The Sacramento Bee
Israel kills Iranian naval commander; Trump raises pressure
An Israeli airstrike killed an Iranian naval commander who played a pivotal role in shutting down the Strait of Hormuz, Israel said Thursday, as President Donald Trump ratcheted up pressure on Iran to accept his proposal to end the war. Trump, in a...
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Historic state office building renovated for $169M
Van Acker stood near the recently restored Capitol fountain, minutes before the ribbon cutting for the major renovation of the Jesse M. Unruh Building. He and his wife Ellie Van Acker, who are members of Preservation Sacramento, fought to save the...
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Sacramento sued for destroying property in homeless sweep
Elizabeth Williams could not understand why the city threw away her tent, her laptop and all her medications — twice. Now, the meticulous receiptsaver is suing Sacramento for $12,239.43 in small claims court. Trashing her belongings, she argued in...
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ICE agents fan out at airports across the US
Agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement began to be deployed at airports across the country Monday morning, but it was unclear whether their presence was helping or exacerbating long security lines. Between 100 and 150 ICE officers were sent...
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Sacramento’s $514M high-rise courthouse set to open in weeks
The latest addition to the Sacramento skyline may also be its most anticipated: a gleaming 18-story courthouse with 53 courtrooms and 540,000 square feet of real estate to replace an aging downtown courthouse long regarded as undersized, unsafe,...
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Rivas announces push to rename Chavez Day for farmworkers
The California Legislature will move to change the name of state holiday Cesar Chavez Day following allegations of rape against the legendary labor leader, including from two women who said the assaults occurred when they were minors. Assembly Speaker...
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City officials back renaming downtown plaza after allegations
A majority of the Sacramento City Council declared support for renaming Cesar E. Chavez Plaza after allegations of sexual abuse were published Wednesday against the civil rights leader. Mayor Kevin McCarty and Council members Karina Talamantes, Phil...
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Events honoring Chavez canceled amid ‘troubling’ allegations
The United Farm Workers union said it would not participate in events honoring its founder, Cesar Chavez, citing what it described as “troubling allegations” against the iconic Chicano labor leader. The union, in a statement released Tuesday, did not...
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STUDENTS WALK OUT IN SUPPORT OF NATOMAS TEACHERS STRIKE
Helen Ayala Olivares, 17, a senior at Natomas High School, holds a sign as she walks out of school to join a teachers strike on Monday. Natomas Unified teachers have been on strike since March 10 seeking raises, fully paid health benefits and classroom...
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California lawmakers ask USDA for $9M peach grower relief
Congressional lawmakers from California have urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture to subsidize Central Valley peach growers still reeling from the collapse of Del Monte Foods and the closure of its Modesto cannery. In a letter sent Friday to USDA...
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Striking teachers unions join forces for Capitol Mall march
Thousands of striking Sacramento-area educators and their supporters from two school districts converged Thursday morning to call on local leaders to meet their demands for pay raises, improved health care coverage and staffing increases. The joint...
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US at fault in Iran school strike, preliminary inquiry says
An ongoing military investigation has determined that the United States is responsible for a deadly Tomahawk missile strike on an Iranian elementary school, according to U.S. officials and others familiar with the preliminary findings. The Feb. 28...
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Natomas teachers go on strike for ‘safe and stable schools’
Teachers from Natomas Unified School District went on strike Tuesday, becoming the second group of Sacramentoarea teachers in a week to take to picket lines. Hundreds of people demonstrated and marched near campuses while classes continued with...
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Iran signals no letup in war as Khamenei’s son made leader
chose Mojtaba Khamenei, the hardline son of the assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as its new supreme leader, signaling Tehran won’t back down in a war now raging across the Middle East and causing a surge in energy prices. The choice was quickly...
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Iran may name new leader soon; attacks on infrastructure grow
Fuel depots near Iran’s capital, Tehran, were engulfed in flames early Sunday after U.S. and Israeli forces expanded their attacks, while Iran tried to project stability by announcing that top clerics were finalizing their decision for a new supreme...
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25,000 Twin Rivers students go without regular teachers
For Brittoni Ward, seeing teachers at a rally Thursday near a Twin Rivers Unified School District office at McClellan Park was emotional. “It is really just a testament to how strong our union is, how much they care about their students, that they’re...
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Yuba River, Englebright Lake nearly clear of oil, debris
The tow boat pushed a barge stacked with what looked like orange logs through a narrow canyon toward the spilling dam. Navigating the subtle bends of the lake behind Englebright Dam, the vessel chugged across the otherwise still water, the late...
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Trump claims he ‘forced’ Israel into war, contradicting Rubio
President Donald Trump on Tuesday offered a much different explanation for how the United States and Israel opted to launch a surprise war with Iran, contending he pushed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into the conflict. The U.S. commander in chief...
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US sending more forces as Mideast conflict widens
U.S. military officials said Monday that their operation against Iran was in its early stages, with more forces headed to the Middle East, as widening attacks claimed more lives, rattled global markets and risked spiraling into a fullblown regional...
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Iran retaliates against Israel and US allies
Iran targeted Israel and U.S. allies in the Gulf on Sunday in retaliatory strikes over the killing of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the United States and Israel pressed on with a high-risk military campaign that analysts say could lead...
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Black-owned restaurants highlight culinary diversity
U.S. foodies, Sacramento is well-known as an upand-coming dining hotspot. That’s, in part, thanks to topnotch breweries, fast-casual bites and upscale date night spots owned and operated by Black Sacramentans. Black-owned restaurants are spread across...
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Trump defends policies during State of the Union address
President Donald Trump on Tuesday night used his State of the Union address to repeatedly attack congressional Democrats as they objected to his immigration policies, while also arguing that his policies were putting more money in the pockets of...
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Mother with legal permission to live in US deported in a day
Maria de Jesus Estrada Juarez confidently walked to her green card appointment in downtown Sacramento on Wednesday morning. She had seen the reports of other immigrants arrested at similar check-ins. Estrada Juato rez believed her case would be...
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Mountain residents pay tribute to avalanche victims in Truckee
As the last daylight faded Sunday, the sound of “Amazing Grace” rose toward the peaks that cup this mountain town. Holding candles, hundreds of residents of this and other Tahoe-area communities sang the hymn in soft unison as they gathered to honor...
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State Dems pass on endorsing any candidate for governor
The California Democratic Party declined to endorse any candidate for governor at its 2026 state convention on Sunday, as the filing deadline remains two weeks away and party members are far apart on who to support in the race to succeed outgoing Gov....
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102-year-old keeps history of internment camp resisters alive
Jim Tanimoto remembers a lot from his 102 years of life, but not who took the photograph blown up on his office wall. The black-and-white picture shows 28 men of Japanese descent, American citizens, lined up on wooden stairs leading to a mess hall at...
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DEADLIEST SLIDE
Under a high avalanche warning in the Sierra, a slope near Lake Tahoe collapsed and buried a group of 15 skiers, killing at least eight people in the deadliest avalanche disaster in California history. The slide struck around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday near...
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Influential civil rights icon, 84, twice sought presidency
The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, the Chicago-based Baptist minister, political figure and two-time presidential candidate whose soaring oratory and knack for capturing media attention made him a central figure in the Civil Rights Movement and national...
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RAIN RETURNS TO SACRAMENTO REGION
David Kukesh and his daughter Emma find cover under their umbrella as they cross J Street after touring Old Sacramento in the rain on Monday. The storm delivered more than an inch of precipitation to communities throughout the Sacramento region.
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Long-vacant school could become community center
one had used the old North Sacramento School for some time, this much was clear on a crisp February day. At a rear door, a man removed boarding to allow access to the building, which was constructed in stages between 1915 and 1947 and appears to have...
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State workers petition lawmakers to protect telework
you didn’t know better, the groups milling around the Capitol Swing Space on Wednesday could have passed for any other cadre of suited lobbyists hoping for a minute of California lawmakers’ time. But those weren’t paid advocates. They were state...
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Lawmakers question Bondi over DOJ under her watch
Attorney General Pam Bondi refused to apologize to survivors of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein who were seated in the House Judiciary Committee room on Wednesday – and instead demanded that Democrats apologize to President Donald...
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DHS shutdown nears amid stalemate on immigration agent curbs
Bipartisan talks over curbing President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown remained stalemated in Congress on Tuesday, threatening a shuttion down of the Department of Homeland Security this weekend as time ran short for a deal. Senate Democrats...
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Greenland, 1941: Capital woman’s granddad makes a bold move
President Trump threatened to annex Greenland last month, a woman in Sacramento thought of her grandfather, whose audacious move 85 years ago inadvertently opened the door to U.S. aggression that startled her and the world. The first time Bettina...
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Democratic leader: ICE reforms key to support for DHS deal
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats are insisting on their full list of demands to reform Immigration and Customs Enforcement before agreeing to pass the remaining government funding for the Department of Homeland Security before the...
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Congress debates Homeland Security funding, reform demands
Congress has given itself until next Friday to come up with a spending plan — and major reforms — for the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration operations. Prospects for any action are dim. Without a formal budget, much of DHS would shut down...
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Homan says he is pulling 700 agents out of Minneapolis
Tom Homan, the White House border czar, said Wednesday that the federal government would immediately withdraw 700 law enforcement officers from Minneapolis, scaling down the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the area. The change comes...
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California’s vision for mental health crisis line sees delays
Three years after police killed Miles Hall, a young Black man who was shot in the throes of a mental health crisis blocks from his Walnut Creek home after his family had called emergency services, California lawmakers enacted a bold new vision for how...
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How detective zeroed in on ex-CapRadio GM’s alleged embezzlement
The square arch door opened to gleaming black marble floors reflecting golden lanterns and plush seats. The cavernous lobby at Raffles Dubai, a lavish hotel, featured imported stone columns from Egypt, handcarved with hieroglyphics by a specialist....
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GIANTS FANS MOB A’S TEMPORARY BALLPARK
Jean Rhim, left, takes a photo with San Francisco Giants pitcher José Buttó and fellow fan Maddy Kim at the team’s Fanfest at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento on Saturday. Thousands of fans turned out to see their favorite players.
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Meta gives Sac State $50 million for downtown expansion
Sacramento State is partnering with tech giant Meta to convert excess government buildings into a downtown campus that will include academic facilities and affordable student housing in a district that has struggled to recover from the COVID-19...
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Federal agents who shot Alex Pretti placed on leave
The two federal agents who opened fire on a Veterans Affairs nurse in Minneapolis have been placed on leave, an official with the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday, as more voices, including some in the Republican Party, broke with the...
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VOLUNTEERS ARE CURRENTLY COUNTING SACRAMENTO’S HOMELESS
Nathan Aguilar, with the nonprofit Community HealthWorks, talks to a group of homeless individuals during the Sacramento County Point-in-Time Count on Monday. The survey is conducted over two nights every two years to measure the number and...
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Elk Grove housing hits record after state legal fight
Sarah Bontrager, Elk Grove’s housing manager, was walking through one of the city’s sparkling new developments in October, when she rattled off a series of numbers. Hundreds of new affordable apartments were opening in the city in 2025. Hundreds more...
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‘Voice of the farmers’: Rep. Doug LaMalfa remembered
The airplane known for chauffeuring the vice president of the United States touched down in Northern California after leaving Washington early Saturday morning. Extreme cold and snow swept across the Midwest and East Coast while the plane flew west to...
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Newsom condemns Trump on world stage at Davos
After his first speech was cancelled, allegedly under pressure from the Trump administration, Gov. Gavin Newsom got his chance early Thursday morning to excoriate the president in front of the business and political elite gathered in Davos,...
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Newsom accuses White House of blocking speaking slot
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is in Switzerland at the World Economic Forum in Davos, is accusing the U.S. State Department and White House of denying him a speaking slot that was previously scheduled to come after President Donald Trump on...
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With threats to Greenland, Trump sets US on road to conquest
It seems safe to assume that when Harry Truman forged NATO at the dawn of the Cold War, he never imagined that over the course of nearly eight decades the only country that would wage economic war and threaten actual war against the allies for the...
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Thousands in Sacramento march for Martin Luther King Jr.
Several thousand people marched through the fog Monday in Sacramento to honor Martin Luther King Jr., continuing a decades-long tradition. Sacramento’s 44th annual March for a Dream, held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, started at Sacramento...
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Claw operators battle Sacramento leaf piles, scoop by scoop
In a newspaper clipping more than 50 years old, a photo shows two little girls in Ceres raking a huge pile of mulberry leaves. One of them smiled. The other girl, however, was 7 years old but all business: her back straight, knees slightly bent, with a...
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Trump threatens Insurrection Act to quash Minn. protests
President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to quell efforts to disrupt his immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. Tensions have risen in the city since a federal agent killed a woman there last week, with the...
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6 prosecutors quit over DOJ probe into ICE shooting
Six federal prosecutors in Minnesota resigned Tuesday over the Justice Department’s push to investigate the widow of a woman killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent and the department’s reluctance to investigate the shooter, according to...
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No campaign, no problem: inside political spending
California Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Santa Rosa, is a die-hard San Francisco 49ers fan. During his first speech as Senate President pro Tempore in early 2024, McGuire gave a shout-out to his beloved team, who were days away from facing the Kansas City...
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Gavin Newsom claims California as Trump counterweight
In his final State of the State, Gov. Gavin Newsom touted California’s economic dominance and a modest reduction in the unsheltered homeless population, claiming victory on one of his most potent political liabilities. During his address, which he...
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North state’s conservative voice in Congress dies at 65
Rep. Doug LaMalfa, one of California’s leading conservative voices in Washington — a staunch advocate for gun rights, farmers and the interests of rural Californians far removed from Sacramento — died Tuesday morning during emergency surgery. The...
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LIMÓN TAKES CHARGE
New Senate President pro tem Monique Limón, D-Goleta, speaks at her swearing-in ceremony at the state Capitol on Monday as Gov. Gavin Newsom and others in the chamber applaud. Limón, the first Latina to hold the role, takes over from Mike McGuire,...
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Venezuela projects defiance after US strike
Venezuela’s defense minister on Sunday rejected any notion that the United States would “run” his country, projecting an official line of defiance as the Trump administration said it would seek to exert “leverage” over the country’s leadership. The...
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Zohran Mamdani is sworn in as mayor of New York City
Zohran Mamdani, the leftleaning populist who deployed a mix of charm, social media savvy and an unyielding focus on affordability to catapult him to political stardom, was officially sworn in as mayor of New York City early Thursday, just after the New...
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Bondi Beach victims honored at New Year’s celebration in Sydney
who gathered to watch New Year celebrations at Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia held a one-minute vigil Wednesday to honor victims of the attack on a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach weeks earlier that killed 15 people. Thousands of people stood...
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FORE IN THE FOG
Austin Huynh swings his club on the fairway under the cover of fog at William Land Golf Course in Sacramento on Monday. “It’s mysterious, I would say. Starting at Hole 1 you couldn’t see anything," he said. "It’s a very peaceful experience.” The region...
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Trump hails ‘progress’ in talks with Zelenskyy over war
President Donald Trump said he made “a lot of progress” in talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he pushed for a peace deal to end Russia’s invasion. Even as Moscow showed little willingness to compromise, Trump said Sunday from his...
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How capital table tennis expert helped ‘Marty Supreme’ get made
Scott Gordon admitted his feelings evolved on the muchanticipated movie “Marty Supreme.” Gordon, 65, a longtime competitive table tennis player who lives in Carmichael, consulted on the Josh Safdie-directed film that opened Wednesday night and is...
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104-year-old veteran recalls Christmas at Battle of the Bulge
A Sacramento centenarian spent the holiday season more than eight decades ago on the front of one of WWII’s most significant battles. Howard Buford and his fellow soldiers who were fighting at Battle of the Bulge in 1944 received a Christmas Eve...
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Vigil honors nearly 200 who died homeless in Sacramento County
A crowd gathered in Cesar E. Chavez Plaza downtown on the longest night of the year to memorialize nearly 200 people who died while homeless in Sacramento County in 2025. The vigil — hosted by the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness, the...
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Local attorney, builder launch affordable housing effort
prominent civil rights attorney has joined forces with a builder to launch a more affordable housing effort, one he hopes can show Sacramento a new approach. Mark Merin, who owns this property at 13th and C streets, as well as a Safe Ground sanctioned...
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Sacramento completes new tiny homes for homeless
officials gathered near Del Paso Park on Thursday morning to showcase the completion of a project described as a cost-efficient and leading strategy in the state’s homelessness response. The announcement focused on the completion of 135 new tiny homes...
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Construction on Capitol Annex halfway done, new report says
Four years after lawmakers vacated the old building, the new Capitol Annex is halfway complete. That’s one takeaway from a new report from the California Legislature’s Joint Committee on Rules – the first formal upcompleted date since 2021. “The...
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End of e-bike program brings mixed reactions in Sacramento
California halted a $30 million e-bike voucher program after a troubled rollout, a decision criticized by Sacramento residents who received bikes. The California Legislature initially set aside $10 million for the program in 2021, as StreetsBlog...
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Rob Reiner’s son arrested on suspicion of homicide
Rob Reiner’s son Nick was booked into the Los Angeles County jail on suspicion of murder, records show, hours after the Hollywood legend and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found dead at their Brentwood home Sunday. Jail records provide few...
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20% of Sacramento shelter guests go on to permanent housing
Sacramento city and county together earmarked $120 million in taxpayer money — from a mix of local, state and federal sources — on building and staffing eight homeless shelters with a total of about 950 beds since January 2020. About one of five of...
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Senate blocks plan to continue Obamacare subsidies
The Senate Thursday rejected plans from Republicans and Democrats to ease soaring health care costs, making it more likely many Californians face health insurance premiums that could double shortly. COVID-era credits for people with Obamacare-inspired...
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Extended takeover of National Guard illegal, judge rules
A federal judge in San Francisco ruled early Wednesday that the Trump administration’s extended takeover of the California National Guard is illegal, temporarily barring the federal government from continuing to deploy the state’s troops. However, the...
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Slain boy’s dad calls for justice, Stockton leaders slam ‘no-snitch’ culture
One week after gunfire tore through a toddler’s birthday party and killed four people, including three children, the father of 14-year-old victim Amari Peterson stood at Stockton City Hall on Tuesday and said he still feels trapped in a nightmare. “I...
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Year into job, Schiff pushes legislation — and Trump’s buttons
Five months after joining the U.S. Senate, Adam Schiff delivered a floor speech on what he called “the top 10 deals for Donald Trump and the worst deals for the American people.” Schiff spoke of Trump and his family getting rich off cryptocurrency...
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First-time marathon runner breaks a CIM record in Sacramento
Thousands of runners raced from Folsom to downtown Sacramento on Sunday for the capital region’s biggest race of the year: the California International Marathon. Of those runners, many were running their first marathon — including the winner of the...
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Top military officers show lawmakers video of boat attack
Top military officers showed senior members of Congress a video of a Sept. 2 attack on a boat suspected of carrying drugs, including a follow-up strike that has been at the center of a growing debate over the Trump administration’s campaign. Gen. Dan...
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