California is facing a budget emergency. Governor Newsom declared that yesterday, hours before lawmakers approved several bills that make up the budget. They voted on the final agreement last night after reaching a deal on spending cuts to fill a nearly 47-billion dollar shortfall. Newsom’s proclamation means money won’t be transferred from the General Fund to the Budget Stabilization Account for one year. It also allows some money to be returned for the budget emergency. The new budget must be signed today to begin Monday.
Governor Newsom is in Atlanta for tonight’s presidential debate. He’ll watch President Biden and former President Donald Trump face off on stage. Newsom is attending as a surrogate for the Biden campaign, which he also did in September after the GOP presidential primary debate in Southern California. His job will be talking to journalists, making several national TV appearances. This follows his State of the State speech Tuesday where he focused heavily on national politics.
Starting next month, P-G-and-E customers will see a temporary decrease in electricity rates, offering relief from high summer utility bills. The nine-percent reduction follows two rate hikes last year, approved to fund wildfire prevention and infrastructure upgrades. P-G-and-E has been installing stronger poles, covering power lines, pruning trees, and advancing a ten-thousand mile undergrounding program to reduce wildfire risk.
Limiting smartphone use could soon become a requirement in California public schools. The Senate Education Committee unanimously passed a bill Wednesday that would require school districts to adopt a policy that limits or bans students from using cellphones during the school day. This must be done no later than July 1, 2026. Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom came out in support of the move. Current law authorizes school districts to limit or prohibit cellphone use during the school day.
A Sacramento-native will represent Team USA in the two-hundred-meter butterfly at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Luca Urlando qualified by finishing second in the event with a time of one minute and 55 seconds at the Olympic Trials in Indianapolis on June 19th. This will be Urlando’s first Olympic appearance.
Governor Newsom’s Office says nearly seven-million pills containing fentanyl have been seized in the state so far this year. According to a news release, the California National Guard’s Counterdrug Task Force seized over one-million fentanyl pills and nearly one-thousand pounds of fentanyl powder just last month. Newsom says the state’s partnerships to “tackle illegal fentanyl” are showing “significant results time and time again.”
The California Department of Motor Vehicles has expanded its eLearning course to be available in both English and Spanish to better serve the state’s diverse communities. Latino residents make up about 40-percent of the population in California, and there are over 10 million Spanish speakers in the state. The eLearning course, introduced in 2022, is meant as an alternative for those who struggle with traditional exams and consists of seven interactive modules with quizzes after each module that can be taken multiple times, making it a no-fail exam option. The next language for eLearning translation is Chinese, although no date has been set for its release.
Before a Ukiah man was arrested for stealing a taxi, he reportedly tried to carjack a local mom. The Ukiah PD says a report came in the day after Justin Heitala was arrested from a woman who said he tried to steal her car while she and her children were inside. It happened around 9:30 Tuesday morning while she was at McDonald’s on North Orchard Avenue. The woman said Heitala approached her vehicle and tried to reach through her open window and take the keys from her ignition. She was able to fight him off drove a few blocks away and parked. Heitala reportedly followed her and tried to carjack her again, but she drove away. Heitala went on to car jack the driver of a taxi the same morning on South Orchard Avenue. He was eventually arrested and booked on charges of attempted carjacking, assault with a deadly weapon, and failure to register as a sex offender.
