Free Republic

California’s ban on displaying the Confederate flag doesn’t apply to individuals even if they are on government property, state officials said this week in settling a free speech lawsuit. Fresno artist Timothy Desmond sued after his painting depicting the flag was barred from the 2015 Big Fresno Fair. His painting shows Confederate soldiers fighting in the 1864 siege of Atlanta, led by a soldier carrying the battle flag. California’s 2014 law says the state cannot display or sell the Battle Flag of the Confederacy or any similar image unless it appears in a way that serves an educational or historical...

California Gov. Jerry Brown declared an end to the state’s drought emergency on Friday after powerful storms quenched the state following four extraordinarily dry years that drained reservoirs and wells, devastated forests and farmland and forced millions of people to slash their water use. The turnaround has been stark. After years of brown fields and cracked earth, monster storms blanketed California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains this winter with deep snow that flows into the network of rivers and streams that supply much of the state’s water. Front lawns revived to bright green in neighborhoods throughout the state and rivers that had...

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has signed a climate change agreement with California Gov. Jerry Brown at the start of a five-day visit to the U.S. that comes as Scotland considers its independence from the United Kingdom. […] Sturgeon tells The Associated Press Monday she in the U.S. to strengthen Scotland’s trade and business relationships with “one of its most important markets.” Sturgeon also toured Tesla Motors’ Silicon Valley facility and discussed connecting Scottish women entrepreneurs with American investors. …

California’s governor and legislative leaders on Wednesday proposed raising $52 billion to fix the state’s roads through a big gasoline tax increase, higher car registration fees and a charge on emission-free vehicles. The 10-year plan would boost gasoline excise taxes for the first time in more than two decades, raising them 12 cents per gallon — a 43 percent increase. The tax would rise automatically with inflation. For the first time, owners of zero emission vehicles would pay a $100 annual fee because they use public roads but don’t pay gasoline taxes that fund highway maintenance. The plan also includes...

The governors of California and New York said Tuesday that they will push ahead with their aggressive climate change policies despite President Donald Trump’s executive order that seeks to boost the coal industry. Democratic Govs. Jerry Brown of California and Andrew Cuomo of New York said in a joint statement that they will help fill the void left by Trump’s decision to unravel former President Barack Obama’s plan to curb global warming. “With or without Washington, we will work with our partners throughout the world to aggressively fight climate change and protect our future,” the governors wrote. […] The governors...

The bucolic orchards of Sutter County north of Sacramento had never seen anything like it: a visiting governor and a media swarm — all to christen the first major natural gas power plant in California in more than a decade. At its 2001 launch, the Sutter Energy Center was hailed as the nation’s cleanest power plant. It generated electricity while using less water and natural gas than older designs. A year ago, however, the $300-million plant closed indefinitely, just 15 years into an expected 30- to 40-year lifespan. The power it produces is no longer needed — in large part...

Democratic lawmakers in California are moving swiftly to pass a package of legislation that would restrict state and local law enforcement, including school police and security departments, from using their own resources to aid federal authorities in immigration enforcement.

California Gov. Jerry Brown will undergo further radiation treatment for prostate cancer first treated in 2012, his office announced Saturday. Brown’s oncologist, Dr. Eric Small of the University of California, San Francisco, said the cancer is not extensive and can be treated with “a short course of radiotherapy.” […] The three-term governor was first treated for early stage prostate cancer in January 2012 and stayed on the job throughout his nearly four-week treatment. In April 2011, he underwent minor surgery to remove a cancerous growth on his nose. He was put under local anesthetic and doctors removed basal cell carcinoma,...

With secession threats looming, the state of California is reportedly studying ways to suspend financial transfers to Washington after the Trump administration threatened to withhold federal money from sanctuary cities. With California counties among the Top 10 who stand to lose tax-payer funding for providing sanctuary to illegal immigrants... KPIX5 reports that officials are looking for money that flows through Sacramento to the federal government that could be used to offset the potential loss of billions of dollars’ worth of federal funds if President Trump makes good on his threat to punish cities and states that don’t cooperate with federal...

Gov. Jerry Brown forcefully defended California’s efforts to curb global warming, protect immigrants and expand health care, vowing in his State of the State address Tuesday to fight the Trump administration if it tries to roll back the state’s accomplishments. “California is not turning back. Not now, not ever,” he declared. The Democratic governor of the nation’s most populous state has helped put California in the vanguard of the effort to fight climate change. He also noted, among other things, the state’s successes in cutting unemployment, reducing a multibillion-dollar deficit and boosting school funding. While no one knows what President...

In their first official action since Donald Trump became president, California lawmakers on Monday confirmed a new attorney general who has vowed to defend the state’s liberal policies against the Trump administration and a Republican Congress. Xavier Becerra easily cleared the final hurdle to become the state’s top law enforcement official, with a 26-9 vote along party lines in the Democratic-controlled state Senate. Becerra, who represented the Los Angeles area in the U.S. House for more than two decades, became the state’s first Latino attorney general. He replaces Kamala Harris, who was elected to the U.S. Senate in November. Democrats...

California’s projected budget deficit is rising. “Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration miscalculated costs for the state Medi-Cal program by $1.9 billion last year, an oversight that contributed to Brown’s projection of a deficit in the upcoming budget, officials acknowledged this week,” the Associated Press reported today. California’s projected deficits could have been avoided by curtailing wasteful spending. As the Reason Foundation notes, California spends more money to get worse roads than most states. […] California’s legislative analyst projected last year that the recent increase in the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour will cost taxpayers $3.6 billion more a year...

As California lawmakers return to Sacramento on Wednesday, liberal dreams of expanding safety-net benefits and providing health coverage to immigrants are giving way to a new vision revolving around a feverish push to protect gains racked up in the past. After years of pushing forward a progressive agenda, legislative Democrats will be pushing back against conservative policies from President-elect Donald Trump and the Republican Congress. Instead of expanding Medi-Cal health coverage to adult immigrants who can’t prove they’re legally in the country, Democrats are now concentrating on how to retain health coverage for those who already have it. And anti-poverty...

Californians are rushing to purchase the evil AR15 semi-automatic "assault" rifle before a new ban goes into effect on January 1, 2017. Governor Jerry Brown signed the gun-control measure into law back in July and with a 10-day waiting period for all gun sales, time is running out to purchase the gun and take possession before next year. All of these newly purchased guns must be registered with the state before the deadline kicks in on Wednesday, December 21.

California Governor Jerry Brown gave a fiery speech, promising to fight President-elect Donald Trump on climate change and even launch an independent state-run satellite if necessary."We've got the scientists, we've got the lawyers and we're ready to fight," Brown declared in a speech to the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reported. He addressed the president-elect directly when echoing worries that climate research conducted by NASA could cease under the new administration. "If Trump turns off the satellites, California will launch its own damn satellite."Brown also ripped on former Texas Governor Rick Perry,...

California’s largest public-employee union announced Saturday that it had reached a contract agreement with Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration. If workers ratify the deal, it would bring to a close contentious negotiations that led to a strike threat and allegations of bad-faith bargaining. Service Employees International Union Local 1000 didn’t immediately release the terms of the deal, but union President Yvonne Walker said in a statement that it achieves improvements in compensation, professional development, working conditions, and health and safety. …

Sponsors say Proposition 57, the Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2016, will save taxpayers money by making nonviolent felons eligible for parole earlier and improve fairness by having judges, not prosecutors, decide whether juveniles are tried as adults. Critics call it a "get out of jail early" card. I would add that it's the sort of dishonest measure that becomes commonplace under unaccountable one-party rule. State pols gamed the system to get it on the ballot. The title promises public safety when it could result in the early release of repeat offenders. Yet California voters are likely to...

When Gov. Jerry Brown and his allies urged voters to adopt a temporary income tax on the wealthiest Californians and a statewide sales tax on everyone four years ago, the deal was billed as a short-term salve for a state mired in debt and on the verge of insolvency. The taxes were needed to stave off $6 billion in so-called “trigger cuts” to schools and social programs baked into the state budget by Democrats as a threat to voters. Lawmakers also threatened to cut three weeks off the school year if Proposition 30 didn’t pass. […] Now, with the sales...

The California Legislature passed a controversial bill Wednesday which creates a new crime by criminalizing the distribution of secret recordings of confidential communication with a health care provider. The bill defines confidential communication as “any communication carried on in circumstances that reasonably indicate that any party to the communication desires it to be confined to the parties thereto.” It is already illegal in California to make recordings without the consent of all parties. The bill was strongly advocated by Planned Parenthood following a series of undercover videos released last summer by the Center for Medical Progress, which claimed that the...

The Message of Pope Francis for the World Day of Prayer for Creation was presented on Thursday at a Press Conference in the Holy See Press Office. Presentations were given by the President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Cardinal Peter Turkson; the Secretary for the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Bishop Brian Farrell; and the author of the book The Guardian of Mercy, Terence Ward. The full text of the prepared remarks are below Press Conference / Conferenza Stampa, 1.09.2016 Presentation of the Message of Pope Francis, “Show Mercy to our Common Home” for the celebration...