Tag Archives: California

The Wall Street Journal reports: PG&E Corp. said it will seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a day after the company’s CEO stepped down over the financial fallout spurred by the utility’s role in helping spark the California wildfires. The company and its wholly owned subsidiary, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., said they plan to file a petition on or around …

CBS News reports: Sen. Kamala Harris has decided to seek the 2020 Democratic nomination for president, sources close to her told KCBS Radio. She’ll announce her candidacy on  Martin Luther King Day, probably at a campaign rally in Oakland, the sources said. Harris, 54, has been making the rounds of television talk shows and appearing at several events this week …

USA Today reports: President Donald Trump said in a Wednesday tweet that he is cutting off federal money to fight California wildfires, claiming the money is being wasted. State officials have accused Trump of playing politics with the California wildfires, and said he does not understand the issues involved in fighting fires. Trump’s declaration comes as he takes political heat …

Reuters reports: California utility company PG&E Corp is exploring filing some or all of its business for bankruptcy protection as it faces billions of dollars in liabilities related to fatal wildfires in 2018 and 2017, people familiar with the matter said on Friday. The company is considering the move as a contingency, in part because it could soon take a …

San Francisco’s NBC affiliate reports: Customers have been lining up and packing into Bay Area cannabis dispensaries to buy holiday gifts including gummies, chocolates, cartridges and flowers. “From the moment we were open at 9 o’clock we had a line,” Magnolia assistant general manager Kysa Butler said. “We’ve been knocking the lines out quickly but they’ve been steady, too.” Pot …

CBS Los Angeles reports: A portion of the 134 Freeway between Glendale and Pasadena is now officially named the President Barack H. Obama Highway. Caltrans crews have installed signs renaming the busy stretch of the 134 Freeway. Obama attended Occidental College from 1979 to 1981 and lived in Pasadena during his sophomore year. State Senator Anthony J. Portantino, who co-authored …

The Los Angeles Times reports: Zero Republicans hold statewide office. Democrats enjoy a supermajority in the California Assembly and the state Senate. In races for the U.S. Senate, Republican candidates can’t even make it to the general election, now that the top two vote-getters in primary contests advance regardless of party. And when the House of Representatives reconvenes, the California …

The Los Angeles Times reports: California Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman, leader of one of the most influential political forces in the nation, said Thursday he intended to resign after allegations of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior toward party staff members and activists. Bauman’s decision to resign follows a report from The Times on Wednesday that said 10 party staff …

The Los Angeles Times reports: TJ Cox defeated three-term Republican Rep. David Valadao on Wednesday, giving Democrats a gain of seven House seats in California and 40 nationwide — the party’s strongest midterm showing since the Watergate era in the mid-1970s. Cox clinched his victory more than three weeks after election day, when updated results from Fresno and Kings counties …

NBC News Los Angeles reports: Democrat Gil Cisneros captured a Republican-held U.S. House seat in Southern California late on Saturday, capping a Democratic rout in which the party picked up six congressional seats in the state. In what had been the last undecided House contest in California, Cisneros beat Republican Young Kim for the state’s 39th District seat. The Cisneros …

The San Jose Mercury News reports: President Trump’s visit Saturday to the fire-ravaged California town of Paradise seemed to be going fine, until he began explaining his understanding of forest policy. Apparently, California needs to buy more rakes. “You gotta take care of the floors. You know the floors of the forest, very important,” Trump told reporters, as Gov. Jerry …

The Associated Press reports: At least 63 people are now dead from a Northern California wildfire, and officials say they have a missing persons list with 631 names on it in an ever-evolving accounting of the victims of the nation’s deadliest wildfire in a century. The high number of missing people probably includes some who fled the blaze and don’t …

The Associated Press reports: Democrat Katie Porter has seized a Republican-held U.S. House seat in the heart of Southern California’s Reagan country. Thursday’s vote count update in Orange County gave Porter, a law professor, the upset over Republican Rep. Mimi Walters in the 45th District. Porter has 51 percent and leads by 6,203 votes. Democrats now have won five GOP …

The New York Times reports: It is a measure of how frequent and deadly wildfires have become in California that identifying badly burned remains has become an area of expertise. Once again cadaver dogs have been summoned, forensic dental experts will follow and coroners and anthropologists are using their experience from previous wildfires to locate the victims. At least 48 …

ABC News reports: President Donald Trump woke up in Paris on Saturday in the mood to make threats toward California as it deals with deadly wildfires in Northern California and hundreds of smoldering homes in Southern California. In an angry tweet, the president threatened to pull federal funding for the state if nothing is done to “remedy” the situation. Trump …

Forbes reports: Residents of the city of Malibu, Calif. are under mandatory evacuation orders Friday as the Woolsley Fire heads for populated areas along the Pacific Coast Highway (aka U.S. Route 101) and the Pacific Ocean. The Woolsey Fire jumped the 101 freeway early Friday as one of three massive wildfires that ignited in the Golden State in just the …

CNN reports: Authorities have identified a Facebook post believed to have been made by the shooter around the time of the attack, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the ongoing investigation. In it, the writer says: “I hope people call me insane… (laughing emojis).. wouldn’t that just be a big ball of irony? Yeah.. I’m insane, but the …

The Sacramento Bee reports: An uncontrolled wildfire raced across the Butte County community of Paradise Thursday afternoon, destroying a large swath of downtown and sending residents fleeing on foot past burning homes, businesses and a local church. “The whole town’s on fire,” said Scott Lotter, a town councilman who evacuated with his family. “It’s pretty grim.” By Thursday evening, the …

Heavy.com reports: David Ian Long has been identified as the suspected black-clad gunman who opened fire at a crowded college bar in Thousand Oaks, California, killing at least 12 and wounding at least 21 people. The shooting happened at Borderline Bar & Grill, a country music-themed restaurant in Ventura County. It was “College Country Night” at the bar, a weekly …

The Los Angeles Times reports: A gunman threw smoke bombs and rained bullets on a crowd of hundreds inside a Thousand Oaks bar that is popular with college students Wednesday night, leaving 13 dead including a Sheriff’s sergeant shot trying to stop the carnage. The massacre occurred at the Borderline Bar & Grill, with the assailant firing wildly into the …