Budget Deal Promotes Infrastructure, Reduces Protections for Endangered Species
Governor Newsom signed a package of bills into law, taking effect immediately, to hasten lawsuits for solar farms and reservoirs while loosening protections for three-dozen wildlife species in order to facilitate development of infrastructure. The most controversial bill includes a new authority for the Department of Fish and Wildlife to issue permits allowing "fully protected" species to be harmed or even killed by certain infrastructure projects including water aqueducts and wind and power installations if the harm can be "fully mitigated," according to a Senator from Oakland. Those 37 species include the golden eagle and sandhill crane. Another bill unanimously voted in allocates a time limit for lawsuits for transportation, water and energy projects under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The bill package initially met with pushback from environmentalist and business owners who now call the package a good compromise.
Californians Pay Highest Rents in Nation
The National Low Income Housing Coalition released a new study on the affordable housing crisis in the country, finding nationally between 2001 and 2021, median rents increased 17.9% while household income only increased 3.2%. The study found the hourly wage needed to rent a two-bedroom home (housing wage) in California is $42.25, the highest in the country. Earning minimum wage, one would have to work 109 hours per week...
CHESHIRE Police says that it has arrested a Warrington woman on suspicion of wasting police time after resources from two police forces were diverted to ‘false kidnap claims’. In the early hours o...