u/GeneralCarlosQ17

**There is a lot of Very Good and Very Bad to go along with This Issue.---------------------/

The Trump administration announced Tuesday it is rolling back a rule prohibiting logging and road construction in undeveloped parts of national forests, including more than 4 million acres of federally managed forest lands in California.

The change could open some of California’s most remote back country to new roads and development — even as U.S. Forest Service research shows that roads are a major source of wildfire ignitions in the state’s national forests.

People start most of California’s wildfires, including on federal land — and it’s not just sparks from faulty power lines. Fires can start in many ways: A hiker might burn toilet paper in the back country, a hot tub might be miswired, or someone might drag a tow chain or pull a hot car onto dry grass.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, who first announced the plan last year, said today that federal officials filed a proposal and environmental impact statement to rescind the rule in order to reduce barriers to managing fuels on public lands.

“For too long, outdated restrictions have kept tens of millions of forested acres off-limits to the very treatments that improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk to our communities,” Rollins said in a statement.

But in California, the U.S. Forest Service’s own research points to a complication: Roads and the people who travel on them are known conduits for fire.

Scientists with the U.S. Forest Service mapped 26 years of fire ignitions along roughly 850 miles of roads in the Angeles, San Bernardino, Los Padres and Cleveland national forests. All of them, according to a Forest Service map, also contain roadless reaches.

The mapping effort revealed that nearly two-thirds of the fires people caused in these forests sparked along roadsides — places where people, the sparks they create, and fuel in the form of flammable, invasive grasses often converge.

Rep Becerra also gave the FBI a false computer in Congressional Democrats’ Awan Brothers cover up

By Katy Grimes, August 19, 2026 12:36 pm

Dr. Anthony Fauci’s well-deserved congressional scrutiny is far from over, even after his contentious Senate hearing late last month.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., points to a November 2023 request by House Republicans for former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, currently running for California Governor, to produce any records from Fauci containing the words “COVID-19,” “gain-of-function,” and “Wuhan.”

Comer is now questioning why Fauci’s COVID-19 pandemic-era diary and cellphone were not turned over to Congress before this year, and it is placing the blame on former President Joe Biden’s top health official Becerra, Fox News Politics reports.

A slew of closures have left grocery shoppers in California with fewer affordable options.

Grocery Outlet — a major discount retailer — first announced plans to shut down 36 “financially underperforming stores” locations back in March. The shutters would take place all across the country as part of the company’s “optimization plan.”

The scheme would “improve operational execution, strengthen long-term profitability and increase cash flow generation,” according to a company earnings call.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman plans to hire the controversial progressive consulting group Fight Agency to produce television advertisements for her mayoral campaign, a spokesperson said Wednesday, drawing a quick condemnation from the rival campaign of L.A. Mayor Karen Bass.

Fight Agency is best known for its work on campaigns for New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and for Graham Platner, the former Democratic primary candidate for a Maine Senate seat who withdrew after a woman claimed he sexually assaulted her. Platner denied the allegation.

That incident, which followed reporting on Platner’s troubled relationships with some women and his Nazi symbol tattoo, drew scrutiny to Fight Agency and one of its consultants, Morris Katz.

Several hundred members of the leftist Democratic Socialists of America have called on political candidates and elected officials to boycott both the Fight Agency and Katz.

A California prosecutor has accused Meta of designing social-media platforms to maximize the screen time of young users, turning a blind eye toward the number of preteens on Instagram and Facebook, and falsely assuring the public that its sites are safe.

Meta, parent company of social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, however, said the accusations leveled by lawyers for California and other states are too simplistic, and fail to account for the societal benefits of social media and the efforts Meta says it has taken to prevent harm to teens, and especially to prevent harm to children who may interact with its social media products.

In what has been billed as the largest consumer-protection lawsuit in U.S. history, opening arguments unfolded Tuesday in Oakland federal court, where a coalition of 29 states alleged that the social-media giant engaged in unfair and deceptive practices that violated state consumer-protection laws and the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

In opening statements for the states, California Deputy Attorney General Megan O’Neill told a panel of jurors the state governments believe Facebook and Instagram have consistently published misleading reports and statements saying users of their platforms suffered low rates of negative or harmful experiences.

But attorneys general for the four states litigating the case – California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey – argue that research and scientists have shown that the use of Meta’s platforms harms young users because it is associated with depression, anxiety, insomnia and body dysmorphia.

The Legislature is not empowered to interpret the Constitution, and legislation that conflicts with judicial interpretation of the Constitution is void

By Katy Grimes, August 19, 2026 7:30 am

As Californians are facing tax increases from every level of government within the state, Senator Steven Choi, Ph.D (R-Irvine) is alerting Californians that a bill gutting Proposition 218 is in the Senate, and could be passed.

Assembly Bill 2180, authored by Assemblyman Chris Ward (D-San Diego), would insert the Legislature into a current legal challenge over tiered water rates, and whether water districts are implementing those fairly and appropriately under the law. The court case is Dreher v. City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and is pending at the California State Supreme Court.

Because conflicting appellate court decisions have created confusion and distrust regarding the proper application of Proposition 218, the California Supreme Court has granted review to resolve that conflict. Rather than allowing the judicial process to run its course, AB 2180 cherrypicks one appellate court’s interpretation before the state’s highest court has resolved the case.

California Proposition 218, the “Right to Vote on Taxes Act,” is a voter-approved constitutional amendment (1996) that significantly restricted local governments’ ability to impose taxes, assessments, fees, and charges without voter or property-owner approval.

Los Angeles City Council has voted to allow homeless people set up camps and live in parks after a proposal by DSA councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez.

The City Council voted 10-3 in favor of lifting anti-camping restrictions at more than a dozen parks and public spaces across Hollywood, Silver Lake and surrounding neighborhoods, making it far easier for homeless people to set up tents and live in the parks within his district

The anti-camping rules had previously been in place to prevent encampments from returning after they were already cleared by law enforcement.

Gavin Newsom celebrated last year when Proposition 50 passed, gerrymandering California’s congressional map to favor Democrats. But the new California map should be struck down by the courts for the same reason the US Supreme Court recently blocked Louisiana’s map: Both were drawn using race, in violation of the US Constitution.

The Supreme Court doomed the Louisiana congressional map in Louisiana v. Callais because legislators in Baton Rouge had been explicit: They wanted to create a congressional seat specifically to elect a black representative to Congress.

Legislators in Sacramento were even more explicit about their racial purpose. Legislator after legislator spoke openly about their goal of creating “black districts” and “Latino-majority districts.” As in Louisiana, they garbled the Voting Rights Act, saying it mandated “voters of color be placed in districts” to elect racial minorities.

They’re flying the coop.

Classic American fried chicken chain KFC has permanently closed a total of 44 restaurants across California from July 2025 to July 2026, according to a new analysis from search visibility platform Local Falcon. The chain closed 312 restaurants nationwide in the same period, representing a 7.6% loss in the chain’s national footprint.

To discover which locations were inactive, Local Falcon compared the numbers from the chain’s public store locator on its website from July 2025 to July 2026. Each location that produced a 404 error was cross-verified against Google Maps to confirm it was permanently closed.

One of California’s most scenic roadways is turning to high-tech eyes to catch speeding drivers.

Malibu has installed speed cameras as part of its Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) Speed Safety System, which is nearing its completion.

The city called the safety system necessary because of the dozens of traffic deaths that have occurred along Malibu’s 21-mile portion of PCH since 2010. Police said speed is the primary factor in a majority of traffic collisions resulting in injury.

The pedal-powered vehicles top out at 12 mph and come equipped with rear cameras, regenerative braking and automatic parking brakes.

Their compact design also allows operators to use bike lanes.

Amazon unveiled the new fleet in a press conference Tuesday ahead of the launch.

The company says the bikes can help ease congestion, traffic and noise by taking larger delivery vehicles off the road.

One of California’s most scenic roadways is turning to high-tech eyes to catch speeding drivers.

Malibu has installed speed cameras as part of its Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) Speed Safety System, which is nearing its completion.

The city called the safety system necessary because of the dozens of traffic deaths that have occurred along Malibu’s 21-mile portion of PCH since 2010. Police said speed is the primary factor in a majority of traffic collisions resulting in injury.

Residents of a picturesque California coastal town have been dealing with a bizarre string of power outages this summer — and the culprit has feathers.

Wild turkeys are being blamed for repeatedly knocking out electricity in Cambria, where residents and businesses have endured a series of short-lived outages since mid-July.

The interruptions have typically occurred during daylight hours and lasted around an hour, sometimes happening twice in one day or on several consecutive days, according to The Tribune. The disruptions have left residents scrambling to get ready for work, brew their morning coffee and, in some cases, operate medical equipment.

Addictive online tendencies that parents see in their young sons are prevalent because those kids don’t have the tools to identify risky spaces, nor do they know how to find healthy alternatives.

And while legislation can address the online escapism so many teenagers and young men fall into — doomscrolling on social media or spending hours playing video games, to name a couple — real change will occur when the focus shifts to creating fulfilling opportunities to pursue, researchers and experts told the California Assembly’s newly formed Select Committee on Developing Pathways to Purpose for Young Men.

“Young men and boys in California are really struggling, and the data is telling us that they need our help in finding direction and purpose,” said Assemblymember Avelino Valencia, D-Anaheim.

Related: California lawmaker launches effort to strengthen suicide prevention for young men

“It is very unlikely that we will ever be able to provide a counter that is as consuming and addicting and attractive than what we are seeing today in the social space, but really focusing on developing alternatives to ensure folks at least have that option will make a big difference in being able to support our young individuals, especially our young boys,” he said.

Valencia, who chairs the committee, has made addressing the mental health issues this demographic deals with a priority. A bill he authored, which directs the state’s Office of Suicide Prevention to add young men and boys to its priority population list, was passed by the Senate last week and is on its way to the governor’s desk.

**Article brought here because It is a great Discussion Topic.-------------/

A new website allows drivers to find out whether their license plate has been photographed and searched through law enforcement agencies’ Flock camera systems.

The new website, “Have I Been Flocked,” compiles Flock camera audit logs and lets users see if their plate number has been run through the Flock application by a system operator.

If a person’s license plate appears in the database, it means not only that the plate was photographed, but that someone using the Flock system actively searched the database for that plate, according to the site. Included in the audit log is the stated reason someone in law enforcement gave for looking up the plate.

The site notes several limits to what its records show. The database does not reveal when or whether a vehicle passed one of the Flock Safety cameras. Those searching Flock databases are not necessarily police officers, and appearing on the site does not mean a person was under investigation.

The database of audit logs was built through FOIA public records requests filed with 6,586 different agencies across the country. Organizers caution that some information may be outdated or incomplete.

Last September, at their final meeting before the legislative session ended, Solano County supervisors were pressed to endorse state legislation — right away.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office had blessed a legislative proposal to fast-track a new shipyard along the Northern California county’s waterfront, and supervisors needed to decide if they would support it. But the board had just received the draft language hours before, so, after a 15-minute break to read the documents and an hour of public commentary, Supervisor Wanda Williams asked whether she could suggest changes.

“I don’t think we got time. We got 10 minutes,” said then-Board Chair Mitch Mashburn, gesturing toward the clock.

The shipyard was a pitch by California Forever, the tech billionaire-backed brainchild of a Czech-born entrepreneur named Jan Sramek. Since it began quietly purchasing Solano County land in 2018, the company has spent $1 billion acquiring nearly 70,000 acres — more than 10% of the county.

Initially, Sramek pitched the idea of building a dense, walkable city of 400,000 people with good-paying local jobs. Later, he added to the proposal a significant manufacturing hub and a state-of-the-art shipyard. From the start, local residents put up a fight: many were distrustful of the group’s secretive beginnings, antagonistic relationship with farmers, and possible risks the project posed to the environment.

The supervisors’ vote followed two weeks of aggressive lobbying by California Forever representatives, who pressured county staff to support state legislation they had not seen, accused them of delaying the process and said they’d be responsible for the loss of 10,000 potential jobs and billions of dollars in revenue, according to email and text exchanges obtained by CalMatters.

Do I have to stop behind a stopped school bus in California?

School buses typically activate their yellow warning lights before stopping to pick up or drop off students, according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

Once the bus stops, red lights will flash and a stop sign will swing out.

When a school bus stops to load or unload students and its red warning lights are flashing and stop sign is extended, drivers are required to stop.

Buses will also stop before crossing train tracks.

According to California’s Vehicle Code, drivers must stop when a school bus is loading or unloading passengers and its red lights are flashing and stop signal is extended.

“Remain stopped while the red lights are flashing,” the California Driver’s Handbook says. Do cars in both directions have to stop for a school bus?

On a two-way road, including a road with a center turn lane, vehicles traveling in both directions must stop for a school bus with its red lights flashing.

Many of California’s most prominent Democratic leaders gathered Tuesday afternoon to rally opposition to a ballot measure that would require voters to show identification at the polls.

The news conference, held at the state’s Democratic Party headquarters, was the latest effort by California elected officials to frame Proposition 39 as a costly and dangerous effort propelled by President Donald Trump.

The proposed ballot measure, which will appear on the November ballot, would mandate voters show a government-issued ID if they vote in person or provide the last four digits of a government-issued identification number when casting ballots by mail.

California generally does not require people to show government-issued ID at the polls, though people must attest they are citizens under penalty of perjury and provide personal information to verify their identity when registering to vote. Multiple nonpartisan studies have shown voter fraud is extremely rare across the country.

Guards fired less-lethal rounds to stop an attack Tuesday at a prison in Sacramento County in which one inmate was killed and another is suspected of attacking him.

The death of Danny Aguilar, 47, was being investigated as a homicide, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced in a news release.

The deadly attack occurred about 9:30 a.m. at California State Prison, Sacramento, commonly known as New Folsom. At that time, prison staff saw Julio Caesar Madrigal, 36, another inmate, “striking” Aguilar, CDCR officials said.

Prison guards ordered all inmates in the area to get down. CDCR officials said Madrigal failed to comply with the command, and the prison guards fired two less-lethal rounds at him to stop the attack.

Prison staff began life-saving measures on Aguilar as they transferred him to the prison’s triage and treatment area. About 10 a.m., a physician pronounced Aguilar dead. No prison staff injuries were reported.

Planning a trip? California is home to one of the nation’s top up-and-coming travel destinations, a new study says.

The new ranking highlights “emerging vacation spots” in the United States that seem “poised for major growth,” according to Travel + Leisure.

Top Fabric, a commercial upholstery supplier, focused on smaller cities with “tons of growth potential,” Travel + Leisure said.

“Travelers are no longer just following traditional tourism hubs,” Ellie E.K., managing director at Top Fabric, said in a statement. “They’re actively seeking places with strong identity, natural appeal and memorable experiences, often before those destinations reach peak popularity.”

The Los Angeles City Council has rescinded camping bans on a dozen locations in Hollywood, Echo Park and Silver Lake at the urging of the area’s council member, who called the bans ineffective in addressing homelessness.

“Displacing our neighbors from block to block, or in many cases from district to district, doesn’t help them find housing,” said Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez in asking his colleagues to remove the camping ban. “In most cases, it makes it much harder for us to help them because they lose their belongings, they get fined, and many times they are arrested. To me, that is a policy that does not work.”

The motion was approved on a 10-3 vote at Tuesday’s council meeting, with Imelda Padilla, Traci Park and Monica Rodriguez dissenting. Soto-Martínez said he believed it was the first instance of an encampment ban being rescinded.

Padilla accused Soto-Martínez of engaging in a double standard, asking the council to defer to his wishes in his district while opposing efforts by his colleagues to establish no-encampment zones in their communities.

“Is this a matter of supporting you because this is what you want, or should I just treat you the way you’ve been treating us?” Padilla asked.