California
California to give newborns free diapers. What it means for families
Top moments from CNN California governor debate recap
Breaking down key takeaways, highlights, and analysis from the CNN California governor debate, including standout moments and candidate contrasts.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that newborn babies in California will start receiving free diapers as part of a new “first-in-the-nation” initiative to support families across the state with the rising cost of living.
Newsom, along with state leaders, met in San Francisco on Friday, May 8 to unveil California’s new partnership with Baby2Baby, a national nonprofit that provides diapers to children in need, and to explain how this new program will provide families with 400 “high-quality” diapers before they leave the hospital.
Over the last six years, families have seen the average cost of diapers increase by 45% or “thousands plus dollars a year,” which has made raising a family unattainable for some, Newsom said during the press conference.
“Every baby born in California deserves a healthy start in life — and that means making sure parents have the basics they need from day one,” Newsom said. “One out of four families skip meals in order to pay for diapers.”
“The biggest problem defined universally, in our cities, our state and our nation, is the issue of affordability. This is what affordability looks like; it’s not a slogan, it’s a box. A box of diapers,” Newsom added.
This new effort will be known as Golden State Start, as California uses its bulk purchasing power to obtain 40 million high-quality diapers in hopes of easing financial strain for families and supporting infant health by helping parents maintain an adequate supply of clean diapers.
“The first days at home with a newborn should be focused on the love, connection, and joy of an expanded family, not stress about affording diapers,” said Kim Johnson, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency. “This program helps ensure families can begin that journey with greater stability and peace of mind.”
The program is expected to start at the beginning of this summer in participating California hospitals. The list of participating hospitals was not released at the time of publication, but Newsom noted that the state was in talks with at least 60 hospitals across California.
During the first year of the program, CalRx and Baby2Baby noted that they would prioritize hospitals that serve large numbers of Medi-Cal patients to ensure low-income families benefit early from the program. The state plans to scale the program to additional hospitals and birthing centers over time.
Newsom noted that this program is expected to grow: In 2027, the state is set to purchase 80 million diapers from manufacturers, with the goal of eventually purchasing up to 160 million.
“California families deserve to feel supported during one of life’s more exciting, yet vulnerable transitions,” Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the first partner, said in a press release. “Golden State Start will deliver immediate relief, allowing parents to focus on what matters most — caring for their newborn. Together with Baby2Baby, we can ease the financial burden on California parents while supporting healthier outcomes for babies and their mothers.”
Noe Padilla is a Northern California Reporter for USA Today. Contact him at npadilla@usatodayco.com, follow him on X @1NoePadilla or on Bluesky @noepadilla.bsky.social. Sign up for the TODAY Californian newsletter or follow us on Facebook at TODAY Californian.
California
California Tesla driver seen napping behind wheel on Interstate 5
Cellphone footage appears to capture the driver of a moving Tesla snoozing behind the wheel on a Southern California highway Sunday.
The incident, according to the motorist who recorded the footage and sent it to KTLA, occurred in the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 near Camp Pendleton.
In the footage, the driver’s head appears tilted to the right as the vehicle, likely in self-driving mode, traveled down the roadway. Occupants of the vehicle who spotted the sleepy driver can be heard laughing during the ordeal.
The video ends before the driver’s apparent nap does.
This is not the first time Tesla drivers have been caught mid-snooze. As far back as February 2023, video obtained by KTLA showed two separate drivers sleeping behind the wheel in the span of a week, one in Los Angeles and the other in Temecula.
More recently, KTLA’s San Francisco sister station KRON obtained footage of an East Bay driver apparently asleep behind the wheel of a Tesla Model 4 while on Highway 4 in March.
Per Tesla’s guidelines, drivers using the vehicle’s Full Self-Driving mode are required to remain attentive and ready to take control of the car at any moment.
In past incidents, the California Highway Patrol told KTLA that drivers must be awake, conscious and sober to legally operate a moving vehicle.
There have been arrests of drivers filmed sleeping in moving Teslas, though it is unclear whether witnesses in this incident contacted authorities.
The electric vehicle maker has been at the center of numerous controversies but remains the top-selling brand in California for the fourth year in a row. The Tesla Model Y far outsold any other new vehicle in the state in 2025.
California
Nature: Cormorants in California
California
Raman closes in on Pratt as more votes in L.A. mayor’s race are tallied
Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman cut deeper into the lead of reality television personality Spencer Pratt on Saturday, as his lead slimmed to just a single percentage point.
Pratt fell to just over 27% of the vote while Raman jumped up to slightly over 26%, according to the results from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder. Pratt now leads Raman by just 7,494 votes.
“We’ve seen Nithya Raman catching up on every update and the last two in particular she’s accelerated,” said Paul Mitchell, vice president of the bipartisan voter data firm Political Data Inc. “She’s continued to gain at a rate that means she will eventually catch up unless Pratt starts getting some ballots coming in that are either geographically or demographically better for him.”
Democratic consultant Michael Trujillo, who doesn’t represent anyone in the mayoral race, said the results suggest Raman will surpass Pratt as more votes are counted.
“I think it’s over,” Trujillo said. “It appears Nithya will be in the runoff. Pratt doesn’t appear to be growing much more.”
The second-place finisher in the mayoral primary will face Mayor Karen Bass in a Nov. 3 runoff. On election night Tuesday, the Associated Press determined that Bass had secured enough votes to qualify for the runoff.
Pratt has been in second place since then, but Raman has gradually eroded his lead as mail-in ballots have been counted. The updated vote tally released Thursday showed Pratt with 29% of the vote and Raman with 23%.
With Friday’s update, Raman’s share had risen to 25% and Pratt’s shrank to 28%, for a 3 percentage point gap.
In the most recent batch of mail-in ballots counted, Raman received 23,514 votes, while Pratt gained 10,336.
Election analysts expected Raman to gain ground as the mail-in ballots were tallied, reasoning that many left-of-center voters — Raman’s base — held onto their mail-in ballots until the last minute as they waited to choose between Democratic gubernatorial candidates. They also say younger, more progressive voters tend to hold onto their ballots longer generally.
Although the mayor’s race is nonpartisan, Pratt is a Republican in a city that is overwhelmingly dominated by Democratic voters and elected officials.
A poll by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, which was co-sponsored by The Times, had Pratt running in third place behind Bass and Raman.
The poll of 1,351 likely voters conducted May 19-24 had Bass with 26% support, Raman with 25% support and Pratt with 22% support, with a 3% margin of error.
Los Angeles voters have become accustomed to seeing election results change as late-arriving ballots are tabulated. In the 2022 mayoral primary, real estate developer Rick Caruso led the pack for about a week before Bass pulled ahead.
Pratt was favored in many of the same neighborhoods that voted for Caruso, according to a Times analysis of precinct-level returns provided by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder on Wednesday, when an estimated 62% of the projected vote had been counted. Raman, by comparison, made inroads in progressive areas dominated by Bass four years ago.
Pratt, whose Pacific Palisades fire home burned in the January 2025 fire, was strong there and on the Westside, as well as in the San Fernando Valley communities of Encino, Woodland Hills, Chatsworth and Sunland-Tujunga.
Raman dominated precincts known for their progressive politics, particularly those with younger people in renter-heavy neighborhoods stretching from Hollywood to Highland Park, including her home base of Silver Lake.
Mail-in ballots with an election day postmark will continue to be accepted by county election officials through Tuesday.
-
Iowa2 minutes agoIowa State AD Jamie Pollard talks future retirement, booze | Hines
-
Kentucky12 minutes agoJaxson Davis offered by Kentucky Basketball
-
Louisiana17 minutes ago
Louisiana Lottery Pick 3, Pick 4 results for June 7, 2026
-
Maine24 minutes agoHeat, humidity on the rise across Maine ahead of showers, potential storms late this week
-
Maryland27 minutes agoAfter raft of appointments, District 16 voters will finally get their say
-
Michigan32 minutes ago
Can Michigan tenants withhold rent if a landlord won’t make repairs?
-
Massachusetts39 minutes agoBeacon Hill Roll Call: House, Senate approve $1.35B fiscal 26 supplemental budget
-
Minnesota42 minutes agoGas Prices In Minnesota Drop To $3.96, Down 15.9 Cents This Week