California
California wants more tiny homes
A Democratic senator in California is trying to pass legislation that would speed up the construction of temporary tiny homes to shelter homeless people, relieving the Golden State’s ongoing crisis.
Senator Josh Becker, who represents California’s Senate District 13, introduced Senate Bill 1395 in February, in an attempt to streamline interim housing projects on a statewide level and house homeless people quickly.
The measure, also called the Interim Housing Act, would make relocatable, non-congregate interim housing eligible for streamline zoning, reducing construction time and costs, as well as cutting red tape and speeds up approvals for local governments that want to build them.
“It expedites the process for cities and counties to build more housing options and significantly increase the inventory,” Becker said of the bill. “With the development of more interim housing, we can put a roof over the heads of our unhoused neighbors faster so that they can get back on their feet and on track towards permanent housing.”
Newsweek contacted Becker for comment by phone on Wednesday morning, outside of standard working hours.
ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
California has one of the highest rates of homelessness in the country. In 2023, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported that there were 181,399 unhoused Californians—28 percent of the country’s total homeless population.
Between 2007 and 2023 the homelessness rate surged by 30.5 percent in California; between 2022 and 2023 alone, it rose by 5.8 percent.
According to the department, last year the Golden State accounted for 48 percent of all unsheltered people in the country, with a total of 123,423 homeless people without a roof over their heads. “This is nearly eight times the number of unsheltered people in the state with the next highest number, Florida,” the department wrote.
Becker said that “despite concerted efforts to increase housing production, California’s budget, land, and zoning limitations inhibit sufficient permanent housing construction.”
“This is really a California issue,” Becker said during a press conference on August 6. “Over the last 10 years, people on the street are suffering much worse outcomes. They’re dying on the street, they’re being insulted on the street, they’re becoming addicted to drugs on the street,” he added.
“And the key is how can we move people into shelters? How can we help them rebuild their lives quickly?[…]SB 1395 will help save lives by bridging the gap between being unsheltered and finding permanent housing.”
SB 1395 puts interim housing—like temporary small homes shelters—at the center of a short-term solution that could save lives in California. Several cities across different states in the U.S. have built temporary tiny homes shelters to address the urgent issue of housing people at a time when the U.S. housing market is particularly unaffordable.
Last year, California Governor Gavin Newsom promised the construction of 1,200 tiny homes to shelter the state’s homeless population as part of a $1-billion initiative, but until now only 150 have reportedly been purchased. Los Angeles is expected to receive 500 units; Sacramento 350 units; San Jose 200 units; and San Diego County 150 units.
The slow progress of the initiative is due to the fact that the responsibility to buy and place the tiny homes was moved from the state to the jurisdiction of each city and county, Fortune reported. Last month, Newsom notified San Diego that the state was withdrawing its $10-million grant after the county moved too slowly to build the tiny home shelters.
The problem of housing homeless people has become particularly urgent after the Supreme Court ruled in July to allow local governments to enforce laws against people sleeping in public spaces. At the end of the same month, Newsom issued an executive order calling for the removal of homeless encampments across the state—whether the people living there can found a shelter to stay in or not—with the idea of putting additional pressure on local governments to address the crisis.
Tiny homes—which normally measure an average 400 square feet or less—are usually fitted with a bed, a small toilet, WiFi, and air conditioning or electric fans. Experts told Newsweek that while they are a key part of the solution, they can only be considered a temporary option before housing homeless people permanently in bigger spaces.
“Tiny homes are in many ways safer than being on the streets unsheltered. However, they are not a long-term solution,” Jamie Chang, an associate professor at the School of Social Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley, previously told Newsweek.
“It is essential to view tiny homes as a temporary option that should be a stepping stone to more stable housing in a larger, permanent unit.”
SB 1395 is sponsored by San Jose’s Mayor Matt Mahan, Dignity Moves, the Bay Area Council, and the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association. It also has the backing of San Francisco’s Mayor London Breed.
If you visit Disneyland with any frequency, a discount from the usual price of more than $100 a day would feel like a blessing.
However, almost as soon as Disney recently offered a rare chance to purchase limited evening passes to its two Southern California parks at about half of the regular cost, the online speculation among Disney enthusiasts behind the company’s strategy spiked. It was no surprise that the lower-priced tickets sold out in about a week.
Some fans referred to the five-hour ticket as a “recession” indicator on social media or as a way to “capture random stragglers.”
Others believed the ticket offered fireworks enthusiasts an opportunity to catch a nighttime spectacular, while one person said the pass allowed visitors to partake in other Southern California activities before finishing their evening at Disneyland.
Buyers of the pass are first set to attend the parks this Sunday, with dates extending until August.
Disneyland officials brush off the speculation, saying the ticket sale is business as usual. Fortunately for us, industry insider Dennis Speigel offered some analysis behind the move.
Let’s jump into the offer and his thoughts on the deal.
All about the ticket
Late last month, Disneyland offered a one-park evening pass for $59 to Disneyland or California Adventure. The ticket is good from Sundays to Wednesdays, starting this Sunday until Aug. 5.
California Adventure would allow evening patrons in at 5 p.m. until closing at 10 p.m. and Disneyland at 7 p.m. until closing at midnight.
A park reservation was still required for evening passes.
The tickets became available June 30 and sold out by July 6, according to a Disneyland spokesperson. Disneyland officials declined to say how many tickets were sold.
What’s Disneyland’s rationale?
The ticket offering is not all that rare.
Similar opportunities began as far back as 1957 with Disneyland date nights admission running from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m, a park spokesperson said.
“Our goal is to provide guests with a variety of limited-time ticket offers throughout the year — this being just one example of that,” a Disneyland spokesperson said.
Softer than a dole whip
Speigel, founder and chief executive of Cincinnati-based International Theme Park Services, Inc., a theme park consulting firm, said theme parks, ranging from small, regional locales to international destinations are struggling with a “softness” in admission demand that began in April but became more acute in June.
That slump at Disney and Universal Studios properties nationwide, Speigel said in a call with The Times, is due to three primary factors: the economy, weather and the Iranian War.
“There’s a nervousness from visitors, a lack of understanding of what to expect because of the war and economy,” he said. “We saw something like that last year driven by tariffs with soaring gas prices, and we monitored how people started moving back on their spending.”
Visitors still want deals
To counter that softness, Disney is turning to discounts, hoping to kindle interest, Speigel speculated.
“They understand their guests are in a crucible, and this drives the decision to discount,” he said. “People still want their escapes; that doesn’t go down. They just want to pay less to escape.”
Disney’s evening pass is also a shrewd offer because it aims to attract another type of guest: budget-minded locals who might be enticed by $59, Speigel said.
“It’s a smart attempt on Disney’s part,” Speigel said. “It moves in the local people who aren’t the season pass holders or tourists, and it fills the park. That’s what parks are looking to do right now.”
The week’s biggest stories
(Etienne Laurent / For the Times)
Boyle Heights fire
Two graduation traumas
Beach takeovers
Science and technology
What else is going on
Must-reads
Other meaty reads
For your downtime
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Going out
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L.A. Timeless
A selection of the very best reads from The Times’ 143-year archive.
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CALIFORNIA CITY, Calif. (KABC) — An Amber Alert was issued Friday by the California Highway Patrol for a 3-year-old child out of California City believed to be in imminent danger.
Emaria Peel, 3, was last seen Friday at about 7:17 p.m. in the area of Redwood Boulevard and 83rd Street in California City, according to police.
Authorities believe 31-year-old Charnay Mclin took Emaria. Investigators have not yet said what relationship, if any, Mclin has to the child.
The suspect was described as being 5 feet 9 inches tall, 185 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.
The child was described as being 1 foot 6 inches, 20 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.
Police believe they’re traveling in a gold-colored 2021 Kia Sorento with the California license plate: 36095DV
Mclin is considered armed and dangerous. Authorities wants anyone who sees them to call 911.
No further details were immediately known.
Copyright © 2026 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.
A 17-year-old suspect has been arrested in Texas in connection with the deadly shooting after a high school graduation ceremony in Fairfield, California last month, police said.
Fairfield police said U.S. Marshals, accompanied by department detectives, served search and arrest warrants Friday morning at a home in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The teen was taken into custody without incident on suspicion of murder and related offenses.
Investigators said the suspect fled California and traveled to Texas within days of the June 3 shooting. He will remain in custody while awaiting extradition to Solano County.
The shooting happened after Sem Yeto Continuation High School’s graduation ceremony, which was held on the Fairfield High School campus.
Police said 18-year-old graduate Jamario Baker died at the scene. Three others – an 11-year-old child and two adults, ages 20 and 25 – were wounded.
Authorities have not released the suspect’s name because he is a minor.
Although an arrest has been made, police said the investigation remains active and detectives continue to pursue additional leads.
“While today’s announcement may provide a measure of relief to some, it does not lessen the pain felt by our community,” the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District said in a statement.
Police plan to hold a news conference Monday at 4 p.m. to discuss the case and arrest.
Fairfield is a Northern California city about 40 miles northwest of San Francisco.
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