The Sacramento Bee
Three state worker unions stood together at strike
Thousands of California state workers on Wednesday flooded the streets of downtown Sacramento and communities across the Golden State as the largest state worker union — with about 100,000 members — went on strike. SEIU Local 1000 President Anica Walls...
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State workers stage one-day strike across California
Several hundred state workers lined the southwest corner of Capitol Park outside the California Department of Education at 8:30 a.m. A DJ played tunes as drag queen Suzette Veneti helped SEIU Local 1000 members cross the street. Veneti, who isn’t a...
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68-year-old Sacramento man among Californians charged with voter fraud
Kamlesh Shah, an elderly immigrant from India with a heart condition, moves shakily and uses a cane to get around his shared apartment in a senior living facility in Sacramento’s south Land Park neighborhood. On Monday, Shah felt particularly dizzy and...
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Arrest of homeless woman reveals gaps in system
Two things were happening simultaneously Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. At Sacramento City Hall, Mayor Kevin McCarty held a special meeting with Christopher Carlisle and his wife Anne Marie Carlisle about the plight of his 32-year-old daughter Califia, who...
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Housing setbacks stall mother’s climb out of poverty
This story is part of “The Poverty Line,” a series examining how everyday people are working to find housing, buy food or get healthcare in California, which has the second-highest poverty rate in the nation. Daisheauna Hobby wants to return to a life...
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Newsom picks up Schwarzenegger support ahead of NH trip
Gov. Gavin Newsom got a nod of approval on his environmental record from an unlikely ally as he plans to stump this weekend for Democrats in New Hampshire, a mandatory state for any potential presidential candidate. Newsom appeared alongside...
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City leaders promise push for CARE Court reform
Laura Carlisle, born two years ago already addicted to fentanyl, was the youngest person in the city chambers Tuesday. She accompanied her adopted parents, who are also her natural grandparents, as they addressed Sacramento City Council. “I’m the...
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The Claw’s return nears: How Sacramento crews are preparing for Super El Niño
Each fall city crews prepare the months-long grind of collecting thousands of tons of wet leaves, broken limbs and fallen trees to keep Sacramento’s streets safe. This year city officials are confident in their ability to manage the effects of...
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Meet the academics behind California’s billionaire tax brawl
The billionaire wealth tax started with a Zoom call. Dave Regan, the hard-charging president of a healthcare union, wanted to raise $100 billion to address looming federMore al healthcare cuts. What about a one-time wealth tax on billionaires? He’d...
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Historic neon sign restored for funeral home’s new site
The historic neon sign from W.F. Gormley & Sons funeral home was unmistakable as it sat Tuesday inside Pacific Neon’s warehouse in north Sacramento. But some subtle changes to the sign were also apparent. Pacific Neon workers removed the sign on Aug....
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Joy, relief as carrier returns from record deployment
A palpable sense of joy, relief and pride took hold of the crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln Wednesday as the aircraft carrier drew ever closer to San Diego after a sometimes harrowing and seemingly endless deployment that brought the ship into combat...
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Front Street animal shelter improving care despite crowding, aging facility
Two years after an outside assessment concluded Sacramento’s aging Front Street Animal Shelter needed to be replaced, the building remained largely unchanged — but its new director said conditions for animals had improved despite overcrowding and the...
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Tariffs, trade, Trump: Agriculture community weighs in on midterms
Charley Mathews Jr. pursed his lips and turned to make eye contact with Jamie Johansson, a Republican running for the vacant 3rd Assembly District seat, when Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, said some immigrants shouldn’t be deported. Mathews nodded...
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Dance Gavin Dance, Oleander bring pride to Aftershock festival
Sacramento loves music. With dozens of music venues and one of the largest rock and metal concerts in the nation calling the state capital home, it’s not hard to recognize the city’s adoration for the art form. However, the city has never been...
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Becerra, Hilton agree on issues, differ on causes
It wasn’t as if the two men running to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom — Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton — had nothing to agree about at their first and possibly only debate Tuesday night in Burbank. Both men said that California was...
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Sacramento’s most avid baseball fans campaign for MLB bid
Looking out over Sutter Health Park, Sunday, while the blue-and-orange Astros faced off against the green-and-gold Athletics at the team’s last game of the season, just beyond the left field foul pole there was a visible mass of white T-shirts. The...
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US forces exit Iraq after two decades, leaving opening for Iran
US forces are set to pull out from their last bases in Iraq by Wednesday, a departure celebrated as a victory by Iran and its allies who now have deep influence in the country where 4,500 Americans died during more than two decades of war. Iraqi...
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How do we help homeless addicts? Rethink the ‘progressive’ path
For years, California Democrats have resisted compelling care for people needing mental health or drug abuse treatment. Consider what happened to State Senator Susan Eggman’s modest reform proposal back in 2021. The legislator from Stockton sought to...
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They became friends as addicts. The sober one calls jail a savior
Two Sacramento State students addicted to drugs, Jenna Mozdy and Califia Carlisle, met in 2015 in an inpatient group treatment program that didn’t exactly work. Carlisle soon taught Mozdy how to shoot heroin (a boyfriend snuck it in). A friendship in...
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8 attempted suicides during aircraft carrier’s extended mission
There were eight suicide attempts among US sailors on board the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group during its extended 286 consecutive-day deployment at sea, the Pentagon told a lawmaker in a written response to questions. The nuclear-powered...
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Iran’s president says Tehran will not surrender, but believes in diplomacy
Iran will not surrender in the war with the United States, but believes in diplomacy to try to end the conflict, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations on Wednesday. The United States...
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At UN, Trump warns he could ‘annihilate’ Iran without peace deal
President Donald Trump used his United Nations General Assembly speech Tuesday to make the case for his war with Iran, arguing he has prevented Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and warning that he could “annihilate the Islamic Republic” if no...
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Newsom signs new data center regulations into law
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed seven new data center regulations into law Monday, as public concerns about the facilities’ demands for water and electricity have reached a fever pitch. Newsom signed a raft of bills that require data center operators to...
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Sacramento battalion awarded for combat actions
Capt. Andrew Henderson, a company commander with the Army Reserve’s 319th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, remembered the day a missile struck near a bunker in the Middle East where he and his soldiers had hidden from enemy fire. “The vacuum pressure...
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CalPERS CEO’s bonus rises 50% as salary hits cap
Now his family is selling 3,500 acres of property, including its winery facility and vineyards, in San Joaquin and Sacramento counties. “It was a very hard decision for myself and my family,” said Ron McManis, president and co-owner of the company, in...
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At least 5 dead in helicopter crash and bus accident in Chatsworth
Three people were killed when an NBC4 news helicopter crashed and burst into flames Tuesday night in Chatsworth not far from a serious accident involving a Metro bus that also left two people dead. The area was already swarming with police, fire...
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Philanthropist whose millions transformed Sac State, UC Davis dies at 101
Ernest E. Tschannen, the longtime Sacramento philanthropist whose multimillionengineering dollar gifts helped transform Sacramento State and other institutions across the region, has died, the university announced Monday. He was 101. His death came...
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Newsom to decide on bills regulating detention centers
As the Legislative session came to a close, California legislators sent more than a dozen bills to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk to regulate federal immigration enforcement and detention and support the state’s immigrant communities. Newsom has until Sept....
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SAC-TOWN RODEO RETURNS TO CAL EXPO FOR SECOND YEAR
Members of Painted Lady Rodeo Performers perform during Sac-Town Rodeo at Cal Expo in Sacramento on Saturday. The rodeo, now in its second year, features a number of events such as bull riding, bronc riding and mutton busting and supports the...
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Trump administration proposes sweeping census overhaul
The Trump administration is proposing to stop counting immigrants without permanent residency status in the census, which is conducted to determine state representation in Congress and the distribution of federal funds. The census, which is...
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Empowerment Park opens for all mobility levels in Arden Arcade
After nearly four years of construction, a new playground and public park in Arden Arcade has opened for children of all mobility levels. Located at 1124 Bell St. on the corner of Irma Way, Empowerment Park is designed to be as accessible as possible....
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SEIU Local 1000 to hold strike authorization vote
The largest union representing California state workers announced Monday it will hold a strike authorization vote. The union, SEIU Local 1000, has been without a contract since July. “If our members vote yes, they are giving our union the authority to...
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Why some California Republicans are planning to back a Democrat
Kelley Nalewaja is the kind of lifelong Republican voter that the party can always count on. She grew up to parents who — shaped by Holocaust-survivor relatives and generations of farmers in the South — instilled a deep appreciation for America’s...
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Hilton proposes expanding state’s paid family leave
Republican gubernatorial hopeful Steve Hilton announced a plan Tuesday to expand California’s Paid Family Leave program from 8 to 12 weeks. The former Fox News host said he’d pay for the plan by cutting $1 billion a year from state spending as part of...
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SCUSD, unions launch $95 parcel tax campaign for special education
Sacramento City Unified School District officials and local labor leaders urged voters Tuesday to approve a parcel tax that would raise an estimated $10 million annually for special education and early-intervention programs within the district. The...
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State approves bill to limit social media for children under 16
The California Legislature on Monday approved a bill to require social media companies to provide platforms to children under 16 years old that do not include personalized feeds driven by algorithms, autoplaying videos and other features. Assembly...
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2 dead, others unaccounted for after Grand Canyon flooding
Two bodies had been recovered as search and recovery efforts continued after devastating flash flooding tore through the Grand Canyon, damaging or destroying bridges, trails and a major waterline, the National Park Service said Monday. The Park...
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Ukrainians with TPS are facing uncertainty in Sacramento
Yaroslav Perepadya has built a life in Davis since fleeing Ukraine with his teenage son after Russia invaded their country in 2022. He has a job with the state, pays taxes and has watched his son begin college. Now, that life is hanging in...
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SF Dems, civil rights groups oppose Prop. 40 billionaire tax
Two prominent California civil rights groups and the San Francisco Democratic Party have come out against Proposition 40, a proposed one-time, 5% tax on billionaires meant to fund healthcare services. Equality California and NAACP California/Hawaii...
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Solano County supervisors push back on California Forever shipyard proposal
The Solano County Board of Supervisors voted to postpone taking a position on potential controversial state legislation creating a shipyard in the outer Bay Area that has the tacit backing of Gov. Gavin Newsom. The supervisors voted to sidestep...
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Newsom lists estate near Sacramento for $7.5M
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom on Monday listed their Sacramento area estate for $7.5 million. The gated Fair Oaks residence at 7640 Tobia Way sits on 8.2 acres along the bluffs near the American River and...
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Former Del Monte growers pivot to almonds as next cash crop
When Del Monte closed its Modesto cannery in April and cut ties with its contracted growers, Hardeep Bains lost around $300,000 of annual income. Spread over the length of his 15-year contract, that translated into a loss of about $4.5 million in...
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How the Sacramento Railyards continues to help fix trains
Sacramento’s most wellknown holiday train wasn’t due to run for three months, but Robert Smith was busy doing an electrical upgrade for it. Smith, a California State Railroad Museum Foundation employee, was inside the Southern Pacific Railway...
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Dominguez sent to state hospital as victims’ families confront loss
A Yolo Superior Court judge Wednesday assigned Carlos Reales Dominguez to a state hospital after declaring the former UC Davis student legally insane when he stabbed two Davis men to death during a 2023 knife rampage. Dominguez will be committed to...
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California nonprofits warn of federal funding uncertainty
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, DCalif., joined leaders from California nonprofits, universities and community organizations in Sacramento Tuesday to hear how federal funding cuts and policy changes are playing out on the ground. Across sectors, they...
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Sacramento fines homeowner for city-approved native garden
You could say this whole dustup was a case of mistaken identity: The “weeds” that Code Compliance objected to were pulchra, the official state grass since 2005 and a California native bunchgrass since long before any human involved in the kerfuffle was...
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Friends recall Xavier Becerra’s Sacramento high school years
It was not hard to find Xavier Becerra at Sacramento’s C.K. McClatchy High School in the mid-1970s. Every lunch, Becerra and half a dozen friends would gather around a picnic table, huddled over a deck of cards. Becerra was the one with long, wavy...
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Waymo clears hurdle for robotaxi service in Sacramento
Waymo’s robotaxi service is one step closer to offering Sacramento residents autonomous rides, which a city counciland member said could happen as early as this month. The California Public Utilities Commission approved Waymo’s application to operate...
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USDA denies $32M for glassy-winged sharpshooter control in California
U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla’s and Adam Schiff’s request for $32 million in emergency funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to combat California’s growing glassy-winged sharpshooter problem has been rejected. Glassy-winged sharpshooters were...
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New attacks on shipping as Iran war talks hit fresh impasse
The U.S. and Yemen’s Iranaligned Houthis reported separate attacks on shipping on Tuesday as prospects for ending the Iran war appeared to dim, with Tehran saying the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed unless Washington accepts its conditions. The...
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Dolores Huerta, other activists urge lawmakers to avert CalFresh ‘hunger crisis’
Civil rights icon Dolores Huerta joined a coalition of activists on Monday at the state Capitol to call on legislators and Gov. Gavin Newsom to take immediate action to prevent a “hunger crisis” for tens of thousands of Californians. HR 1 — also known...
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How Steve Hilton’s Crowdpac unraveled after backing Trump
2014, Steve Hilton — the Republican now running for California governor — was a barefoot tech executive with plans to change the world. Hilton’s company, Crowdpac, was a kind of Kickstarter for politics. The nonpartisan platIn form aimed to help...
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Canning peach yield down estimated 29% after Del Monte cannery closure
With the fall of Del Monte Foods’ Modesto cannery earlier this year, also comes the fall of the clingstone peach crop tonnage this harvest. The amount of canning peaches processed this year is expected to drop 29%, or roughly 61,000 tons, compared to...
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Winding Creek Elementary opens as Roseville schools expand
The Roseville City School District welcomed almost 500 students to campus Thursday morning as it celebrated the opening of its newest campus, Winding Creek Elementary. “To our students, we have worked tirelessly for the last five years to ensure that...
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Arrest made as Gann Fire spreads to 9,300+ acres in Calaveras
Cal Fire has arrested a Valley Springs man on suspicion of starting the Gann Fire, the fast-moving wildfire that has burned more than 9,300 acres in Calaveras County, forced hundreds of evacuations and was 10% contained Wednesday morning. Herbert...
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Waymo could begin driverless rides in Sacramento in August
Waymo autonomous robotaxis could pick up Sacramento riders as early as August, a city council member said, about six months after the company and the city’s mayor first announced a partnership. Waymo, a subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet...
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Renowned vineyard halves acreage, lays off most of staff
The renowned Beckstoffer Vineyards is dramatically scaling back its wine grape operations in Lake and Mendocino counties, with plans to pull out more than half of its vines. At its peak, Beckstoffer was farming around 4,000 acres of wine grapes in the...
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Millions in state are one setback away from crisis
This story is part of “The Poverty Line,” a new series examining poverty in California and profiling everyday people working to pay rent, buy food or get healthcare amid rising concerns about affordability. One number should stop Californians in their...
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Yes on Measure W launches Willowgrove campaign in Davis
The team behind the 1,250unit Willowgrove development proposal appearing on the November ballot as Measure W launched its campaign Wednesday at the Davis Farmers Market. The development requires voter approval under Davis’ Measure J-R-D, which...
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Abuse and intimidation have taken over city hall meetings
Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty lost control of Tuesday’s City Council meeting at 7:17 p.m. Public comment on a proposed Natomas infrastructure financing plan was interrupted by a man who accused the city of Sacramento of colluding with President Donald...
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Sacramento Railyards district financing agreement delayed
officials faced another delay Tuesday to a financing deal intended to spur development in the Railyards district, an effort that faltered last summer amid a protest by a union and residents of two apartment complexes in the district. The deal would...
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City’s street safety tax measure misses ballot
A proposed ballot measure that would have generated $75 million annually for safer streets in Sacramento failed to make the November ballot despite gathering 10% more signatures than required, organizers announced Friday. The ballot measure would have...
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Wine grape growers consider agave as industry changes
It was a Tuesday morning on Clear Lake. People congregated outside as the temperature remained mild. There were muffins and danishes, coffee and water. There were also alcoholic spirits for anyone who wanted an alternative morning boost featuring...
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Carlos Dominguez declared insane in deadly Davis stabbings
A judge has declared Carlos Reales Dominguez legally insane, and he will be committed to a state hospital following his conviction in the stabbing deaths of two men during a 2023 Davis knife rampage. Yolo Superior Court Judge Samuel T. McAdam ordered...
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Deadlocked jury leads to mistrial in Sacramento downtown shooting
In a stunning turn, a Sacramento Superior Court judge declared a mistrial Tuesday in the K Street mass shooting murder trial of surviving suspects Dandrae Martin and Mtula Payton after jurors failed to reach verdicts on the remaining charges. The...
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Facebook Marketplace helps area buyers find farmland
“This would have a significant impact on our students,” said Sonia Ortiz-Mercado, associate vice chancellor of the Los Rios Community College District, which serves the Sacramento area. “They could end up not pursuing their education.” A federal judge...
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Local woman clawed out of homelessness, faces eviction
Jocelyn Wright knew the numbers barely penciled out. Each month, the rent was $1,450, the car payment was $372.72, the insurance was $130, and her take-home pay from working full-time as a medical transporter was around $3,000 if she didn’t miss a...
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What Super El Niño charging ‘full steam ahead’ means for CA
El Niño is back, and it might be bigger than ever. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared in June that the threshold for an El Niño had been met in the eastern Pacific Ocean, and that it was likely to strengthen significantly...
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CA State Fair ultimate guide to food, rides, events and exhibits
Starting Friday, the 173rd California State Fair returns to Cal Expo for 17 summer days of corn dogs, coasters and rock concerts. This year’s theme is “Wish You Were Here,” inspired by the stories people tell about fairs past. “People fall in love...
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Trump says ICE won’t halt traffic stops after shootings
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said federal immigration agents won’t end vehicle stops, one day after officials announced a temporary pause in such stops after agents fatally shot two men in Texas and Maine. “We must be strong, tough, and smart,...
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Iran, US launch new attacks, battle over Strait of Hormuz
Iran fired ballistic missiles at a U.S. air base in Jordan on Tuesday and the United States attacked Iranian targets for five hours in a battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz that has pushed up oil prices to fourweek highs. U.S. forces launched...
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GreenFire’s system boosts geothermal power potential
A new generation of geothermal technology proved itself in a Northern California field test, suggesting old and underperforming wells could provide a faster, lower-impact path to more clean electricity. A California Energy Commission report published...
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GOP senator was defense hawk, staunch Trump ally
Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican who went from a vocal critic of Donald Trump to one of his most loyal allies after Trump became president, has died, his office announced on Sunday. He was 71. The South Carolina lawmaker died after a “brief and...
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Newsom signs bill to boost special ed spending
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Thursday that includes a $2.4 billion increase for special education programs in California schools, calling the budget a step toward improving services for students across the state. The event took place at...
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She sued after Sacramento trashed her homeless encampment
A homeless woman lost her $12,000 small claims lawsuit after a judge ruled that six or seven days’ notice for the sweep gave Sacramento officials license to destroy personal property left in and around her encampment. The lawsuit was unusual in the...
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