• California gubernatorial candidate and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco will visit Lompoc on March 15 for a meet-and-greet event. Free and open to the public, the program is scheduled to take place on March 15, from 1 to 4 p.m., at the Lompoc Elks Lodge, located at 905 E. Ocean Ave., Lompoc. After the public gets the opportunity to meet and speak with Bianco, he will participate in a town hall-style forum to discuss his vision for California. To help organizers plan for the event, attendees should RSVP no later than March 1 by emailing: erin.biancoforgovernor@gmail.com. In January, the California Police Chiefs Association (CPCA) announced its dual endorsement of Bianco and U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Castro Valley) in the Republican and Democratic primaries, respectively, for governor of California. “Our endorsement is not about politics. It is about ensuring voters understand which candidates in each major party have demonstrated a commitment to public safety and effective law enforcement,” CPCA President Jason Salazar said in a statement. Bianco’s platforms in his campaign for governor include crime reduction and improving protections for victims of crimes.
•U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California) recently called for U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s resignation following reports of his past interactions with Jeffrey Epstein, according to the Epstein files released by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky)—the lead Republican behind the Epstein Files Transparency Act—also urged Lutnick to step down. Both Massie and Schiff made their comments on Feb. 9. “Howard Lutnick clearly went to the island if we believe what’s in these files,” Massie told CNN during an interview. “He should just resign. … He was in business with Jeffrey Epstein, and this was many years after Jeffrey Epstein was convicted.” In his Feb. 9 statement, Schiff described Lutnick’s “business dealings with a convicted child sex offender” as raising serious concerns about his judgement and ethics. “Lutnick has no business being our commerce secretary, and he should resign immediately,” Schiff said. “We must not forget that this information only came to light months after the Trump administration was required by law to release the Epstein files. Damning revelations like these demonstrate exactly why Donald Trump and the [DOJ] have slow-walked and obscured the release of this information from the beginning.” Schiff said he will continue to “demand a full and independent investigation into how Trump’s attorneys at DOJ have handled these files, to ensure full accountability and that nothing is withheld,” he stated.
•U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) and U.S. Reps. Becca Balint (D-Vermont) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-New Jersey) introduced the Mental Health Career Promotion Act on Feb. 5. This legislation aims to bolster the behavioral and mental health care workforce pipeline by providing students with educational opportunities to learn about and pursue careers in the field, according to Padilla’s office. The bill would create the Behavioral and Mental Health Career Promotion Grant Program, which would provide funding to schools to establish mental health career promotion programs for high school and community college students. Padilla stated that too many students go untreated for mental health issues because they either don’t know where to seek help or there are not enough trained mental health professionals available to meet the demand. “Far too many people struggling with their mental health are left to suffer in silence because of our nation’s severe shortage of qualified providers,” Padilla stated. “We must meet students where they are at by expanding resources for students to learn about careers in mental health care.”
This article appears in February 12 – February 19, 2026.