California
California recommends changes to leasing properties under freeways after major fire
LOS ANGELES — Three months after an arson fire at a state-leased storage space shut down a major Los Angeles freeway, California transportation officials are recommending changes to the leasing program that would explicitly ban storage of hazardous materials like wood pallets and gasoline and provide more scrutiny of people who want to rent out the properties.
The state should require any individual who wants to lease one of the 600 available state-owned properties under roadways to attest they haven’t entered into bankruptcy in the past 10 years and are not embroiled in legal actions related to other properties, the head of the California Department of Transportation, or Caltrans, said Tuesday in recommendations to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The man who leased the property under Interstate 10 that caught fire had filed for bankruptcy twice since 2016 and was the target of several legal filings related to other sites he managed, Associated Press reporting found. The state is fighting to evict Ahmad Anthony Nowaid and scores of tenants subleasing through him in violation of his contracts with Caltrans, according to court records.
Nowaid and his attorney haven’t responded to multiple calls and emails seeking comment.
The Nov. 11 blaze quickly spread, fueled by wooden pallets, supplies of hand sanitizer and other flammable materials stored there in violation of the lease contract. Officials said it was a case of arson. No one has been arrested.
Caltrans director Tony Tavares wrote in a memo Tuesday that his agency had completed a review of all 600 properties around and under roadways that the state leases to firms and individuals. The agency recommended the state explicitly prohibit any storage of flammable or hazardous items and define more clearly what constitutes dangerous materials, he said.
The overhauls are meant to “ensure the lease agreements governing each property are up-to-date and reflective of potential risks, streamline enforcement of lease terms and allow Caltrans to more quickly address risks,” Tavares wrote.
The governor’s office didn’t immediately respond to an email Wednesday seeking comment on the changes Caltrans is proposing.
Since the fire, Caltrans has inspected 47 sites, most of which were identified as potentially high-risk and some that have more than one parcel. Of these parcels, more than three quarters failed their inspections. The reasons for failure ranged from the presence of combustible materials to faulty wiring and more.
Some inspections found “several issues presenting fire or safety risks” and other potential lease violations, Tuesday’s memo said. One tenant was keeping propane tanks, others were storing vehicles and several more had improperly stored lumber or wooden pallets, inspectors found.
Among materials that should be prohibited: “Oil, gasoline, lumber, pallets, wood, wood chips, landscaping materials, non-operable vehicles, plastic piping/tubing, tires, paper/paper products, fabrics, batteries, and chemicals/cleaning supplies in industrial quantity,” Caltrans said.
Following the inferno, Newsom ordered a review of all the so-called “airspace” sites that Caltrans has leased around roadways. The program dates back to the 1960s and most of the properties have been used for parking lots, cellphone towers, open storage and warehouses. The lots range anywhere from a few hundred to thousands of square feet, and they are concentrated in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area.
The airspace leases have brought in more than $170 million for public transportation over the past five years.
The agency said its review of airspace leases is ongoing and “will take into account both the benefits and risks of the program, as well as explore potential program improvements to mitigate risks.”
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Associated Press data reporter Kavish Harjai in Los Angeles contributed.
California
California sheriff running for governor seizes over 650,000 ballots from 2025 election
A California sheriff who is running as a Republican for governor has seized more than 650,000 ballots from last year’s election, escalating an ongoing conflict with state officials.
Chad Bianco, Riverside county’s sheriff, says he is carrying out an investigation into allegations that ballots were unlawfully cast in last year’s election that resulted in the passage of Proposition 50. The proposition redrew congressional districts to help gerrymander the state in favor of Democrats, in response to similar measures in Republican states like Texas.
Election officials and the California attorney general, Rob Bonta, have both dismissed those allegations. The discrepancy between the machine count and the final count submitted to the state is only 103 votes, according to the Riverside Record.
Bianco’s investigators obtained the ballots after serving the registrar of voters with search warrants last month, he said Friday at a press conference. A Riverside superior court judge appointed a special master to count the ballots, Bianco said.
“This investigation is simple: physically count the ballots and compare that result with the total votes recorded,” Bianco said.
Bianco has pushed the investigation for months, after a group called the Riverside Election Integrity Team, composed of local residents, contended that a discrepancy of 45,896 votes exists between the final vote count and handwritten records that tallied hand-counted ballots.
“There is no indication, anywhere in the United States, of widespread voter fraud,” Bonta said in a statement, according to the Los Angeles Times. “Counts, recounts, hand counts, audits, and court cases all support this.”
Bonta, a Democrat, called Bianco’s move unprecedented and says it is designed to sow distrust in elections.
Bianco is one of the two most prominent Republicans running in California’s crowded gubernatorial primary that includes more than half a dozen Democrats. California runs a top-two primary system that puts all candidates on the same ballot, regardless of party, and sends the two candidates who get the most voters on to the November general election.
Bonta has repeatedly sent letters to Bianco’s office over the last two months saying his staff is not qualified to conduct a recount. In one of the letters, Bonta wrote that the ballot seizure was “unacceptable” and “sets a dangerous precedent and will only sow distrust in our elections”.
California voters last year decisively passed the redistricting ballot initiative championed by Gavin Newsom, the state’s governor, in response to Donald Trump’s attempts to gerrymander new conservative seats in red states. California Republicans, joined by the Trump administration, challenged the measure, but the US supreme court denied an emergency petition to keep the new maps from moving forward.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
California
California warns against Fresno company’s raw cheddar after multistate E. coli outbreak
Saturday, March 21, 2026 11:35PM
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — The California Department of Public Health is advising consumers and businesses not to eat, serve, or sell raw cheddar cheese manufactured and distributed by Fresno-based company ‘RAW FARM.’
The products involved are “RAW FARM” block and shredded varieties from the facility located on Jameson Avenue.
The Food and Drug Administration says at least seven people total have gotten sick in Texas, California, and Florida. More than half of the illnesses are in children.
The FDA has suggested that the farm remove its raw cheese products from the market. The CDC is suggesting people consider not eating the cheese.
However, the company has declined, while also refusing to comply with a mandatory recall.
More information on the outbreak can be found on the FDA’s and CDC’s websites.
Copyright © 2026 KFSN-TV. All Rights Reserved.
California
I booked a bedroom and a roomette on the same overnight Amtrak train. The bedroom is worth the splurge for longer rides.
If you’re traveling somewhere between Chicago and San Francisco, I highly suggest making a trip of it by taking the California Zephyr, an incredibly scenic overnight Amtrak train through the American West.
I’ve ridden it twice. In January 2025, I took a 15-hour leg of the route from Denver to Salt Lake City and booked a roomette for $400. Then, in February 2026, I took the entire 53-hour journey from Chicago to Emeryville, California, and booked a bedroom for $2,200.
If you’re wondering if the bedroom was worth the upgrade, I think it depends on how long your trip is. But I’ll give you all the details so you can decide for yourself.
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