Free Republic

City schools police have obtained their own military-grade Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle through a federal grant. Known as an MRAP, the armored vehicle will be converted into a victim rescue vehicle that will be stocked with thousands of dollars in advanced medical supplies and be able to take heavy fire in case of an attack on campus, the San Diego Unified School District Police Department said Tuesday. The MRAP, valued at more than $700,000, was acquired at no cost to the district. The vehicle is expected to be operational in October.

South San Francisco Unified joined the Meatless Monday movement this year, joining Oakland, West Contra Costa and several other districts that have adopted the campaign within the last few years. There are billions of animals slaughtered for food production each year, said Kristie Middleton, food policy manager for the Humane Society of the United States. "By going meat free just one day a week we can prevent some of this animal suffering," she said. "And we tell them a little about the Humane Society and animals," she said. "I like how they talk about compassionate eating. I think the kids...

Mondays have become meat free in hundreds of school cafeterias across the Bay Area, a move praised by animal rights activists and environmentalists and condemned by the livestock industry for pushing politics into the lunch line. South San Francisco Unified joined the Meatless Monday movement this year, joining Oakland, West Contra Costa and several other districts that have adopted the campaign within the last few years. District officials say it's all about improving student nutrition and drawing attention to alternative sources of protein.

California Governor Jerry Brown said on Tuesday he would sign a bill requiring businesses to offer paid sick leave to employees, the latest of several moves by Democratic lawmakers to aid low-income workers in the most populous U.S. state.

Californians take top, near-bottom spots on list of richest members of Congress. California’s congressional representatives are among the richest and – surprise – among the poorest of Congress’ lawmakers, according to federally required financial disclosure reports.

A former USC professor once on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted fugitives list pleaded guilty Friday to flying to the Philippines and having sex with several underage boys he groomed online. Walter Lee Williams, 65, admitted engaging in illegal sexual contact with minors in foreign places, entering the plea during a brief appearance before U.S. District Judge Phillip S. Gutierrez. As part of a plea, federal prosecutors agreed to recommend that the onetime eminent professor of gender and sexuality studies serve no more than five years in a federal prison. He also would be subject to 10 years supervision upon...

Mallory Musallam filed a class action complaint against CBS Broadcasting, CBS Corporation and the retiring late night host’s Worldwide Pants Inc. for herself and everyone who has ever been an intern on the show. "Named Plaintiff has initiated this action seeking for herself, and on behalf of all similarly situated employees that also worked on The Late Show with David Letterman, all compensation, including minimum wages and overtime compensation, which they were deprived of, plus interest, attorneys’ fees, and costs," says the jury demanding filing in New York Supreme Court ... Claiming that the production company and CBS intentionally wrongfully...

Recent events on University of California campuses reveal a growing need for education about students’ constitutionally-guaranteed rights. Disgregard for Constitutional Rights On UC Campuses In one instance, University of California, Santa Barbara students allowed feminist studies associate professor Mireille Miller-Young (whose 2013 salary was $77,100) to steal and destroy an anti-abortion poster that constituted speech protected by the First Amendment and displayed in the Campus’ designated “free speech zone,” and to assault the young woman holding the poster.

A new policy put in place by Cal State University could cost InterVarsity and other Christian groups up to $460,000 to meet on campus because they cannot change their leadership requirements to include any student. "No campus shall recognize any fraternity, sorority, living group, honor society, or other student organization unless its membership and leadership are open to all currently enrolled students at that campus," the policy states. The rule requires leadership positions to be open to any student, regardless of whether they hold the same beliefs as the Club. The policy went into effect in 2012 but up until...

Speech codes won’t fix what ails a relationship marketplace that aggravates—rather than relieves—the risk of sexual violence. California’s proposed law will simply multiply accusations, legal proceedings, and judicial headaches.President Obama is right. Our nation has a problem with sexual assault. The Relationships in America survey project, a large national data collection effort I oversaw earlier this year, suggests that the president’s “20 percent” figure on college sexual assault is not far off. When I limited my analyses to those women no older than age 25 who’ve already earned a college degree, I learned that 19 percent of them report having...

MEMORIAL EVENT HONORING THOSE LOST AT BENGHAZI September 11, 2014 (Thurs) California State Capitol – West Steps 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM Join us at this major remembrance event on the 13th anniversary of 9/11/01. We want all families and loved ones to know we haven’t forgotten them. You will be inspired by the ceremony, music and message. GET MORE DETAILS HERE

I have been going across forums associated with gun owners in CA (i.e. Calgunst.net) with other fellow members seeking support from the firearms community in regard to a situation we have in CA. Recently, the overzealous anti-gun DeLeon had put together a bill called SB808, which requires us to register any home-built firearms and 80% receivers as firearms regardless if they are complete or not. This includes applying for serial numbers from the ATF. It's currently not a federal requirement to register a non-serialized firearm built from an 80% receiver. California is seeking to not only require any and all...

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Metrolink ridership is down nearly 600,000 passengers since 2008, the Los Angeles Times reported. The drop in ridership has caused revenue losses, which have left the rail line debating between cutting back services or boosting fares, the paper said. Metro officials blame the downturn on the worst recession since World War II. The train system serves six counties and more than 20 million people across the Los Angeles metro area. “Ridership should be growing, given the size of the area Metrolink serves,” Richard Katz, a former state legislator and longtime board member for the railroad, told...

Last February, the Ninth Circuit Court Of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over most of the Western United States, ruled that California’s concealed carry law was unconstitutional. The provision in the law stating that one must give “good cause” for a concealed carry permit was deemed too burdensome–and they’re right! After the ruling, Orange County saw a spike in concealed carry permits. It got to the point where the county had to spend an additional $1.6 million–and hire 14 part-time staffers–to process all the applications.

At the Supreme Court oral arguments in the Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties cases in March, Justice Anthony Kennedy tested the limits of the governmentÂ’s argument by asking if, under the governmentÂ’s theory, people could be forced to pay for othersÂ’ elective surgical abortions through their insurance plan. The solicitor general dodged, responding (somewhat inaccurately) that there was no law like that at present, and did so in a tone that indicated he was happy not to have to defend such an illiberal and unwise law. Cue California.On Aug. 22, prompted by two Catholic universitiesÂ’ refusal to provide abortion...

LONG BEACH >> A Long Beach store employee used a shotgun to frighten off two men and a teen following an alleged attack with a pipe in the business Wednesday afternoon. Around 1:30 p.m., police were called to a business in the 2800 block of E. Anaheim Street regarding an assault after the trio became involved in a dispute with employees resulting in a physical attack, said Nancy Pratt, spokeswoman for the Long Beach Police Department. During the argument, one of the three struck an employee with an object found in the business. Initial reports indicate it may have been...

Low-income residents in a California city will soon be able to get high for free. The Berkeley City Council has passed a law requiring medical marijuana dispensaries to distribute 2 percent of their stashes to people making less than $32,000 per year or $46,000 per family. Under the new ordinance, which was approved unanimously this summer, only city residents will be eligible and they must have a prescription. 'Basically, the city council wants to make sure that low-income, homeless, indigent folks have access to their medical marijuana, their medicine,” Councilman Darryl Moore told CBS San Francisco. The law requires that the...

It was not until Thursday night's debate in Sacramento between Gov. Jerry Brown and his GOP rival Neel Kashkari that I realized what a gift the challenger has given the Republican Party. Up until then, he hadn't impressed me much. Had Assemblyman Tim Donnelly won the runoff, he likely would have delivered some bon mots on illegal immigrants that would have dominated debate coverage and sent the rest of the party into a defensive crouch. If Kashkari had amassed the type of country-sized fortune as 2010 GOP nominee Meg Whitman, he likely would have waged a big-money campaign that would...

Sitting at her street vending booth with products arrayed neatly on a sequined purple tablecloth, Jackie Lloyd reflects nostalgically on the days when she had a steady salary and regular hours.. That was four years ago, before the 39-year-old was laid off from her job as an elementary school cafeteria worker and mounting bills forced her to venture into self-employment. Now the Pico-Union resident hops from location to location, selling body oils, shea butter, soap and incense. She moves when nearby businesses complain or she feels unsafe. Some days, her sales bring in $150. Others, they don't break $20....

During Thursday night's California gubernatorial debate against Republican Neel Kashkari, California Governor Jerry Brown (D) revealed that nearly 30% of the state's schoolchildren are either illegal immigrants or do not speak English. Brown, who recently said that illegal immigrants from Mexico were "all welcome in California," praised his administration's immigration policies. He said that California is "setting the pace" on immigration laws and mentioned bills he signed that gave driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, made California a sanctuary state (Trust Act), and granted in-state tuition to illegal immigrants (CA DREAM Act).