Kern County

California Democratic Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff visited the newest and largest ICE detention center in the state, a former prison in Kern County. CoreCivic operates this site.

In the four counties where Immigration and Customs Enforcement has detention facilities, only one county health department conducts the kind of inspections that were explicitly allowed under a 2024 California law.

A set of laws Gov. Gavin Newsom signed today extends California clean-energy programs while taking steps to shore up oil and gas production. It also opens the door to a Western energy grid.

Lawmakers just enabled fast-tracking of new oil drilling permits in Kern County. Gas prices are mainly moved by other economic forces.

After agents were forced to stop ‘roving patrols’ in LA, they moved north to Sacramento. But a judge had already restricted raids there.

A bill seeking to curtail legal battles over groundwater management in California goes too far, says a water district leader in Kern County.

A California appeals court rules a baker can’t refuse to sell a generic cake to a lesbian couple. It’s part of a series of cases shaping the debate over free speech and anti-discrimination laws.

Capturing and storing carbon underground is a big part of California’s efforts to tackle climate change but community members and environmentalists say it prolongs the life of fossil fuels.

The slowdown comes as the governor lauds his record as tough on oil companies. His administration requested several more years to force companies to detect and fix leaks.

Kern County agrees to better protect free speech in a deal with the state Justice Department — inspired by the county’s’ 2020 squashing of COVID contracts to organizations that advocated defunding police.