Across California, CA|News|
Why California Prisons Are Using Their Own Employees As Human Fire Alarms
California spends tens of millions every year paying prison employees to look for smoke and fire. Replacing fire alarms costs much more.

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California spends tens of millions every year paying prison employees to look for smoke and fire. Replacing fire alarms costs much more.

For the fourth year in a row, lawmakers are weighing whether to give violent criminals the legal right to cite abuse in their legal defense.
California’s wildfires are destroying forests faster than the state can replant them, and federal cuts are making the gap worse.
Attila Colar’s conviction fell apart this week.
A program that promised schools upgraded AC systems was cut short in 2024, leaving hundreds of districts with broken systems.
With proposals to tax the rich, Newsom is playing to a 2028 national audience anxious about artificial intelligence.
The Trump administration cancelled $2 billion of research grants to University of California professors.
A surf camp buses kids to other beaches, and junior lifeguards travel up the coast from this beach town plagued by cross-border sewage.
Immigrant detainees work for $1 a day inside a facility in San Joaquin Valley. The company settled a state complaint over conditions inside.
The attorney general’s office released 2025’s crime statistics and said California’s homicide rate is the lowest on record since 1966.
The new budget includes $55 million for the DMV to build a system to bring the state in compliance with the federal REAL ID law.
Prosecuting companies for failing to follow environmental laws is difficult, and how far cities may go to protect residents isn’t clear.
Ahead of Thursday's deadline, Democrats are striking deals with interest groups to kick controversial measures off the November ballot.
Newsom said the Trump administration appears to be investigating him and his wife to intimidate him as he considers a run for president.
Businesses and some lawmakers urge state leaders to reject the governor's budget proposal to permanently limit R&D tax credits.
This is just the latest spat between two rival construction unions over the future of California housing policy.
California has new rules meant to speed up ballot counting, but county officials say close races could still take week to resolve.
The PPIC poll found that 23% of likely voters have voted or plan to vote for Xavier Becerra, followed by Steve Hilton at 20%.
GKN Aerospace, which makes cockpit windows and shields for military aircraft, officials feared the tank could explode.
A Democratic Party poll shows Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra leading with 22 percent and 21 percent, respectively.