11ef-8ca4-bbd22b196278.html

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The California legislature erupted in chaos before it passed a ban on parental notification for gender change requests from TK-12 students. If signed by the governor, the bill would render moot the parental notification policies that have been adopted by many California school districts. After the California Department of Education issued guidance that schools should not disclose students’ gender-related record change requests to parents, some California school districts adopted rules requiring parents to be notified if their children request to officially change their pronouns, go by a different name, or use facilities or school programs for children of the opposite gender. California Attorney General Rob Bonta responded by supporting lawsuits against these school districts, and the current bill in question, AB 1955. 

Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-foundation/ce052532-b1e4-41c4-945c-d7ce2f52c38a?source_code=xxxxxx

Full story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/california/article_e201f946-34d4-11ef-80d6-e78c8fcd3496.html

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In his State of the State pre-recorded video address, California Governor Gavin Newsom continued to repeat claims about greater than 30% declines in crime in the Bay Area that seem to face challenges from local crime data. Newsom devoted much of the video to national politics, drawing a sharp comparison between safety in Republican states compared to California, before going into further detail on supposed improvements in California crime statistics. 

Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-foundation/ce052532-b1e4-41c4-945c-d7ce2f52c38a?source_code=xxxxxx

Full story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/california/article_abceea9e-3418-11ef-8a76-9782425906f8.html

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The city of San Francisco is projecting a cumulative $3 billion deficit in its general fund from 2024-25 through 2027-28. The city agreed to raises in union contracts shortly after those projections that resulted in salary and benefits costs that were greater that those used to project the deficits. Mayor London Breed’s proposed budget for 2024-25 and 2025-26 was included in the June 21 agenda for the city’s Budget and Appropriations Committee. The final budget will be voted on Aug. 1.

Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-foundation/ce052532-b1e4-41c4-945c-d7ce2f52c38a?source_code=xxxxxx

Full story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/california/article_e5d6c83a-2f39-11ef-b603-a71d88798aa4.html 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

San Francisco opened its first $5.5 million free food “market”, where approved residents can show a benefits eligibility card, put what they want in their carts, check out to keep track of outgoing inventory, and leave without paying. The Bayview-Hunters Point facility aims to be a food pantry alternative that replicates the supermarket experience in an area where many grocery stores have come but few have remained due to high crime. The 4000-square foot District 10 Market is the first of San Francisco’s food empowerment “markets” funded by the San Francisco’s Human Services Agency. Eligible individuals receive a Costo-like benefits card that allows use of the facility once per month.

Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-foundation/ce052532-b1e4-41c4-945c-d7ce2f52c38a?source_code=xxxxxx

Full story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/california/article_4e1f5efe-251a-11ef-a6e4-6b3514a1a230.html

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As homicides and robberies continue to rise, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon has created a backlog of 15,000 unfiled criminal cases, leading to concerns that unprosecuted criminals in the zero-bail county are able to stay on the streets and keep committing new crimes without any consequences. While LAPD did not respond to a public records request on updated crime data by the time of publication as the department adopts a new crime reporting system, a LAPD public information officer told The Center Square there were 438 gunshot victims and homicides are up 11%, robberies up 17.6%, motor vehicle theft up 5.2%, and burglaries up 2.4% year-over-year for January 1 through June 1 of 2024 compared to 2023. 

Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-foundation/ce052532-b1e4-41c4-945c-d7ce2f52c38a?source_code=xxxxxx

Full story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/california/article_f75037d4-290f-11ef-8385-f700c07a4242.html 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One hundred forty-eight days after California Governor Gavin Newsom used new executive authority to expedite infrastructure projects, a court cleared a major hurdle to construction of California’s first major reservoir in decades. In 2023, California passed State Bill 149, which granted the governor the authority to require courts to rule on projects’ environmental impact reports within 270 days. Under the California Environmental Quality Act, EIR cases can be used to hold up projects nearly indefinitely if courts continue to find issues with a project’s EIR. 

Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-foundation/ce052532-b1e4-41c4-945c-d7ce2f52c38a?source_code=xxxxxx

Full story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/california/article_699a7c66-22c9-11ef-b454-7bd2a53c3e22.html 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

California, the largest state in the nation, finally ranks as the nation’s top home of valuable Fortune 500 companies after a 10 year hiatus. Due to the state’s vast population, however, its standing erodes when evaluating states’ numbers of Fortune 500 companies per capita. Rounding out the top three states by Fortune 500 headquarters were California, Texas, and New York, coming in at 57, 52, and 52 respectively. However, after adjusting for state population, New York comes out on top out of the three with 2.64 Fortune 500 companies per million residents, followed by Texas at 1.73, then California at 1.46. 

Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-foundation/ce052532-b1e4-41c4-945c-d7ce2f52c38a?source_code=xxxxxx

Full story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/california/article_4e06eefa-236c-11ef-a09a-3befe6536d98.html

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Congress is investigating California’s $128 billion high speed rail project, demanding the California High Speed Rail Authority provide information on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s “justification for continuing to fund the California High-Speed Rail project.”  California’s high speed rail project has completed environmental clearance for the entire downtown Los Angeles to downtown San Francisco phase, pending a board vote in the coming days. Now, the question remains whether the state and federal governments will fund the $128 billion project and how, especially as the state faces a $7 billion budget deficit this year even with the governor’s current proposed spending cuts. 

Full story: 

https://www.thecentersquare.com/california/article_1bcf53e6-1ed0-11ef-a8ce-fb99b6255356.html
 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.