All posts tagged: Californians

Californians Now Paying 6 Bucks a Gallon for Kicks on Route 66

Californians Now Paying 6 Bucks a Gallon for Kicks on Route 66

By Daniel Trotta, Georgina McCartney and Shariq Khan CARLSBAD, California, April 30 (Reuters) – Motorists commemorating the centennial of U.S. Route 66 – a celebrated ⁠symbol of ⁠carefree road trips – were paying $6 a gallon for gasoline in California on ⁠Thursday, the highest price in two years and a brewing political flashpoint as elections loom. The Iran war has brought the worst-ever disruption to global oil supplies, driving up ​gasoline prices worldwide and posing particular hardships for California, the most populous U.S. state with the most cars on the road. The Golden State also has some of the highest gasoline prices in the country because of stringent emissions standards, high taxes and its reliance on ‌imported petroleum. With California’s gubernatorial primary barely one month away, candidates sparred at ‌a debate this week over whether to eliminate the state’s $0.61-per-gallon gas tax, the highest in the nation. At the national level, high gas prices look certain to become a major political issue ahead of congressional midterm elections in November, when President Donald Trump’s Republicans will …

He’s telling Californians they can’t trust elections — and it’s catching on with the GOP

He’s telling Californians they can’t trust elections — and it’s catching on with the GOP

REDDING — At a Board of Supervisors meeting in rural Shasta County last month, Clint Curtis dropped a bombshell: A sheriff way down in Riverside was going to confiscate all the ballots from a recent election. Curtis, the county registrar of voters, was the first to announce the planned ballot seizure. Even the sheriff himself, Chad Bianco, had not publicly revealed his intentions. Later, as Bianco’s move grabbed headlines — he is a leading Republican candidate for governor — Curtis’ behind-the-scenes maneuvering remained largely unknown. The registrar had worked with the Riverside County citizens group whose fraud allegations had sparked Bianco’s investigation, even traveling 600 miles south to speak on their behalf. Shasta County Clerk and Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis poses last month in the new election observation room at the elections office in Redding. In his short time in Shasta County, Curtis, whose claims about rigged voting machines stretch back to the early 2000s, has solidified his position as a torchbearer of the election denialism movement, vowing to take his message about untrustworthy machines and …