Utility customers will pay $10.5 billion for California wildfire costs

July 12, 2019 By Taryn Luna 3 Comments

Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to sign legislation Friday to overhaul how the state pays for utility wildfire damage — a complex bill the governor championed and moved swiftly through the California Legislature this week at Wall Street’s urging.

The bill’s passage was a political victory for the governor, but some questioned whether California leaders were just making a down payment for wildfire costs that will skyrocket if more isn’t done to prevent ever-larger blazes.

The administration says the bill will provide investor-owned utilities with at least $21 billion to pay for damage from blazes linked to their equipment beginning this summer. Utility customers will be required to pay $10.5 billion to the so-called wildfire fund through a 15-year extension of an existing charge on monthly bills, one that was originally expected to expire by 2021. …

Click here to read the full article from the Los Angeles Times

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California bill could triple rebates for electric car buyers

July 9, 2019 By Dustin Gardiner 2 Comments

California could triple the rebate it gives to drivers who purchase zero-emission cars under a San Francisco lawmaker’s bill that seeks to put the state on track to meet its goals to combat climate change.

Democratic Assemblyman Phil Ting’s bill, AB1046, would let state regulators increase a typical consumer’s rebate for an electric car to up to $7,500 and provide a stable pot of funding for the payments.

Ting said his bill would promptly boost rebates and reduce them over time, as electric vehicles such as Teslas and Chevrolet Bolts presumably grow in popularity.

California’s existing rebate program gives buyers a flat $2,500 for full-battery electric vehicles. Ting said that gives buyers no incentive to go electric now versus years down the road. …

Click here to read the full article from the San Francisco Chronicle

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California, residents wonder: Are we getting close to the Big One?

July 8, 2019 By Dakin Andone 2 Comments

Right after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake rocked Southern California on July 4, filmmaker Ava DuVernay, a lifelong Angeleno, tweeted that it was the longest quake she’d ever felt.

“It was so long,” she wrote, “I thought for the first time ever is this the Big One?” But it wasn’t even the biggest tremor Californians would see that week, with a more powerful 7.1 quake coming just a day later.

Ultimately, neither was the fabled Big One, a catastrophic earthquake that could occur along the San Andreas Fault and that geologists have warned is likely “overdue.”

This week was just a reminder. Jason Corona, whose family owns a restaurant in Ridgecrest, near the epicenters of the earthquakes, described feeling uneasy as the aftershocks kept him awake late Friday night. …

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Poll: Trump’s approval rating hits highest point of presidency

July 7, 2019 By Justin Wise Leave a Comment

President Trump‘s approval rating has surged to the highest level of his presidency, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. 

The survey, which was released Sunday, found that 47 percent of registered voters approve of the job Trump is doing in the White House, a figure that represents a 5-point increase from April. Fifty percent of registered voters disapprove of Trump’s performance as president, however.

Meanwhile, 44 percent of voting-age Americans said they approve of Trump’s job performance, while 53 percent said they disapprove of it. Just 39 percent of voting-age Americans said they approved of Trump’s job performance in April. …

Click here to read the full article from The Hill

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Biggest earthquake in years rattles Southern California

July 5, 2019 By Rong-Gong Lin II, Karen Kaplan Reyes-Velarde and Harriet Ryan 1 Comment

The largest earthquake in two decades rattled Southern California on Thursday morning, shaking communities from Las Vegas to Long Beach and ending a quiet period in the state’s seismic history.

Striking at 10:33 a.m., the magnitude 6.4 temblor was centered about 125 miles northeast of Los Angeles in the remote Searles Valley area near where Inyo, San Bernardino and Kern counties meet. It was felt as far away as Ensenada and Mexicali in Mexico, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Reno and Chico, Calif. A 5.4 magnitude aftershock awoke many Friday morning.

Authorities said there were no immediate reports of deaths, serious injuries or major infrastructure damage, though emergency responders were still inspecting areas around the city of Ridgecrest. …

Click here to read the full article from the Los Angeles Times


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Trump shares plans to combat homelessness and mental illness in Los Angeles

July 3, 2019 By Nick Givas 3 Comments

President Trump sat down with Fox News host Tucker Carlson for an exclusive interview during his visit to Japan for the G20 summit and shared his plans to combat rising homelessness and mental illness in America.

During the interview, Trump told Carlson he is “looking at it very seriously” and said some people forced to live on the streets are “living in hell.”

“It’s disgraceful. I’m going to maybe and I’m looking at it very seriously,” Trump said. “We’re doing some other things that you probably noticed like some of the very important things that we’re doing now.  But we’re looking at it very seriously because you can’t do that.

“You can’t have what’s happening — where police officers are getting sick just by walking the beat. I mean, they’re getting actually very sick, where people are getting sick, where the people living there living in hell, too.”

Click here to read the full exclusive from Fox News

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California set to require background check for ammo sales

July 2, 2019 By Vandana Ravikumar 4 Comments

The bustle inside LAX Ammunition on the Friday before Father’s Day betrayed the gloom of the outside sky.

Employees inside the Los Angeles-area gun shop had their hands full chatting with customers who were looking to replenish their ammo supply before July 1, with some customers spending hundreds of dollars in the process. 

Why the hurry? That’s the day a new state law will require almost all buyers to go through background checks before being able to buy bullets, potentially increasing the amount of time and money it takes to make purchases. 

“We’re probably up by 400% from where we were last year for this past month, and this month, in total sales,” says Daniel Kash, the store’s president. …

Click here to read the full article from USA Today

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Construction of border wall panels underway in California

July 1, 2019 By David Aaro 2 Comments

New reinforced panels are being used to strengthen the border wall in the Calexico area of California.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in partnership with the Army Corps of Engineers, announced a new panel installation on an 11-mile section of wall within the Border Patrol’s San Diego sector on Thursday.

The new panels will replace the existing secondary barrier with 30-foot tall steel bollards as well as technology improvements, according to the CBP.

CBP says the El Centro and San Diego Sectors have been experiencing high levels of illegal-immigrant traffic. They hope this new addition to the wall will help support the Department of Homeland Security in hindering illegal crossings, and in quelling drug and smuggling activities. …

Click here to read the full article from Fox News

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Legislators Again Protect DMV from Independent Audit

June 28, 2019 By Lloyd Billingsley 3 Comments

“For the second time in the past 12 months,” Bryan Anderson of the Sacramento Bee reports, “California Democrats declined to open an independent investigation into the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles.” The audit request was “the most sweeping review” of the “motor voter” program and new federal ID requirement, as California Globe has reported.

Four Senate Democrats voted against the request, which would have deployed state auditor Elaine Howle. As Anderson noted, Howle “does not report to the Governor’s Office and is considered independent of state government’s executive branch.”

Assemblyman Jim Patterson (R-Fresno), a supporter of an independent audit, told reporters, “Californians, if they were hoping if somehow their experience at the DMV was going to be improved pretty soon, would be disappointed today, what we saw was politics got in the way of really doing the right thing.”

Last year, long lines and reports of DMV employees sleeping on the job prompted calls for an investigation. DMV director Jean Shiomoto resisted and legislators handed the agency another $16 million. When the problems persisted, Gov. Jerry Brown ordered an audit by his own Department of Finance, not state auditor Elaine Howle, a proven performer. …

Click here to read the full article from the California Globe

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Southern California grocery store workers authorize a strike

June 27, 2019 By Hailey Mensik 1 Comment

After months of stalled contract negotiations, grocery workers at Albertsons, Vons, Pavilions and Ralphs stores voted this week to give union leaders the authority to call a strike.

Members of seven United Food and Commercial Workers union locals, covering Southern California and a swath of Central California, voted overwhelmingly to allow a strike, labor leaders said Wednesday. They did not disclose how many of their 46,000 members voted, but they said that of those who did, 96% voted yes.

The vote itself does not trigger a strike, but it gives union leaders the ability to call a walkout whenever they want. That can provide additional leverage during contract negotiations even if they never choose to strike.

Employees are still working under a three-year contract that expired March 3. …

Click here to read the full article from the Los Angeles Times

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