Firing Back: California Republicans are pushing back against suggestions by President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans that federal disaster aid for victims of wildfires that ravaged Southern California should come with strings attached, possibly jeopardizing the president's policy agenda in a deeply divided Congress at the outset of his second term. Political Fallout: The California Secretary of State announced Thursday that an initiative for the November 2028 ballot asking whether California should be its own country is cleared to start gathering signatures. LA Law: The Law Makers, Law Breakers and times that there oughta be a law. From the Ashes: Much like thousands of families who lost their homes in the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, Brian McShea and Stephanie Raynor of Altadena have been spending their time sifting through the rubble.