On her first day in office, Mayor Karen Bass declared a state of emergency on homelessness.
The declaration allowed the city to cut through red tape, including through no-bid contracts, and to start Inside Safe, Bass’ signature program focused on moving homeless people off the streets and into interim housing.
On Tuesday, nearly three years after she took the helm, and with homelessness trending down two years in a row for the first time in recent years, the mayor announced that she will lift the state of emergency on Nov. 18.
“We have begun a real shift in our city’s decades-long trend of rising homelessness,” Bass said in a memorandum to the City Council.
Still, the mayor said, there is much work to do.
“The crisis remains, and so does our urgency,” she said.
The mayor’s announcement followed months of City Council pushback on the lengthy duration of the state of emergency, which the council had initially approved.
Some council members argued that the state of emergency allowed the mayor’s office to operate out of public view and that contracts and leases should once again be presented before them with public testimony and a vote.
Councilmember Tim McOsker has been arguing for months that it was time to return to business as usual.
“Emergency powers are designed to allow the government to suspend rules and respond rapidly when the situation demands it, but at some point those powers must conclude,” he said in a statement Tuesday.
McOsker said the move will allow the council to “formalize” some of the programs started during the emergency, while incorporating more transparency.
Council members had been concerned that the state of emergency would end without first codifying Executive Directive 1, which expedites approvals for homeless shelters as well as for developments that are 100% affordable and was issued by Bass shortly after she took office.
On Oct. 28, the council voted for the city attorney to draft an ordinance that would enshrine the executive directive into law.
The mayor’s announcement follows positive reports about the state of homelessness in the city.
As of September, the mayor’s Inside Safe program had moved more than 5,000 people into interim housing since its inception at the end of 2022. Of those people, more than 1,243 have moved into permanent housing, while another 1,636 remained in interim housing.
This year, the number of homeless people living in shelters or on the streets of the city dropped 3.4%, according to the annual count conducted by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. The number of unsheltered homeless people in the city dropped by an even steeper margin of 7.9%.
The count, however, has its detractors. A study by Rand found that the annual survey missed nearly a third of homeless people in Hollywood, Venice and Skid Row — primarily those sleeping without tents or vehicles.
In June, a federal judge decided not to put Los Angeles’ homelessness programs into receivership, while saying that the city had failed to meet some of the terms of a settlement agreement with the nonprofit LA Alliance for Human Rights.
Councilmember Nithya Raman, who chairs the City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee, said the end of the emergency does not mean the crisis is over.
“It only means that we must build fiscally sustainable systems that can respond effectively,” she said. “By transitioning from emergency measures to long-term, institutional frameworks, we’re ensuring consistent, accountable support for people experiencing homelessness.”
Times staff writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.
Former Volusia Deputy Douglas Meyer, 37, has been charged with organized scheme to defraud, and his badge has been melted down, according to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office. “Meyer thought he could get away with a check-kiting scheme where he wrote himself bad checks from one credit union to another, accessing funds by exploiting the time it takes for checks to clear,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood said in a post on social media.Meyer showed up at one of his credit unions in uniform to ask for the hold on his deposited checks to be released, and was caught on surveillance cameras.Meyer’s credit union reported the fraud to the VSO in September. At that point, the deputy had already turned in his badge.The former deputy worked for the VSO from 2020 to 2024, and again this year until he resigned in August. The sheriff’s office started an investigation that led to his felony charge, and Meyer turned himself in last night.According to court documents, Meyer allegedly did this over and over again at several different banks.Space Coast Credit Union in Daytona Beach took the biggest hit with a loss of just over $5,000, according to court records.”My goal is to make sure he’s held accountable and never works in law enforcement again,” Chitwood said. Meyer was arrested and posted his $7,500 cash bond the same day on Sunday, Nov. 2.
VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. —
Former Volusia Deputy Douglas Meyer, 37, has been charged with organized scheme to defraud, and his badge has been melted down, according to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office.
“Meyer thought he could get away with a check-kiting scheme where he wrote himself bad checks from one credit union to another, accessing funds by exploiting the time it takes for checks to clear,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood said in a post on social media.
Meyer showed up at one of his credit unions in uniform to ask for the hold on his deposited checks to be released, and was caught on surveillance cameras.
Meyer’s credit union reported the fraud to the VSO in September. At that point, the deputy had already turned in his badge.
The former deputy worked for the VSO from 2020 to 2024, and again this year until he resigned in August.
The sheriff’s office started an investigation that led to his felony charge, and Meyer turned himself in last night.
According to court documents, Meyer allegedly did this over and over again at several different banks.
Space Coast Credit Union in Daytona Beach took the biggest hit with a loss of just over $5,000, according to court records.
“My goal is to make sure he’s held accountable and never works in law enforcement again,” Chitwood said.
Meyer was arrested and posted his $7,500 cash bond the same day on Sunday, Nov. 2.
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One of the monkeys that escaped last week after a truck overturned on a Mississippi highway was shot and killed early Sunday by a woman who says she feared for the safety of her children.Jessica Bond Ferguson said she was alerted early Sunday by her 16-year-old son who said he thought he had seen a monkey running in the yard outside their home near Heidelberg, Mississippi. She got out of bed, grabbed her firearm and her cellphone and stepped outside where she saw the monkey about 60 feet away.Bond Ferguson said she and other residents had been warned that the escaped monkeys carried diseases so she fired her gun.“I did what any other mother would do to protect her children,” Bond Ferguson, who has five children ranging in age from 4 to 16, told The Associated Press. “I shot at it and it just stood there, and I shot again, and he backed up and that’s when he fell.”The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in a social media post that a homeowner had found one of the monkeys on their property Sunday morning but said the office didn’t have any details. The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks took possession of the monkey, the sheriff’s office said.Before Bond Ferguson had gone out the door, she had called the police and was told to keep an eye on the monkey. But she said she worried that if the monkey got away it would threaten children at another house.“If it attacked somebody’s kid, and I could have stopped it, that would be a lot on me,” said Bond Ferguson, a 35-year-old professional chef. “It’s kind of scary and dangerous that they are running around, and people have kids playing in their yards.”The Rhesus monkeys had been housed at the Tulane University National Biomedical Research Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, which routinely provides primates to scientific research organizations, according to the university. In a statement last week, Tulane said the monkeys do not belong to the university, and they were not being transported by the university.A truck carrying the monkeys overturned Tuesday on Interstate 59 north of Heidelberg. Of the 21 monkeys in the truck, 13 were found at the scene of the accident and arrived at their original destination last week, according to Tulane. Another five were killed in the hunt for them and three remained on the loose before Sunday.The Mississippi Highway Patrol has said it was investigating the cause of the crash, which occurred about 100 miles from the state capital, Jackson.Rhesus monkeys typically weigh about 16 pounds and are among the most medically studied animals on the planet. Video recorded after the crash showed monkeys crawling through tall grass beside the interstate, where wooden crates labeled “live animals” were crumpled and strewn about.Jasper County Sheriff Randy Johnson had said Tulane officials reported the monkeys were not infectious, despite initial reports by the truck’s occupants warning that the monkeys were dangerous and harboring various diseases. Nonetheless, Johnson said the monkeys still needed to be “neutralized” because of their aggressive nature.The monkeys had recently received checkups confirming they were pathogen-free, Tulane said in a statement Wednesday.Rhesus macaques “are known to be aggressive,” according to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. It said the agency’s conservation workers were working with sheriff’s officials in the search for the animals.The search comes about one year after 43 Rhesus macaques escaped from a South Carolina compound that breeds them for medical research because an employee didn’t fully lock an enclosure. Employees from the Alpha Genesis facility in Yemassee, South Carolina, had set up traps to capture them.
JASPER COUNTY, Miss. —
One of the monkeys that escaped last week after a truck overturned on a Mississippi highway was shot and killed early Sunday by a woman who says she feared for the safety of her children.
Jessica Bond Ferguson said she was alerted early Sunday by her 16-year-old son who said he thought he had seen a monkey running in the yard outside their home near Heidelberg, Mississippi. She got out of bed, grabbed her firearm and her cellphone and stepped outside where she saw the monkey about 60 feet away.
Bond Ferguson said she and other residents had been warned that the escaped monkeys carried diseases so she fired her gun.
“I did what any other mother would do to protect her children,” Bond Ferguson, who has five children ranging in age from 4 to 16, told The Associated Press. “I shot at it and it just stood there, and I shot again, and he backed up and that’s when he fell.”
The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in a social media post that a homeowner had found one of the monkeys on their property Sunday morning but said the office didn’t have any details. The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks took possession of the monkey, the sheriff’s office said.
Before Bond Ferguson had gone out the door, she had called the police and was told to keep an eye on the monkey. But she said she worried that if the monkey got away it would threaten children at another house.
“If it attacked somebody’s kid, and I could have stopped it, that would be a lot on me,” said Bond Ferguson, a 35-year-old professional chef. “It’s kind of scary and dangerous that they are running around, and people have kids playing in their yards.”
The Rhesus monkeys had been housed at the Tulane University National Biomedical Research Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, which routinely provides primates to scientific research organizations, according to the university. In a statement last week, Tulane said the monkeys do not belong to the university, and they were not being transported by the university.
A truck carrying the monkeys overturned Tuesday on Interstate 59 north of Heidelberg. Of the 21 monkeys in the truck, 13 were found at the scene of the accident and arrived at their original destination last week, according to Tulane. Another five were killed in the hunt for them and three remained on the loose before Sunday.
The Mississippi Highway Patrol has said it was investigating the cause of the crash, which occurred about 100 miles from the state capital, Jackson.
Rhesus monkeys typically weigh about 16 pounds and are among the most medically studied animals on the planet. Video recorded after the crash showed monkeys crawling through tall grass beside the interstate, where wooden crates labeled “live animals” were crumpled and strewn about.
Jasper County Sheriff Randy Johnson had said Tulane officials reported the monkeys were not infectious, despite initial reports by the truck’s occupants warning that the monkeys were dangerous and harboring various diseases. Nonetheless, Johnson said the monkeys still needed to be “neutralized” because of their aggressive nature.
The monkeys had recently received checkups confirming they were pathogen-free, Tulane said in a statement Wednesday.
Rhesus macaques “are known to be aggressive,” according to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. It said the agency’s conservation workers were working with sheriff’s officials in the search for the animals.
The search comes about one year after 43 Rhesus macaques escaped from a South Carolina compound that breeds them for medical research because an employee didn’t fully lock an enclosure. Employees from the Alpha Genesis facility in Yemassee, South Carolina, had set up traps to capture them.
President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he has renovated the Lincoln Bedroom bathroom, sharing before and after images on social media as he continues to put his touch on the White House.“I renovated the Lincoln Bathroom in the White House. It was renovated in the 1940s in an Art Deco green tile style, which was totally inappropriate for the Lincoln Era,” Trump said on Truth Social. “I did it in black and white polished Statuary marble. This was very appropriate for the time of Abraham Lincoln and, in fact, could be the marble that was originally there!”In the video player above: See before and after images posted to social media by President TrumpThe president posted about the renovations aboard Air Force One en route to Florida, where he will spend the weekend. The post comes as the government remains shut down, and the Trump administration says it will not tap into emergency funds to fund SNAP food assistance benefits through the month of November.Shortly after, Trump posted more images of the bathroom, showing gold detailing on the faucet and shower handle, as well as other fixtures. A plush white robe with the presidential seal also hangs on a golden hook.The president discussed the changes he was making to the bathroom earlier this month during a dinner at the White House, saying in part that the old style of the bathroom “was not exactly Abe Lincoln.”“We have little things like at the Lincoln Bedroom. The bathroom was done by the Truman family and you know, long time ago. And it’s done in a green tile, and it’s done in a style that was not exactly Abe Lincoln,” the president said.“It’s actually Art Deco. And Art Deco doesn’t go with, you know, 1850 and Civil Wars…But what does do is statuary marble. So I ripped it apart and we built a bathroom. It’s absolutely gorgeous and totally in keeping with that time because the Lincoln bedroom is, uh, so incredible, for those of you that have seen it,” he added.Trump on Friday also gave a status update on a separate construction project he’s overseeing at the Kennedy Center, which he said he “just inspected.”“The exterior columns, which were in serious danger of corrosion if something weren’t done, are completed, and look magnificent in White Enamel — Like a different place! Marble is being done, stages are being renovated, new seats, new chairs, and new fabrics will soon be installed, and magnificent high-end carpeting throughout the building. It is happening faster than anticipated, one of my trademarks,” Trump said.“We are bringing this building back to life. It was dead as a doornail, but it will soon be beautiful again!” he added.The moves are part of Trump’s effort to put his stamp on the White House – which has seen a slew of changes since he took office – and the greater DC area.So far, the renovations include paving over the grass in the historic Rose Garden, demolishing the East Wing to make way for a new ballroom and adorning the Oval Office with gold.Trump often says the White House needed a new ballroom to host world leaders, to avoid situations where they are outside and a temporary tent has to be used when it rains. And he frequently remarked that the Rose Garden paving was necessary because women in high heels would sink into the grass during events. It now has a touch of Mar-a-Lago with the same white and yellow umbrellas at tables on the patio.His redecoration of the Oval Office to his liking, as presidents do when they take office, has tripled the number of paintings on the walls with gold just about everywhere. Trump also installed portraits of every president framed in gold on the West Colonnade – except for former President Joe Biden, who is instead represented by his autopen signature – and large floor-to-ceiling mirrors, which the press can see when they are escorted into the Oval Office.In addition to those changes, Trump plans to build a new arch monument in DC in honor of the country’s 250th anniversary.As he pushes forward with his plans to leave his mark on the White House and the nation’s capital, Trump this week fired the members of the Commission of Fine Arts. The independent federal agency is charged with advising the president, Congress, and the city of Washington, DC, on “matters of design and aesthetics.” The president has also installed allies on the National Capital Planning Commission, which will be tasked with approving plans for the new ballroom on White House grounds.
President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he has renovated the Lincoln Bedroom bathroom, sharing before and after images on social media as he continues to put his touch on the White House.
“I renovated the Lincoln Bathroom in the White House. It was renovated in the 1940s in an Art Deco green tile style, which was totally inappropriate for the Lincoln Era,” Trump said on Truth Social. “I did it in black and white polished Statuary marble. This was very appropriate for the time of Abraham Lincoln and, in fact, could be the marble that was originally there!”
In the video player above: See before and after images posted to social media by President Trump
The president posted about the renovations aboard Air Force One en route to Florida, where he will spend the weekend. The post comes as the government remains shut down, and the Trump administration says it will not tap into emergency funds to fund SNAP food assistance benefits through the month of November.
Shortly after, Trump posted more images of the bathroom, showing gold detailing on the faucet and shower handle, as well as other fixtures. A plush white robe with the presidential seal also hangs on a golden hook.
The president discussed the changes he was making to the bathroom earlier this month during a dinner at the White House, saying in part that the old style of the bathroom “was not exactly Abe Lincoln.”
“We have little things like at the Lincoln Bedroom. The bathroom was done by the Truman family and you know, long time ago. And it’s done in a green tile, and it’s done in a style that was not exactly Abe Lincoln,” the president said.
“It’s actually Art Deco. And Art Deco doesn’t go with, you know, 1850 and Civil Wars…But what does do is statuary marble. So I ripped it apart and we built a bathroom. It’s absolutely gorgeous and totally in keeping with that time because the Lincoln bedroom is, uh, so incredible, for those of you that have seen it,” he added.
Trump on Friday also gave a status update on a separate construction project he’s overseeing at the Kennedy Center, which he said he “just inspected.”
“The exterior columns, which were in serious danger of corrosion if something weren’t done, are completed, and look magnificent in White Enamel — Like a different place! Marble is being done, stages are being renovated, new seats, new chairs, and new fabrics will soon be installed, and magnificent high-end carpeting throughout the building. It is happening faster than anticipated, one of my trademarks,” Trump said.
“We are bringing this building back to life. It was dead as a doornail, but it will soon be beautiful again!” he added.
The moves are part of Trump’s effort to put his stamp on the White House – which has seen a slew of changes since he took office – and the greater DC area.
So far, the renovations include paving over the grass in the historic Rose Garden, demolishing the East Wing to make way for a new ballroom and adorning the Oval Office with gold.
Trump often says the White House needed a new ballroom to host world leaders, to avoid situations where they are outside and a temporary tent has to be used when it rains. And he frequently remarked that the Rose Garden paving was necessary because women in high heels would sink into the grass during events. It now has a touch of Mar-a-Lago with the same white and yellow umbrellas at tables on the patio.
His redecoration of the Oval Office to his liking, as presidents do when they take office, has tripled the number of paintings on the walls with gold just about everywhere. Trump also installed portraits of every president framed in gold on the West Colonnade – except for former President Joe Biden, who is instead represented by his autopen signature – and large floor-to-ceiling mirrors, which the press can see when they are escorted into the Oval Office.
In addition to those changes, Trump plans to build a new arch monument in DC in honor of the country’s 250th anniversary.
As he pushes forward with his plans to leave his mark on the White House and the nation’s capital, Trump this week fired the members of the Commission of Fine Arts. The independent federal agency is charged with advising the president, Congress, and the city of Washington, DC, on “matters of design and aesthetics.” The president has also installed allies on the National Capital Planning Commission, which will be tasked with approving plans for the new ballroom on White House grounds.
Detectives escorted the girl’s mother, Ashlee Buzzard, off the property to another location “that would not interfere with their ability to conduct a thorough search,” the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said.
Along with the search at the home in the 500 block of Mars Avenue, authorities also searched a storage locker and the rental car that the girl was last seen in. Authorities said Melodee was missing on Oct. 14 after a prolonged absence from her school. Officials believe she was last seen as recently as Oct. 7 and may have been driven to Nebraska by her mother, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Sheriff’s detectives and FBI agents served a search warrant at the Buzzard home where a makeshift memorial on the sidewalk includes a picture of the curly haired girl.
“We appreciate the FBI’s assistance in today’s searches,” Lt. Chris Gotschall from the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “In cases like this, every detail matters and it is invaluable to have additional resources and specialized expertise. Collaboration with our federal partners allows us to ensure we’re using every available tool to help bring resolution to this case.”
The Lompoc School District contacted the Sheriff’s Office to report the girl’s prolonged absence from her independent study program Oct. 14. Authorities then visited her home that day, but Melodee was nowhere to be seen and Buzzard refused to cooperate with their investigation, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Relatives on the girl’s father’s side of the family said they have not seen the girl in years.
“She hasn’t let us see her for a few years,” Melodee’s aunt Bridgett Truitt told local news station KEYT. “And all of us have tried. But we never stopped thinking about her or loving her or praying for her.”
Local authorities were unable to confirm any sightings of the girl within the last year. The FBI joined the investigation four days after her school district reported her absence.
Melodee is described as 4 feet 6 inches tall, weighing about 60 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.
Staff writer Clara Harter contributed to this report.
This week voters across California received a suspicious text message saying they’d failed to turn in their ballots for the Nov. 4 statewide special election on redistricting.
The message may appear official. It includes the voter’s name and address and links to an official website providing information on early voting and vote-by-mall ballot drop-off locations.
But it’s not from the state, and officials urge caution.
The office of the California secretary of state received numerous reports from voters of “inaccurate text messages from Ballot Now,” according to a news release.
“This has caused voters to believe their returned ballots have not been received or processed by county elections officials,” Shirley Weber, secretary of state, stated in the release. “Let me be clear: Ballot Now is not in any way affiliated with the California Office of the Secretary of State.”
Weber’s office told The Times it doesn’t know the intent behind the Ballot Now text messages, and “we are trying to get to the bottom of it.”
Ballot Now did not respond to The Times’ request for comment.
Where voters can get trustworthy answers to their elections questions
Voters can find accurate information on elections and voting at the state secretary’s website or at their county election office. The secretary’s website includes the complete list of county election offices.
Questions that the secretary of state’s website can assist with include:
How do I check my voter status? By entering some personal information, you can see if you are registered to vote, where you’re registered, and check that your political party and language preference are correct at the website’s voter status page.
How do I track my ballot? You can sign up to track your ballot through the state’s online site Ballottrax.
By signing up on Ballottrax, voters receive automatic updates when their county elections office: mails their ballot to them, receives their ballot, counts their ballot, or when the office has any issues with the ballot.
Updates are available in 10 languages — including Spanish, Japanese and Tagalog — and you can choose to be texted, emailed or called with voice alert updates.
If you believe you’re the victim of election fraud or have witnessed a violation of the California Elections Code, you can submit a complaint form or call the secretary of state’s office.
Fill out an online form, download a PDF version of the form and mail it, or call the office — English speakers can call (916) 657-2166 or (800) 345-8683; Spanish speakers can call (800) 232-8682.
The physical form can be mailed to the California Secretary of State Elections Division at 1500 11th St., 5th Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814 or faxed to (916) 653-3214.
Los Angeles County residents are encouraged to call the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder/county clerk’s call center with any questions or concerns they have, said Mike Sanchez, spokesperson for the office.
The registrar of voters can be reached at (800) 815-2666, and the number for voter center information is (800) 815-2666; choose option No. 1.
It’s unknown whether self-proclaimed “entertainment professional” David Pearce knew the fate of the women he was prosecuted for drugging and raping over a 14-year period.
What is certain, however, is that one of those women — who transformed her sexual assault trauma into a service career — wasn’t there to witness his sentencing.
Pearce was handed a 146-year prison sentence Wednesday afternoon in Los Angeles Superior Court after being convicted of first-degree murder for the overdose deaths of model Christy Giles and architect Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, as well as the rape of seven other women from 2007 to 2021.
Among Pearce’s victims was La Mesa Police Officer Lauren Craven, according to the L.A. County district attorney’s office. The 25-year-old officer was struck and killed by a vehicle on the 8 Freeway near San Diego on Oct. 20.
Craven was helping motorists involved in a traffic collision when she was fatally struck. One of those individuals also was killed by the same driver. A suspect has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
The L.A. County district attorney’s office did not confirm any details other than that Pearce was accused of sexually assaulting Craven in February 2020.
“Somebody dropped something in her drink, and then when she was unconscious applied IV drugs and kept her for a day and a half,” her father, David Craven, told NBC 7 San Diego.
Afterward, “she decided right then and there, ‘I’m going to become a police officer,’” he told the outlet.
At the time, Craven was a student at Loyola Marymount University. She graduated in 2023, entered the police academy and joined the La Mesa Police Department in February 2024.
Her father said his 115-pound daughter took close to a year off to build her strength for the rigors of training.
“It was her dream,” her father said of graduating from the police academy.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has promised to push state lawmakers leading the California Capitol Annex project to be more transparent about how they’re using taxpayer dollars, but documents show Newsom’s office plays a larger role in the project than the governor suggested earlier this week. It has been at least three years since project leaders in the California Legislature provided an update on the estimated cost of the taxpayer funded office building that will be used by the governor and state lawmakers. At last check, it was expected to cost more than $1.1 billion. | PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Gov. Newsom says California Legislature’s secrecy around Capitol Annex is ‘inappropriate’ Project leaders, also known as the Joint Rules Committee, have also not been forthcoming with information about how they’re spending the funds; only confirming information that is leaked to KCRA 3, including millions spent on Italian stonework, and the decision to add a hallway system that only lawmakers can use to avoid the public and media. The legislature also continues to withhold documents that KCRA 3 has requested, which could shed light on how much the project is costing. “As a taxpayer, I’d like to know as well,” Newsom told KCRA 3 at a news conference Tuesday when pressed about the legislature’s handling of the project and lack of information.But documents provided to KCRA 3 show Gov. Newsom’s Director of Operations has been part of a three-member Executive Committee that is expected to meet regularly and vote on final decisions about the project behind closed doors. The committee includes Newsom’s current Director of Operations Miroslava de la O, Democratic Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco and Democratic State Sen. John Laird. A 2018 memorandum of understanding between the legislature and governor’s office established the committee to ensure the legislature keeps the governor’s office in the loop on the project. The legislature’s Joint Rules Committee does the bulk of the decision making. The memo lays out the expectations for the committee, stating it should meet as needed, with a monthly standing meeting that can be “more frequent or cancelled as necessary.” The memo also states changes to project scope, schedules, budgets and delivery methods made by the committee shall be subject to a majority vote. The memo has allowed everything the committee does to be kept confidential. The agreement was established before Gov. Newsom took office.All three members of the committee have signed non-disclosure agreements that the legislature has required since 2018 from people involved in the project in order to keep broad information about it confidential, which KCRA 3 first reported last fall. With the NDAs in place, the project price tag swelled from $558.2 million to more than $1 billion. Documents provided to KCRA 3 through a Legislative Open Records Act request this year show de la O recently signed the non-disclosure agreement. Prior to de la O, Erin Suhr served in the Executive Committee role representing the governor. Suhr also signed the NDA. It’s not clear when the committee last met, a spokesperson for the legislature’s Joint Rules Committee could not say immediately when asked on Wednesday. KCRA 3 has filed a public records act request for meeting information between 2018 and now. “The Executive Committee was designed to ensure collaboration and transparency despite your claims of secrecy,” a spokesperson for the Joint Rules Committee said in part in a statement to KCRA 3 on Wednesday. “Consistent with the MOU, the Governor’s office staff is not involved in day-to-day operations or management of the project,” said Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for Gov. Newsom. KCRA 3 asked the governor’s office if the NDA kept de la O from sharing information with the governor. “Our office’s role on the committee is limited to reviewing significant scope changes as defined in the MOU, which have not been presented to the committee at this time, as well as reviewing security concerns. We are not privy to detailed financial information beyond what is addressed by the committee. The NDA does not prevent the Governor’s staff from briefing him on actions taken by the committee and limited information received in this function,” Gallegos said. “Those three people make key decisions on the capitol. More importantly, they made those decisions privately and not have to disclose those to the public,” said Luree Stetson, a member of the Public Accountability For Our Capitol Political Action Committee. When asked if she’s convinced the governor does not know how much the building costs Stetson said, “I don’t know if the governor would or not, his staff might, whether his staff informed him of that, we’ve tried to get in touch with the governor over the last five years also and never heard back from him.”Newsom will likely never use the 525,000 square-foot building as governor, which is expected to be complete in 2027 after he’s termed out of office. Newsom has approved legislation appropriating funds for the project. He also signed a bill in 2024 that exempted the new building from California’s Environmental Quality Act to cease the litigation that had been stalling it.The last public update on the project was in a hearing in April of 2021. The California Legislature’s Joint Rules Committee said it planned to provide an update this year, but that never happened before state lawmakers left Sacramento for the rest of the year in September. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
Gov. Gavin Newsom has promised to push state lawmakers leading the California Capitol Annex project to be more transparent about how they’re using taxpayer dollars, but documents show Newsom’s office plays a larger role in the project than the governor suggested earlier this week.
It has been at least three years since project leaders in the California Legislature provided an update on the estimated cost of the taxpayer funded office building that will be used by the governor and state lawmakers. At last check, it was expected to cost more than $1.1 billion.
Project leaders, also known as the Joint Rules Committee, have also not been forthcoming with information about how they’re spending the funds; only confirming information that is leaked to KCRA 3, including millions spent on Italian stonework, and the decision to add a hallway system that only lawmakers can use to avoid the public and media. The legislature also continues to withhold documents that KCRA 3 has requested, which could shed light on how much the project is costing.
“As a taxpayer, I’d like to know as well,” Newsom told KCRA 3 at a news conference Tuesday when pressed about the legislature’s handling of the project and lack of information.
But documents provided to KCRA 3 show Gov. Newsom’s Director of Operations has been part of a three-member Executive Committee that is expected to meet regularly and vote on final decisions about the project behind closed doors. The committee includes Newsom’s current Director of Operations Miroslava de la O, Democratic Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco and Democratic State Sen. John Laird.
A 2018 memorandum of understanding between the legislature and governor’s office established the committee to ensure the legislature keeps the governor’s office in the loop on the project. The legislature’s Joint Rules Committee does the bulk of the decision making. The memo lays out the expectations for the committee, stating it should meet as needed, with a monthly standing meeting that can be “more frequent or cancelled as necessary.”
The memo also states changes to project scope, schedules, budgets and delivery methods made by the committee shall be subject to a majority vote. The memo has allowed everything the committee does to be kept confidential. The agreement was established before Gov. Newsom took office.
All three members of the committee have signed non-disclosure agreements that the legislature has required since 2018 from people involved in the project in order to keep broad information about it confidential, which KCRA 3 first reported last fall. With the NDAs in place, the project price tag swelled from $558.2 million to more than $1 billion.
Documents provided to KCRA 3 through a Legislative Open Records Act request this year show de la O recently signed the non-disclosure agreement. Prior to de la O, Erin Suhr served in the Executive Committee role representing the governor. Suhr also signed the NDA.
It’s not clear when the committee last met, a spokesperson for the legislature’s Joint Rules Committee could not say immediately when asked on Wednesday. KCRA 3 has filed a public records act request for meeting information between 2018 and now.
“The Executive Committee was designed to ensure collaboration and transparency despite your claims of secrecy,” a spokesperson for the Joint Rules Committee said in part in a statement to KCRA 3 on Wednesday.
“Consistent with the MOU, the Governor’s office staff is not involved in day-to-day operations or management of the project,” said Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for Gov. Newsom.
KCRA 3 asked the governor’s office if the NDA kept de la O from sharing information with the governor.
“Our office’s role on the committee is limited to reviewing significant scope changes as defined in the MOU, which have not been presented to the committee at this time, as well as reviewing security concerns. We are not privy to detailed financial information beyond what is addressed by the committee. The NDA does not prevent the Governor’s staff from briefing him on actions taken by the committee and limited information received in this function,” Gallegos said.
“Those three people make key decisions on the capitol. More importantly, they made those decisions privately and not have to disclose those to the public,” said Luree Stetson, a member of the Public Accountability For Our Capitol Political Action Committee.
When asked if she’s convinced the governor does not know how much the building costs Stetson said, “I don’t know if the governor would or not, his staff might, whether his staff informed him of that, we’ve tried to get in touch with the governor over the last five years also and never heard back from him.”
Newsom will likely never use the 525,000 square-foot building as governor, which is expected to be complete in 2027 after he’s termed out of office.
Newsom has approved legislation appropriating funds for the project. He also signed a bill in 2024 that exempted the new building from California’s Environmental Quality Act to cease the litigation that had been stalling it.
The last public update on the project was in a hearing in April of 2021. The California Legislature’s Joint Rules Committee said it planned to provide an update this year, but that never happened before state lawmakers left Sacramento for the rest of the year in September.
WASHINGTON — Twenty-two days into the government shutdown, California Rep. Kevin Kiley spent an hour of his morning in Washington guiding a group of middle school students from Grass Valley through the empty corridors of the U.S. Capitol.
Normally, one of his staff members would have led the tour. But the Capitol is closed to all tours during the shutdown, unless the elected member is present. So the schoolchildren from Lyman Gilmore Middle School ended up with Kiley, a Republican from Rocklin, as their personal tour guide.
“I would have visited with these kids anyway,” Kiley said in his office after the event. “But I actually got to go on the whole tour of the Capitol with them as well.”
Kiley’s impromptu tour is an example of how members of California’s congressional delegation are improvising their routines as the shutdown drags on and most of Washington remains at a standstill.
Some are in Washington in case negotiations resume, others are back at home in their districts meeting with federal workers who are furloughed or working without pay, giving interviews or visiting community health centers that rely on tax credits central to the budget negotiations. One member attended the groundbreaking of a flood control project in their district. Others are traveling back and forth.
“I’ve had to fly back to Washington for caucus meetings, while the opposition, the Republicans, don’t even convene and meet,” Rep. Maxine Waters, a longtime Los Angeles Democrat, said in an interview. “We will meet anytime, anyplace, anywhere, with [House Speaker Mike] Johnson, with the president, with the Senate, to do everything that we can to open up the government. We are absolutely unified on that.”
The shutdown is being felt across California, which has the most federal workers outside the District of Columbia. Food assistance benefits for millions of low-income Californians could soon be delayed. And millions of Californians could see their healthcare premiums rise sharply if Affordable Care Act subsidies are allowed to expire.
For the California delegation, the fallout at home has become impossible to ignore. Yet the shutdown is in its fourth week with no end in sight.
In the House, Johnson has refused to call members back into session and prevented them from doing legislative work. Many California lawmakers — including Kiley, one of the few GOP lawmakers to openly criticize him — have been dismayed by the deadlock.
“I have certainly emphasized the point that the House needs to be in session, and that canceling a month’s worth of session is not a good thing for the House or the country,” Kiley said, noting that he had privately met with Johnson.
Kiley, who represented parts of the Sacramento suburbs and Lake Tahoe, is facing political uncertainty as California voters weigh whether to approve Proposition 50 on Nov. 4. The measure would redraw the state’s congressional districts to better favor Democrats, leaving Kiley at risk, even though the Republican says he believes he could still win if his right-leaning district is redrawn.
The Senate has been more active, holding a series of votes on the floor and congressional hearings with Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. The chamber, however, has been unable to reach a deal to reopen the government. On Thursday, the 23rd day of the shutdown, the Senate failed to advance competing measures that would have paid federal employees who have been working without compensation.
The Republicans’ plan would have paid active-duty members of the military and some federal workers during the shutdown. Democrats backed a bill that would have paid all federal workers and barred the Trump administration from laying off any more federal employees.
“California has one of the largest federal workforces in the country, and no federal worker or service member should miss their paychecks because Donald Trump and Republicans refused to come to the table to protect Americans’ health care,” Sen. Alex Padilla said in a statement.
Working conditions get harder
The strain on federal employees — including those who work for California’s 54 delegation members — are starting to become more apparent.
Dozens of them have been working full time without pay. Their jobs include answering phone calls and requests from constituents, setting the schedules for elected officials, writing policy memos and handling messaging for their offices.
House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks about the shutdown at a news conference Thursday with other Republican House members.
(Eric Lee / Getty Images)
At the end of October, House staffers — who are paid on a monthly basis — are expected to miss their first paycheck.
Some have been quietly told to consider borrowing money from the U.S. Senate Federal Credit Union, which is offering a “government shutdown relief loan program” that includes a no-interest loan of up to $5,000 to be repaid in full after 90 days.
The mundane has also been disrupted. Some of the cafeterias and coffee carts that are usually open to staffers are closed. The lines to enter office buildings are long because fewer entrances are open.
The hallways leading to the offices of California’s elected officials are quiet, except for the faint sound of occasional elevator dings. Many of their doors are adorned with signs that show who they blame for the government shutdown.
“Trump and Republicans shut down the government,” reads a sign posted on the door that leads into Rep. Norma Torres’ (D-Pomona) office. “Our office is OPEN — WORKING for the American people.”
Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from Torrance, posted a similar sign outside his office.
A sign is posted outside of the office of Rep. Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, in Washington on Wednesday.
(Ana Ceballos / Los Angeles Times)
Rep. Vince Fong, a Republican who represents the Central Valley, has been traveling between Washington and his district. Two weeks into the shutdown, he met with veterans from the Central Valley Honor Flight and Kern County Honor Flight to make sure that their planned tour of the Capitol was not disrupted by the shutdown. Like Kiley’s tour with the schoolchildren, an elected member needed to be present for the tour to go on.
“His presence ensured the tour could continue as planned,” Fong’s office said.
During the tour, veterans were able to see Johnson as well, his office said.
Shutdown highlights deep divisions
California’s congressional delegation mirrors the broader stalemate in Washington, where entrenched positions have kept both parties at a negotiation impasse.
Democrats are steadfast in their position that they will not agree to a deal unless Republicans extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits expiring at the end of the year, while Republicans are accusing Democrats of failing to reopen the government for political gain.
Kiley is one of the few Republicans who has called on Johnson to negotiate with Democrats on healthcare. Kiley said he thinks there is a “a lot of room to negotiate” because there is concern on both sides of the aisle if the tax credits expire.
“If people see a massive increase in their premiums … that’s not a good thing,” he said. “Especially in California, where the cost of living is already so high, and you’re suddenly having to pay a lot more for healthcare.”
Rep. Robert Garcia, the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, in a press event Wednesday with five other California Democrats talked about the need to fight for the healthcare credits.
Garcia, of Long Beach, said he recently visited a healthcare center in San Bernardino County that serves seniors with disabilities. He said the cuts would be “devastating” and would prompt the center to close.
“That’s why we are doing everything in our power to negotiate a deal that reopens the federal government and saves healthcare,” he said.
As the shutdown continues, many Democrats are digging their heels on the issue.
At an Oct. 3 event outside of Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, for instance, Rep. Laura Friedman held a news conference with nurses and hospital staff and said she would not vote for a bill to reopen the government unless there is a deal on healthcare.
Last week, the Glendale Democrat said her position hasn’t changed.
“I will not support a shutdown deal that strips healthcare from tens of thousands of my constituents,” she said.
When Boxer retired in 2017, after serving 24 years in the Senate, she walked away from one of the most powerful and privileged positions in American politics, a job many have clung to until their last, rattling breath.
(Boxer tried to gently nudge her fellow Democrat and former Senate colleague, Dianne Feinstein, whose mental and physical decline were widely chronicled during her final, difficult years in office. Ignoring calls to step aside, Feinstein died at age 90, hours after voting on a procedural matter on the Senate floor.)
Last week, she drew a second significant challenger to her reelection, state Sen. Scott Wiener, who jumped into the contest alongside tech millionaire Saikat Chakrabarti, who’s been campaigning against the incumbent for the better part of a year.
Boxer, who turns 85 next month, offered no counsel to Pelosi, though she pushed back against the notion that age necessarily equates with infirmity, or political obsolescence. She pointed to Ted Kennedy and John McCain, two of the senators she served with, who remained vital and influential in Congress well into their 70s.
On the other hand, Boxer said, “Some people don’t deserve to be there for five minutes, let alone five years … They’re 50. Does that make it good? No. There are people who are old and out of ideas at 60.”
There is, Boxer said, “no one-size-fits-all” measure of when a lawmaker has passed his or her expiration date. Better, she suggested, for voters to look at what’s motivating someone to stay in office. Are they driven by purpose — and still capable of doing the job — “or is it a personal ego thing or psychological thing?”
“My last six years were my most prolific,” said Boxer, who opposes both term limits and a mandatory retirement age for members of Congress. “And if they’d said 65 and out, I wouldn’t have been there.”
Art Agnos didn’t choose to leave office.
He was 53 — in the blush of youth, compared to some of today’s Democratic elders — when he lost his reelection bid after a single term as San Francisco mayor.
“I was in the middle of my prime, which is why I ran for reelection,” he said. “And, frankly,” he added with a laugh, “I still feel like I’m in my prime at 87.”
A friend and longtime Pelosi ally, Agnos bristled at the ageism he sees aimed at lawmakers of a certain vintage. Why, he asked, is that acceptable in politics when it’s deplored in just about every other field of endeavor?
“What profession do we say we want bright young people who have never done this before to take over because they’re bright, young and say the right things?” Agnos asked rhetorically. “Would you go and say, ‘Let me find a brain surgeon who’s never done this before, but he’s bright and young and has great promise.’ We don’t do that. Do we?
“Give me somebody who’s got experience, “ Agnos said, “who’s been through this and knows how to handle a crisis, or a particular issue.”
“I thought that I had done a good job … and a number of people said, ‘Gee, it’s a pity that you can’t run for a third term,’ ” Wilson said as he headed to New Haven, Conn., for his college reunion, Yale class of ’55. “As a matter of fact, I agreed with them.”
Still, unlike Boxer, Wilson supports term limits, as a way to infuse fresh blood into the political system and prevent too many over-the-hill incumbents from heedlessly overstaying their time in office.
Not that he’s blind to the impetus to hang on. The power. The perks. And, perhaps above all, the desire to get things done.
At age 92, Wilson maintains an active law practice in Century City and didn’t hesitate — “Yes!” he exclaimed — when asked if he considered himself capable of serving today as governor, even as he wends his way through a tenth decade on Earth.
His wife, Gayle, could be heard chuckling in the background.
“She’s laughing,” Wilson said dryly, “because she knows she’s not in any danger of my doing so.”
You may not need a dedicated webcam at all. It’s actually really easy to use your smartphone’s cameras as a webcam instead, and they’re usually far superior. Recent iPhones, for example, have a feature called Continuity Camera—this works with certain MacBooks and allows you to wirelessly use the iPhone’s camera as a webcam. Apple even sells a Belkin mount that lets you hang your iPhone off the top of your MacBook or external monitor for the full effect.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Belkin
iPhone Mount With MagSafe for MacBooks
Google Pixel phones also now feature wired webcam support. All you need to do is plug in a Pixel to your computer and choose the Webcam option for it to work. You’ll just need a tripod to keep it propped up; something like this Joby GripTight will do the job.
An easy way to improve your existing webcam is to add a light source. Webcams have small camera sensors so they often need a lot of light to deliver good results.
Courtesy of Lume Cube
Lume Cube Mini LED Panel for $70: Something simple like this will do the trick. You can adjust the brightness and the color temperature to match your room’s lighting. It works off of battery power or you can leave it plugged in via the USB-C cable to run for however long you want. The two quarter-inch threads mean you can use any tripod or light stand to mount it on your desk. It also comes with a diffuser to soften the light when it illuminates your face. We have more lighting options in our Home Video Gear guide.
Webcams also have poor microphones. They’ll do the job but you’ll probably sound tinny. There’s a good chance your laptop’s mics are actually better, so try using those instead. Videoconferencing apps let you choose which mic you have to use, so just because you have a separate webcam doesn’t mean you have to use its built-in mic. Another option is to upgrade to a USB mic.
Courtesy of Amazon
Logitech Blue Yeti Nano USB Mic for $98: These microphones are the standard-bearer in the world of USB microphones, and the Nano packs everything most people need in a smaller footprint. Plug it into your computer and once you choose this mic in your video-calling settings as the default, you’ll immediately start hearing the compliments from people on the other end. Read our Best USB Mics guide for more details.
Most videoconferencing software cap the resolution at 1080p for bandwidth purposes, so a 4K webcam may not be necessary at all. However, almost all 4K webcams come with software that lets you crop in or re-frame the image, allowing you to, say, move something in the background of your home office out of frame. This won’t affect your image quality much either, at least compared to cropping in on a 1080p webcam. 4K webcams often have better image quality in general too. They’re more expensive, but if you can afford it, they’ll serve you better.
Also, it’s important to consider that 4K webcams often shoot at 30 frames per second, but often give you 1080p at 60 frames per second, which can be important, depending on the use case.
Understanding Megapixels, Resolutions, and Sensors
What matters with a webcam is the picture quality, but there are a number of camera specs that play into that. For starters, what we usually just call “resolution” is the pixel count of the final image, usually either 1080p, 1440p, or 4K. The sharpness of this final image is important, but it doesn’t alone tell the whole story on image quality.
The camera sensor itself also has a resolution, which is usually referred to in terms of megapixels, which is just the total number of pixels (rather than resolution, which uses a width by height dimension). More megapixels can produce higher-quality images, but the physical size of the sensor is also important. A larger sensor with a lower megapixel count will often result in better images. There is, of course, other important parts of cameras, such as aperture of the lens, which controls how much light is captured and can effect low-light performance. Most webcams have an aperture of f/2.0, but some models that have better low-light performance like the Emeet SmartCam S800 or Insta360 Link 2 have a wider f/1.8 aperture.
And lastly, the image processing has a lot to do with the final quality of the image. Webcams these days use lots of AI-based image processing to sharpen and balance the image around your face, including filtering out noise and smoothing out skin tone. Most of us want this to look as natural as possible, and there’s no question that some webcams are too heavy-handed.
Other Good Webcams
Photograph: Luke Larsen
Emeet Pixy for $128: With its dual camera setup, this adorable little PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) camera is like having a little robot friend hanging out on your monitor. Like the Insta360 Link 2 or Obsbot Tiny 2, the Emeet Pixy can detect your face and follow you around your setting, as well as respond to hand gestures. The tracking was quite good, though in terms of image quality, it didn’t quite live up to my hopes. It’s 4K and has a half-inch sensor, but it can’t handle tough lighting situations as well as something like the Emeet SmartCam S800. Still, it’s a solid, cheaper alternative to the Obsbot Tiny 2 Lite—and it’s just downright cute.
Logitech Brio 4K for $170: The original Brio from 2017 was one of the earliest mainstream webcams to offer 4K resolution at 30 fps. Logitech gave it a minor update in 2022 with updated software and a privacy shutter, but the old model is still a fine purchase that’s a little cheaper. The white balance is still accurate, and my skin color always looks normal, whether I’m in a sunny room, in limited light, or using artificial light. The autofocus is fast and subtle when refocusing, and the image is razor-sharp. Plus, you can choose from 65, 78, and a superwide 90 degrees for your field of view, giving you some framing options. If you’re using a Windows machine, you can set it up to work with Windows Hello for face authentication to log in.
Courtesy of Dell
Dell UltraSharp Webcam for $156: The UltraSharp Webcam feels incredibly substantial and is solid enough to take with you anywhere. Everything from the webcam body to the stand to the included tripod adapter is made of brushed aluminum. The stand and tripod adapter connects to the webcam body with a magnetic post that makes for a secure mount. The privacy cap connects magnetically and stays put with a satisfyingly strong hold, but it isn’t hard to remove. The inside of the cap is padded with a soft-touch fabric to keep it from scratching the lens. Even the forward-facing part of the stand is covered in soft-touch rubber to keep you from scratching the back of your laptop lid if you get a little reckless when setting up for a Zoom call. You can adjust the viewing angle between 65, 78, and 90 degrees and record in 4K resolution at 24 or 30 frames per second, as well as in 720p or 1080p resolutions at 24, 30, or 60 frames per second. However, the picture quality of the Dell isn’t any better than the Logitech MX Brio. It doesn’t have any microphones.
Obsbot Tiny 2 Webcam for $299: I used Obsbot’s first Tiny 4K PTZ webcam with great results for more than a year, and after switching to the new Tiny 2, it’s just as great. The 4K-capable picture quality looks great, and the camera does an excellent job of following my movement. The company has also really polished its software over the years, offering lots of customization. It can respond to your hand gestures, but you can also buy a remote to control it, making it great for presentations and group video calls. It’s quite expensive, though. We haven’t tested the newer Tiny 2 Lite, but it’s cheaper, more compact, and has a smaller sensor.
Insta360 Link for $180: This 4K webcam is an impressive beast. Mounted on a powered gimbal that rotates horizontally and vertically, the Insta360 Link (8/10, WIRED Recommends) will follow, refocus, and zoom in and out (up to 4X zoom) automatically as you move around the screen. It’ll even zoom in on presentation boards or papers you want to show off on your call. It offers outstanding sharpness, color contrast, and white balance in the choice of recording in 24, 25, and 30 frames per second in 4K resolution. There are dual noise-canceling microphones and a screw mount on the bottom for attaching it to a tripod, too. The only thing it lacks is a physical privacy shutter, but the camera points downward when it’s not in use. The Link 2 is a better buy, but this model has a three-axis gimbal that makes it more versatile than the Link 2’s two-axis gimbal.
Don’t Bother With These Webcams
Courtesy of Adorama
Not every webcam is an upgrade over the built-in one on your laptop. These are the models I tested that ranged from merely unimpressive to ones that made me look like the subject of a second-grade art project.
Microsoft LifeCam Studio for $85: It says it’s a 1080p webcam, but there’s a catch—that’s only for recording video. Using it for video calls restricts you to 720p. My coworkers commented on how out of focus I constantly was. The white balance was so off that I looked more orange than an Oompa Loompa. And the exposure was so blown out that I never stopped looking like I was living through the last scenes of The Lighthouse. There was also a lot of lag in my movements and bad motion blur.
Logitech Brio 500 for $130: This webcam has wacky adjustments. Held onto the base via a magnet, panning it downward often pulled it off the base instead of adjusting the angle, and swiveling it left or right caused it to loosen so much it wouldn’t stay put. That meant I kept having to pull it off the magnetic stand, screw the mount back down, and reposition it—and then not adjust it during the rest of the Zoom. That said, the image quality of its 1080p resolution, white balance, and color contrast was quite good, if not excellent, and it came with a USB-C connection and a physical privacy shutter. The autofocus could stand to be a touch quicker. Other positives are that you can get it in black, white, or pink, two more colors than what most webcams offer.
Logitech Brio 300 for $60: The image quality is lacking on this one. Even in a fairly well-lit room, my picture was grainy. It also did weird things with the white balance as it autofocused. The field of view is quite narrow at 70 degrees and non-adjustable, so the image onscreen is up in your face. You’ll want to scoot back quite a bit so everybody else isn’t looking up your nose. Like the Brio 500, it comes in black, white, and pink, connects via USB-C, and has a physical privacy shutter. There are better options for this price without these image quality oddities.
Razer Kiyo X for $48: The Kiyo X does away with the integrated ring light of the original Kiyo, but it does have automatic white balance and color saturation. Video picture settings can be tweaked in the Razer Synapse app, too. It also shoots 1080p-resolution video at 30 frames per second or 720p resolution at 60 frames per second. Its field of vision is a slightly wide 82 degrees. The built-in mics are nothing to write home about, so stick to the ones in your laptop or grab a USB mic. Sadly, there is no privacy shutter.
Razer Kiyo Pro for $130: Although it looks similar to its cheaper, non-pro sibling, the Pro ditches the light ring and instead relies on software to compensate for low-light conditions. I resented having to download the Razer Synapse app to get a decent image out of the Kiyo Pro. Yes, fine-tuning settings is a very WIRED thing to do, but most people just want to plug their webcam in. Once you fiddle with the app settings, the image is sharp and beautiful. However, it has the same overly obvious autofocusing as the regular Kiyo, and it’s also a little overpriced. It’s not a bad pick, but again, the Logitech Brio can do 4K/30 fps, as opposed to this camera, which tops out at 1080p/60 fps.
Creative Labs Live! Sync 4K for $57: I was skeptical about a 4K resolution webcam for this price, and my skepticism was validated in the wildly strange white balance that turned me and everything faintly orange. It may be the only webcam that made my room look darker than it was. The privacy shutter is a rubber cap you put on and take off. The bit that holds it to the webcam when it’s off is flimsy enough that if you’re rough or careless, you could rip it off, but it’s nice that it isn’t plastic, which would weaken over time. A minor issue is that the black cap blends in with the black webcam and lens, so, at a glance, it’s hard to tell whether the cap is on or off.
Cisco Desk Camera 1080p for $131: Not to be confused with Cisco’s almost identically named Desk Camera 4K. I tried the 1080p, 8-MP version in a variety of natural and artificial lighting, but my fellow Gear Team members and I couldn’t help but notice that no matter how I used it, the video looked overly pixelated. Unless a webcam can make me look as good pixelated as Axel from Streets of Rage, then I want smooth video that looks like it’s 1080p. During Zooms, the Desk Camera 1080p had trouble with focusing and zooming, frequently and jarringly refocusing but never getting it quite right.
Banc of California will raise its profile in downtown Los Angeles by putting its name on top of a skyscraper and nearly doubling the size of its offices.
The Los Angeles bank’s expansion comes at a time when downtown office landlords have been struggling with high vacancies since the COVID-19 pandemic prompted a shift to remote work for many businesses.
Banc of California has leased 40,000 square feet at 865 S. Figueroa St. and secured the rights to emblazon its name atop the 35-story tower just north of L.A. Live, the bank recently announced.
“We moved our headquarters to Los Angeles two years ago because we believe in this city and in the power of the entrepreneurs and businesses that call it home,” Chief Executive Jared Wolff said.
The bank used to be based in Santa Ana and is now headquartered in Brentwood.
Its downtown offices are currently nearby in the Figueroa at Wilshire building, where the bank rents nearly 23,000 square feet, according to real estate data provider CoStar.
The bank plans to move to its new offices downtown by the end of summer. The financial terms of its 11-year lease there were not disclosed.
Banc of California’s growth in downtown Los Angeles follows recent expansions in Beverly Hills and New York City.
In June, the bank moved its corporate office in New York to a prominent location on Park Avenue. In March, it expanded its corporate office in Beverly Hills with signage atop a 12-story building at 9701 Wilshire Blvd. on the corner of Roxbury Drive.
The bank also has its name on a building next to the 405 Freeway on Olympic Boulevard.
Prominent signs on its office buildings are important to the bank, a representative said, in part because the downtown tower will be visible during the 2028 Olympics and perhaps be part of skyline backdrops during coverage of the event.
Many institutional investors, such as pension funds and insurance companies, have often been reluctant in recent years to make big bets on L.A. because the rapidly changing rules make it impossible to predict profits.
Among investors’ concerns are public policies such as the United to House Los Angeles (Measure ULA) transfer tax on large real estate sales, and also temporary limits on evicting tenants that were enacted during the pandemic.
Banc of California said it is now the largest independent bank headquartered in Los Angeles and the third-largest bank headquartered in California.
“Expanding our presence in downtown demonstrates how committed we are to serving the Greater L.A. market,” Wolff said.
The bank announced its results for the three months through September on Wednesday. It said its revenue climbed 5% to $288 million. It flipped to a net profit during the third quarter compared with a net loss a year earlier.
“Given our attractive footprint and strong position in key markets, we believe we are uniquely positioned to continue this momentum,” Wolff said in a prepared statement with the earnings announcement. “Looking ahead, we see a good pipeline for the fourth quarter and remain confident that our disciplined approach positions us well to drive profitable, long-term growth.”
SAN FRANCISCO — State Sen. Scott Wiener couldn’t wait any longer. The once-in-a-generation political opening he’d eyed for years had arrived, he decided — whether the grand dame of San Francisco politics agreed or not.
On Wednesday, Wiener, 55, a prolific and ambitious lawmaker, formally announced his candidacy for the San Francisco congressional seat held for nearly four decades by Rep. Nancy Pelosi, 85, who remains one of the party’s most powerful leaders and has yet to reveal her own intentions for the 2026 race.
“The world is changing, the Democratic Party is changing, and it’s time,” Wiener said in an interview with The Times. “I know San Francisco, I have worked tirelessly to represent this community — delivering housing, health care, clean energy, LGBTQ and immigrant rights — and I have a fortitude and backbone to be able to deliver for San Francisco in Congress.”
State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) announced Wednesdat that he will run for the congressional seat currently held by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
(Josh Edelson/For The Times)
Wiener’s announcement — which leaked in part last week — caught some political observers off guard, given Wiener had for years seemed resigned to run for Pelosi’s seat only once she stepped aside. But it stunned few, given how squarely it fit within the broader political moment facing the Democratic Party.
In recent years, a long-simmering reckoning over generational power has exploded into the political forefront as members of the party’s old guard have increasingly been accused of holding on too long, and to their party’s detriment.
Long-serving liberal Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ruffled many Democratic feathers by declining to step down during Barack Obama’s presidency despite being in her 80s. She subsequently died while still on the court at the age of 87 in 2020, handing President Trump his third appointment to the high court.
Visitors walk past a bust of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein at San Francisco City Hall. The former mayor of San Francisco served in the Senate until she died in 2023 at age 90.
(Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
As a result, age has become an unavoidable tension point for Democrats heading into next year’s midterm elections.
It has also been an issue for Republicans, including Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), 83, the former Senate majority leader who has faced health issues in recent years and is retiring in 2026 after more than 40 years in the Senate. Other older Republicans are facing primary challenges for being perceived as too traditional or insufficiently loyal to Trump or the MAGA movement — including Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), 73 and in office since 2002, and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), 68 and in the Senate since 2015.
For decades, many conservatives have called for congressional term limits in opposition to “career politicians” who cling to power for too long. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, and David Trone, a Maryland Democrat, renewed those calls on Wednesday, announcing in an op-ed published in the New York Times that they would co-chair a national campaign to push for term limits.
However, perhaps because they are in power, the calls for a generational shake-up in 2026 have not been nearly as loud on the Republican side.
Democratic Party activists have sounded the alarm about a quickening slide into gerontocracy on the political left, blamed it for their party’s inability to mount an energetic and effective response to Trump and his MAGA movement, and called for younger candidates to take the reins — while congressional leaders in their 70s and 80s have increasingly begun weighing their options in the face of primary challenges.
“It’s fair to say the political appetite for octogenarians is not high,” said Eric Jaye, a veteran Democratic strategist in San Francisco.
“The choice in front of people is not just age,” said Saikat Chakrabarti, a 39-year-old tech millionaire and Democratic political operative who is also running for Pelosi’s seat. “We need a whole different approach and different candidates.”
“There’s like this unspoken rule that you don’t do what we’re doing in this moment. You sit out and wait your turn,” said Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang, 40, who has launched a primary challenge to Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento), who is 81 and has been in Congress since 2005. “But I’m not going to wait on the sidelines, because there is an urgency of now.”
A national trend
The generational shift promises to reshape Congress by replacing Democrats across the country, including some who are leaving without a fight.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, 78 and a senator representing New Hampshire since 2009, said in March that it was “time” to step aside.
In Illinois, Sen. Richard Durbin, 80 and a senator since 1997, and Rep. Jan Schakowsky, 81 and in the House since 1999, both announced in May that they would not run again. Durbin said it was time “to pass the torch,” while Schakowsky praised younger “voices” in the party as “so sharp.”
Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, 78 and in the House since 1992, announced his retirement last month, saying that “watching the Biden thing really said something about the necessity for generational change in the party.”
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks at a news conference.
(Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Other older Democrats, meanwhile, have shown no intention of stepping aside, or are seeking out new roles in power.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills, 77, recently announced she is running to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who is 72 and has been in the Senate since 1997. Mills has tried to soften concerns about her age by promising to serve just one term if elected.
Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, 79 and in the Senate since 2013, has stiffly rebuffed a primary challenge from Rep. Seth Moulton, 46, accusing Moulton of springing a challenge on him amid a shutdown and while he is busy resisting Trump’s agenda.
In Connecticut, Rep. John Larson, 77, who has been in office since 1999 and suffered a complex partial seizure on the House floor in February, has mocked his primary challengers’ message of generational change, telling Axios, “Generational change is fine, but you’ve got to earn it.”
David Hogg, a survivor of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., speaks at the 2022 March for Our Lives.
(Leigh Vogel / Getty Images for March For Our Lives)
David Hogg, a 25-year-old liberal activist who was thrust into politics by the 2018 mass shooting at his Parkland, Fla., high school, is among the party’s younger leaders pushing for new blood. He recently declined to seek reelection as the co-vice chair of the Democratic National Committee to bring primary challenges to older Democratic incumbents with his group Leaders We Deserve.
When he announced that decision in June, Hogg called the idea that Democratic leaders can stay in power until they die even if they don’t do a good job an “existential threat to the future of this party and nation.” His group fundraises and disperses money to young candidates it backs.
When asked by The Times about Pelosi and her primary challengers, however, Hogg was circumspect, calling Pelosi “one of the most effective and consequential leaders in the history of the Democratic Party.”
A shift in California
Pelosi is not the only older California incumbent facing a primary challenge. In addition to Matsui, the list also includes Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Porter Ranch), who is 70 and has been in office since 1997, and Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena), who is 74 and has been in office since 1999.
But Pelosi’s challenges have attracted more attention, perhaps in part because her departure from Congress would be the clearest sign yet that the generational shift sought by younger party activists is fully underway.
Nancy Pelosi is sworn in as House speaker in 2007, surrounded by her grandchildren and children of other members of Congress.
(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
A trailblazer as the first female speaker of the House, Pelosi presided over two Trump impeachments. While no longer in leadership, she remains incredibly influential as an arm-twister and strategist.
She played a central role in sidelining Biden after his debate meltdown, and for the last couple months has been raising big money — a special skill of hers — in support of California’s Proposition 50. The measure seeks voter approval to redraw California’s congressional districts to better favor Democrats in response to Trump’s pressure campaign on Texas and other red states to redraw their lines in favor of Republicans.
Pelosi has used Prop. 50 in recent days to deflect questions about her primary challengers and her plans for 2026, with her spokesman Ian Krager saying she “is fully focused” on the Prop 50 fight and will be through Nov. 4.
Chakrabarti, who helped Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) unseat a longtime Democratic incumbent in 2019, said he sees even more “appetite for change” among the party’s base today — as evidenced by “mainstream Democrats who have voted for Nancy Pelosi their whole life” showing up to his events.
And it makes sense, he said.
For decades, Americans have watched the cost of essentials skyrocket while their wages have remained relatively flat, Chakrabarti said, and that has made them desperate to support messages of “bold, sweeping economic change” — whether from Obama or Trump — even as long-serving, mainstream Democrats backed by corporate money have worked to maintain the status quo.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez leaves a news conference at the Capitol in 2019. At left is Saikat Chakrabarti, who was her chief of staff and is now a candidate for the congressional seat held by Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag)
He said it is time for Democrats to once again push bold, big ideas, which he plans to do — including Medicare for all, universal child care, free college tuition, millions of new units of affordable housing, a new economy built around climate action, and higher taxes on billionaires and mega-millionaires like him.
Wiener, who also backs Prop. 50 and would be the first out gay person to represent San Francisco in Congress, said he cannot speak to Pelosi’s thinking — or to Politico reporting Wednesday that Pelosi is considering her options and has been seen “publicly elevating” San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan in the race — but is confident in his readiness for the role.
Wiener agreed with Chakrabarti that big ideas are needed from Democrats to win back voters and make progress. He also said that his track record in the state Legislature shows that he has “been willing to take on very, very big fights to make significant progressive change.”
“No one has ever accused me of thinking small,” he said — citing his success in passing bills to create more affordable housing, reform health insurance and drug pricing, tackle net neutrality, challenge telecommunications and cable companies and protect LGBTQ+ and other minority communities and immigrants.
“In addition to having the desire to make big progressive change, in addition to talking about big progressive change, you have to be able to put together the coalitions to deliver on that change, because words are not enough,” Wiener said. “I’ve shown over and over again that I know how to do it, and that I can deliver.”
Political analysts said a message of big ideas will clearly resonate with some voters. But they also said that Pelosi, if she stays in the race, will be hard to beat. She will also face more serious questions than ever about her age and “her ability to function at the extraordinarily high level” she has worked at in years past, Jaye said, and will “have to answer those questions.”
If Pelosi decides not to run, Chakrabarti has the benefit of self-funding and of the current party enthusiasm for fresh faces, they said, and anyone — Chan or otherwise — would benefit from a Pelosi endorsement. But Wiener already has a strong base in the district, a track record for getting legislation passed and, as several observers pointed out, a seemingly endless battery.
“Scott Wiener is an animal. The notion of work-life balance is not a concept he has ever had. He is just like a robotic working machine,” said Aaron Peskin, who served 18 years on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, some alongside Wiener.
Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-Oakland) speaks to reporters at the Capitol in September.
(Kayla Bartkowski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Amanda Litman, the president of Run for Something, which supports young progressive candidates, said there is pent-up demand for a new generation of leaders, and “older Democrats, especially those in Congress, need to ask themselves, ‘Am I the best person to lead this party forward right now?’”
Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-Oakland), 48, won her seat in 2024 after longtime Rep. Barbara Lee, 79, who had been in the seat since 1998, decided to run for Oakland mayor. Simon said that to her, “it’s not necessarily about birthdays” but who can do the job — “who can govern, who can mentor and who can hold this administration accountable.”
As a longtime community activist who worked with youth, Simon said she is “extremely excited” by all the energy of young Democratic office seekers. But as a freshman in Congress who has leaned on Lee, Pelosi and other mentors to help her learn the ropes, she said it’s also clear Democrats need to “have some generals who are really, really tried and tested.”
“What is not helpful to me in this moment,” Simon said, “is for the Democrats to be a circular firing squad.”
Human remains found in wooded area of Marion County
SURE TO BRING IT TO YOU ON AIR AND ONLINE. NEW TONIGHT. HUMAN REMAINS FOUND IN MARION COUNTY. THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS THAT SOMEONE WAS WALKING THROUGH THE WOODS OFF OF 441 IN SUMMERFIELD. AND THEY MADE THE DISCOVERY ON SUNDAY. WESH 2’S HAYLEY CROMBLEHOLME JOINING US LIVE FROM THAT AREA TONIGHT. HAYLEY. THERE’S STILL SOME CRIME SCENE TAPE UP WHERE YOU ARE. THEY HAVE BEEN OUT HERE FOR MORE THAN A DAY AT THIS POINT. THIS IS AS CLOSE AS WE CAN SAFELY GET HERE. BUT THAT RED TAIL LIGHT YOU CAN SEE IN THE DISTANCE, THAT IS A DEPUTY’S CRUISER. AND JUST IN FRONT OF IT YOU CAN SEE CRIME SCENE TAPE STILL UP AROUND THOSE WOODS. NOW, AT THIS POINT, THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS THEY DON’T KNOW HOW THIS PERSON DIED, BUT THEY ARE SAYING THESE REMAINS ARE NOT RELATED TO THE REMAINS FOUND JUST DAYS BEFORE IN MARION OAKS. I DON’T KNOW, IN THIS AREA, LIKE, YOU KNOW, ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN. IT’S NOT BEING SECURE LATELY. LEO DOMINGUEZ WORKS IN THE PLAZA IN SUMMERFIELD, ACROSS FROM THE WOODS WHERE SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES HAVE BEEN STATIONED FOR MORE THAN A DAY. HE SAID PLENTY OF CUSTOMERS HAVE BEEN COMING IN ASKING WHAT’S GOING ON? ASKING THE SAME QUESTION BECAUSE THE CAR’S BEEN THERE FOR A WHILE ALREADY. THE MARION COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE TELLS US A PERSON WALKING THROUGH THESE WOODS OFF OF 441 CALLED IN AND REPORTED FINDING WHAT THEY THOUGHT WERE HUMAN REMAINS SUNDAY NIGHT, JUST BEFORE SEVEN, THEY SAID. DETECTIVES, FORENSIC TECHS IN THE MEDICAL EXAMINER’S OFFICE ALL CAME OUT AND CONFIRMED THE REMAINS WERE HUMAN. THEY DON’T KNOW HOW LONG THE REMAINS HAVE BEEN OUT THERE, BUT BECAUSE OF THE STATE THEY WERE IN, THEY DON’T BELIEVE IT’S RECENT. HUMAN REMAINS. ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN. SO WE’VE GOT TO BE SECURE BY MONDAY. THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE STILL HASN’T DETERMINED HOW THE PERSON DIED. IF IT COULD BE NATURAL CAUSES OR SOMETHING SUSPICIOUS. BUT FOR ONE MAN WHO LIVES NEARBY, THE NEWS REMAINS WERE FOUND WAS STILL ENOUGH TO PUT HIM OFF HIS REGULAR WALKS IN THE AREA. BECAUSE I’M SCARED THERE MAY BE NOTHING NEFARIOUS ABOUT THE REMAINS FOUND IN THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAID THERE ISN’T ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO DETERMINE IF THEY COULD BE RELATED TO ANY OF THEIR ACTIVE CASES, BUT HE’S CONCERNED ALL THE SAME. I’M A FATHER TO A CHILD AND A HUSBAND TO A WIFE. I CANNOT RISK MYSELF, YOU KNOW, GETTING KILLED. I DON’T WANT TO END UP IN THE WOODS OR WHATEVER. LIKE I SAID, I GO WALKING ALL THE TIME AND I FEEL ENDANGERED RIGHT NOW. YOU KNOW WHO WOULDN’T? KNOW? THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS THEY WILL BE BACK OUT HERE TOMORROW. THEY’LL BE LOOKING FOR AND COLLECTING MORE EVIDENCE. AND THEY WILL ALSO BE RECOVERING THOSE REMAINS AS SOON AS WE KNOW WHO THIS PERSON WAS AND HOW THEY DIED. WE’RE GOING TO BRING THAT TO YOU ON AIR AND ONLINE@WESH.COM COVERING MARION COUNT
Human remains were found in a wooded area in Summerfield, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.This is the second time in the last week where the MCSO was called in to investigate or respond to an incident involving human remains being discovered. The MCSO responded to the 17000 block of South Highway 441, where forensic technicians and the medical examiner’s office confirmed the contents were human. The investigation aims to determine the person’s identity and what the cause and manner of death are. The remains were reported Sunday night just before 7 p.m. The sheriff’s office said they are not related to remains found in Marion Oaks Friday. Monday night the sheriff’s office was still investigating how the person died. They don’t yet know if it’s natural causes or a suspicious death. They don’t know how long the remains have been out there, but because of the state they were in, they don’t believe it’s recent.At this time, the MCSO is uncertain if the remains found are related to any current cases. >> This is a developing story and will be updated as new information is released
MARION COUNTY, Fla. —
Human remains were found in a wooded area in Summerfield, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
This is the second time in the last week where the MCSO was called in to investigate or respond to an incident involving human remains being discovered.
The MCSO responded to the 17000 block of South Highway 441, where forensic technicians and the medical examiner’s office confirmed the contents were human.
The investigation aims to determine the person’s identity and what the cause and manner of death are.
The remains were reported Sunday night just before 7 p.m. The sheriff’s office said they are not related to remains found in Marion Oaks Friday.
Monday night the sheriff’s office was still investigating how the person died. They don’t yet know if it’s natural causes or a suspicious death. They don’t know how long the remains have been out there, but because of the state they were in, they don’t believe it’s recent.
At this time, the MCSO is uncertain if the remains found are related to any current cases.
>> This is a developing story and will be updated as new information is released
Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a stark warning Monday that food assistance benefits for millions of low-income Californians could be delayed starting Nov. 1 if the ongoing federal shutdown does not end by Thursday.
The benefits, issued under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and formerly called food stamps, include federally funded benefits loaded onto CalFresh cards. They support some 5.5 million Californians.
Newsom blamed the potential SNAP disruption — and the shutdown more broadly — on President Trump and slammed the timing of the potential cutoff just as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches.
“Trump’s failure to open the federal government is now endangering people’s lives and making basic needs like food more expensive — just as the holidays arrive,” Newsom said. “It is long past time for Republicans in Congress to grow a spine, stand up to Trump, and deliver for the American people.”
The White House responded by blaming the shutdown on Democrats, as it has done before.
Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said the “Democrats’ decision to shut down the government is hurting Americans across the country,” and that Democrats “can choose to reopen the government at any point” by voting for a continuing resolution to fund the government as budget negotiations continue, which she said they repeatedly did during the Biden administration.
“Newscum should urge his Democrat pals to stop hurting the American people,” Jackson said, using a favorite Trump insult for Newsom. “The Trump Administration is working day and night to mitigate the pain Democrats are causing, and even that is upsetting the Left, with many Democrats criticizing the President’s effort to pay the troops and fund food assistance for women and children.”
Congressional Republicans also have blamed the shutdown and resulting interruptions to federal programs on Democrats, who are refusing to vote for a Republican-backed funding measure based in large part on Republican decisions to eliminate subsidies for healthcare plans relied on by millions of Americans.
Newsom’s warning about SNAP benefits followed similar alerts from other states on both sides of the political aisle, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture warned state agencies in an Oct. 10 letter that the shutdown may interrupt funding for the benefits.
States have to take action to issue November benefits before the month ends, so the shutdown would have to end sooner than Nov. 1 for the benefits to be available in time.
Newsom’s office said Californians could see their benefits interrupted or delayed if the shutdown is not ended by Thursday. The Texas Health and Human Services Department warned that SNAP benefits for November “won’t be issued if the federal government shutdown continues past Oct. 27.”
Newsom’s office said a cutoff of funds would affect federally funded CalFresh benefits, but also some other state-funded benefits. More than 63% of SNAP recipients in California are children or elderly people, Newsom’s office said.
In her own statement, First Partner of California Jennifer Siebel Newsom said, “Government should be measured by how we protect people’s lives, their health, and their well-being. Parents and caregivers should not be forced to choose between buying groceries or paying bills.”
States were already gearing up for other changes to SNAP eligibility based on the Republican-passed “Big Beautiful Bill,” which set new limits on SNAP benefits, including for nonworking adults. Republicans have argued that such restrictions will encourage more able-bodied adults to get back into the workforce to support their families themselves.
Many Democrats and advocacy organizations that work to protect low-income families and children have argued that restricting SNAP benefits has a disproportionately large effect on some of the most vulnerable people in the country, including poor children.
According to the USDA, about 41.7 million Americans were served by SNAP benefits per month in fiscal 2024, at an annual cost of nearly $100 billion. The USDA has some contingency funding it can utilize to continue benefits in the short term, but does not have enough to cover all monthly benefits, advocates said.
Andrew Cheyne, managing director of public policy at the advocacy group End Child Poverty California, urged the USDA to utilize its contingency funding and any other funding stream possible to prevent a disruption to SNAP benefits, which he said would be “disastrous.”
“CalFresh is a lifeline for 5.5 million Californians who rely on the program to eat. That includes 2 million children. It is unconscionable that we are only days away from children and families not knowing where their next meal is going to come from,” Cheyne said.
He said the science is clear that “even a brief period of food insecurity has long-term consequences for children’s growth and development.”
Ted Lempert, president of Children Now, said a disruption would be “horrific.”
“We speak out for the needs of kids and families, and kids need food — basic support to live and function and go to school,” he said. “So this could be really devastating.”
Times staff writer Jenny Gold contributed to this report.
Google employees working at the company’s Chelsea campus in New York City received a notice on Sunday alerting them to a possible bedbug outbreak at the office. Exterminators arrived at the scene with a sniffer dog “and found credible evidence of their presence,” according to an email obtained by WIRED. The email was sent to all Google employees in New York on behalf of the company’s environmental, health, and safety team.
Employees were told to avoid the office until the treatment was complete. On Monday morning, they were allowed to return. Google is performing additional inspections at other Google campuses in New York, including buildings at the company’s Hudson Square campus, “out of an abundance of caution,” the email says.
The company advised employees to submit a report “if you experience symptoms you believe are linked to possible bedbug exposure.” Additionally, “if you suspect you’ve seen a bedbug onsite,” employees were told to report the sighting to the facilities team. Employees were also told to contact professional exterminators if they found bedbugs in their home.
Sources tell WIRED that Google’s offices in New York are home to a number of large stuffed animals that are rumored to be implicated in the outbreak. WIRED was not able to verify this information prior to publication. Google declined to comment.
This is not the first time a Google office in New York has been infested with bedbugs. In 2010, the company’s 9th Avenue offices in Manhattan experienced an outbreak amid a wider bedbug infestation in New York.
Family members are desperately searching for Melodee Buzzard, a 9-year-old girl who was last seen in Lompoc in August and whose mother refuses to answer questions about her whereabouts.
Melodee was officially reported missing Tuesday after officials at the Lompoc Unified School District contacted the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office to report her prolonged absence, according to authorities.
The girl had enrolled in an independent learning program in August, the school district said in a statement, and sheriff’s officials say she has not been seen since.
Sheriff’s deputies went to the girl’s home in Vandenberg Village on Tuesday. Inside they made contact with Ashlee Buzzard, Melodee’s mother, but the girl was nowhere to be seen, according to authorities. Her mother remains uncooperative with the investigation.
Vicky Shade, Melodee’s aunt, said that the girl’s mother has a long history of mental illness and refused to let relatives visit the girl.
“Ashlee is mentally unstable and my mom tried to get custody or at least grandparent rights to visit Melodee because she [Ashlee] wasn’t letting our side of the family see her,” Shade said.
Shade’s brother, Rubiell Meza, is Ashlee’s father. He died in a motorcycle accident in 2016, shortly after Melodee was born.
Buzzard and Rubiell Meza previously lived in Santa Maria with Meza’s mother. However, Buzzard moved away shortly after Meza died and changed her phone number, Shade said.
“I am horrified for my little niece, I can’t imagine what she’s gone through,” Shade said. “This does not sound good. I just want to know if she’s OK. We need to find her.”
The most recent photo available of Melodee is 2 years old, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Another one of Melodee’s aunts, Lizabeth Meza, said that Buzzard had struggled with mental illness for years. She said Buzzard has attempted to take her own life multiple times and was previously hospitalized for treatment.
Meza’s family has not been able to see Melodee in around four and a half years, she said.
They are currently focused on putting up missing child posters around Lompoc and sharing Melodee’s story on social media in hopes of generating leads about the girl’s whereabouts.
Buzzard was seen entering her Vandenberg Village home Thursday by local TV station KSBY, but refused to speak with a reporter. She also did not respond to requests from The Times for comment.
Federal court records show that Buzzard filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2017 and has had at least five collections cases for unpaid debts filed against her in Santa Barbara County Superior Court. This includes cases filed against her by Capital One Bank in May and December, and by Crown Asset Management last November.
Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Raquel Zick said that Melodee had previously been homeschooled for several years. However, the California Department of Education has no record of Buzzard filing a private school affidavit, which is a requirement for homeschooling, according to department spokesperson Scott Roark.
According to a statement from the Lompoc Unified School District, Melodee and her mother visited Mission Valley Independent Study School to initiate her registration in August. But Melodee then failed to pick up assignments, prompting the school to initiate outreach reach out to her mother, and, ultimately, law enforcement.
“Lompoc Unified School District deserves credit for recognizing that something wasn’t right, reaching out, and continuing to assist with this investigation,” Sheriff’s Lt. Chris Gotschall said in a statement. “This important update helps narrow a significant gap in the timeline of when she was last known to be seen and because of that, we’re closer to understanding what happened to Melodee.”
Anyone with information about Melodee is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Office at (805) 681-4150. Tips can also be left anonymously at (805) 681-4171 or at SBSheriff.org.
>> Video above: Previous coverageA man who was arrested for allegedly attempting to rape a woman on a running trail in Orange County could have his bond revoked.According to court records on the Orange County Clerk’s website, a motion has been filed to revoke 23-year-old Jacoby Vontell Tillman’s bond.The Orange County Sheriff’s Office spent months searching for Tillman, following a report that he assaulted a woman while she was jogging on the Little Econ Greenway Trail in July.OCSO said Tillman attacked a woman from behind and attempted to rape her. The woman said he grabbed her and wrapped both arms around her neck, choking her, causing her to see stars and eventually blacking out.Once she woke up, the woman said she was still face down and realized her shorts and underwear were gone, according to the OCSO. Tillman was arrested on Oct. 10 and charged with attempted sexual battery, battery by strangulation and false imprisonment. However, he was released from jail on Sunday on a total bond of $9,500, according to the Orange County Corrections Department.Tillman’s bond release sparked outrage from Orange County Sheriff John Mina.”This is atrocious! He should have never been released,” Mina said on Facebook.The attempted rape victim has also shared concerns about Tillman’s release. “I think he is a danger. Not just to women, but to kids,” she said.Tillman’s criminal record includes convictions for aggravated battery and misdemeanor battery in Orange County.His girlfriend at the time also reported abusive behavior, including an incident where he choked her until she lost consciousness, according to the OCSO. This is a developing news story and will be updated as more information is released.
>> Video above: Previous coverage
A man who was arrested for allegedly attempting to rape a woman on a running trail in Orange County could have his bond revoked.
According to court records on the Orange County Clerk’s website, a motion has been filed to revoke 23-year-old Jacoby Vontell Tillman’s bond.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office spent months searching for Tillman, following a report that he assaulted a woman while she was jogging on the Little Econ Greenway Trail in July.
OCSO said Tillman attacked a woman from behind and attempted to rape her.
The woman said he grabbed her and wrapped both arms around her neck, choking her, causing her to see stars and eventually blacking out.
Once she woke up, the woman said she was still face down and realized her shorts and underwear were gone, according to the OCSO.
Tillman was arrested on Oct. 10 and charged with attempted sexual battery, battery by strangulation and false imprisonment.
However, he was released from jail on Sunday on a total bond of $9,500, according to the Orange County Corrections Department.
Tillman’s bond release sparked outrage from Orange County Sheriff John Mina.
“This is atrocious! He should have never been released,” Mina said on Facebook.
The attempted rape victim has also shared concerns about Tillman’s release.
“I think he is a danger. Not just to women, but to kids,” she said.
Tillman’s criminal record includes convictions for aggravated battery and misdemeanor battery in Orange County.
His girlfriend at the time also reported abusive behavior, including an incident where he choked her until she lost consciousness, according to the OCSO.
This is a developing news story and will be updated as more information is released.
USB hubs should be simple devices, but apparently it’s not possible to make One Port to Rule Them All without things getting a little messy. We have a full explainer here, but if you just want to get the basics before you buy your hub, here are a few things to keep in mind.
Ports speeds matter; version numbers don’t. It’s tempting to look at a USB 3.2 label and assume it’s faster than USB 3.0, but unfortunately, that’s not the case. In fact, many manufacturers have started defaulting to writing the speed of individual ports directly onto the device itself, rather than relying on version numbers on spec sheets.
Use Thunderbolt for your most data-hungry devices. Thunderbolt is a beefed-up version of USB, developed by Intel and Apple, that uses the same USB-C port you’re familiar with. These can carry huge amounts of data (up to 40 Gbps for Thunderbolt 3 and 4), which makes them ideal for things like SSDs, 4K and 8K displays, or monitors with ultrahigh frame rates for gaming. We’re now up to Thunderbolt 5, which is slowly making its way into some laptops. (Make sure your laptop port supports Thunderbolt.)
Don’t forget the power. Most USB hubs will draw electricity directly from your laptop to power any devices connected to it, but they obviously need to take up a port to do so. However, some hubs support USB Power Delivery (or USB-PD, sometimes marketed as “passthrough charging”) which allows you to plug a charger into one of the ports on the hub so you can keep charging your laptop while you plug in all your extra gadgets.
A retired Air Force engineer and former youth soccer coach accused of making threats at Folsom High School and later violating a court order at a local elementary school is back in custody and now faces a federal charge of allegedly possessing a firearm in a school zone.Curt Taras made his initial appearance in federal court at 2 p.m. Thursday, where the court went over his federal charge.Authorities say the FBI took Taras into custody Wednesday morning in coordination with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Folsom Police Department. The federal case stems from a September incident at Folsom High School in which officials say Taras allegedly made threats on campus while carrying a knife; a firearm and ammunition were later found in his vehicle parked nearby. He was arrested again this week after allegedly violating a court order by entering Gallardo Elementary School. He posted bail in both local cases before the federal arrest.“There are statutes that prohibit a person from having a firearm within a thousand feet of a school. Curt never had a firearm on Folsom High School, but his vehicle was parked nearby in walking distance at a strip mall,” said Matthew Taylor, Taras’s attorney. Taras is slated to appear in Sacramento County court on Friday on related local matters. In a statement, the DA’s office said it would again seek detention and ask him to stay away from all district school sites pending resolution of the cases.Taras will appear in federal court again on Friday afternoon, where a judge will review his detention details. He will be detained until then. The federal public defender asked the judge if Taras could not be shackled on both his ankles and hands moving forward. The judge granted this and said future proceedings could be leg shackles.A hearing in Sacramento County court was also set for Friday morning. Taras’ defense attorney said that the hearing will still proceed, but Taras will not be present.The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office had said it would ask a judge to deny bond in his local cases.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
A retired Air Force engineer and former youth soccer coach accused of making threats at Folsom High School and later violating a court order at a local elementary school is back in custody and now faces a federal charge of allegedly possessing a firearm in a school zone.
Authorities say the FBI took Taras into custody Wednesday morning in coordination with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Folsom Police Department.
The federal case stems from a September incident at Folsom High School in which officials say Taras allegedly made threats on campus while carrying a knife; a firearm and ammunition were later found in his vehicle parked nearby.
He was arrested again this week after allegedly violating a court order by entering Gallardo Elementary School. He posted bail in both local cases before the federal arrest.
“There are statutes that prohibit a person from having a firearm within a thousand feet of a school. Curt never had a firearm on Folsom High School, but his vehicle was parked nearby in walking distance at a strip mall,” said Matthew Taylor, Taras’s attorney.
Taras is slated to appear in Sacramento County court on Friday on related local matters. In a statement, the DA’s office said it would again seek detention and ask him to stay away from all district school sites pending resolution of the cases.
Taras will appear in federal court again on Friday afternoon, where a judge will review his detention details. He will be detained until then.
The federal public defender asked the judge if Taras could not be shackled on both his ankles and hands moving forward. The judge granted this and said future proceedings could be leg shackles.
A hearing in Sacramento County court was also set for Friday morning. Taras’ defense attorney said that the hearing will still proceed, but Taras will not be present.
The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office had said it would ask a judge to deny bond in his local cases.
