California

California

Fresno has long struggled with deep-rooted poverty. In 2005, a report by the nonprofit think-tank Brookings Institution broke this out in the open, revealing that Fresno had the highest concentration of poverty of any U.S. city. The study showed that a significant number of Fresno's census tracts had at least 40 percent of residents living at or below the poverty line.

SUNNYVALE An investigation is underway into the shooting death of a woman Wednesday night in Sunnyvale, authorities said. The shooting happened around 9:40 p.m. in the 1200 block of Vienna Drive, the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety said in a news release. Officers arrived to find the woman inside a vehicle suffering from gunshot wounds. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

The central aspect of the PACE plan calls for removing the state superintendent as the head of the California Department of Education. Instead, that department would be run by an appointee of the state Board of Education. Members of the state board are appointed by the governor to fixed four-year terms. The PACE report envisions the "governor as the chief architect and steward responsible for aligning and advancing California's education system."

A mental health diversion granted to a former Kern County politician is coming under fire from numerous California lawmakers and child welfare advocates, who say a repeatedly amended state law is allowing an accused child abuser to avoid prosecution and possible jail time. Zack Scrivner, a former Kern County supervisor, was charged with felony child abuse in February after he was accused of inappropriately touching one of his children in 2024. But because of a Dec. 19 ruling by a judge, he will avoid a trial and instead be funneled into a mental health diversion program - an initiative aimed at helping defendants with mental health disorders get treatment instead of imprisonment for certain crimes.

Valero will idle its Benicia refinery beginning in 2026 while continuing to supply Northern California with gasoline through imports and existing inventories, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom's office. In a statement released on Jan. 6, Newsom said Valero's revised approach marked a shift from an earlier announcement that included the possibility of a full closure and exit from the Northern California market as early as this year.

The closure could cut hundreds of jobs and is expected to bruise the tax base of Benicia, a community anchored by the refinery that has also endured toxic pollution. But the company may replace its gas output with imports by ship, buffering California's fuel supply from potential shortages and price hikes, according to Newsom's office. It's unclear how much gasoline Valero plans to import, and the company has so far offered few answers.

I hope this is a one-off, but the new San Mateo County Sheriff, Ken Binder, waited nine days to tell the public that a woman had been threatened and a man was assaulted at the San Carlos Caltrain station. On Dec. 23, a man hassled a woman waiting for a train about her clothing. He then threatened to throw her on the tracks, according to the DA's office.

A man who prosecutors say was acting as a bounty hunter when he and others allegedly kidnapped a fugitive's girlfriend and burglarized the couple's National City home was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison. The sentencing of Jesse A. Wagner, 50, in Chula Vista Superior Court ends an unusual case that grew to include three incidents in other local cities, including one in which a bystander was boxed in by alleged bounty hunters in darkened SUVs on an Oceanside street.

Ryan Hardy, 23, should be considered armed and dangerous, Antioch police Lt. William Whitaker said in a news release. Members of the public are advised not to confront him, Whitaker said. Anyone who sees Hardy in public or has information regarding his whereabouts is urged to call 911 immediately. Detectives identified Hardy as a suspect through a combination of video surveillance, witness statements and forensic evidence.

Victims and witnesses to the deadly Santana High School shooting in Santee nearly 25 years ago expressed disappointment and frustration Wednesday after a judge agreed to recall the shooter's sentence a ruling that sets him up to be released from prison. Charles Andrew Andy Williams was 15 years old when he opened fire between classes on the Santee campus on March 5, 2001. Students Bryan Zuckor, 14, and Randy Gordon, 17, died. Eleven other students and two staffers were wounded.

A record-breaking number of riders are expected to board light rail trains for Super Bowl LX, with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority projected to spend $3.8 million to run extra trains and boost security. VTA is planning to add 22 extra light rail trains to transport football fans to and from Levi's Stadium on Feb. 8, operating at about 90% of its maximum capacity.

They say he drove his wife to a parking lot in the 5,000 block of Mowry Avenue ---just a few miles from their home -- over the weekend, then shot her in the head and called 911. "PD is en route. They are currently on the line with a subject who stated he shot his wife." According to police, Hocking said he wanted to turn himself in and gave detectives a reason for the killing.

Former vice presidential contender and current aw-shucks Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced this week that he won't run for a third term, dogged by a scandal over child care funds that may or may not be going to fraudsters. It's a politically driven mess that not coincidentally focuses on a Black immigrant community, tying the real problem of scammers stealing government funds to the growing MAGA frenzy around an imaginary version of America that thrives on whiteness and Christianity.

In the year after fire swept through Altadena, man and nature have camouflaged the destruction, to some extent. The burned husks of thousands of homes have been flattened. Weeks of record rainfall have left empty lots a shimmering green. Parts of Altadena now resemble a rural town, with scattered houses separated by vast swaths of open space canopied by trees that somehow survived the fire. In Pacific Palisades, too, hills that flames turned brown are now back to green. Everything feels so wet and lush this January that it's hard to imagine that a fire in the same month, a year ago, could have caused so much misery.

(We'd be) happy to discuss during a formal announcement,

Fewer than a dozen homes have been rebuilt in Los Angeles County since the Jan. 7, 2025, Palisades and Eaton fires erupted, killing 31 people and destroying about 13,000 homes and other residential properties. The fires burned for more than three weeks and clean-up efforts took about seven months. For those who had insurance, it's often not enough to cover the costs of construction. Relief organizations are stepping in to help, but progress is slow.

The wife of a man who killed himself after his home burned down in the Palisades fire is among more than a dozen plaintiffs who have filed lawsuits blaming the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and other defendants for causing or hastening the deaths of their relatives. The lawsuits the first death-related litigation in the Palisades fire were brought last month under a pilot law, state Senate Bill 447,

Coastal North Bay including Point Reyes National Seashore, San Francisco Peninsula Coast and Southern Monterey Bay and Big Sur Coast as well as San Francisco County are included in a high surf advisory released by the National Weather Service on Wednesday at 1:01 a.m. The advisory is valid for Thursday, Jan. 8 between 1 a.m. and 3 p.m. The NWS San Francisco CA adds to expect, Large breaking waves up to 22 feet, strong rip currents and sneaker waves.

The washout began around 4 pm Monday, with a 75- to 100-foot section of the eastern lane of Highway 116 collapsing and taking trees and a piece of guardrail with it, just west of Monte Rio about five miles past Guerneville if you were heading to the coast. As the Press Democrat reports, the earth beneath the roadway was "likely loosened by the surging waterway and runoff from the recent storms,"