Category: California

Videos on social media are circulating showing Latinos rejecting or turning away from American products in response to mass deportations taking place around the country.

One video shows a family about to have dinner together when a young man emphatically tells his mother “how could you do that when Coca-Cola is turning its back on Mexicans.”

In response, the mom takes a large bottle of Coke and pours its contents down the drain.

This is part of an effort by a group called Freeze Latino Movement to boycott American companies while poking fun of the ongoing deportations launched by the Trump administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

By Kate Williams / The Point PLNU /  Feb 5, 2025

California’s State Assembly Bill 413, a measure that prohibits cars from stopping, standing or parking within 20 feet of both red and unmarked intersections, went into effect Jan 1.

The Daylighting Parking Law’s goal is to give drivers and pedestrians more visibility around crosswalks.

Alex Irving, a second-year communications major at PLNU, commutes to Marine Physical Training in Mission Bay twice a week. She experienced difficulty turning when cars were parked right along the intersection, blocking the view.

From CNN / Feb. 3, 2025

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened two dams on Friday [Jan. 31] in Central California and let roughly 2.2 billion gallons of water flow out of reservoirs, after President Donald Trump ordered the release with the misguided intent to send water to fire-ravaged Southern California.

Trump celebrated the move in posts to Truth Social post on Friday and Sunday, declaring, “the water is flowing in California,” and adding the water was “heading to farmers throughout the State, and to Los Angeles.”

There are two major problems, water experts said: The newly released water will not flow to Los Angeles, and it is being wasted by being released during the wet winter season.

Noon this Friday, January 31st, is the deadline to register to vote online for your local representatives to the California Democratic Party.

If you’re in California Assembly Districts 77, 78, 79 or 80, you’re in Region 22, which covers all of San Diego County. Here is the link 

For those who are still appalled by the shellacking last November at the national level, or concerned about cronyism at the local level, this is an opportunity to weigh in on who gets to decide which Democratic candidates you get to vote for.

There was such intense pushback from everywhere across the country in reaction to Trump’s very recent dictatorial powergrab in his federal funds freeze that was clearly so unconstitutional (only Congress has the power of the purse), that today the White House had to rescind the edict.

Yet, in the meantime, the order created chaos and confusion in every governmental and public-serving agency. And San Diego was no different. Even ICE funds were frozen.

Axios San Diego laid out some of the local effects and consequences of the freeze — see below. And while ICE agents began to make their rounds in San Diego County and arrested some immigrants, the El Cajon City Council failed to endorse rightwing mayor Bill Wells’ controversial motion.

By JW August

Legislation aimed at making child trafficking a felony in California was signed into law Monday, Jan. 27, by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

For the supporters of SB 1414, authored by Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) it’s a good news-bad news outcome. While the bill builds on continuing efforts to criminalize the trafficking of children 18 and under, it comes up short of the legislation’s original goal.

SB1414 had the backing of a coalition of more than 100 organizations. What was signed by the governor doesn’t finish the job, say anti-trafficking activists. Groves doesn’t disagree with the criticism, saying Monday that while her bill provides “a significant step in the right direction” to protect children from child sex traffickers and buyers, “there is still work to be done.”

It’s a feint when politicians blame forestry management or a Jewish space laser. Any valid plan must curb fossil fuels.

By Jordan Thomas / Op-Ed Los Angeles Times / January 24, Jan 2025

To be a first responder at this stage in the climate crisis is to face an escalation of violence. For many wildland firefighters, the unprecedented scenes from the last couple of weeks in Los Angeles — dozens dead, tens of thousands without homes, hundreds of thousands more displaced — will appear part of a familiar pattern.
The national conversation, predictably, will follow a pattern as well: Republicans will try to dismiss or

The national conversation, predictably, will follow a pattern as well: Republicans will try to dismiss or play down the role of fossil fuel-driven climate change, and everyone else will have to decide whether to ignore them or argue.

How we frame this pattern of violence matters because it directs the focus of our solutions and the fight for accountability.

By Kristina Houck / Patch San Diego / Jan 7, 2025

As the law stands, California residents who are 18 and older must show a Real ID, a passport or other federally approved identification to board domestic flights or certain federal buildings beginning May 7.

The anti-terrorism law requiring the “gold star ID,” as it’s sometimes called, was originally supposed to take effect in 2008, but has been delayed so often that it has become a running joke. Will the Real ID Act really take effect this year?

Technically, yes.

The current May 7, 2025, deadline still stands, but the Transportation Security Administration has asked for flexibility to implement enforcement in phases, with progressive enforcement ending in 2027. But that doesn’t mean you should wait until then to make an application.

An Open Letter to Dr. Mark Stetter, Dean of UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Regarding the Million Cat Challenge and Community Cat Programs
 
By Ed Boks / Jan 27, 2025

Dear Dr. Stetter,

Since its launch in 2014, the Million Cat Challenge—spearheaded by the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program (KSMP) and the University of Florida Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program—has sought to revolutionize shelter practices across North America. With its ambitious goal of saving one million cats through strategies like Community Cat and Return-To-Field (RTF) programs, the Challenge has been celebrated for achieving significant milestones.

However, a recent legal ruling in San Diego found aspects of these programs in violation of California’s animal protection laws, raising serious questions about their implementation and impact on animal welfare.

From LA Times

By Kevin Rector / LA Times / Jan. 21, 2025

California, a coalition of other states and the city of San Francisco sued the federal government Tuesday over President Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship via executive order — calling it an unconstitutional directive that flies in the face of long-standing legal precedent.

“I have one message for President Trump: I’ll see you in court,” California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said during a morning news conference — calling the order “unconstitutional and quite frankly un-American.”

The lawsuit asks the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts to block Trump’s order from taking effect — which it is meant to do in less than 30 days — and to “ensure that the rights of American-born children impacted by this order remain in effect while litigation proceeds,” Bonta said. “The president has overstepped his authority by a mile with this order, and we will hold him accountable.”

by Ernie McCray

My heart continues
to bleed miserably
for the incredibly hapless residents
of Los Angeles
and I, particularly,
can’t imagine
how hard it must be
for the LA football teams,
the Chargers
and the Rams,
that had to board planes
to make it to NFL Playoff Games
while their beautiful city was aflame
due to a firestorm of a magnitude|
that’s almost impossible
for one to make sense of in his brain,

Edited from ACLU Press Statement

In response to the inauguration of President Trump and his administration’s initial executive orders, ACLU leaders convened in Sacramento at the California State Capitol on Tuesday, Jan. 21, to urge state policymakers to lead the national fight against the Trump administration’s extreme agenda.  [ACLU is the American Civil Liberties Union founded in 1920. There are branches in every state.]

At a press conference with ACLU supporters and activists rallying before the State Capitol, the national ACLU’s Chief Political and Advocacy Officer Deirdre Schifeling said:

 “We are here to defeat, delay and dilute Trump’s extreme agenda at every level, including the state and local level, and …as the fifth largest economy in the world, California has the opportunity to lead the frontlines of the movement. California’s leaders must act now and fight Trump’s extreme agenda.”