California is set to implement a major environmental and housing reform with the expected signing of AB 609 into law, which will exempt certain infill housing projects from CEQA review, allowing for faster and more efficient construction of new homes in already developed areas.
A recent court ruling in Orange County has upheld the City of Newport Beach’s decision to implement its state-mandated housing element without voter approval, and may have sweeping implications for cities in California, including Davis, that are governed by voter-controlled growth ordinances.
A federal lawsuit has been filed against the Department of Homeland Security accusing them of retaliatory violence during protests against immigration raids in Southern California, and seeking a temporary restraining order to halt DHS’s use of force ahead of further protests.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Governor Gavin Newsom celebrated a court ruling that allows Newport Beach to implement its housing element without a public vote, rejecting a legal challenge based on a local charter provision.
Governor Gavin Newsom has announced the groundbreaking of two new affordable housing communities in San Francisco’s Fillmore District, part of an ongoing effort to convert underutilized state-owned land into housing for low- and extremely low-income Californians.
Protests erupted in Los Angeles and across the country as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids intensified in California, a self-declared sanctuary state, while the federal government’s authority over state and local criminal justice systems was questioned.
Governor Gavin Newsom responded to Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ claims of California’s governance problems by pointing out that the highest murder rates in the country are in red states, and that California’s homicide rate is lower than Arkansas’ and other red states.
Advocates are calling on Governor Gavin Newsom to permanently close the state’s deactivated prisons before they can be repurposed by the federal government as immigration detention centers, in order to protect California’s progress on decarceration and prevent ICE expansion.
U.S. Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly removed and tackled by federal agents during a Department of Homeland Security press conference, sparking bipartisan condemnation and calls for a full investigation into the actions of the officers who manhandled a sitting U.S. Senator.
Advocates are calling on Governor Newsom to fully decommission shuttered state prisons and prevent them from being repurposed as ICE detention centers, as federal immigration raids are increasing across California.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has denounced President Trump’s actions as a slide into authoritarianism, while California Attorney General Rob Bonta has filed a lawsuit against Trump, arguing that the federalization of the California National Guard without the state’s consent is unconstitutional.
The Trump administration’s ICE raids and military deployment in California are a direct attack on the state’s values and sovereignty, and the federal government must take immediate action to halt the raids and withdraw the troops from our streets.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Governor Gavin Newsom have filed a lawsuit against President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, seeking to block the federalization of the California National Guard and arguing that it violates the Tenth Amendment and exceeds federal authority under a little-used law governing state militias.
President Trump has ordered the federalization and deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles without the consent of California Governor Gavin Newsom, leading to widespread outrage and condemnation from elected officials, legal advocates, and community leaders across the state.
California has launched the Statewide Mobile Monitoring Initiative, a program that will deploy vehicles to collect air pollution data in 64 communities to improve public health and air quality.
The death penalty is creeping back into California through prosecutors seeking capital punishment in cases like the Half Moon Bay shooting, despite Governor Gavin Newsom’s moratorium on executions, and the state’s history of racial bias and prosecutorial misconduct.
The Anti Police-Terror Project (APTP) is calling for an end to high-speed vehicle pursuits by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) in Oakland neighborhoods after a recent incident resulted in the death of an innocent bystander, and is holding a candlelight vigil to protest the state’s prioritization of “law-and-order rhetoric” over community safety.
California has defended its support for transgender student-athletes in response to Trump’s threats to cut off federal funding, with Senator Scott Wiener stating that the state is prepared to defend its laws protecting transgender students in court.
California’s homelessness crisis is being exacerbated by political turf wars and bureaucratic dysfunction, as cities and counties are locked in disputes over funding and responsibility, leaving thousands of unhoused individuals to suffer on the streets.
Anand Jon Alexander, an incarcerated individual at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, will become the first person inside San Quentin to earn a master’s degree from a California State University campus, and has developed the HealMeToo.app to address gender abuse, domestic violence, and wrongful convictions.