California Policy and Politics Tuesday

Paramount demands $1.9 billion from states, citing Warner deal delays -- Paramount Skydance has asked a federal judge to order California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, 11 other states and the Writers Guild of America to post up to $1.9 billion for mounting Warner merger “ticking fees.” The states’ antitrust lawsuit is now the only barrier after approvals from Trump’s Justice Department and 68 jurisdictions, with a March trial threatening months of delays and spiraling daily costs. Meg James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/18/26

Jeanie Buss contests family sale of Lakers ownership stake to Bob Iger, Joshua Kushner -- For more than four decades, the Lakers were a family-run business. The sibling rivalries still remain. Jeanie Buss is fighting back after her siblings reportedly voted to sell the family’s remaining stake in the Lakers on Monday. Thuc Nhi Nguyen in the Los Angeles Times$ Greg Beacham Associated Press Sam Amick in the New York Times$ -- 8/18/26

Poll showing Bass leading Raman by double digits was bogus, company says -- The phony poll by a company called Median Strategies showed Bass leading Raman by a wide margin, but the company acknowledged Monday that it was fake. Median said the “poll” was instead a “short term social experiment” to see how polling information could be distributed without verification. Noah Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/18/26

House Ethics Committee announces sexual misconduct investigation into Rep. Jimmy Gomez -- Gomez acknowleged ‘personal mistakes outside my marriage,’ and said he is ‘ready to cooperate’ with the ethics probe. Ben Wieder in the Los Angeles Times$ Michael Gold in the New York Times$ -- 8/18/26

Republicans won the redistricting competition. Don’t tell that to this California congressman -- One thing Anne Smull, a retired feedstore owner, was looking forward to on Election Day was voting for the man who currently represents her in Congress, conservative Rep. Kevin Kiley. Now she can’t. Nicholas Riccardi Associated Press -- 8/18/26

The state says he stole millions from California seniors. Courts missed warning signs for years -- A CalMatters investigation found that many of the safeguards designed to protect against fiduciary abuse have been abandoned or ignored. Byrhonda Lyons Calmatters -- 8/18/26

Workplace

Hollywood strikes first AI copyright truce with ByteDance -- The Motion Picture Assn. has struck its first agreement with an artificial intelligence company, saying Monday that BytWendy LeeeDance has strengthened copyright guardrails into its AI video and image tools that drew legal threats from every major Hollywood studio in February. Wendy Lee in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/18/26

Serve Robotics partners with Grubhub after Uber exit -- Consumers from the Los Angeles region who order through Grubhub will soon have some of their orders delivered by four-wheeled robots. Nilesh Christopher in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/18/26

Blow to Westside child care: UCLA to close infant and toddler centers charging $3,000 a month -- Parents and advocates say the closures deepen an already dire child-care shortage in the Westside, where licensed spaces serve just a fraction of infants and soaring costs strain both families and underpaid educators. Kate Sequeira and Jaweed Kaleem in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/18/26

Housing

Aging Californians aren’t leaving their longtime homes. It’s worsening the housing crisis -- California‘s aging population is driving down the state’s average household size, as senior residents are increasingly staying in their single-family homes well after their children move out. The declining birthrate is also contributing to this trend of shrinking households. Grace Toohey in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/18/26

Guns

Trump Administration Moves to Restore Felons’ Gun Rights -- The Justice Department expects 330,000 people to apply to reclaim ability to own firearms under a new regulation Dave Michaels in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 8/18/26

Also

Trump praises 16-year-old lifeguard who saved a drowning boy in Santa Cruz -- A 16-year-old lifeguard, whose viral video rescue of a boy at a Santa Cruz beach last month drew widespread praise, met with President Trump at the White House on Monday afternoon. Ryder Williams, 16, met with Trump at the Oval Office, after the president announced that Ryder would receive a “High Civilian Honor” for the rescue. Summer Lin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/18/26

POTUS 47

As Iran Truce Expires and Options Shrivel, Trump Lashes Out -- As a crumbling truce with Iran officially collapsed on Monday, President Trump signaled his frustration at his inability to resolve a war that he started but cannot seem to end. In an interview with Fox News, the president lashed out at an American ally, Oman, that has been trying to mediate negotiations with Iran. Luke Broadwater in the New York Times$ Cleve R. Wootson Jr. and Rachel Chason in the Washington Post$ -- 8/18/26

Trump votes by mail again in his home state of Florida -- President Donald Trump voted by mail in Florida’s Republican primary, according to local voting records, even as he continues to rail against mail-in voting with wide-ranging allegations of fraud. Gary Fineout Politico Chris Cameron in the New York Times$ -- 8/18/26

U.S. Airman Says He Would Accept Punishment for Protesting Iran War -- Major Watson characterized the war in Iran as an act of American aggression and compared the U.S. military actions to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Minho Kim in the New York Times$ -- 8/18/26

Supreme Court rebuffs Trump’s bid to overturn $5 million verdict in Carroll case -- The Supreme Court on Monday again rebuffed President Donald Trump’s bid to overturn a $5 million verdict against him in a case in which he was found liable for sexually abusing former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll. Justin Jouvenal in the Washington Post$ -- 8/18/26