California Policy and Politics Tuesday

After lawsuit, ICE pauses construction of Bay Area detention facility -- Federal officials have agreed to temporarily halt construction of a controversial Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility near Gilroy. California and Santa Clara County sued the Trump administration to halt the project. Andrea Castillo in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/14/26

PG&E power shutoffs planned for this week as fire weather rolls up -- Residents in Alameda, Contra Costa and Marin counties could lose power for up to 20 hours this week due to elevated fire weather, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. warned Tuesday. Chrissa Olson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/14/26

Dangerous heat and fire risk are spreading across California. Here’s when temperatures will peak -- Temperatures will surge across California on Tuesday, nearing 100 degrees in parts of the Bay Area and climbing as high as 118 degrees in the Southern California deserts. Greg Porter in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Grace Toohey and Seamus Bozeman in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/14/26

Earthquakes north of L.A. appear to be on or close to San Andreas, Garlock faults -- Back-to-back earthquakes rocked the area north of Los Angeles near two of California’s most significant faults — including the mighty San Andreas — sending shock waves across the region. Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/14/26

 

CalPERS just had one of its best years in a decade. Why it matters to taxpayers -- CalPERS’ investment returns are important markers because they determine whether government agencies — and taxpayers — have to kick in extra money to cover losses at the pension fund. It eclipsed its target in 2025-26. Adam Ashton Calmatters -- 7/14/26

California, 11 other states sue to block Paramount’s Warner Bros. deal -- A coalition of 12 state attorneys general is filing a lawsuit in federal court on Monday to block Paramount Skydance’s purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery on antitrust grounds, imperiling one of the biggest mergers in entertainment and media history. Daniel Miller Politico Meg James in the Los Angeles Times$ Dave Michaels and Joe Flint in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 7/14/26

Permanent daylight saving time is on the table. Would California scrap being on standard time? -- Congress is again weighing legislation to put the nation on permanent daylight saving time and end the twice-yearly clock change. In 2018, California voters approved Proposition 7, which gave the Legislature the authority to impose year-round daylight saving time — but only if the federal government allowed states to do so. Iris Kwok in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/14/26

Climate

California to offer $3,500 EV rebates to first-time buyers -- Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation on Monday that offers $3,500 for first-time buyers of EVs that cost $50,000 or less. There’s also a rebate of $1,750 for first-time buyers who purchase a used electric vehicle with an MSRP of up to $25,000. Rob Nikolewski in the San Diego Union Tribune -- 7/14/26

Oil

This California Oil Pipeline Was Dormant for 11 Years. Trump Reopened It -- For decades, state and federal officials had halted new offshore drilling here on California’s coast to protect its shoreline. But in March, amid an oil shortage during the war in Iran, the Trump administration ordered the reopening of a Santa Barbara pipeline that had been dormant since 2015 after a major spill. Soumya Karlamangla in the New York Times$ -- 7/14/26

Workplace

Hundreds of economists say ‘we must act now’ on AI’s economic impact and job displacement risks -- Hundreds of economists say in an open letter that institutions “must act now” to address how artificial intelligence could transform the economy and could put many people out of work. The statement released Monday was signed by top economists, along with computer scientists and some executives at tech companies including Anthropic, Google and OpenAI. Associated Press -- 7/14/26

Uncertainty in Tijuana after Toyota announces Tacoma production moving to U.S. ‘A wake-up call.’ -- The Japanese automaker employs more than 2,000 people and produces 166,000 units annually at its Tijuana plant, which will move to Texas. Alexandra Mendoza in the San Diego Union Tribune -- 7/14/26

 

Historic transfer of wealth coming to Bay Area. It won’t look like you expect -- The “Great Wealth Transfer” is coming — and the Bay Area will be its epicenter. But what that really means for the region and for your family may defy expectations. Jessica Roy and Hanna Zakharenko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/14/26

Guns

Parents sue Bay Area gun store after suicide of son, 19 -- Jeffrey Marshall, 19, contacted a Pacifica gun shop two years ago to buy a hunting shotgun, the only type of gun that can be legally sold in California to a buyer aged 18 to 21. But the City Arms store instead sold him a short-barreled shotgun with lead slugs, a weapon and ammunition that are both banned for hunting in the state, according to a lawsuit filed by his parents. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/14/26

Education

UC abruptly suspends plan to reconsider SAT in admissions -- The University of California admissions board has voted to rescind — for now — its plan to study whether to resume SAT or ACT requirements in admissions, a move that leaves the direction of one of the university’s most closely watched debates unclear a day before the Board of Regents meets in San Francisco. Jaweed Kaleem in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/14/26

Street

Grocery Outlet Bay Area stores are using facial recognition technology to catch shoplifters -- Grocery Outlet, the popular Emeryville-based chain of “bargain markets,” has quietly begun rolling out facial recognition software across its Bay Area stores, in what the company’s signage says is an effort to thwart shoplifting. Megan Cassidy in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/14/26

‘Psychological war’: Inside California’s expanding use of jailhouse stings -- Undercover police operations are proliferating in California jails — even after suspects invoke their rights. Cayla Mihalovich Calmatters -- 7/14/26

Also

Feds charge San Jose State grad student with hateful campus threat -- Ziheng ‘Tony’ Fang is formally charged with single instance of a slur-filled violent threat, but criminal complaint implicates him in a string of similar scrawlings that repeatedly prompted unease across campus. Robert Salonga in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/14/26

Why flags across California and the Bay Area are flying at half-staff this week -- President Donald Trump on Monday ordered American flags to be flown at half-staff until 6 p.m. Saturday at the White House and all public buildings, military posts and naval stations around the nation to honor Graham. Anna Bauman in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/14/26

POTUS 47

Oil Surges Most Since 2020, Reflecting Bet That Strait Won’t Go Back to Normal -- Oil markets and Middle East producers appear to be aligning around a new reality: The Strait of Hormuz is no longer expected to return to a prewar norm. Ryan Dezember, Georgi Kantchev and Rebecca Feng in the Wall Street Journal$ Stan Choe Associated Press -- 7/14/26

Trump’s Cease-Fire Effectively Collapses as He Vows to Restart Blockade and Tolls -- After several days of strikes, the president notified Congress that fighting had begun again and announced shipping fees that his administration previously deemed illegal. Peter Baker in the New York Times$ -- 7/14/26

What to Know About Trump’s Plan to Charge a Toll in the Strait of Hormuz -- President Trump announced a 20 percent fee on cargo through the waterway, despite his own administration’s position that such fees violate international law. Yan Zhuang in the New York Times$ -- 7/14/26

Trump’s attorneys, Justice Dept. leaders misused courts in IRS case, judge says -- The president's lawsuit against the IRS — which resulted in a now-scuttled proposal for a $1.8 billion payout fund — was filed for an “improper purpose," the judge said. Jeremy Roebuck and Mark Berman in the Washington Post$ Andrew Duehren and Alan Feuer in the New York Times$ Richard Rubin and C. Ryan Barber in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 7/14/26