San Benito County Local News

Official updated information from WatchDuty about the Eaton Fire in Southern California.

Official updated information from WatchDuty about the Palisades Fire in Southern California.

Fashioning a budget for a state as large and diverse as California is a fraught process under the best of circumstances, involving not only strictly financial aspects but demands from countless interest groups and the internal politics of the Capitol.

The Newsom administration on Friday is expected to release its next budget proposal. Health care advocates want the governor to fix a Medi-Cal rule that discourages seniors from getting coverage.

The state’s plan to fix the insurance crisis had barely rolled out when the Los Angeles fires began. Can the market recover and stabilize?

State prisoners have long been a part of California’s firefighting force. Hundreds of them now are deployed in Los Angeles County.

“If this is the new normal, this is absolute economic devastation,” says one local economist.

After days of sniping back and forth with President-elect Donald Trump over California’s handling of the fires ravaging Los Angeles, Gov. Gavin Newsom today invited the incoming Republican president to visit the state and survey the damage.

As climate change warms the planet, wildfires have become so unpredictable and extreme that new words were invented: firenado, gigafire, fire siege — even fire pandemic. California has 78 more annual “fire days” — when conditions are ripe for fires to spark — than 50 years ago. When is California’s wildfire season? It is now almost year-round.

President-elect Donald Trump faulted California water policies for the devastating wildfires that are burning in Los Angeles County. The fires started because of fierce winds and extremely dry conditions.

Nearly a half-century ago, during Jerry Brown’s first stint as governor, he and state legislators became embroiled in an extremely complex political squabble over taxing the incomes of multinational corporations.

The federal government typically covers 75% of rebuilding costs after a major disaster. President-elect Trump has threatened to withhold firefighting money from California.

The legislative analyst has a plan to fix the “structural insolvency” of the unemployment benefits fund — but businesses aren’t happy and it’s unclear if lawmakers will get on board.

Some Northern California cities have been soaked with almost twice their average rainfall, while southern cities are bone-dry. This season’s huge — possibly unprecedented — disparity works in favor of the state’s water supplies.

After two reparations bills stalled in the final day of session last year, reparation advocates are campaigned at the state Capitol to drum up support for the same measures.

THREATS AND HARASSMENT are pushing some politicians out of office, scaring off some would-be candidates and even compelling some elected officials to change their vote.

Those in California who’d like a latte with a side of weed have gotten their wish now that a new law goes into effect that permits licensed cannabis dispensaries to add sit-in cafes to their sites.  

While cities in California continue to pass ordinances to combat illegal sideshows, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed several laws that go into effect this year statewide to give municipalities more legal tools to address them. 

Read on to learn about the two new California National Monuments to be declared by outgoing President Biden.

After winning a costly legislative battle last year, California’s casino-owning tribes have sued their rivals in the gambling business. Cities could lose money if the tribes prevail in court.