California
Before Santa Rosa Plaza, a beloved theater stood in its place
Fifty years ago, a determined group of local citizens formed a committee in an attempt to “save the Cal,” Santa Rosa’s historic California Theatre threatened by the city’s downtown urban renewal.
The old theater was built just over a century ago, with construction beginning around mid-1923 on B Street.
“It will be one of the finest theaters in any small city in the country,” said general contractor A. M. Hildebrandt in a Nov. 16, 1923, article in The Press Democrat. “In construction it meets every requirement set by San Francisco standards, the highest in the country, and in other ways it will compare favorably with any like theater.”
Originally called the Reavis G & S Theatre, the $200,000 playhouse would include 2,000 seats, blue velvet drapes, a heating and ventilation system, 17 fire-proof dressing rooms, a $20,000 Wurlitzer organ and other elaborate, modern fixtures (save for the “asbestos curtains”).
The grand opening was held on Dec. 3, 1923, with a showing of the play “Blossom Time,” to which 2,000 people crowded the theater to see, according to the next day’s Press Democrat. The theater offered varied types of entertainment over the years, from plays and vaudeville performances to films and music concerts.
In January 1926, the G & S Theatre had been redecorated, refurnished and renamed as the California Theatre under new management, West Coast Theaters, Inc.
Over 3,000 people attended the Jan. 21 reopening of the renovated theater, which included a song and dance revue called “Salad Ideas” by dancing duo Fanchon and Marco, as well as a “Charleston Contest” and screening of the Constance Talmadge film “Her Sister From Paris,” according to the Jan. 22, 1926, Press Democrat.
The California Theatre was remodeled again in 1932 as “now one of the finest (theaters) on the Pacific Coast,” boasted the Sept. 20, 1932, Press Democrat. Sen. Herbert W. Slater gave the dedication address at the gala reopening, which included a showing of the film “Guilty as Hell.”
After years of entertaining the local masses, the Santa Rosa Urban Redevelopment Agency made plans in the early 1970s to raze the landmark theater along with other old buildings on B Street to make way for a new shopping center. According to santarosahistory.com, locals formed a committee and launched a “Save the Cal” campaign on July 18, 1974, to get a proposition on the November ballot to preserve the historic buildings, which also included the city’s old post office and the Scottish Rite building.
An ad from the committee in the July 21, 1974, Press Democrat urged readers to “voice your desire and interest in saving and renovating this theatre” and “to decide the future character of their city.” In addition to saving the Cal, the citizens’ committee hoped to integrate it with a cultural arts center.
“Saving the Cal may mean saving the city from becoming a concrete jungle,” the ad pleaded.
After some years of public debate, inspections, petitions and lawsuits, Superior Court judge Joseph P. Murphy Jr. made a ruling blocking referendums from both pro-mall and pro-Cal groups due to a conflict with state law on redevelopment. The public wasn’t allowed a vote on whether they wanted to preserve the historic B Street buildings or to build a shopping mall.
The California Theatre held its last show on July 5, 1977, and the following month it sold its organ, seats, ticket booth and other items in a liquidation sale. The Cal was torn down in November 1977 and the Santa Rosa Plaza mall began construction in its place. In 1981, Macy’s department store, the first of the mall’s shops, opened where the Cal once stood.
Santa Rosa’s current, nonprofit California Theatre opened on Seventh Street in September 2022 to continue the legacy of the city’s original Cal Theatre.
Redwood Valley, Calif. — A 5.6 magnitude earthquake shook Northern California on Wednesday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake was centered 7 miles north of Redwood Valley in Mendocino County, north of Ukiah, and east of Highway 101. It had a depth of 5.0 miles.
A ShakeAlert notification went off on many people’s phones moments before the earthquake hit at 8:10 a.m., initially forecasted as a 6.1 magnitude quake by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and downgraded moments later.
People across Northern California felt the quake. Reports came in from as far away as Eureka, Redding, Sacramento, and the Bay Area. Most people reported light to moderate rolling and shaking.
Since the initial quake, several aftershocks have hit the same area. Three smaller quakes between 2.6-2.7 magnitude were detected in the same area between 8:17 a.m. and 9:06 a.m., and are expected to continue.
So far, there have not been any reports of major damage or injuries.
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California
DOJ charges 10 Southern California defendants in largest federal healthcare fraud crackdown in US history
Laura Ingraham: Fraudsters beware!
The Department of Justice announces the largest healthcare fraud takedown in U.S. history, charging 455 defendants across 45 states. They allegedly stole $6.5 billion from Medicare and Medicaid through wound care schemes and other fraudulent claims. Some funds were used for luxury homes and vehicles like a $135,000 Maserati.
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Federal authorities on Tuesday charged 10 Southern California defendants in a series of healthcare fraud schemes, including one case involving nearly $270 million in fraudulent Medi-Cal claims and another that allegedly defrauded Medicare out of approximately $27 million.
The charges were part of the Justice Department’s broader “2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown,” which resulted in charges against 455 defendants nationwide in schemes involving more than $6.5 billion in alleged fraud.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche described the operation as “the greatest combined federal and state effort in combating healthcare fraud in history.”
“Fraudsters can no longer rip off American taxpayers,” Blanche said during a news conference announcing the initiative. “If you seek to harm or cheat Americans, we will find you, seize any assets and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
FBI ADDS 2 FUGITIVES TO ‘MOST WANTED FRAUDSTERS’ LIST AMID HISTORIC $6.5B HEALTHCARE TAKEDOWN: PATEL
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks during a news conference announcing what federal officials described as the largest healthcare fraud takedown in U.S. history, resulting in charges against 455 defendants nationwide. (Ken Cedeno / AFP via Getty Images)
In the Central District of California, federal prosecutors brought criminal charges against 10 defendants accused of defrauding government-funded healthcare programs or abusing their positions as medical professionals to illegally prescribe controlled substances.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said five individuals were arrested in the greater Los Angeles area for allegedly participating in a scheme that involved submitting nearly $270 million in fraudulent claims to Medi-Cal for expensive prescription drugs.
Among those charged was Christina Mareik, 61, also known as Christina Marie Sanchez Hernandez, of Whittier.
HOSPICE FRAUD USES STOLEN IDENTITIES FOR FAKE PATIENTS
The Justice Department announced charges against 10 Southern California defendants in connection with multiple healthcare fraud schemes. (Department of Justice)
Prosecutors allege Mareik helped facilitate fraudulent prescriptions that generated nearly $270 million in claims to Medi-Cal, which ultimately paid out more than $178 million.
According to prosecutors, the claims involved expensive drugs containing low-cost generic ingredients that were either not medically necessary or were never provided to the purported recipients.
Authorities said Mareik also sent thousands of fraudulent prescriptions to a co-conspirator and caused the submission of fraudulent prescriptions under her own name.
LOS ANGELES HOSPICE FRAUD REACHES BILLIONS AS MEDICARE PROVIDERS SCAM FEDERAL SYSTEM WITH FAKE COMPANIES
Federal prosecutors allege Southern California defendants participated in schemes that defrauded Medicare and Medi-Cal of hundreds of millions of dollars. (Department of Justice)
Mareik was arrested June 17 and charged with healthcare fraud.
The charges also include a San Fernando Valley man accused of operating hospice care companies that fraudulently billed Medicare approximately $27 million, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors also charged Oren David Shachar, 59, of Van Nuys; Abraham Shin, 66, of Corona; and Jeannie Choi, 57, of Torrance.
The three defendants face a 16-count indictment alleging they conspired to defraud Medicare out of approximately $27 million.
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The charges include conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, healthcare fraud, aggravated identity theft, monetary transactions involving criminally derived property exceeding $10,000, and violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute.
Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
The IPOs of SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic could deliver billions of dollars to California’s coffers.
We’ve seen this movie before.
In 2022, California recorded a nearly $100 billion surplus, saved just $10 billion in its rainy day fund and then spent the rest. Two years later, a $56 billion deficit loomed.
Now, with the state facing ongoing operating deficits of more than $10 billion, we’re back in familiar territory.
The coming IPO windfall is a rare second chance. But we’ll only benefit from it if we first fix the structural flaw that’s caused us to squander every previous boom — a budget reserve that isn’t built to hold what we put in it.
The stakes this time are higher than ever. The war in Iran raised recession risk, and the federal government is systematically dismantling the funding streams California has depended on for decades.
When Washington retreats, Sacramento has to choose: cut services, raise taxes or have enough saved to bridge the gap. Right now, we don’t have enough saved.
We’re not outside observers wringing our hands. We helped shape the fiscal architecture the state is now straining against, and we’re here to say: It needs to be rebuilt.
As California state controller, one of us campaigned alongside Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to pass Proposition 58 in 2004 — creating California’s first Budget Stabilization Account. The other authored the Assembly Constitutional Amendment that became Proposition 2 in 2014 — the stronger, harder-to-raid replacement that voters approved with 69% support.
California’s tax system is the envy of progressive states and the nightmare of budget directors. We tax the wealthy at high rates, capture enormous capital gains revenue in boom years and then discover — every single time — that the peak doesn’t last.
If California treats the IPO windfall from SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI as permanent revenue, our state would repeat exactly the mistake we made four years ago.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and Assemblymember Avelino Valencia have each proposed important reforms to strengthen the fund. First, they call for requiring the state to make deposits until the fund reaches 20% of the general fund total, rather than the current 10%. Second, they propose changing an arcane accounting rule that treats saving for future downturns as spending.
We see one additional opportunity to make the rainy day fund even stronger.
If we want a larger budget reserve, we have to do more than merely allow it — we need to require it. Proposition 58 taught us everything we need to know on this front: Between 2004 and 2014, with that proposition fund in place, only two deposits were made. If we want consistent deposits during the boom times, they can’t be optional.
These reforms should be a win-win for the California Legislature. A larger reserve is the most durable protection that public sector workers, social service recipients and education advocates have against the kind of emergency cuts that have repeatedly gutted programs during downturns.
It’s also the strongest argument against tax increases in a recession because you don’t need to raise taxes if you actually save during the booms.
Building a stronger rainy day fund isn’t the cautious choice. It’s the visionary one — the closest thing we have to investing in the next generation of Californians.
We built the last rainy day fund because we’d lived through the consequences of not having one. We’re making the same argument again, for the same reason except now the stakes are higher. This time, the federal backstop is weaker, and the next storm is closer than it looks.
Fix the fund this year. The next generation of Californians will thank us for it.
Mike Gatto served in the state Assembly between 2010 and 2016, and he authored the measure that created California’s current rainy day fund. Steve Westly served as state controller between 2003 and 2007, and he co-championed Proposition 58, California’s original rainy day fund. Westly chairs the 21st Century Alliance, a nonpartisan organization focused on solutions to the state’s most pressing challenges.
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