Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Billionaire-Backed California City Pitches Plans for Factory Hub
Jul 18 2025 // California Forever, the proposed futuristic community backed by billionaire venture capitalists, is now billing itself as a manufacturing center a year after local opposition forced it to withdraw plans to incorporate a...
California Labor Commissioner Cites Ritz-Carlton and Subcontractors $2M
Jul 18 2025 // The California Labor Commissioner’s Office cited the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC and three contractors more than $2 million for reportedly misclassifying 155 janitors as independent contractors at its Half Moon...
Venbrook Launches Habitational Product for California Condos, Townhomes
Jul 16 2025 // Venbrook Group has entered a strategic alliance with DB Insurance to bring a specialty coverage option for multi-unit residential properties in California. The product is tailored for condominium and townhome homeowners...
California Surplus Lines Take-Up Soars as Brokers Work to Find Coverage for Clients
Jul 15 2025 // The best way to tell that the California homeowners insurance market has been a bear is to see where buyers facing higher rates and lack of options in traditional markets are going for alternatives. One choice is the...
California Insurance Commissioner OKs Higher Workers’ Pure Premium Filing
Jul 15 2025 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara approved a higher September 1, 2025, pure workers’ compensation premium rate filing. The decision followed a filing by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating...
California Farmworker Who Fell From Greenhouse Roof During Chaotic ICE Raid Dies
Jul 15 2025 // A farmworker who fell from a greenhouse roof during a chaotic ICE raid this week at a California cannabis facility died Saturday of his injuries. Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first known person to die during one of the Trump...
California Schools Facing Billion-Dollar Sex Abuse Payouts ‘Untenable’
Jul 14 2025 // When Samantha Muñoz was a second grader at Fancher Creek Elementary in Clovis, her teacher told her she “wasn’t that bright” and needed extra help with schoolwork. He’d make her stay in the...
Tesla Plans Robotaxi Expansion to California and Arizona
Jul 11 2025 // Tesla Inc. is aiming to bring its driverless taxis to California and Arizona as the carmaker plots an expansion on the heels of last month’s limited rollout in Austin. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk predicted on...
EPA Orders Cleanup Following Battery Fire at California Energy Storage Facility
Jul 11 2025 // A company has entered into a settlement agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a cleanup in the wake of a lithium-ion battery fire that occurred at the company’s energy storage facility in...
Former California Insurance Agent Sentenced for $3.7M Fine Art Policy Scam
Jul 10 2025 // A former California insurance agent was sentenced to 50 months in federal prison for defrauding a lender out of $3.7 million with bogus applications for fine art insurance policies. Tonja Van Roy, 59, of Las Vegas, but who...
California Fails to Stop 23andMe Founder From Re-Acquiring Company
Jul 9 2025 // Genetic testing company 23andMe can proceed with a $305 million sale to the company’s co-founder Anne Wojcicki after a U.S. bankruptcy judge rejected California’s bid to delay the sale while the state appeals...
Containment Increases on California Wildfire That Forced Evacuations
Jul 8 2025 // Firefighters are making progress on the biggest wildfire in California this year. Containment has increased on the Madre Fire to 35%. The wildfire on the central coast of California has burned 80,603 acres, prompting...
California Wildfire Grows to Nearly 80,000 Acres, Forcing Evacuations
Jul 7 2025 // A wildfire on the central coast of California has grown to 84,080 acres, prompting evacuation orders and closing part of a highway. The Madre Fire, the biggest the state has seen this year, started on Wednesday and is...
Claim Counts Down, Losses up for California Workers’ Comp Private Self-Insureds
Jul 3 2025 // California’s private self-insured employers reported 7.4% fewer workers’ compensation claims in 2024 than in 2023, pushing private self-insured claim frequency to a four-year low, a new report shows. However,...
California Appoints Members to New Smoke Claims and Remediation Task Force
Jul 3 2025 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has appointed members to his new Smoke Claims and Remediation Task Force, as part of his response to issues over smoke damage caused by wildfires across the state, including...
Explosion at California Fireworks Warehouse Sets Off Fires, Forces Evacuations
Jul 2 2025 // An explosion at a fireworks warehouse in northern California caused several fires, sending black smoke into the air and forcing evacuations, authorities said. There were no immediate reports of injuries. People were urged...
Newsom Signs Bill Overhauling California’s Landmark Environmental Law
Jul 1 2025 // Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed into law a bill that will remake California’s landmark environmental protection rules, an overhaul that he says is essential to address the state’s housing shortage and...
WCIRB: 2024 Losses, Expenses in California Workers’ Comp 108% of Earned Premium
Jul 1 2025 // Total losses and expenses in California’s workers’ compensation system incurred in 2024 were $16.7 billion, or 108% percent of earned premium, a report out today shows. The Workers’ Compensation Insurance...
Containment Grows on Southern California Wildfire As Evacuation Orders Lifted
Jun 30 2025 // Firefighters made quick progress battling a wildfire in Southern California, which is now 25% contained after burning 485 acres in San Bernardino County and prompting evacuations. The Lake Fire erupted Saturday afternoon...
California Workers’ Comp Independent Medical Reviews Trending up, Report Shows
Jun 27 2025 // The number of Independent Medical Review decision letters issued in response to California workers’ compensation medical disputes is trending up in the last few years after declining steadily from 2018 through 2022,...
