A Berkeley homeless encampment infected with leptospirosisâa disease associated with underdeveloped countriesâwent uncleared for 16 months as courts blocked cleanup efforts, illustrating how bureaucratic and legal paralysis can turn policy failures into public health crises. Meanwhile, San Francisco's "equity" chief was just arrested on 19 felony counts for allegedly steering $8.5 million in public funds to her live-in partner's nonprofit, and California's own auditors confirm the state lost at least $20 billion to outright fraud during the pandemicâwith the state still carrying a $21 billion unpaid federal debt. From Oakland's council seeking a 125% raise despite a $100 million deficit to SFO exile of Waymo while protecting Uber and Lyft's 800,000 monthly trips, California's governance crisis is less about isolated bad actors than a system that consistently rewards insiders and resists accountability.
A quiet amendment to the "Billionaire Tax" would force founders to go bankrupt or surrender control of their companies.
Per capita spending jumped from $4,350 to $12,940 while population grew just 11%. Where did all that money go?
First Assistant US Attorney promises 'massive' fraud prosecutions are just beginning. More arrests coming 'perhaps this month.'
California's most powerful environmental justice group thinks your right to own a home is a colonial relic. They're killing housing to prove it.