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Articles written by Don Thompson


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  • Most vaccinated California workers must keep masks on

    Don Thompson|Updated Jun 3, 2021

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Conflicted California workplace regulators approved controversial rules that allow workers to go maskless only if every employee in a room is fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. But the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board made clear Thursday night that the regulations are only a stopgap while they consider further easing pandemic rules in coming weeks or months. The board initially voted 4-to-3 to reject any changes to curr...

  • Black Hawk firefighting helicopter

    As drought intensifies, California seeing more wildfires

    Don Thompson, Associated Press

    SACRAMENTO – As California sinks deeper into drought it already has had more than 900 additional wildfires than at this point in 2020, which was a record-breaking year that saw more than 4% of the state's land scorched by flames. The danger prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to propose spending a record $2 billion on wildfire mitigation. That's double what he had proposed in January. California's mountains and foothills are expected to see above-normal wildfire potential from June t...

  • California to drop social distancing requirements in June

    Don Thompson, Associated Press|Updated May 26, 2021

    SACRAMENTO – California no longer will require social distancing and will allow full capacity for businesses when the state reopens on June 15, the state's top health official said Friday. “We’re at a place with this pandemic where those requirements of the past are no longer needed for the foreseeable future,” Secretary of California Health and Human Services Dr. Mark Ghaly said. He said dramatically lower virus cases and increasing vaccinations mean it’s safe for California to remove nearly all restrictions next month. The...

  • Gov. Gavin Newsom’s

    Court upholds California governor's use of emergency powers

    Don Thompson, The Associated Press|Updated May 12, 2021

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom's use of emergency powers to make far-reaching policies during the pandemic was upheld Wednesday by state appellate judges who rejected a lower court finding that the Democrat had done too much unilaterally. Three judges from the 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento ruled unanimously that the prior judge "erred in interpreting the Emergency Services Act to prohibit the Governor from issuing quasi-legislative orders in an emergency." "We concl...

  • California high court: Judges must weigh ability to pay bail

    Don Thompson, The Associated Press|Updated Apr 1, 2021

    The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday, March 25, that judges must consider suspects’ ability to pay when they set bail, essentially requiring that indigent defendants be freed unless they are deemed too dangerous to be released awaiting trial. “The common practice of conditioning freedom solely on whether an arrestee can afford bail is unconstitutional,” the justices said in a unanimous decision. Judges can require electronic monitoring, regular check-ins with authorities or order suspects to stay in shelters or under...

  • California high court: Judges must weigh ability to pay bail

    Don Thompson, The Associated Press|Updated Apr 1, 2021

    The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday, March 25, that judges must consider suspects’ ability to pay when they set bail, essentially requiring that indigent defendants be freed unless they are deemed too dangerous to be released awaiting trial. “The common practice of conditioning freedom solely on whether an arrestee can afford bail is unconstitutional,” the justices said in a unanimous decision. Judges can require electronic monitoring, regular check-ins with authorities or order suspects to stay in shelters or under...

  • Eric and Tess from Pasadena

    California reveals data used to lift stay-at-home order

    Don Thompson, The Associated Press|Updated Feb 4, 2021

    California's health department Monday, Jan. 25, released to the public previously secret projections for future hospital intensive care unit capacity throughout the state, the key metric for lifting the coronavirus stay-at-home order. However, state officials did not explain how regional per capita virus cases and transmission rates that also were released might influence how much ICU space will be available in four weeks. The week before, state health officials told The...

  • New California law helps former inmate firefighters get jobs

    Don Thompson, The Associated Press|Updated Sep 17, 2020

    California's inmate firefighters will have a shot at becoming professional firefighters once they complete their sentences, under a bill Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Friday, Sept. 11. The new law will allow state and county inmates who train as firefighters to seek to erase the criminal records that often are a bar to employment as firefighters or in other professions. The measure "will give those prisoners hope of actually getting a job in the profession that they've...

  • California Senate OKs state reviews for police shootings

    Don Thompson and Adam Beam, The Associated Press|Updated Sep 4, 2020

    The California Senate voted Sunday, Aug. 30, to require the state’s top prosecutor to investigate all police shootings that kill an unarmed civilian, advancing one of the highest profile reforms introduced this year in response to the killing of George Floyd. The Senate OK’d the bill despite opposition from Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who called a previous version of the bill “untenable and unreasonable” because it would cost his office up to $80 million a year. But the legislation had enough votes to pass the Senate wit...

  • California lawmakers OK more exemptions from labor law

    Adam Beam and Don Thompson, The Associated Press|Updated Sep 4, 2020

    California lawmakers OK’d exemptions to about two-dozen more professions Monday, Aug. 30, from a landmark labor law designed to treat more people like employees instead of independent contractors. Among other things, the legislation would end what critics had said were unworkable limits on services provided by freelance still photographers, photojournalists, freelance writers, editors and newspaper cartoonists with certain restrictions to make sure they are not replacing current employees. Lawmakers separately approved g... Full story

  • Golden State Killer sentenced to life for 26 rapes, slayings

    Don Thompson, The Associated Press|Updated Aug 29, 2020

    A former California police officer, dubbed the Golden State Killer, told victims Friday, Aug. 21, he was "truly sorry" before he was sentenced to multiple life prison sentences for a decadeslong string of rapes and murders that terrorized a wide swath of the state. Joseph James DeAngelo, 74, pleaded guilty in June to 13 murders and 13 rape-related charges under a plea deal that avoided a possible death sentence. The punishment imposed by Sacramento County Superior Court Judge...

  • Golden State Killer sentenced to life for 26 rapes, slayings

    Don Thompson, The Associated Press|Updated Aug 27, 2020

    A former California police officer, dubbed the Golden State Killer, told victims Friday, Aug. 21, he was "truly sorry" before he was sentenced to multiple life prison sentences for a decadeslong string of rapes and murders that terrorized a wide swath of the state. Joseph James DeAngelo, 74, pleaded guilty in June to 13 murders and 13 rape-related charges under a plea deal that avoided a possible death sentence. The punishment imposed by Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman means DeAngelo will die in prison...

  • California governor is cautiously upbeat as virus numbers ease

    Don Thompson, The Associated Press|Updated Aug 7, 2020

    California appears to be getting a grip on a resurgence of the coronavirus, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday, Aug. 3, though he warned the state is a long way from reopening some of the businesses it shuttered for a second time in July because of rising infections and hospitalizations. The average weekly number of positive tests is down by a fifth, to 7,764 from its peak of nearly 9,900 a week ago. The seven-day rate of tests coming back positive statewide had peaked at nearly 8% late last month but has fallen to 6.1%, he said,...

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