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California is suing the Trump administration to block a new ICE facility

An agricultural property a few miles from Gilroy, just south of the San Francisco Bay Area, has become the latest flashpoint in the ongoing clash between California and the Trump Administration. California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Santa Clara County filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday seeking to stop the construction of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility that local officials say could be used to temporarily detain migrants as part of the federal government’s intensified immigration enforcement efforts.

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© Tayfun Coskun (Getty Images)

ICE agents and members of the National Guard outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, California.

Musk’s xAI fired engineer for raising concerns about Grok chatbot, lawsuit claims

Former xAI engineer Devin Kim alleges he was illegally fired for trying to implement safety mechanisms for the chatbot

A former engineer at Elon Musk’s xAI who now heads a thinktank focused on AI safety filed a lawsuit claiming he was fired from the SpaceX subsidiary for raising concerns about the risks artificial intelligence poses to humanity.

Devin Kim claims in the lawsuit filed in California state court on Tuesday that his efforts to place guardrails on the development of the chatbot Grok made him a target for company leadership.

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© Photograph: Harun Ozalp/Anadolu via Getty Images

© Photograph: Harun Ozalp/Anadolu via Getty Images

© Photograph: Harun Ozalp/Anadolu via Getty Images

Justice Dept. Pushes Limits of Its Power Over State Elections

11 June 2026 at 20:44
The department once tried to stay out of state elections, urging caution. It is now pressing forward with claims of fraud as President Trump revives his unfounded assertions that elections cannot be trusted.

© Philip Cheung for The New York Times

Voters casting their ballots in California’s primary races in Los Angeles last week.

AI wealth boom sending San Francisco home prices surging: ‘It’s ridiculous’

11 June 2026 at 15:00

Employees at artificial intelligence companies are coming into gargantuan sums of money amid boom in IPOs

Home prices in the San Francisco Bay Area’s already expensive market are skyrocketing as employees at leading artificial intelligence companies come into gargantuan sums of money thanks to a boom in initial public offerings.

With San Francisco’s OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as SpaceX, which operates a major facility in the Los Angeles area, eyeing debuts on the stock market, the hot housing market may not abate soon. If their initial public offering (IPO) is well-received, the companies’ multibillion-dollar valuations are poised to produce massive wealth for employees and executives holding shares, which experts say could trigger an uptick in demand for the Bay Area’s limited housing stock.

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© Photograph: Ethan Swope/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ethan Swope/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ethan Swope/Getty Images

Trump raises specter of fraud with baseless accusations about California elections

11 June 2026 at 11:00

President Donald Trump was displeased with the outcome of the California primary elections. Convinced his intervention was decisive, he insists that without the pressure he exerted in recent days on behalf of the Republican candidate for governor, Steve Hilton, he would not have advanced to the November runoff, where he will face the candidate backed by the Democratic establishment, Xavier Becerra. “But the only reason they approved Steve Hilton, it was going to be two weeks, they said. And then they approved it that night because the heat was on them because they’re cheating dogs,” the president said Wednesday from the Oval Office.

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© AARON SCHWARTZ / POOL (EFE)

Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday.

Accused LA wildfire arsonist wanted ‘revenge on society’, prosecutors say as trial opens

Defense says no evidence occasional Uber driver Jonathan Rinderknecht ignited deadly blaze on New Year’s Day 2025

The trial of 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht, the man accused of starting last year’s deadly Palisades fire, kicked off on Wednesday with opening arguments. Prosecutors cast him as a vengeful arsonist who sought to hide his role from authorities, while his defense attorneys argued that the fire was caused by fireworks.

On New Year’s Day in 2025, firefighters extinguished a small blaze in the Pacific Palisades, a coastal Los Angeles enclave. But the flames continued to smolder underground, before reigniting as they were picked up by strong winds. The Palisades fire, the most destructive wildfires in city history, tore through roughly 23,000 acres, incinerating thousands of buildings and killing 12 people.

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© Photograph: Mona Edwards/Reuters

© Photograph: Mona Edwards/Reuters

© Photograph: Mona Edwards/Reuters

Unusually Warm Weather in Bay Area Prompts Heat Alert and Wildfire Concerns

11 June 2026 at 01:29
High temperatures across the San Francisco Bay Area will reach into the 90s on Thursday, forecasters said.

© Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle, via Associated Press

Some parts of the Bay Area could reach close to 100 degrees on Thursday, the National Weather Service said.

A conservative California county is trying to kill mail-in voting

10 June 2026 at 22:10

Shasta county passes measure requiring elections to be held in person on one day and limiting absentee ballots

Northern California’s Shasta county, best known for its radical conservative politics and thriving election-skeptic movement, appears on track for another clash with the state over a newly approved ballot measure that would transform local elections.

In last Tuesday’s election, the majority of voters in the rural county backed Measure B, which requires elections to be held in person on a single day and limits who can cast an absentee ballot – effectively putting an end to vote by mail – while also requiring photo ID and a hand count.

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© Photograph: Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

© Photograph: Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

© Photograph: Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

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