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Petty Ranch is home to more than 50 acres of avocado trees just off Highway 126 in Ventura. The harvest is complete for this year, and despite the wave of immigration raids in Ventura County, farmer Chris Sayer says they managed to get through it okay.

"It's been relatively quiet. At this point in the season, we don't actually need a lot of help. We're fortunate from that standpoint. But, the general level of anxiety in the community is still very high," said Sayer.

However, Sayer admits that with the threat of raids looming over everyone, the future remains a question mark.

California is the largest producer of food in the United States, but in the aftermath of federal immigration raids, state lawmakers say they are extremely limited in their ability to support and protect the farmworkers who put food on the country's tables.While touring a 57-acre avocado farm in Ventura, state Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón, said she often finds herself feeling frustrated by President Donald Trump and his administration's policies when trying to help her most vulnerable constituents feel safe.

LOS ANGELES — Lawmakers from all over California met with farmers and agricultural leaders to hear about the issues California farmers face, and how legislation may address them.

Petty Ranch in Saticoy, headed by farm manager Chris Sayre, was the backdrop for the meeting of the minds.

Lawmakers, including Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón, listened as farmers addressed the issues that are top-of-mind.

California K-12 students are faring slightly better than the year before, but more than half are still not meeting state standards, according to recently released annual standardized test results. 

While making up some ground, students are still lagging behind pre-pandemic achievement levels. Gov. Gavin Newsom touted the “significant gains” in student test scores at a news conference Thursday morning as he signed new legislation which he says will give teachers critical tools to effectively teach California’s students to read.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

Student test scores for the 2024-25 school year show significant continued progress made by K-12 students in literacy, according to the governor's office.

California’s 2025 assessment results show broad gains: the share of students meeting grade-level expectations rose to 70.6% in English language arts (ELA), 61% in mathematics, and 86% in science, while the share scoring at the “minimal” level fell to 29.4% in ELA, 39% in math, and 14% in science.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approval of Assembly Bill 1454 on Thursday marks the culmination of a five-year campaign to change how California children are taught to read. But education advocates say there is still much the state needs to do to ensure the state literacy plan is properly implemented, and that school districts and universities are held accountable.

A landmark literacy bill awaits Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature after unanimously passing the Senate floor with a 38-0 vote.

If signed, AB 1454 moves the state one step closer to implementing evidence-based reading instruction in California classrooms — a decades-long, highly contentious state debate.

Of the dozens of wildfire-related bills that legislators were quick to introduce in the wake of the wildfires that ravaged greater Los Angeles in January, roughly half of the ones tracked by Southern California News Group have passed out of the legislature and are awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s signature in order to become law.

Lawmakers struck a deal on legislation that would allow Uber and Lyft drivers to unionize, giving the bill a big boost and an endorsement from Gov. Gavin Newsom ahead of a critical Friday vote in the statehouse. 

In a deal with Uber and Lyft, Gov. Gavin Newsom and several state lawmakers are backing legislation that would allow rideshare drivers to unionize while lowering the insurance threshold for drivers.

The agreement, if approved, would allow hundreds of thousands of rideshare drivers to form unions and bargain collectively while still being classified as gig workers, according to supporters ahead of Friday’s vote in Sacramento.