California
California Bill Would Require Landlords to Accept Pets | KQED
“There were very few places that were pet friendly, and those that were pet friendly wanted pet rent, plus a pet deposit, plus only one pet allowed,” she said. “At one point, I thought I was going to be living in my car with my pets.”
Goolsby went as far as creating resumes for her small dogs, listing their behavior classes and vaccinations in an effort to win over landlords. When she finally found one who’d accept her, she had to put down an additional $500 pet deposit and pay $120 a month in pet rent.
“The rent was already high,” she said, “and the pet rent definitely didn’t help.”
Goolsby now has four dogs, seven cats, a fish and a bird. But Haney said his legislation would likely limit the number of pets landlords must accept and allow landlords to require pet liability insurance. Details on how many pets would be covered under the bill are still being worked out.
“What we see too often is just these blanket prohibitions of pets with no good reason for it, with no required justification for it and no protection of pet owners, who represent the majority of California’s renters, to be able to access housing just like anyone else,” Haney said.
Jenny Berg, California director for the Humane Society of the United States, said added fees and outright bans contribute to an overcrowding crisis at animal shelters in California and nationwide.
“One of the reasons that people relinquish their pets is because they can’t find affordable housing or housing at all that can accommodate their pets,” she said.
Gulbransen was relieved to hear the law only applies to common household pets — she heard an anecdote about a tenant who tried to pass off a tiger as a large cat — but is otherwise dismayed by the possibility of more regulations.
She said property owners are reeling from the stack of new local and state laws approved in recent years.
“When you put them all into a package, it’s so rife with possibilities for errors on the part of the landlord,” Gulbransen said. “That makes people think twice about renting out that empty unit.”
Plus, she said the state already has laws in place to protect renters with disabilities or mental health issues who rely on emotional support or service animals.
But Julia Howard-Gibbon, supervising attorney at Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California, sees room for improvement. Many renters with assistance animals aren’t aware of their right to request exceptions to policies prohibiting pets.
“Or sometimes they do know, but the landlord really pushes back on that,” she said, noting that property owners sometimes request unreasonable documentation or otherwise make the process unnecessarily onerous.
Oftentimes, Howard-Gibbon said landlords simply reject assistance animals outright. A 2021 investigation (PDF) by Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California found that 55% of properties with “no pets” policies they surveyed were unwilling to grant reasonable accommodations for people who need assistance animals.
Haney’s proposal could fix that, Howard-Gibbon said. “It would remove all of these barriers that they face in getting these reasonable accommodations, even though they currently have a right under the current law to access them.”
California is returning a stretch of rugged Mendocino County coast to the Indigenous nations whose ancestors once stewarded its shores.
State transportation officials recently approved the transfer of Blues Beach and the surrounding bluffs to Kai Poma, a nonprofit founded by representatives of the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians, Round Valley Indian Tribes and Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians.
The transfer of 136 acres just south of the community of Westport will mark the first time land managed by the California Department of Transportation has been returned to Indigenous tribes.
“This is beyond huge,” said J. Carlos Rivera, tribal chairman of the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians. “It’s enormous from our tribal perspective that we are basically obtaining the land that our people once lived on before colonization.”
California purchased the swath of rocky cliffs and windswept shoreline in the 1960s to expand the construction of Highway 1 and create a scenic viewpoint for highway travelers, according to a California Coastal Commission report.
More recently, public access has been largely unregulated, and summer weekends and holidays have drawn large groups who camp and party on the beach, at times driving through sensitive areas, damaging cultural sites and leaving behind trash, the report states.
Kai Poma plans to conduct cultural and archaeological resource studies and environmental surveys and then prepare a resource management plan for the property, according to planning documents. The nonprofit and the Coastal Commission have drafted a public access management plan that states the land will be open from sunrise to sunset.
Rivera described the entire property as a sacred site. The coastal waters are used by tribal people for seaweed and abalone gathering, and the shores host youth cultural camps, he said. “Protecting the land, it has a deeper meaning for us because we’re connected to the land,” he said.
The effort to acquire the land took years — and required a change in state law. Caltrans lacked the ability to transfer land to tribal governments until 2021, when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill sponsored by state Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) that enabled the transfer, according to a news release issued at the time. The law also bars commercial activity on the property and requires public access be maintained.
“With 136 acres now officially transferred into tribal stewardship, one of the most spectacular stretches of the Mendocino Coast will be forever protected,” McGuire said in a statement.
“This agreement, the first of its kind in California, gives these three dynamic Native American tribes the rightful opportunity to reclaim sacred lands and cultural traditions on this special piece of earth. And it’s about damn time.”
The land transfer cleared its last regulatory hurdle June 26 with the approval by the California Transportation Commission, said Neil Thapar, an attorney who works as an advisor and legal consultant to Kai Poma. Caltrans staff will next record the deed transferring the title from the state of California to Kai Poma, which is expected to happen any day, he said.
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With July 4 falling on a Saturday this year, many businesses and organizations are taking the day off Friday, July 3, to mark America’s 250th birthday. From banking to mail service, here’s what’s open and closed for the holiday weekend.
Most federal offices closed, mail service to continue
Non-essential federal offices will be closed on July 3. However, mail service will continue as normal, and post offices are scheduled to remain open.
Most California government offices to remain open
Most California government offices will be open on July 3, with some exceptions.
DMV offices throughout the state will be open. However, the Employment Development Department will be closed.
DMV offices that offer Saturday hours will be closed on July 4.
Private parcel services to remain open
UPS and FedEx are both scheduled to operate normally on July 3, but will suspend service on July 4.
Stock markets closed
Both the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq will be closed on July 3.
Most banks to stay open
While most banks were expected to operate normally on July 3, some may operate under modified holiday hours. All banks will be closed on July 4.
Online banking services should remain operational.
Grocery stores
Most major grocery chains will be open on both July 3 and July 4. Trader Joe’s locations will be open for regular business on July 3 but will close early at 5 p.m. on the Fourth of July.
Retailers
Many major retail stores, such as Walmart and Target, plan to operate under normal business hours on both July 3 and 4. All Costco warehouse stores operate under normal business hours on July 3, but will close on July 4.
Restaurants
Most major restaurant chains remain open on July 4, but some will have limited hours. All Raising Cane’s locations will close on July 4.
Bruce Lee Day aims to honour the San Francisco-born martial arts legend as a cultural bridge and Asian-American icon.
Published On 2 Jul 2026
Martial arts icon Bruce Lee will become the first Chinese American in California history to be honoured with an annual namesake day.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law on Tuesday afternoon, officially designating May 17 as Bruce Lee Day.
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Lee was born in San Francisco in 1940 and returned to the city on May 17, 1959, aged 18, after spending his childhood in Hong Kong.
His daughter, Shannon Lee, CEO of the Bruce Lee Foundation, said the honour reflects her father’s enduring legacy as a bridge between cultures.
“From young people who found confidence and possibility in his philosophy, to families who finally saw themselves represented on screen, to athletes who still draw on his teachings of discipline and inner strength, his reach is profound,” she said in a statement.
State Assembly member Matt Haney, who represents San Francisco, called Lee the “epitome of the best of California”.
“At a time when Asian Americans were too often absent from or stereotyped on screen, Bruce Lee helped generations see themselves represented with strength and dignity,” he said.
The Bruce Lee Foundation and Asian-American groups hope Bruce Lee will be celebrated each year with voluntary activities, including cultural exhibits, public events and classroom lessons.
Born to Chinese parents touring the US with an opera, Lee held birthright citizenship. He moved to Hong Kong as an infant, became a child actor, and studied Chinese kung fu before returning to the US in 1959.
He enrolled at the University of Washington in Seattle in 1961, but dropped out to teach martial arts.
In the 1960s, Lee appeared in Hollywood, most notably as Kato in the TV series The Green Hornet, but said studios typecast him in racist roles and paid him less than white actors.
He returned to Hong Kong and starred in martial arts films, including The Big Boss and Fist of Fury.
Lee died tragically in 1973 at the age of 32 after an allergic reaction to pain medication.
His name and likeness remain widely popular.
Fans gather on his birthday, and a treatment he wrote for a television series inspired the HBO Max show “Warrior”.
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