California Policy and Politics Saturday

California abortion pill suppliers ready with workaround in case of Supreme Court ban -- The Supreme Court has temporarily stayed a lower court’s ban on mail-order delivery of certain types of pills used to terminate pregnancies. Experts said that even if the high court allows the ban to stand, another type of abortion pill will still be available. Sonja Sharp in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/9/26

GM just paid a record penalty for breaking California privacy law -- General Motors agreed to pay $12.75 million in civil penalties for selling driving data of hundreds of thousands of California motorists to data brokers, allegedly without their consent. Khari Johnson Calmatters -- 5/9/26

Gov. Newsom shakes up high-speed rail board, appointing former S.F. leaders to steer the project -- Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed two new board directors to oversee California’s high-speed rail project, both former top officials in San Francisco City Hall. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/9/26

 

‘Dark money’ casts a shadow over L.A. elections, with mystery group pumping out attack mail -- A group called Neighbors First is funding political mailers attacking left-wing City Council candidates. As a nonprofit, it doesn’t have to disclose its donors. One of the consultants for Neighbors First is Jennifer Rivera, who lobbied city officials last year on a proposed gondola linking Union Station with Dodger Stadium. David Zahniser in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/9/26

How MAGA Sheriff Chad Bianco is shaking up the 2026 California gubernatorial primary -- Chad Bianco’s campaign for California governor leans heavily on his years as Riverside County sheriff, a record that has drawn praise from voters yearning to return to a tough-on-crime era and harsh criticism from others who consider him a far-right affront to the rule of law. Kevin Rector and Hailey Wang in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/9/26

Spencer Pratt said ‘super meth’ is helping fuel L.A.’s homeless crisis. What is that? -- During a recent debate, Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt argued that drug abuse has been largely ignored as a factor when attempting to address the city’s homelessness crisis. Karen Garcia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/9/26

Lopez: For all the chatter by mayoral candidates, can anyone fix L.A.’s enduring problems? -- By the end of the L.A. mayor debate I came away thinking there were no clear winners, and a definite loser: Voters. The format works against meaningful, substantive discussions, especially when moderators ask for one-word answers. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/9/26

Workplace

Bay Area anti-poverty nonprofit takes on AI-driven economy -- Tipping Point Community announced a new maneuver this week in its fight against Bay Area poverty: preparing human workers to survive in an economy powered by artificial intelligence. Lucy Hodgman in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/9/26

Disney’s ABC challenges FCC, escalating fight over free speech -- Walt Disney Co.’s ABC is forcefully resisting Federal Communications Commission efforts to soften the network’s programming, accusing the federal agency of an overreach that violates 1st Amendment freedoms. Meg James in the Los Angeles Times$ Joe Flint and Isabella Simonetti in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 5/9/26

Press freedom groups challenge Larry Ellison’s reported promise to fire CNN anchors -- Two press freedom groups that own shares in Paramount Skydance are demanding to see the company’s books and internal documents, citing allegations that the company’s leaders may have promised favors to the White House to win approval for Paramount’s deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. Meg James and Ben Wieder in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/9/26

Meta’s Embrace of A.I. Is Making Its Employees Miserable -- As it adapts to the artificial intelligence era, the company is pushing many of its 78,000 workers to use the technology, and preparing to lay some of them off. Kalley Huang, Eli Tan and Kate Conger in the New York Times$ -- 5/9/26

Education

Tribes want Cal State to return Native remains and artifacts. Here’s why it’s not so easy -- Cal State campuses have mixed records in returning Native remains and artifacts to tribes. Campus officials say they are working diligently to follow legal mandates but the process can be arduous, especially for non-federally recognized tribes. Brittany Oceguera Calmatters -- 5/9/26

Transit

L.A.’s long-awaited subway under Wilshire Boulevard opens, linking Beverly Hills to downtown -- More than six decades ago, California leaders started working toward a rail line that would run below Wilshire, but the efforts struggled to gain momentum because of major funding shortfalls, political battles, neighborhood opposition and engineering concerns. Perhaps that’s why Friday felt so monumental. Cierra Morgan and Grace Toohey in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/9/26

Environment

Invasive species discovered at drinking water treatment plants in San Jose -- Fast-spreading hardy mussels from China, already in Delta and spreading across California, could cost millions to control. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/9/26

This California frog vanished from Yosemite. Now it’s back — and thriving -- Wildlife officials declared this week that the park’s once-vanished population of red-legged frogs is now self-sustaining, cementing the success of the experimental reintroduction program. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/9/26

Canvas cyberattack

‘Timing couldn’t have been worse’: California students scramble amid Canvas cyberattack -- As the global cyberattack on the Canvas learning management system entered its second day Friday, thousands of students across California found themselves locked out of the online lectures they needed to study for finals. Many could not take exams given on the platform. Others could not submit assignments to professors or teachers. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/9/26

PG&E

City officials slam PG&E as new report reveals cause of S.F. substation fire that led to blackouts -- But the report, a 70-page technical document about the precise cause of the fire, does not spell out whether PG&E could or should have done anything differently to prevent the blaze. J.D. Morris in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/9/26

Street

Family sues Riverside County after sheriff’s deputy runs red light, killing a man and injuring his fiancée -- Gavin Hinkley and his fiancée were running errands in September for their wedding, which was weeks away, when a Riverside County sheriff’s patrol vehicle barreled toward them at 100 mph, running through a red light and colliding with the driver’s side of their car. Suhauna Hussain in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/9/26

Also

Amazon MGM Studios executive solicited kickbacks for postproduction contracts, lawsuit alleges -- An Amazon MGM Studios executive allegedly solicited kickbacks from an aspiring vendor in exchange for post-production contract awards on shows, according to a recently filed lawsuit. Samantha Masunaga in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/9/26

‘Speed running’ trend spreads despite Scientology and social media sites trying to stop it -- Since the first incidents in Los Angeles in late March, large groups of people — some in costumes — have tried to race through buildings belonging to the church in New York, San Diego, San Francisco and countries outside the U.S., even as Scientology’s lawyers, law enforcement agencies and social media platforms have sought to halt the viral movement. James Queally in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/9/26

POTUS 47

Democrats just lost the redistricting war -- Republicans just won the redistricting war — and boosted their slim hopes for holding the House. Andrew Howard Politico -- 5/9/26

Republicans Are Building an Advantage in Redistricting. How Much? -- It’s not a stalemate anymore. Over just the last two weeks, new court rulings and new congressional maps have put Republicans on track to add more than a dozen districts that voted for President Trump. Nate Cohn in the New York Times$ -- 5/9/26

‘Mild panic will set in soon’: GOP donors left to wonder about Trump’s $300 million war chest -- Republican donors have given massive sums of money to Trump’s operation. But they are in the dark about how he’s going to spend it in the midterms. Alex Gangitano and Megan Messerly Politico -- 5/9/26

Poll: Republicans and Democrats agree on one big election issue -- New results from The Politico Poll are stark: 72 percent of Americans say there is too much money in politics, with just 5 percent disagreeing. Across parties, majorities say billionaires wield outsized influence over U.S. politics and that special interest spending is a type of corruption that should be restricted, rather than protected as free speech. Anna Wiederkehr Politico -- 5/9/26

The No-Bid Contract That Is Turning Washington’s Reflecting Pool Blue --To give out that $6.9 million no-bid contract, Mr. Trump’s administration invoked an exemption meant for urgent situations, The New York Times found. The exemption was supposed to be used only to prevent “serious injury, financial or other, to the government.” Administration officials made no public claim that such injury was likely; rather, officials said, Mr. Trump wanted it changed for the country’s birthday party on July 4. David A. Fahrenthold and Luke Broadwater in the New York Times$ -- 5/9/26