Free Republic

Recently, editorial page editor John Diaz asked Mark Klaas whether he expects to feel closure if California executes Richard Allen Davis, the man who kidnapped, toyed with and then killed Klaas' 12-year-old daughter, Polly, in 1993. A jury found Davis guilty and sentenced him to death in 1996. From the early days after Davis snatched Polly from a Petaluma slumber party, Klaas has been a highly visible advocate for strong laws to protect the public, especially children, from career criminals and predators like Davis. He had come to the San Francisco Chronicle with other opponents of Proposition 34, the ballot...

LOS ANGELES — Space shuttle Endeavour, now a permanent resident of the state of California, has traded its winged chariot for a set of custom wheels. Early on Saturday (Sept. 22), the shuttle was hoisted by cranes off the modified Boeing 747 jumbo jet that flew it to a landing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) the day before.

California's unemployment rate fell slightly in August to 10.6 percent, down from 10.7 percent. The numbers, reported by the Employment Development Department on Friday, show an improvement over the state's 11.9 percent unemployment rate from a year ago. California added 12,000 non-farm payroll jobs in August. The state has added nearly 300,000 new jobs over the past year with job growth in 12 of the past 13 months. The sectors that grew in August include construction, manufacturing, financial activities and hospitality. The biggest gains were seen in the educational and health services sector, which added 8,900 jobs. The industries that...

A San Francisco police officer shot and wounded an armed 22-year-old parolee in the city's Mission District late Thursday, prompting a protest by dozens of people hours later, authorities said. Another group gathered in the area Friday night, vandalizing banks and a restaurant. A plainclothes officer, part of a curfew enforcement team, shot the man after he allegedly pulled a Tec-9 assault-style pistol in the 200 block of 14th Street at 8:06 p.m. Thursday, police said. The wounded man, whose name was not released, was taken to the hospital. Police said his injuries were not life-threatening. Police described him as...

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has had a trying week, what with the surfacing of a video in which he appears to dismiss 47 percent of Americans as government freeloaders. So he was probably looking forward to being among friends at a high-dollar fundraiser in Hillsborough Friday evening. But in the solidly Democratic Bay Area that meant he first had to experience an enthusiastic greeting from about two dozen protesters as his motorcade drove through the wealthy neighborhood where the event was held. Some of those protesters carried signs reminding him of the video, in which Romney appears to denigrate...

An Islamic mosque with plans to expand is now operating in a small former church that was previously occupied by a Maronite Catholic church. The sale prompted questions--even from church parishioners--about the future of the site. The Jafaria Islamic Society purchased the building at 1546 E. La Palma Ave. (near St. College Bouleverd) and has been using it as a mosque since June. The Islamic Society has plans to expand the building and change the facade with architecture more reminiscent of Islamic traditions.

BERLIN -- Switzerland's national rail company accused Apple (AAPL) on Friday of stealing the iconic look of its station clocks for the iOS 6 operating system used by iPhone and iPad mobile devices. Both designs have a round clock face with black indicators except for the second hand, which is red. A spokesman for the Swiss Federal Railways, or SBB, said the Apple design was "identical" to the one pioneered by the rail company in 1944. "We are proud that this icon of clock design is being used by a globally successful company," Reto Kormann told The Associated Press, but...

The Oakland City Council can no longer control its own meetings. When trouble erupted on Tuesday - at the first council meeting after a six-week recess - there was hardly an attempt to stop it. "I'm going to have this council chamber cleared in a second," warned council President Larry Reid, speaking over shouts, jeers and obscenities. "You watch. Watch me. Watch me." They did watch. They watched Reid adjourn the meeting and walk out. The protesters stayed. This has been coming for some time. Tuesday was just the tipping point, but it sent a clear message to anyone who...

A campaign finance measure on the November ballot is trailing among likely California voters, according to a new survey, although a sizable percentage remain undecided as dueling campaigns head into their final weeks. The poll, by the Field Poll and the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, shows 44 percent plan to vote no on Proposition 32 while 38 percent support the measure. The rest, 18 percent, said they haven't decided. "Opinions on this aren't fully formed yet," said Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo. Proposition 32 would ban unions and corporations from using payroll-deducted money for...

Surprise, surprise; the House Ethics Committee has cleared Congresswoman Maxine Waters, a distinguished member of Judicial Watch’s Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians list, for steering millions of federal bailout dollars to her husband’s failing bank. The famously remiss committee, which is charged with investigating and punishing corrupt lawmakers, found that Waters committed no wrongdoing when she steered $12 million to a Massachusetts bank in which she and her board member husband held shares. The bank, OneUnited, subsequently got shut down by the government and taxpayers got stiffed for the millions. Judicial Watch investigated the scandal and obtained documents from the...

<p>Nearly half of Americans — 49 percent — lived in households that received government benefits as of last year, according to the Census Bureau.</p> <p>That’s up from about 44 percent when President Obama took office and way up from about 30 percent back in the 1980s.</p>

<p>California pilots are being asked to make way for the space shuttle Endeavour’s farewell tour.</p>

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 19, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- On Sunday, September 30, 2012, California Auctioneers in Ventura, California, will auction off the Colt .45 SAA (Serial Number 158402) that belonged to Robert LeRoy Parker, better known as Butch Cassidy, the legendary bank thief, train robber, and leader of the Wild Bunch Gang—the notorious Wyoming-based bandits that stalked the American West throughout the 1890s. His legacy as an icon of the American Old West was immortalized in the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Known as the "Amnesty Colt," this is the most documented of Cassidy's guns. Hunted by...

Fortune considers companies, domestic or foreign, that are traded on a U.S. stock exchange. California has more of the 2012 fastest growth companies than any other location: California: 24 International: 20 Texas: 11 New York: 8 Massachusetts: 4

Actress Jessica Alba uses the Pledge of Allegiance as an example of the campaign in an email to supporters. “Growing up, my classmates and I started every day with a ritual: We’d stand up, put our right hand over our hearts, and say the Pledge of Allegiance,” explains Alba. “To me, that gesture was a promise. A promise to be involved and engaged in this country’s future. A promise to work for liberty and justice — and for affordable education, health care, and equality — for all.” Alba joins Hollywood actresses Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson by photographing herself with...

California's controversial high-speed rail project received a boost Wednesday when the Federal Railroad Administration approved the proposed Merced-to-Fresno route, clearing the way for construction to start early next year. A federal record of decision signed by Administrator Joseph Szabo represents the final bureaucratic hurdle for the California High-Speed Rail Authority. The decision gives a federal blessing to the 60-mile route and to thousands of pages of environmental review for the project. Backers of the project hailed the decision as historic for the development of the first high-speed train project in the nation and the start of construction in the central...

Imagine it's Nov. 7, 2012.Yesterday, California voters approved Proposition 32, ending payroll- deducted funds for politics and eliminating union and corporate contributions directly to candidates. So now what? Here come the lawyers. Attorneys live to probe ballot measures for legal loopholes and constitutional conflicts. In this case, Proposition 32 bans "unions" and "corporations" from using payroll-deducted funds for "political purposes." Government contractors also are banned from giving to candidates or their committees.But what do those words mean? What about non-corporate business entities, such as limited liability companies? What about contributions from Indian tribes? What's a political purpose, anyway? Ultimately, the...

California's top air pollution regulator issued a spirited defense today of the state's new cap-and-trade greenhouse gas market, rejecting pleas from businesses to make significant changes to the program. Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board, said the carbon market is designed to minimize the impact on businesses. Big business groups, like the California Chamber of Commerce, were scheduled to testify later today about their objections to the cap and trade market, the centerpiece of the state's global warming law, AB 32. Businesses say the market amounts to a $1 billion-plus annual tax that will destroy jobs and...

BILL NUMBER: AB 2333 ENROLLED BILL TEXT PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 20, 2012 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 22, 2012 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 6, 2012 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 18, 2012 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 26, 2012 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 18, 2012INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Solorio FEBRUARY 24, 2012 An act to add Section 19920 to the Penal Code, relating to BB devices. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2333, Solorio. BB devices. Existing law provides that furnishing a BB device to a minor without the express or implied consent of the minor's parent or legal guardian is a misdemeanor. This...

A former Marine’s views about the sanctity of marriage have cost him a job as superintendent of schools in Berkeley, California. Dr. Edmond Heatley had already been selected as the final candidate and resigned his position as a superintendent in Georgia when news broke that in 2008 he supported Proposition 8, a pro-marriage state ballot initiative adopted by California voters that November. Local media found a copy of a memo Dr. Heatley wrote when he led the Chino Valley Unified School District, which opposes “the Court’s recent redefinition of marriage” and declares “the ideal learning environment for children is within...