California health officials confirmed the state’s first two cases of human bird flu infections on Oct. 3. Both people live in California’s Central Valley—a key agricultural region in the state—and caught the virus after contacting infected dairy cattle. Both cases were confirmed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to the […]

A man suspected of killing Daniel and Stephanie Menard at a nudist ranch in Southern California faces two counts of murder with a special circumstance that could lengthen his sentence if convicted, authorities announced Sept. 3. Michael Royce Sparks, 62, is expected to be formally charged Wednesday in San Bernardino County Superior Court, District Attorney […]

Clashes between protesters and authorities at Stanford University on June 5 resulted in 13 arrests as the Northern California campus became the latest battleground in the pro-Palestinian movement. Local county sheriff’s deputies joined Stanford’s Department of Public Safety officers who intervened after about a dozen demonstrators barricaded themselves inside the office of the school’s president […]

LOS ANGELES—A federal judge in Los Angeles granted Hunter Biden’s request on May 22 to delay his trial on tax evasion charges to Sept. 5, moving the trial months closer to election day. Some states start early voting up to 46 days before the Nov. 5 election. Mr. Biden faced two trials in June on […]

WESTWOOD, Calif.—Students walking past a barricaded quad area May 1, where violent clashes erupted overnight on the University of California–Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, said they feared for the safety of their classmates. Hundreds of student protesters sympathizing with Palestinians, in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, occupied Royce Quad on […]

University of Southern California (USC) officials announced April 25 the cancellation of public graduation ceremonies on its main stage May 10 following a massive pro-Palestinian protest that ended in the arrest of nearly 100. The university posted a graduation ceremonies update Thursday afternoon, saying new safety measures would be implemented for this year’s commencement events. […]

A San Francisco lawmaker wants California to become the first state in the nation to enact a law to give employees the right to ignore work-related communications outside of work hours. Assembly Bill 2751, introduced in February and amended in March by Democratic Assemblyman Matt Haney, would allow employees to ignore calls and texts received […]

A federal judge questioned a lack of evidence provided by attorneys representing President Joe Biden’s son Hunter during a hearing in Los Angeles March 27 as they sought to have several tax-related charges dropped. Judge Mark Scarsi (CQ) heard arguments from Mr. Biden’s lawyers for several hours about their eight motions filed to dismiss the […]

A Los Angeles federal judge decided Alexander Smirnov must remain in detention while he awaits trial on charges of lying to federal agents and falsifying records about the alleged business dealings of President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Mr. Smirnov asked the judge in downtown Los Angeles to grant him bail, but U.S. District […]

LOS ANGELES—President Joe Biden’s son on Jan. 11 pleaded not guilty to nine tax charges, in an arraignment in federal court. Hunter Biden, 53, appeared about a month after a grand jury indicted him on tax evasion and eight other counts. Court papers say Mr. Biden failed to pay at least $1.4 million in federal […]

A man who died on Interstate 105 in Lynwood, California, near South Los Angeles, on Nov. 19, used a taser on a responding officer who then shot him, according to the California Highway Patrol (CHP). A video shared on social media shows a CHP officer struggling to restrain the homeless man, who was identified as […]

A California farm has recalled peaches, plums, and nectarines in several states after nearly a dozen people became sick from eating the fruit, the Food and Drug Administration announced Nov. 17. HMC Farms, located in Kingsburg, California, about 90 miles north of Bakersfield, has voluntarily recalled its fruit sold in retail stores between May 1 […]

Authorities are continuing to investigate whether the man arrested for the death of Paul Kessler at a dual protest between Israel and Palestine supporters earlier this month will be charged with a hate crime, Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced Nov. 17. “We have not ruled out a hate crime,” Mr. Nasarenko said during […]

A Moorpark man was arrested Nov. 16 for the death of 69-year-old Paul Kessler, a Jewish man who was killed as a result of an altercation Nov. 5 in Thousand Oaks, California, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office has announced. Loay Alnaji, 50, a computer science teacher at Moorpark College, was arrested on suspicion of involuntary […]

A 69-year-old man demonstrating in support of Israel died Nov. 6 after sustaining a head injury during a fight with a pro-Palestinian protester at a weekend rally in Thousand Oaks, about 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The Ventura County medical examiner has ruled Paul Kessler’s death a homicide, and the county sheriff’s office has […]

A new law signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom Oct. 7 will eliminate “junk fees” added to the cost of tickets, hotels, or other purchases. State Attorney General Rob Bonta and Democratic state Sens. Bill Dodd (D-Napa) and Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) sponsored Senate Bill (SB) 478—called the False Advertising Law—which will go into effect July […]

A coalition of states has filed a lawsuit seeking a review of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to grant waivers to California that allows the state to ban new diesel-powered heavy-duty truck sales in 2035. Iowa’s Attorney General Brenna Bird led the group of 19 states that filed the legal action on June 5 […]

Officials at California pregnancy centers are speaking out against accusations made by a Democratic state lawmaker who depicted the clinics as “fake health care centers.” The Santa Clarita Valley Pregnancy Center in Santa Clarita, California, held a press conference on May 24 to call out pro-abortion Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo (D-Chatsworth), who said the state’s pregnancy […]

California is home to eight of the 16 largest U.S. cities where families can earn $100,000 and still be broke, according to a new study by Lending Tree. San Jose, in the heart of Silicon Valley, ranked first as the most expensive city in the nation, according to the report, issued April 24. A family […]

The law enforcement agencies in Bakersfield, California, are wondering how the city was ranked worst in the nation by a national insurance company. A study recently released by Insurify claims Bakersfield’s per-capita burglary rate was 847 per 100,000 residents, ranking the city at the top of the nation, but the outcome was reached using crime […]