West
California career politician Barbara Lee wins mayor race in embattled Oakland

Former Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., defeated former Oakland City Council member Loren Taylor in Oakland’s special election for mayor, following months of uncertainty for the struggling city.
While Taylor made inroads as a relative political outsider with campaign finance reports revealing he outraised the career California politician, Lee was ultimately triumphant following Friday’s ranked choice tallies.
The race for mayor had been too close to call on Tuesday night following Oakland’s April 15 special election as Taylor maintained a slight lead over Lee, with just over a thousand more votes in his favor. Oakland follows a ranked choice voting system, where candidates with the least votes are eliminated as voters’ backup choices get a boost in the tally.
The liberal-run city has had four different mayors in a four-month period after Mayor Sheng Thao was recalled this November and subsequently indicted on eight counts of bribery. Oakland has been without a clear leader this year as the city continues to grapple with ongoing crises.
‘FED UP’: EMBATTLED BLUE CITY’S FUTURE HANGS IN THE BALANCE AHEAD OF MAYORAL SPECIAL ELECTION
Former Rep. Barbara Lee wins Oakland’s mayoral special election. (Getty Images)
Taylor’s campaign to finish out Thao’s term was aimed at shaking up the political “status quo” and restoring Oaklanders’ faith in their politicians after months of uncertainty. Taylor’s policy platform highlighted public safety initiatives, budget stabilization to avoid bankruptcy, anti-corruption and increased efficiency at City Hall, tackling homelessness and boosting the local economy.
CALIFORNIA CITY’S MASSIVE $130M DEFICIT THREATENS DANGEROUS CUTS TO ITS FIREFIGHTING CAPACITY

Mayoral candidate Loren Taylor arrives with his wife Erica before casting his ballot for the special election at Eastmont Mall in Oakland on April 15, 2025. (San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
There were 5,490 homeless people in Oakland in 2024, a 9% increase since 2022, according to Alameda County Health’s January 2024 Point-in-Time (PIT) report.
While the Oakland Police Department reported a decrease in violent crime in 2024, 2025 began with a crime surge, including five recorded homicides within a 48-hour period. By Jan. 3, The San Francisco Chronicle reported Oakland’s third homicide of the year and seventh since Dec. 30, 2024.
Oakland’s staggering $129.8 million budget deficit for Fiscal Year 2024-25 forced some Oakland firehouses to close their doors earlier this year, but the City Council was able to pass a resolution to reopen those firehouses earlier this year.

Former Oakland City Council member Loren Taylor and former Rep. Barbara Lee faced off on April 15 for Oakland’s special election. (Getty Images)
“Oaklanders are frustrated,” Taylor told Fox News Digital in an interview ahead of the special election. “We are upset that we have not been getting what we deserve, what we should be getting from our local government. The status quo continues to fail us when we see crime rates rising out of control, we see homelessness still growing when it’s shrinking in neighboring cities, we see our city facing the largest fiscal budget deficit in our history – a number of failures that show that what we have is not working.”
Lee touted a long list of political endorsements during her campaign and had the name recognition that landed her a victory. She lost the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate last year to her former colleague in the House, Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

Former longtime Rep. Barbara Lee spoke during a demonstration in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 1, 2021, in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“Barbara Lee is meeting voters every day in their living rooms, at their doors and at community events. She hears their priorities loud and clear – she is running to be a mayor who can make Oakland safer, address the fiscal crisis and root out corruption. That is why her 100-day plan tackles public safety, homelessness, good governance and economic opportunity head on,” a spokesperson for Lee’s campaign told Fox News Digital ahead of the special election.
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Lee’s spokesperson reiterated Lee’s endorsements, including “seven former mayors and city administrators, virtually every member of the city council as well as the city’s business chamber.”
Lee vowed to bring a “fresh perspective” to Oakland’s City Hall, and she accused Taylor of helping “make the bad decisions that shaped the city.”
Read the full article from Here

West
Bryan Kohberger allegedly searched pictures of female students, some were close to alleged victims

Bryan Kohberger allegedly searched for pictures of female students on his cellphone, some of whom were close friends with three of the University of Idaho students who were killed.
Kohberger is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of University of Idaho students Xana Kernodle, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, and Ethan Chapin, 20. The former Washington State University student was also charged with one felony count of burglary.
“Dateline” on NBC obtained Kohberger’s cellphone browsing history, which shows he allegedly searched for dozens of pictures of female students at Washington State University and the University of Idaho.
Many of the pictures Kohberger searched for showed females in bathing suits. According to the report, some of the females’ accounts were either followers or close friends with Kernodle, Mogen and Goncalves.
BRYAN KOHBERGER CASE: JUDGE DENIES PROSECUTORS’ REQUEST FOR PERSONALITY TESTING
Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom for his arraignment hearing in Latah County District Court, May 22, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. Kohberger is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022. (Zach Wilkinson-Pool/Getty Images)
“Dateline” also obtained a selfie of Kohberger that was taken on Dec. 28, 2022, which shows him wearing a black robe and has no facial expression. He was arrested just days later on Dec. 30, 2022.
In late September 2022, according to the report, phone records also show that Kohberger searched “Sociopathic Traits in College Student.” In October 2022, he made a search on a pornography website for “drugged” and “sleeping.”
IDAHO JUDGE SLAMS BRYAN KOHBERGER’S ‘HOLLOW’ ATTEMPT TO DODGE DEATH PENALTY IN LATEST BLOW TO DEFENSE

Bryan Kohberger, accused of murder, arrives for a hearing about cameras in the courtroom in Latah County District Court on September 13, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. Kohberger, a former criminology PhD student, was indicted earlier this year in the November 2022 killings of Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20, in an off-campus apartment near the University of Idaho. (Ted S. Warren-Pool/Getty Images)
Timeline of November 13, 2022:
- 4 a.m.: Suspect arrives at house
- Between 4 and 4:17: Time of murders
- 4:19: Roommate calls 3 victims, no one answers
- 4:22 to 4:24: Surviving roommates text each other from inside house
- 4:27: Roommate calls victims again; no one answers
- 4:32: Roommate texts Goncalves ‘Pls answer’
- 10:23: Surviving roommate texts victims; no one answers
- 11:39: Roommate calls her father
- 12 p.m.: 911 call placed from roommate’s phone

Madison Mogen, top left, smiles on the shoulders of her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, as they pose with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and two other housemates in Goncalves’ final Instagram post, shared the day before the four students were stabbed to death. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
Kohberger’s trial is scheduled to begin on Aug. 11.
Read the full article from Here
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco 49ers 2025 schedule: Will a last-place schedule help produce a bounce back?

The NFL will release the 2025 schedules for all 32 teams at 8 p.m. (ET) Wednesday. Here is what we know about the San Francisco 49ers’ schedule so far.
The 49ers will play each team from the NFC South and AFC South, as well as the 2024 fourth-place teams from the NFC North, NFC East and AFC North. San Francisco also will see its NFC West division rivals twice, once on the road and once at Levi’s Stadium, as part of its 17-game schedule.
Here is the lineup of home and road opponents, listed alphabetically.
Home | Road |
---|---|
Arizona Cardinals |
Arizona Cardinals |
Atlanta Falcons |
Cleveland Browns |
Carolina Panthers |
Houston Texans |
Chicago Bears |
Indianapolis Colts |
Jacksonville Jaguars |
Los Angeles Rams |
Los Angeles Rams |
New Orleans Saints |
Seattle Seahawks |
New York Giants |
Tennessee Titans |
Seattle Seahawks |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
The 49ers went 6-11 in 2024 as injuries and a Super Bowl hangover again got the best of them. San Francisco has reached the Super Bowl twice in Kyle Shanahan’s eight seasons, and both times followed up that appearance with a last-place finish (the 49ers went 6-10 in 2020 after losing quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and defensive end Nick Bosa to early-season injuries).
After a roster reset this offseason ahead of Brock Purdy’s anticipated massive contract extension, the 49ers, with the benefit of playing a last-place schedule, will need to show they can bounce back and re-establish themselves as one of the NFC’s contenders.
Come back Wednesday night for the 49ers’ week-to-week schedule, plus season analysis and predictions.
(Photo of Brock Purdy: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
Denver, CO
Should Denver allow exemptions for “Waste No More” ordinance? Initiative’s backer objects to changes.

Two and a half years after the vast majority of Denver voters approved an initiative requiring apartment buildings and restaurants to recycle and compost more of their waste, the city’s implementation of that mandate has hit another snag.
City officials, after convening a task force and soliciting input, have proposed ordinance updates that would result in enforcement finally beginning. But the initiative’s chief backer says the changes include too many exemptions from the rules that risk thwarting voters’ intent.
A City Council committee, citing those concerns, decided last week to postpone a vote advancing the changes to the full council.
While the requirements technically have been in place since they were approved in the November 2022 election, city officials have been working to formally implement them since then. Now, they’re recommending some changes and exemptions in an effort to balance the climate-friendly goals of the ordinance with business interests.
“The mayor has been clear on this point. He believes you can be both a climate-friendly city and a business-friendly city, and those are not in conflict,” said Jonathan Wachtel, the deputy executive director of the Denver Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency.
But GreenLatinos, an environmental advocacy group whose leader put the “Waste No More” measure on the ballot, says the suggested changes aren’t in line with what voters approved.
“This isn’t what the Denver voters want,” said Ean Tafoya, who was campaign director for the initiative. “Denver voters want action now, not delays.”
Following a presentation by the Office of Climate Action on May 7, Councilwoman Flor Alvidrez raised the concerns from GreenLatinos and asked to postpone the item until May 21.
Under the new recommended city rules, enforcement — which initially was supposed to roll out in phases on long-passed dates — would begin all at once in April 2026.
The voter-approved ordinance, which passed with about 71% of the vote — requires apartments, restaurants, commercial buildings and permitted events to provide recycling and composting services. Construction and demolition projects are also required to separate and recycle all recyclable materials, including concrete, asphalt and scrap metal.
The entities in charge of a property or event are required to pay for the access and pickup of recycling and composting.
The city provides composting and recycling pickup only for single-family homes and residential buildings with up to seven units.
In 2023, the mayor’s office convened a task force to make recommendations on how to implement it. It’s typical for local and state governments to make tweaks to citizen ballot initiatives once they’re approved to ensure they’re pragmatic or enforceable.
But Tafoya says many of the city’s new suggestions weren’t included in the group’s final report.
Under the city’s recommended guidelines, restaurants that bring in less than $2 million in revenue and have 25 or fewer employees would be totally exempt from the requirements. About 16% of the restaurants in Denver fall under those thresholds, said Tim Hoffman, director of policy for the mayor’s office.
That’s one of the biggest points of contention for GreenLatinos, Tafoya said.
“Businesses can be profitable and small businesses and do the right thing with waste diversion,” he said.
The city also suggests construction and demolition sites would be required to divert 50% of the waste generated on their sites away from landfills. Small projects, like construction sites of less than 500 square feet or interior remodels of less than 2,500 square feet, would be exempt. Other exemptions would include projects involving hazardous materials or emergency orders.
Multifamily residential buildings would be able to apply for exemptions for challenges like space constraints and the inability to secure a service provider for the waste.
Several categories, including multifamily residential buildings and special events, would offer exemptions if the property or event produces extremely small amounts of waste. Tafoya said he wants that to be better defined.
Special events drawing fewer than 350 people would also be exempt.
Properties and events would be required to create a compliant waste management plan and put up signage. They would also be susceptible to a fine of up to $999 for failure to comply.
“This is an education-first approach to enforcement,” Wachtel said. “There is an action the city can take if we have someone that just doesn’t want to respond to education and outreach.”
Most of the entities impacted would be able to claim that they couldn’t meet the requirements because they posed an undue financial burden and apply for an individual exemption.
Tafoya and GreenLatinos planned to meet Wednesday with council members to discuss their concerns further ahead of next week’s meeting of the Business, Arts, Workforce, Climate and Aviation Services Committee.
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