Latest California state government News

California Senate approves ban on schools notifying parents of their child's pronoun change

Jun. 13, 2024 17:19 PM EDT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — School districts in California would be barred from requiring teachers to notify parents if their child asks to go by a new pronoun at school under a bill the state Legislature is weighing amid legal battles over the rights of parents and gender-nonconforming students. ...

Supreme Court rules California man can't trademark 'Trump too small'

Jun. 13, 2024 13:30 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously ruled against a man who wants to trademark the suggestive phrase “Trump too small.” The justices upheld the government’s decision to deny a trademark to Steve Elster, a California man seeking exclusive use of the...

Some California officials can meet remotely. For local advisory boards, state lawmakers say no

Jun. 11, 2024 12:16 PM EDT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — On the one hand, allowing local advisory boards and commissions to meet remotely could make it easier for more Californians to take part, including those with disabilities or in jobs that make it hard to attend in-person meetings. But on the other,...

How shots instead of pills could change California’s homeless crisis

Jun. 04, 2024 15:49 PM EDT

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) — As Dr. Rishi Patel’s street medicine van bounces over dirt roads and empty fields in rural Kern County, he’s looking for a particular patient he knows is overdue for her shot. The woman, who has schizophrenia and has been living outside for five...

In a rare step, 3 South Dakota counties are set to vote on counting ballots by hand

Jun. 02, 2024 01:57 AM EDT

Voters in at least three rural South Dakota counties are set to decide Tuesday whether to return to counting ballots by hand, the latest communities around the country to consider ditching machine tabulators based on unfounded conspiracy theories stemming from the 2020 presidential election. ...

Planned Parenthood sought a building permit. Then a California city changed zoning rules

May. 31, 2024 16:24 PM EDT

FONTANA, Calif. (AP) — The war over abortion is raging in statehouses around the country, but in California, a bastion of reproductive rights, the fight has shifted to local battlegrounds. In the Inland Empire region, Planned Parenthood is suing the city of Fontana, alleging its...

Republican AGs ask Supreme Court to block climate change lawsuits brought by several states

May. 24, 2024 16:03 PM EDT

Republican attorneys general in 19 states have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block several Democratic-led states from pursuing climate change lawsuits against the oil and gas industry in their own state courts. The unusual request comes as dozens of states and local governments...

California county's farm bureau sues over state monitoring of groundwater

May. 20, 2024 15:04 PM EDT

HANFORD, Calif. (AP) — A lawsuit has been filed over California's decision to take over monitoring groundwater use in part of the fertile San Joaquin Valley under a landmark law aimed at protecting the vital resource. The Kings County Farm Bureau and two landowners filed a lawsuit...

Supreme Court denies California’s appeal for immunity for COVID-19 deaths at San Quentin prison

May. 13, 2024 20:11 PM EDT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied an appeal from California corrections officials who sought immunity from lawsuits claiming they acted with deliberate indifference when they caused a deadly COVID-19 outbreak at one of the world’s most famous prisons four years ago. ...

Gov. Gavin Newsom proposes painful cuts to close California's growing budget deficit

May. 10, 2024 19:42 PM EDT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California's budget deficit is at least $45 billion, a shortfall so large it prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday to propose painful spending cuts impacting immigrants, kindergarteners and low-income parents seeking child care in a state often lauded for having the...