California

Legislation creating a process for replacing the statue honoring Spanish missionary Junipero Serra with a monument honoring local tribes is signed by the California governor.

Drought, wildfires, extreme heat: California lawmakers cast climate change as the culprit in an emerging series of public health threats, setting aside billions to help communities respond.

Pacific Gas & Electric was charged Friday with manslaughter and other crimes after its equipment sparked a Northern California wildfire that killed four people and destroyed hundreds of homes last year, prosecutors said.

The group, designed to examine what reparations might look like and compile educational resources about slavery and its impact, met on Thursday and Friday.

The Fawn Fire, burning near the city of Shasta Lake, has reached around 1,200 acres since it started Wednesday afternoon. According to the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office, around 4,000 residents have been evacuated in areas north of Redding.

Officials warn that next year’s cuts in water supply could go even deeper as severe drought grips nearly 90% of California. Residents of the North Coast and Bay Area conserved more than Southern Californians did.

Gov. Gavin Newsom made the California recall a partisan contest, and Republican elected officials had an embarrassing showing. Larry Elder, on the other hand, is the new power in the GOP.

California officials are falling behind on goals to treat forest land via prescribed burns. Advocates rallied behind a bill to make the burns more accessible, saying that it’ll take the effort of more than state agencies to catch up.

Shasta County now has the highest COVID-19 case rate out of all the counties in California. The county's current case rate is 785.76 per 100,000 people, according to the Shasta County Health and Human Services Agency. On Wednesday morning the agency also reported 203 new cases, with more than 1000 cases currently active. In addition, there are 89 people hospitalized with COVID-19 and 24 in the ICU.

As California Secretary of State, Dr. Shirley Weber runs elections for the state. Part of her job now is reacting to claims of potential voter fraud and educating voters about the process.