In what was seen by many as a rebuke of the Bush Administration's ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, California voters passed Proposition 71 in 2004 - a move that authorized the state to issue $3 bllion in state bonds to fund embryonic stem cell research.

In San Diego, US and Mexican officials have discovered a sophisticated, cross-border tunnel which the drug cartel has been using to transport cannabis from Mexico over the US border into California. This is the second discovery of a cross-border "drug tunnel" in one month.