On Wednesday, July 28th California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal emergency as the state is faced with a $19.1 billion deficit.
Under the rules of the emergency, Schwarzenegger ordered back furloughs, with three furlough days per month for all but essential state employees. State offices will be closed three Fridays a month.
The furloughs and the closures will remain in place until a budget is enacted. California government workers are used to the so-called "furlough Fridays," living with them for the past 12 months, ending this past June.
Schwarzenegger also called on other state government entities, including the state university systems, judicial branch and public utilities, to take similar cost-cutting measures.


A judge on Friday, July 23rd declined to make the state controller comply with an order by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to pay state workers minimum wage while the state remains without a budget.
Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette denied the administration's request for a temporary restraining order that would have forced the controller to pay the federal minimum wage immediately to about 200,000 state workers.
Marlette ruled it would cause too much harm to employees.


Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency on Tuesday, July 27th after two blazes in mostly rural Kern County remained out of control after scorching more than 26 square miles of hilly pine forests and chaparral. A blaze that erupted 10 miles southeast of Tehachapi destroying 30 to 40 homes and threatening the remaining 150 homes in the tiny community of Old West Ranch forced 2,300 people to evacuate.
Firefighters made progress early Wednesday, July 28th against the largest of more than 150 lightning sparked fires in Northern California. The 250-acre blaze east of Straylor Lake in the Lassen National Forest is expected to be fully contained by the end of the week.
An additional 187 fires were burning in other remote parts of Lassen County and in Plumas, Siskiyou, Shasta and Modoc counties.
Most of those fires were less than an acre and have been fully contained. They have consumed about 650 acres.



Comic-Con 2010 has come and gone, and it all ended with a big burst of fireworks and leaving Marvel fans eager to see more with some fantastic footage of upcoming films Thor and Captain America before getting to see the entire team of Avengers on stage for the first time.