Uncommon Knowledge
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California is trialing alternatives to the gas tax in a bid to raise highway funding, which has been severely depleted by the popularity of electric cars.
The state currently taxes drivers on the gasoline they buy, with Californians on average paying about $300 a year.
This critical gas tax is used to support road maintenance and other transportation projects, with approximately 80 percent of highway and road repairs being funded by it, according to the California Department of Transportation.
Meanwhile, electric car owners pay an annual tax for road repairs, but this comes to about a third of the average gas tax, according to Caltrans’ Road Charge Program.
“What’s happening right now as we see this growth in different types of vehicles… we’re seeing this increasing unfairness in what people are paying,” Lauren Prehoda, manager of the program, told the Los Angeles Times.
The new pilot program will pay Californian drivers of any vehicle type up to $400 to test alternative options for six months starting in August.
It aims to switch from taxing drivers based on fuel consumption to taxing them based on how many miles they drive.
The program will test two alternative taxes, either a flat per-mile rate or an individual rate based on a vehicle’s fuel efficiency, Prehoda told the Times.
The new pilot is the fourth of its kind, as the state continues to try to adapt to the rising numbers of electric cars on the roads.
Drivers in California bought a record number of new electric cars in 2023, a total of 446,961, which was a 29% increase from the previous year, according to nonprofit Veloz and the California Energy Commission.
The state will also ban the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles from 2035 in an effort to reduce impact on climate change.
The new pilot, which is seeking about 800 participants, will focus on testing the collection process and how reliable and fair it is, Prehoda said.
Californian drivers who are interested in joining the pilot scheme are encouraged to sign up online.
People will be told if they have been selected for the scheme in July, and will be asked to register online and select a method for reporting their miles.
Prehoda told the outlet that there will be three different ways to report miles.
“Some are very low tech, some have a location-sharing aspect. It’s up to you to choose what you do,” she said.
She encourages people to sign up to help improve the tax system, and in turn help improve California’s roads.
“This is your opportunity to figure this out together with us; to solve an issue that the state of California has,” Prehoda said, per the Times. “We all need good roads to get around.”
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Public officials in Truckee are warning residents and visitors that wolf activity has been recorded in the area.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s wolf tracking map recently updated to show some activity both above and below the Interstate 80 corridor through the Truckee area.
Truckee authorities released a statement over the weekend prompted by the map, encouraging residents to be alert.
In particular, authorities say pet and livestock owners in the area should be paying closer attention to their animals – especially around the early morning and evening hours.
Truckee police noted that there have been no confirmed wolf encounters within city limits.
Wolf activity has been increasing in California as the wild animals make a comeback in the state. Most of the recorded wolf activity has been in the counties further north, closer to the Oregon border.
With the increasing activity has also come increasing clashes between wolves and livestock. Ranchers have voiced their frustration over mounting kills attributed to wolves, with livestock owners having little recourse due to the wolf being a protected animal.
California Fish and Wildlife debuted a wolf-tracking map in 2025 to help ranchers monitor activity.
Exact numbers in California vary, but wildlife officials have said the state’s population has surged to between 50 to 70 wolves in a decade.
LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — Property records show that the Northeast Las Vegas home raided by the FBI and Las Vegas police is owned by an LLC linked to a similar biolab operation in California.
In October 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the arrest of Jia Bei Zhu, a 62-year-old Chinese citizen also known as Jesse Zhu, Qiang He, and David He.
Zhu, who previously lived in Clovis, was arrested on charges of manufacturing and distributing misbranded medical devices in violation of the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as well as making false statements to the Food and Drug Administration.
David He, also known as Jia Bei Zhu, and his romantic and business partner, Zhaoyan Wang, are listed in property records as owners of the Sugar Springs residence, where hazardous materials teams began their investigation Saturday morning.
According to court documents, between December 2020 and March 2023, Zhu and Wang allegedly manufactured, imported, sold, and distributed hundreds of thousands of test kits—including COVID-19, HIV, pregnancy, clinical urinalysis, and other diagnostic tests—in the United States and China.
The activity was carried out through Universal Meditech Incorporated and Prestige Biotech Incorporated, companies based in Fresno and Reedley, California.
On December 18, 2022, Reedley Code Enforcement received a complaint about non-permitted plumbing visible from outside Prestige Biotech’s warehouse. The following day, officials were granted access to the facility, where they observed various in vitro diagnostic (IVD) test kits, manufacturing equipment, and shipping supplies. Several employees were seen packaging test kits for shipment.
According to the criminal complaint, investigators allege Zhu made multiple false statements to FDA officials during the investigation. Among other claims, Zhu said his name was Qiang “David” He; that he was hired by Universal Meditech as a COVID-19 consultant in 2021; and that he had been recently hired by Prestige Biotech to communicate with government agencies and dispose of warehouse property at their request. He also claimed he had no knowledge of either company’s manufacturing or distribution activities and denied awareness of an Amazon listing for PBI-branded pregnancy test kits or a shipment of 47,500 pregnancy test kits imported from China to UMI at a Las Vegas address.
In a report by the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party examining the Reedley biolab, investigators said they observed blood, tissue, and other bodily fluid samples, along with serums. The report also noted the presence of thousands of vials containing unlabeled fluids and suspected biological material.
Investigators further discovered approximately 1,000 mice kept in inhumane, overcrowded conditions. A worker who appeared to be in charge claimed the animals were transgenic—genetically engineered to simulate the human immune system and capable of catching and carrying the COVID-19 virus.
In Las Vegas, Sheriff Kevin McMahill said the suspect’s name would not be released but emphasized there is no threat to the public and that the incident is isolated.
A 59-vehicle pile-up shut down a main California highway Saturday morning as fog severely limited visibility.
The crash happened on Highway 99, nearly 40 miles north of Bakersfield, in Tulare County. The area, located in California’s Central Valley, is known as a top producer of agriculture.
CHP officers said there was an initial crash on each side of the highway, which was followed by a series of other crashes, with 59 vehicles involved in total.
Fog limited visibility in the area to about 150-200 feet, the CHP said.
The highway was closed in both directions until about 2:30 p.m. as crews worked to clear the scene. It’s a major highway that stretches the entire length of the Central Valley.
Officials said multiple people suffered minor to moderate injuries.
The CHP said drivers should slow down, increase their following distance and remain alert, especially in low-visibility or congested areas.
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