President Trump announced approval of new fuel economy standards ending Biden-era electric vehicle mandates, claiming the policy will lower car prices and boost American auto manufacturing. Trump's administration is investing $100 billion in domestic auto production and has reversed Biden's EV tax credits and California's vehicle emission rules.
Starbucks is closing 250 stores across North America, including one at 1205 The Alameda in San Jose. The closures were announced abruptly, with an economist noting that the company has struggled to maintain customer relationships since founder Howard Schultz's retirement. Starbucks plans to revamp remaining locations to create a more inviting coffeehouse atmosphere.
Michael Burry closed his hedge fund in October 2025 after warning that AI infrastructure stocks represent a bubble similar to the 2005 subprime mortgage crisis. Drawing parallels between massive capital flows into AI stocks and the CDO purchases that distorted mortgage bonds, Burry placed $1.1 billion in bearish options against Palantir and Nvidia, echoing his successful 2005 short bet that returned 489% to his fund.
The SR-71A spy plane has disappeared from a California base since May 2026, coinciding with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman's hints at rebuilding experimental X-planes and a silhouette resembling the legendary aircraft. The historic Blackbird, which once flew at Mach 3.2 and served as a research platform for extreme-flight technologies, may be involved in NASA's renewed focus on advanced flight research.
Deep Fission (FISN), a Nasdaq-listed company developing small modular reactors buried deep underground, faces significant commercialization challenges including uncompetitive energy costs ($170/MWh estimated vs. $50-70/MWh claimed), regulatory delays, and insufficient funding with less than twelve months of cash runway. The company's customer pipeline lacks binding commitments, and its technology remains years from market despite targeting data center power solutions.
The Yin family, California McDonald's franchisees who donated over $4.4 million to Democratic campaigns including Gov. Newsom and VP Harris, faces scrutiny over connections to suspected Chinese spy Fang Fang through the APAPA organization. FBI files show a working relationship between Fang and family patriarch CC Yin, though no evidence suggests the family knew of alleged espionage.
California's proposed Billionaire Wealth Tax faces failure due to wealth flight, as billionaires can relocate while land cannot. A land value tax of just 0.25 percent on California's estimated $8.14 trillion in land value would raise the same $20 billion annually on a much larger, immobile tax base that grows with the economy.
An interactive map visualizes US hot springs overlaid on geothermal heat flow data, showing how springs concentrate in the western US where thin, faulted crust allows hot rock closer to the surface. The hottest springs by heat flow are concentrated in Nevada and California, while cooler eastern springs result from water circulating unusually deep underground.
A California federal judge finalized a settlement between LinkedIn and software companies ProAPIs and Netswift, requiring them to stop mass scraping of user data, delete scraped information, cease using fake accounts, and refrain from selling the data. LinkedIn alleged the firms created millions of bogus accounts to continuously scrape member profiles, comments, and reactions despite LinkedIn's efforts to block them.
California operates a welfare system costing over $180 billion annually, with at least $11 billion going to illegal immigrants through programs like Medi-Cal, CAPI, and CalWORKs. The state uses state-funded programs to circumvent federal restrictions on serving noncitizens, creating what critics call a shadow welfare system accessible to immigrants and their U.S.-born children.
Joby completed a historic cross-country autonomous flight in a Cessna Caravan from California to North Carolina, covering 3,199 miles with zero pilot control inputs, marking a significant milestone in autonomous aviation technology. The achievement demonstrates progress toward the aerial economy, with freight delivery expected to lead adoption before pilotless passenger flights become viable.
California's Proposition 40 would impose a one-time wealth tax of up to five percent on billionaires, but the policy raises fundamental questions about how to value privately-held companies like In-N-Out Burger. The article argues that wealth taxes could force owners of private companies to sell shares to pay tax liabilities on assets that have no market price, potentially disrupting family businesses and their operations.
Nissan unveiled the Z Kaze concept at ZCon in Phoenix, a retro-inspired sports car featuring a removable T-top roof and 1990s tuning aesthetics including Pacific Teal paint, carbon fiber body kit, and NISMO wheels. Developed as a passion project by Nissan's design team, the concept combines modern engineering with nostalgic styling inspired by the 300ZX and '90s tuning culture.
Illinois Gov. Pritzker and California Gov. Newsom issued executive orders this week to strengthen AI safety oversight, building on 2026 state laws requiring independent third-party audits of frontier AI models. Illinois created an AI Cabinet to advise on AI incidents and safeguards, while California accelerated timelines for independent verification organizations and explored an AI kill switch for frontier models.
Solar AquaGrid is testing solar canopies over California's irrigation canals to simultaneously reduce water evaporation and generate renewable energy. Project Nexus, a pilot program in California's San Joaquin Valley, has demonstrated that solar panels over canals can reduce evaporation by 70% and algae growth by 85% while producing clean power.
Waymo launched a transit rewards program in the San Francisco Bay Area that gives riders $2.85 in Waymo Cash when they combine a Waymo ride with public transit within 2 hours using a Visa card. The initiative aims to create seamless multimodal transportation by integrating autonomous vehicles with regional transit networks, with plans to expand to additional cities.
More than 100 people allege brain injuries from Six Flags' X2 roller coaster in Southern California over the last two years, following a CNN investigation linking the ride to serious injuries and deaths. Civil attorneys filed three lawsuits this week against Six Flags, arguing the company knew of dangers but allowed the ride to continue operating. Injured riders report severe complications including traumatic brain injuries, hospitalizations, and life-altering disabilities.
Pokémon's 30th Celebration card set launch sparked widespread chaos at retail stores across the US, with incidents including fights, arrests, and disruptive crowd behavior as scalpers and collectors competed for limited stock. Retailers implemented various crowd control measures with mixed results, while some overnight lines remained peaceful.
San Francisco's city attorney sued Trump Media & Technology Group over its Truth Social "Truth API" service, which charges subscribers $100,000 monthly for early access to Trump's posts about government decisions before public release. The lawsuit alleges this constitutes insider trading, corruption, and violation of California's Unfair Competition Law, arguing it disadvantages regular investors and monetizes preferential access to market-moving information.
Jane Marx, a landscape architect in Northern California wine country, lost her land to the 2017 Nuns Fire and later organized a grazing cooperative with neighbors to use sheep and goats to reduce wildfire risk by consuming overgrown vegetation, a practice guided by Sarah Keiser's consulting firm Wild Oat Hollow.