Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order Thursday directing state agencies to “prioritize” the removal of homeless camps, and recommending cities do the same, could help clear local riverbeds and freeway underpasses where hundreds of people live in unsafe and unsanitary conditions. Some of the region’s largest homeless camps are in low-lying, brush-covered areas along the San Diego and San Luis Rey rivers, creeks and lagoons or in the open space of the right-of-way along state highways. Much of that land is owned by state agencies such as Caltrans, the Parks Department...

California's decision is the first of its kind to come out of last month's Supreme Court Grants Pass ruling, giving cities more power over removing homeless camps. PORTLAND, Ore. — As a homeless man by choice, Donovan knows what he needs to survive. That includes a large pile of scrap metal filled with aluminum scaffolding pipes, old vacuums and a used electrical board. Donovan says he collected it all from nearby dumpsters sat at one end of his homeless encampment in an industrial part of Northwest Portland. “There’s not a...

Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered state agencies Thursday to swiftly remove camps of homeless people — and urged cities to do the same — a month after a Supreme Court ruling empowered officials to enforce bans on sleeping in public spaces. Newsom’s executive order only applies to state agencies and encampments on their lands. Local governments such as the county of Marin and its cities are not required to take action, but they are encouraged to adopt policies that are aligned with the order, to begin to “humanely remove encampments.” “The...

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — As cars whiz by, Phillip Banks rests in a tent on a homeless encampment on state property under CA-94, which heads into downtown San Diego. Banks has lived here for a month, but it soon could become more difficult for him and other homeless people to live here. That's because Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered state agencies Thursday to start removing homeless encampments on state land in his boldest action yet following a Supreme Court ruling allowing cities to enforce bans on sleeping outside in public spaces....

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, center, helps clean a homeless encampment alongside a freeway on Jan. 12, 2022, in San Diego. Newsom issued an executive order on Thursday, July 25, 2024, for the removal of homeless encampments in the state. California Gov. Gavin Newsom directed his state’s agencies to sweep homeless encampments in an executive order on Thursday. His announcement pointed to a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that gave the Golden State governor more tools to address homelessness for the safety and wellbeing of communities. The ruling sided with Grants...

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday ordered the dismantling of homeless encampments on state land, one month after the US Supreme Court overturned protections for unhoused residents sleeping outdoors. The Golden State has long been reckoning with a homelessness crisis -- roughly one-third of the entire US homeless population live there -- in part due to lack of affordable housing. "The state has been hard at work to address this crisis on our streets," Newsom said in a statement. "There are simply no more excuses. It's time for everyone to...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at dismantling and cleaning up homeless encampments throughout the state. “This executive order directs state agencies to move urgently to address dangerous encampments while supporting and assisting the individuals living in them — and provides guidance for cities and counties to do the same,” Newsom said in a statement. “The state has been hard at work to address this crisis on our streets,” he said, citing in a video on X the $1 billion the state has invested in...