The age-old adage “beauty is pain” is challenged in the hands of California Gov. Gavin Newsom after he passed Assembly Bill No. 496 on Oct. 8, which bans the “manufacturing, selling, delivering, holding or offering for sale in commerce any cosmetic product” that contains any of 26 chemicals highlighted within the bill. Although the bill was just recently passed, it is set to commence on January 1, 2027.

Running a NASCAR track through a residential neighborhood, beach community, and university town is a bad idea. Everyone in Malibu knows that, because anyone who has lived in Malibu for any length of time has witnessed, heard, dodged, cringed, caused, been inconvenienced, victimized, traumatized, or all of the above by high-speed driving traffic accidents. 

A total of 33 cameras will be installed across the city

As part of a pilot program that’s bringing speed camera technology to the city’s most dangerous streets, San Jose is gearing up to install 33 of the devices next year at high-risk intersections, with the ultimate goal of reducing the dozens of people killed and hundreds severely injured each year in traffic collisions.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation into law last month that enables speed cameras in Oakland and other cities in an effort to boost traffic safety. 

The law allows Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose, among others, to use speed cameras to catch dangerous drivers as part of a pilot program until 2032. The cities will place the cameras in different corridors and near schools. 

On October 13, 2023, Governor Newsom signed California State Assembly Bill 645 into law, allowing six cities, including San Francisco, to pilot a speed safety camera program. This pilot is an opportunity for San Francisco to employ a powerful traffic safety tool that has been used successfully across the world. More than 200 cities in the United States have implemented speed safety cameras, including New York City which reported 70% fewer traffic deaths and injuries where speed cameras are installed.

Assemblywoman Laura Friedman and local leaders presented a $1.5 million check to the Parks and Recreation Department be used for the renovation of the McCambridge Pool during a ceremony on Oct. 17.

There are big changes coming to the look of public spaces in California – less lawn. After three severe statewide droughts in just 15 years, state leaders have realized that the irrigation of purely ornamental turf grass in public spaces is unwise. That’s why Governor Gavin Newsom just signed into law a bill that will ban the irrigation of ornamental turf with potable water, effective in stages between 2027 and 2031. 

In a significant win for Burbank’s Armenian community, Assemblymember Laura Friedman has successfully secured $100,000 in funding aimed at long-sought renovations and upgrades for the Armenian Cultural Foundation (ACF) Burbank Beshir Mardirossian Youth Center.

Newsom approved AB 645, a bill that allows Glendale, Long Beach and Los Angeles, as well as Oakland, San Jose and San Francisco to install speed cameras in school zones and high-injury streets with speeding problems.