California Policy and Politics Tuesday

ABC’s ‘American Idol,’ is leaving Los Angeles, in another blow to the industry -- In the latest blow to Los Angeles film production, ABC’s long-running program will move production of its upcoming season to the Atlanta area, according to Fremantle, which produces the show with 19 Entertainment, owned by Sony Pictures Television. Meg James and Cerys Davies in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/26

 

Kennedy Center board votes to close over financial woes, Trump branding dispute, AP sources say -- Prior to Tuesday’s board meeting, a federal judge blocked the Kennedy Center board from adding Trump’s name to the structure or grounds, saying it would violate an earlier ruling that his name was illegally added to the building. Steven Sloan, Ashraf Khalil Associated Press Jessica Gelt in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/26

 

Newsom signs first-in-nation standards for homes damaged by wildfire smoke -- Thousands of Los Angeles homeowners faced a persistent problem long after the devastating wildfires in January 2025: While their homes were left standing, they had been infiltrated by heavy, toxic smoke and ash, and remained unsafe. Nicole Nixon and Noah Haggerty in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/26

Newsom says he won’t run for president if Harris does -- Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would not run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028 if Kamala Harris does so, appearing to offer deference to the former vice president ahead of a race that could draw a historically crowded field of candidates. Justine McDaniel in the Los Angeles Times$ Hannah Wiley in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Reid J. Epstein in the New York Times$ Praveena Somasundaram in the Washington Post$ -- 9/15/26

Pretty epic’ Kelvin wave is latest threat to SoCal coastal cities. When will it get here? -- Coastal communities are beginning to assess the damage from waves and flooding as Southern California braces for more potentially destructive conditions from a “coastally trapped Kelvin wave.” Rong-Gong Lin II and Andrew Turner in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/26

How a gym, a farmers market and MMA fighters landed millions in Newsom’s last budget -- The California Legislature’s secretive earmark process allows lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom to dole out money for projects with little public scrutiny or notice, raising transparency and equity concerns even among some lawmakers. Yue Stella Yu Calmatters -- 9/15/26

California teachers union to sue state over $3.9 billion in delayed Prop. 98 funds -- California Teachers Association plans to file a lawsuit against the state Tuesday over its decision to withhold Proposition 98 funding from schools in the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years. Chaewon Chung in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/15/26

Gas

‘It’s getting very hard’: California gas prices hit milestone on steady march upward -- California has the highest gas prices in the country, due in part to the particulars of its supply — no pipelines bring oil into the state — and environmental fees. Gas prices in San Francisco were even higher: $6.16 per gallon on average. Kate Galbraith, Lucy Hodgman in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/15/26

Wildfire

L.A. County lacked coordinated plan, processes to guide recovery after 2025 fires, report finds -- The report offered a slew of reforms to ensure the region is better prepared for the next major emergency, and found that — despite outdated or absent plans — county employees and partners worked hard to provide many of the resources and support that fire survivors needed, often under exceptionally challenging circumstances. Grace Toohey in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/26

AI

Talk of AI pause slams Nvidia, AMD and Intel as fears of doomsday scenarios spread -- Artificial intelligence stocks tumbled on Monday after American leaders of the AI revolution called for a coordinated slowdown in building more powerful AI systems. Nilesh Christopher in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/26

What happens to the economy and your investments if the AI race slows down? -- U.S. investors face a novel question as warnings grow about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence: Is it bad for business and Americans’ stock wealth if AI leaders slow down the technology to avoid catastrophe? Shira Ovide in the Washington Post$ -- 9/15/26

Fears of AI doom emerge at CalPERS board as pension fund rides high on tech investments -- The resignation of Anthropic researcher over his concerns about artificial intelligence companies “gambling with our lives” led to a discussion about the technology’s risk at California’s largest pension fund. Adam Ashton Calmatters -- 9/15/26

Harris backs AI slowdown amid growing safety fears -- The former vice president urged Congress to create a federal oversight body and called for an international agreement that includes China. Jalen Beckford Politico -- 9/15/26

Dreamforce brings AI’s biggest names to S.F. as fight over the technology erupts -- Dreamforce, San Francisco’s biggest annual conference, will bring an artificial intelligence extravaganza this week to downtown with some of the biggest names in tech — just as the industry grapples with existential safety concerns. Roland Li in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/15/26

 

Company eyes ‘large load’ data center in Sacramento that could be region’s biggest -- One of the largest developers of data centers in the nation is eyeing an industrial area in the city of Sacramento for a new data center. Employees from Link Logistics have been in talks with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District since February this year, according to emails acquired by Abridged by PBS KVIE. Felicia Alvarez KVIE Abridged -- 09/15/26

Gilroy approves temporary freeze on new data centers -- The city council’s unanimous vote follows uproar over a massive Amazon project. Jason Green in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/15/26

 

Trump Says a Smart President Is All That’s Needed to Rein In A.I. -- President Trump on Monday rejected calls from leading artificial intelligence executives for new limits on the technology, writing on social media that the industry already has the only guardrail it needs: “a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT.” Jonathan Swan and Michael Gold in the New York Times$ -- 9/15/26

Workplace

A federal tax credit could add 143,000 film and TV jobs, industry-commissioned study says -- The analysis, released Tuesday morning, is expected to bolster Hollywood’s push for a federal production incentive, which the industry says is necessary to compete with the generous credits offered abroad. Sixty-five nations now offer them, the study said. Samantha Masunaga in the Los Angeles Times$ Daniel Miller Politico -- 9/15/26

The Bay Area has become a brutal place to start a career — and not just in tech -- It’s one of the toughest job markets for new graduates in the past decade, aside from the COVID era, according to government data, economic experts and job seekers. Roland Li, Hanna Zakharenko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/15/26

Walters: Sacramento Bee slashes staff as Gov. Gavin Newsom weighs state aid for news outlets -- When I and this column moved from the Sacramento Union to the Sacramento Bee 42 years ago, it was something of a culture shock. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 9/15/26

Marketplace

Driscoll’s Gave China Its Blueberries—Then China Swiped the Secret to Growing Them -- California grower’s expansion into China ignited local competition and widespread IP theft; undercover investigators at nurseries. Jon Emont, Qilai Shen in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 9/15/26

Housing

Major housing nonprofit in Los Angeles’ Skid Row facing financial collapse -- The prospect of SRO Housing Corp., which operates 2,500 units of affordable housing, going under creates a significant new problem for Mayor Karen Bass and other local political leaders. Liam Dillon Politico -- 9/15/26

ICE

Immigrants’ Lawyers Say U.S. Is Redacting Documents Proving Legal Status -- He is now facing deportation; his court hearing is scheduled for December. The government says his FOIA appeal will be processed by May 2027. Mr. Alarcon-Galvez has four U.S.-citizen daughters and has lived in Oceanside, Calif., for decades. “It’s almost like a joke,” said Caroline Matthews, his lawyer, adding that Mr. Alarcon-Galvez “has a constitutional right” to his documents. Minho Kim in the New York Times$ -- 9/15/26

Education

‘Cognitive stunting’ and the potential threat generative AI poses for children’s brains -- Los Angeles Unified School District recently announced it will bar student use of generative artificial intelligence on school devices for the 2026-27 academic year, joining New York City Public Schools in limiting children’s access to a technology no one yet knows how to safely manage. Corinne Purtill in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/26

$400,000 per bed? Why it costs so much to build affordable student housing in California -- At UC San Diego, for example, a 1,423-bed dorm opened in 2024 cost $260,000 per bed to build. At California State University, Northridge, the 200 beds in two residence halls that opened in 2025 cost $360,000 each. And at Lake Tahoe Community College, the per-bed cost for a 100-bed dormitory stretched to $400,000. William Melhado EdSource -- 9/15/26

Also

Bay Area family makes record donation to help rebuild Big Basin Redwoods State Park -- The effort to rebuild Big Basin Redwoods State Park after a crushing 2020 wildfire is taking a significant step forward this week with a $6 million donation to fund a new park interpretive center. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/15/26

Byron Sher, an uncomfortable politician who left an indelible mark on California’s environment, dies at 98 -- Byron Sher, a Stanford law professor turned California legislator who wrote some of the state’s most far-reaching environmental laws, died Saturday. He was 98. Dan Morain in the Los Angeles Times$ Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/15/26

Sacramento philanthropist Ernest E. Tschannen, major Sac State donor, dies at 101 -- Ernest E. Tschannen, the longtime Sacramento philanthropist whose multimillion-dollar gifts helped transform Sacramento State and other institutions across the region, has died, the university announced Monday. He was 101. Tarini Mehta and Darrell Smith in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/15/26

Huge number of California drivers get cash back as State Farm distributes largest-ever dividend -- Each year, California homeowners, drivers and businesses pay over $100 billion in premiums to insurance companies. Sometimes, a bit of that money comes back — such as this year for drivers insured by State Farm Mutual Insurance. Megan Fan Munce in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/15/26

POTUS 47

Supreme Court halts Trump’s proposed limits on mail ballots for this year’s elections -- The decision in USPS vs. California is a victory for California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and the attorneys general for 22 other Democratic-led states who sued to block the new rules. David G. Savage and Kevin Rector in the Los Angeles Times$ James Romoser and Louise Radnofsky in the Wall Street Journal$ Justin Jouvenal, Patrick Marley and Mark Berman in the Washington Post$ Lindsay Whitehurst Associated Press -- 9/15/26

Trump’s Effort to Assert Control Over Elections Continues, Despite Court Loss -- The Supreme Court on Monday dealt President Trump a major blow when it blocked his executive order to restrict mail ballots. But Mr. Trump’s battle to assert control over the election process is far from finished. Zolan Kanno-Youngs in the New York Times$ -- 9/15/26

Oil Executives Say the Great Fuel Crisis Is Here -- Trump officials say the oil-market disruption is temporary, but Chevron’s Mike Wirth and others warn global supplies are running low, with no respite in sight. Benoît Morenne and Collin Eaton in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 9/15/26

Trump’s EPA is ending one of the nation’s biggest climate protections -- The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday repealed Biden-era rules to limit the carbon dioxide emissions from power plants that drive climate change, arguing it will save consumers money on electricity bills, while environmentalists say it will take a toll on public health. Jake Spring in the Washington Post$ -- 9/15/26

Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding celebration was partially funded by Russian oligarch, the couple confirms -- Donald Trump Jr. and new wife Bettina confirm on Instagram that Russian businessman Umar Kremlev funded two lavish post-wedding celebrations in the Bahamas as an extraordinarily generous gift. Jill Colvin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/26

California, others challenge Trump effort to deny green cards over past use of public aid -- California and other plaintiffs say the new rules unlawfully rewrite more than a century of immigration law. The Department of Homeland Security defends the rules as curbing abuse of programs intended for U.S. citizens. Kevin Rector in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/26

Democrats and activist groups plan to push back if Trump tries to interfere in midterm elections -- Democratic state parties announced Monday that they are launching an operation for the midterm elections they’re calling the “New Battlefield Project,” intended to recruit 10,000 volunteers to guard polling places in case armed federal officers show up. Nicholas Riccardi, Matt Brown Associated Press -- 9/15/26