The Fire Victim Trust (FVT) sold 35 million shares in PG&E stock Friday as part of the ongoing effort to provide compensation for victims of the Camp Fire and other fires. PG&E stock closed at $15.25 per share on Friday. The sale follows the sale of the same number of shares in early October when the price was $13.65. As of Friday, the Trust said it had issued determination notices to 86% of all claimants. and paid claimants more than $5.36 billion.

More people across California are able to see a doctor. About 286-thousand undocumented immigrants over the age of 50 now have Medi-Cal. The update comes just months after the program expanded. Governor Gavin Newsom says it brings the state one step closer to his promise of universal access to health care coverage. The next step will target about 700-thousand people ages 26 through 49, regardless of immigration status.

A California woman has been charged with using the names of convicted killers, including Scott Peterson, to collect more than $145,000 in fraudulent unemployment benefits. Brandy Iglesias made her initial court appearance Wednesday on charges including grand theft, forgery and identity theft. She didn't enter a plea and was ordered held on $20,000 bail. Prosecutors say Iglesias collected benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic in the names of Peterson, who was convicted of killing his pregnant wife and unborn child, and Cary Stayner, who confessed to killing three women sightseeing in Yosemite National Park in 1999. Prosecutors say Iglesiasworkedfor a company that had a contract with San Quentin State Prison, where both inmates are housed.

Two Chico residents were charged Wednesday following the shooting at Teichert Ponds in Chico earlier this week. Also The daughter of one of the these suspects was arrested in court today for being the anticipated get-away driver involved in this incident Kenya Osorio, 38, and Demetrious Brown Jr., 25, were arraigned Wednesday and charged with an assault with a semi-automatic firearm, for shooting and seriously injuring a homeless man who was encamped at the ponds.

A new law in California means the Sheriff and District Attorney will now serve six year terms  but there could be a different set of voters moving forward. The Governor has signed Assembly Bill 759, which moves law enforcement elections in California, including Sheriff and District Attorney, to Presidential elections, instead of the midterms. Supporters saying it puts the important votes in front of more people during higher turnout elections, but opponents say it makes it easier for anti-law enforcement candidates to get elected. In the meantime, while the transition happens, the candidates in San Diego this year will serve 6 years in office, before the next election in 2028.

United Way of Northern California has teamed Tri Counties Bank to launch the NorCal Wildfire Fund to help wildfire survivors in Northern California counties. The funds will help victims and recovery efforts like the RV assistance program, Stable Housing Opportunities Program, mental health services and more. The goal is to raise $3 million to help communities in Butte, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Shasa, Siskiyou, Trinity and Tehama counties.

California regulators are expected to approve a 140-million-dollar desalination plant today. The plant at Doheny State Beach in Orange County would produce five-million gallons of drinking water each day from the Pacific Ocean. It would be the 12th desalination plant approved by the California Coastal Commission. The Golden State is experiencing its worst drought in around 12-hundred years

The Biden administration has proposed a new rule that could re-classify millions of gig workers as employees, a move that could deal a significant blow to small businesses across the country. The Labor Department on Tuesday unveiled a new proposal that would make it more difficult for companies to classify their workers as independent contractors — a change that could have major consequences for ride-hailing, delivery and other industries that depend heavily on gig workers. Companies are required to provide certain benefits and legal protections to employees but not contractors, making employment of those types of workers more expensive. That includes minimum wage, overtime, Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes, unemployment insurance and workers' compensation insurance.

Charges against a 17-year-old teenager for shooting and killing a man, and wounding another, at Chico's Teichert Ponds in September of last year were dismissed in Butte County Juvenile Court on Tuesday, according to the Butte County District Attorney's Office. District Attorney Mike Ramsey said, at the end of the prosecution case, the judge ruled there was insufficient evidence to overcome a claim of self-defense in the incident and dismissed the case before the presentation of any defense evidence.

- Chico State President Gayle Hutchinson announced on Tuesday that she plans to retire at the end of the 2022-23 academic year. Hutchinson said that she has enjoyed her time at Chico state but its time to spend more quality time with her partner.. Hutchinson became Chico State's 12th president in 2016, and the first female president in Chico State history and the first openly gay president in the California State University system.

The trial for the man suspected of murdering two Alabama men was hung last month, Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey says Ricardo Banuelos-Villarreal's jury trial was hung in early September and a retrial date has been set for March 27. Banuelos-Villarreal is suspected of murdering 20-year-old John Dubose Jr. and 25-year-old Ladexter Pelt, both of Alabama. Ramsey said the men flew out to California and met Banuelos-Villarreal and his 36-year-old brother Alfredo Banuelos-Villarreal in a pot deal gone bad . The bodies have not been found and Alfredo is a suspect and remains at large.

California is unveiling new guidelines to protect against wildfires. They limit how housing and other developments can be built in high risk areas. Local governments must now address key issues before giving approval, such as not allowing construction on steep slopes. Attorney General Rob Bonta pointed out eight of the ten largest wildfires in the state have happened in the past ten years. His recommendations are aimed to help leaders avoid a legal challenge from the state.

(AP)The Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday over a California animal cruelty law that could raise the cost of bacon and other pork products nationwide. The case's outcome is important to the nation's $26-billion-a-year pork industry. But the outcome could also help define the limits of states' ability to pass laws with impact outside their borders, including laws aimed at combating climate change or improving drug prices. The case before the court involves a California law that says pork sold in the state needs to come from pigs whose mothers were raised with at least 24 square feet of space, including the ability to lie down and turn around.