Free Republic

Gerald Walpin, whose lawsuit to win back his job as inspector general overseeing the Americorps program was dismissed two weeks ago, has filed an appeal in the case. Walpin, who was fired by President Barack Obama during his dogged efforts to investigate Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, asked the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C.,...

An elderly woman was knocked out as three robbers ran out of a Citrus Heights pharmacy after stealing prescription drugs, police said Thursday. The 86-year-old woman was entering the store when she was pushed backwards, fell and was knocked unconscious.

Facing a campaign to repeal the state’s new gas tax increase, Sacramento-area politicians and transportation officials gathered under a freeway underpass Monday to tout projects that are expected to be funded by the hike. Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, county Supervisor Phil Serna and others spoke in praise of Senate Bill 1, which has continued to generate opposition from Republicans after the Democratic-controlled Legislature approved the measure in the spring. Caltrans officials Monday outlined more than $1 billion in projects that will be “accelerated” in the region as part of the $52 billion statewide anticipated from higher gas taxes and vehicle...

If you live in the Bay Area, you’ll be hearing a lot about Senate Bill 595 over the next year or so. If you’re a regular user of any of the region’s seven state-owned toll bridges — that’s all of them, except the Golden Gate Bridge — you’ll want to pay close attention. SB 595, which won final passage Thursday and now awaits Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature, provides for a vote in the nine Bay Area counties next year to raise bridge tolls by as much as $3. If the Bay Area Toll Authority, the agency that oversees the bridges,...

The incident happened just over a week ago at the Regional Transit Station at 16th and Q streets in midtown Sacramento. Kelly said just as they got on the light rail a pit bull lunged toward Kie and locked it’s jaw onto Kie's snout. "There was a pit bull on his face just latched on,” Kelly explained. "My dog started screaming." Kelly said the pit bull's owner later claimed the dog was a service animal. When Sacramento police reminded the pit bull's owner that they were monitoring footage from surveillance cameras, the man admitted his dog was a pet...

It started innocently enough: Andreas H. Koertel, 46, was pulled over in a traffic stop. Then things got hairy in hurry. Turns out Koertel, a German national, was in possession of meth and illegal weapons, according to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, so he was booked into jail on multiple charges, KXTV-TV reports. Wisely the deputies called the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department to see if they could check out a property in Rio Linda where Koertel had been staying. But detectives encountered quite a bit more than they bargained for Friday. Here’s what they found, KTXL-TV reports: Several explosive materials,...

Sacramento approves $1.5 million to tackle gun violence 9/01/17 | by Jennifer Cruz The city of Sacramento is tackling gang violence. Critics claim the council just voted unanimously to pay folks not to commit crimes. So what's the deal? We spoke with the Director of the Mayor's Gang Prevention and Intervention Task Force back in March. We asked just how big a deal is gang violence here in Sacramento? It's a part of an 18-month program where those involved get job-training and mentoring. If they complete six months successfully, they could also receive up to $1,000 per month for nine...

Public school teachers are behind a leading far-left militant group that is part of the Antifa network that federal officials say is committing “domestic terrorist violence.” By Any Means Necessary, which has played a key role in riots in Berkeley, Sacramento and elsewhere, has dozens of public school teachers among its members, including among its most prominent leaders. The FBI and Department of Homeland Security began paying closer attention to Antifa groups in general after BAMN and other extremists started a riot and attacked marchers at a white nationalist rally in Sacramento last July, Politico reported on Friday. The Sacramento...

[snip] Yvonne C. Felarca, 47, was arrested Tuesday in Los Angeles on charges of inciting and participating in a riot and assault likely to cause great bodily injury, the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office said.By Any Means Necessary has not returned repeated telephone messages from The Associated Press over two days. A second counter-protester, Michael Williams, 56, was arrested Wednesday in Yolo County on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and participating in a riot. They are the last of four arrests stemming from a June 2016 melee ...

This is the sickest State-sponsored attempt at Democrat Utopian Socialism The City of Sacramento, under the short reign of former State Sen. Darrell Steinberg (D), now Sacramento Mayor, just approved free electric Zipcars for residents of Sacramento’s public housing projects. Wow! But don’t worry taxpayers – “The program is funded through a $1.3 million grant from the California Air Resources Board using cap-and-trade funds that businesses pay to offset their carbon emissions,” according to the Sacramento Bee. In other words, the money extorted from California businesses for the privilege of being allowed to continue doing business in this state, is...

This is the sickest State-sponsored attempt at Democrat Utopian Socialism The City of Sacramento, under the short reign of former State Sen. Darrell Steinberg (D), now Sacramento Mayor, just approved free electric Zipcars for residents of Sacramento’s public housing projects. Wow! But don’t worry taxpayers – “The program is funded through a $1.3 million grant from the California Air Resources Board using cap-and-trade funds that businesses pay to offset their carbon emissions,” according to the Sacramento Bee. In other words, the money extorted from California businesses for the privilege of being allowed to continue doing business in this state, is...

The Sacramento region is bucking President Donald Trump’s moves to cut back the flow of international refugees entering the United States. The region is experiencing a mini-boom of refugees resettling here, even as the number of refugees admitted into the U.S. overall plummets, according to a Sacramento Bee analysis of data kept by the national Refugee Processing Center. A total of 466 refugees from around the globe have resettled in the Sacramento metropolitan area so far this year, a 20 percent increase over the same period last year. The number to date is also bigger than in any year under...

The City Council in Sacramento, Calif. voted unanimously late Thursday to spend taxpayer money on services to help illegal immigrants fight deportation. . . . Guerra, who led a task force that proposed allocating the city's funds, justified the decision by pointing out that illegal immigrants often pay taxes and contribute to the economy.

It should be the obligation of older citizens to try to improve the prospects for their successors. But, here in California, as seen in a new report issued by the Chapman Center for Demographics and Policy, we seem to have adopted an agenda designed to make things tougher for them.Millennials everywhere face many challenges. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that, even when working full-time, they earn $2,000 less than the same age group made in 1980. Nationwide, a millennial with a college degree and college debt, according to a recent analysis of Federal Reserve data, earns about the same as...

California's $54 billion plan to fix roads and fund highway improvements cleared a major hurdle late Thursday, passing in the state legislature and setting the stage for what could become a massive spending spree. Positive comments last week from analysts about the state transportation plan sent shares of several construction-related companies sharply higher. Some of them continued to trend higher this week and with passage in both houses of the legislature it's possible they could rally Friday. Analysts have suggested beneficiaries of the state spending could include Summit Materials, a construction materials producer, and AECOM, an engineering firm. Summit's stock...

The left, terrified of free speech, shuts it down everywhere it can--even if it means putting a man out of business. The left is dangerously poised on the precipice of delving into communism Freedom of information, speech and the press is firmly rooted in western democratic thought, and protected by the U.S. Constitution. But in California, apparently that western democratic thought isn’t so free anymore. An East Sacramento brewery owner who faced a very public protest of his restaurant after he posted a critique of the women’s march on Facebook, has been forced to close his business. “I am disgusted...

KTXL reports that a rally was held in Sacramento, California Wednesday by proponents of a bill that would create a one payer health care system. Participants included health care unions and patients. Dr. Paul Song told KTXL, “If we make the system more efficient by having one payer, we can save billions of billions of dollars a year. Plus, we don’t really need to put any more money in - the money is there.” Bill co-author Senator Toni Atkins of San Diego says Californians shouldn’t have Washington dictate how healthcare is provided to its citizens. She tells KTXL, now that Californians...

Update, 7:15 p.m. Thursday: The situation surrounding the damaged spillway at Oroville Dam has escalated into a crisis, with state water managers hoping they can dump enough water down the badly compromised structure to prevent the state’s second-largest reservoir from pouring over an emergency release point that has never been used before. Flow rates down the collapsing spillway were increased late Thursday morning to 35,000 cubic feet per second. The result was a spectacle of churning mud and water and the further damage to the concrete structure. [snip] Officials at the media briefing repeated further reassurances that the integrity of...

4:23 p.m. UPDATE: The woman has been peacefully taken into custody after an hour and a half, and police are inspecting the vehicle.4:10 p.m.: UPDATE: The City of West Sacramento is urging people to avoid the area and use alternate routes.The woman is still located inside the vehicle as police stage around the scene.—-3:40 p.m. UPDATE: Sacramento Police have shut down the Tower Bridge and Capitol Mall. Traffic is being redirected to Interstate 80 and the I Street Bridge.For the latest traffic conditions on the freeways, visit http://cbs13.com/traffic.—SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A woman claiming to have a device has shut down traffic around...

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg struck a defiant tone Wednesday against an executive order signed by President Donald Trump seeking to block federal aid to local governments that do not cooperate with federal authorities to track and report undocumented immigrants. The Sacramento City Council passed an ordinance in 1985 prohibiting city police and other employees from asking about individuals’ immigration status. Steinberg said the city will not reverse course and will remain what is known as a “sanctuary city,” even under the threat of missing out on federal aid. He said the city will begin assessing how much federal revenue is...