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“The state of California is a mess,” Schneider declared, “and the supermajority of Democrats is not working. I’ve been a lifelong Democrat and I have to switch over because it no longer serves the people of this great state.
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The City Council voted 4-3 Monday to approve the request by Councilman Benny Lee, a Chinese-American who said he intended the move as a sign of support for the city’s growing Chinese population and a sign the city is open for Chinese business and investment…
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Among the dozen gun-control bills sitting on California Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk are measures that would outlaw lead ammunition for hunting as well as common types of hunting rifles under the umbrella of an assault-weapons ban. Taken together, the measures go far beyond the efforts that have inspired a sharp backlash and political battles in states such as Connecticut and Colorado.
To put the lead bill in context, about 95 percent of all ammunition sold in California contains lead. The alternative is metal bullets, some of which can pierce police armor and are banned by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Critics say the bill would effectively end hunting as a sport in California.
“If California outlaws lead bullets, the federal government already outlaws everything else, so there’s nothing left for hunters to use,” said California Assemblyman Brian Jones, a Republican from Santee. “It basically outlaws hunting.”
Mr. Brown has yet to say whether he will sign any or all of the gun bills, but the effort has already sparked a backlash against the Democratic-sponsored bills by one of the party’s chief constituencies: labor unions. A half-dozen California labor leaders have formed a coalition urging the governor to veto Assembly Bill 711, the lead-ammunition ban, citing the loss of manufacturing and supply-chain jobs as well as recreational opportunities.
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Robert Van Tuinen, 25, was attempting to hand out complimentary copies of the US Constitution at Modesto Junior College in central California on Tuesday when a police officer informed him that he could only distribute pamphlets on campus if done from within a designated free-speech area that requires weeks of notice to reserve.
“Anytime anything is being passed out it has to be… you have to go through the Student Development office,” said the officer.
“Don’t I have free speech, sir?” Van Tuinen responded, clutching copies of the Constitution.
“But do you know what this is?” he asked. “What are the rules? Why are the rules tied to my free speech?”
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ABC News reports the unnamed patient, who also worked at Torrance Memorial Medical Center, where the procedure was performed October 2011, also hit her unidentified anesthesiologist with a raft of incendiary legal claims.
The patient says she learned of the bizarre photos from co-workers who had seen them after returning to work as a surgical supply purchaser at the hospital.
“Perhaps the most vulnerable position any human being will ever endure in their life is a time when they are placed under full anesthesia,” reportedly reads the lawsuit, filed Aug. 15 in Los Angeles Superior Court.
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AB 154, whose main sponsor is Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and is supported by numerous pro-choice groups, passed both legislative chambers this past week and is now on Brown’s desk, reports Breitbart News.
If Brown signs the bill, it will allow non-physician staff at Planned Parenthood’s clinics, among others, to obtain licenses to perform the abortion procedures.
Planned Parenthood says the legislation is necessary because a shortage of doctors in some parts of the state means that women often have to wait until later in their pregnancies to terminate them, which is a riskier procedure.
“Early abortion access is a critical public health issue,” Planned Parenthood says on its legislative page.
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In an August 30 memo, state prison officials stated that due to the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that “effectively invalidated” Proposition 8, they “must accept and process applications for a same-sex marriage between an inmate and a non-incarcerated person in the community, in the same manner as they do between opposite sex couples.”
In case you didn’t notice the wording, there is a caveat in that statement…
While a gay inmate can marry a person who is not jailed, two gay inmates cannot get married.
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The study, released two years after a tsunami killed thousands in Japan, identified several communities that are particularly vulnerable to flooding because of their low elevation and lack of protection from waves.
They include Marina del Rey and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as well as the low-lying coastal areas extending from the ports to Newport Beach.
The report, compiled by dozens of scientists, emergency responders and industry representatives, is the most extensive examination of what a tsunami would do to California’s coastline. The research simulated a 9.1 quake off the Alaska coast that would send damaging waves to California.
While waves would be larger in Northern California — between 10 and 23 feet — the damage could be greater in Southern California because the region has more coastal development and fewer coastal cliffs.
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The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 on Tuesday for a declaration of secession, the Record Searchlight of Redding reported (https://bit.ly/1cFTqUG ). The vote appears mostly symbolic since secession would require approval from the state Legislature and the U.S. Congress, but supporters say it would restore local control over decision making. They want other rural counties in Northern California and Southern Oregon to join them in the creation of a new state called the State of Jefferson.
“Many proposed laws are unconstitutional and deny us our God-given rights,” Gabe Garrison of Happy Camp said at the meeting. “We need our own state so we can make laws that fit our way of life.”
Garrison was among more than 100 people who attended the meeting, and most were in support of the declaration, according to the Record Searchlight.
The declaration does not launch any type of formal process toward secession, but only reflects the county’s support, said Tom Odom, the county’s administrative officer.
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The 2-week-old Rim Fire moved up a spot on the state’s list of large wildfires dating back to 1932 when it grew to 348 square miles – an area larger than the cities of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose combined – on Saturday, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Daniel Berlant said.
Although the fire still is growing, it was 40 percent contained as of Sunday, up from 35 percent a day earlier.
Moister air was expected to slow flames from advancing through brush and trees, giving firefighters room to set backfires, dig containment lines and to strengthen lines around threatened communities, U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Pam Baltimore said.
Full containment is not expected until Sept. 20.
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