California Policy and Politics Saturday

U.S. hits diesel fuel milestone as prices slam California economy from trucks to crops -- Diesel prices have hit a record national average of $5.85 a gallon, with California nearing $7.71, squeezing a state economy built on trucking, farming and global trade. War-driven disruptions to fuel supplies, including cargo rerouted from the Suez Canal, are driving up transportation and grocery costs, hitting small trucking fleets, family farms and low-income households hardest. Clara Harter and Suhauna Hussain in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/5/26

California’s Rob Bonta investigating OpenAI over Hugging Face hack --California Attorney General Rob Bonta is investigating OpenAI over the recent hack its programs carried out on their own against another artificial intelligence company, Hugging Face, the state’s top lawyer confirmed to Politico. Chase DiFeliciantonio Politico -- 9/5/26

Governor hopeful Xavier Becerra’s California housing pitch: Build more, promise less -- Democrat gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra reiterated his support for Proposition 1, a $11.25 billion housing bond, during a campaign stop in Long Beach on Friday. Billed to the press as a chance to highlight his housing agenda, the frontrunner for governor, and one-time construction worker, spoke for less than 10 minutes in broad terms about the importance of building more homes. Ben Paviour in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/5/26

Ossoff and Talarico to Share Fund-Raising Event in Hollywood -- James Talarico, the Democratic Senate nominee from Texas, and Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia are headlining a fund-raiser on Thursday evening in Los Angeles, according to an invitation seen by The New York Times. Theodore Schleifer in the New York Times$ -- 9/5/26

Drinking water program, lifeline for San Joaquin Valley, survives budget cuts in Sacramento -- A proposal to fund a state drinking water program that has been a lifeline for communities in the San Joaquin Valley at $171 million passed by the Legislature Tuesday after a harrowing few days and now awaits Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature. Lisa McEwen SJV Water in the Fresno Bee -- 9/5/26

 

San Jose federal judge issues tentative ruling to pause ICE project near Gilroy -- A San Jose federal court judge on Friday issued a tentative ruling to halt work on an ICE facility near Gilroy while a lawsuit against the project by state and county authorities proceeds. The matter is to be addressed in a hearing Tuesday, with the judge’s final decision to come afterward. Ethan Baron in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/5/26

Nick Shirley sues California over new law shielding immigrant services providers -- Right-wing content creator Nick Shirley announced Friday that he is suing California officials over the so-called “Stop Nick Shirley Act,” a bill aiming to protect immigration support service providers from doxxing and harassment. Sofia Williams in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/5/26

 

UC Davis professor, former dean among thousands missing in Nepal floods -- Rao and Vasu Unnava, both professors at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, were staying in a hotel in Timure, Nepal, when the flash floods occurred, according to a message from the university’s chancellor and provost. Only a few kilometers from the border of Nepal and Tibet, they have not been located or heard from since then. Tarini Mehta in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/5/26

Medi-Cal

Low-income patients at UCLA Health scramble to find new doctors as contract ends -- Thousands of low-income patients, some seriously ill, are scrambling to find new doctors as they lose access to UCLA Health physicians after a longtime Medi-Cal contract was not renewed. Melody Petersen in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/5/26

Workplace

PayPal adds another round of layoffs -- PayPal, the digital payments company, is laying off 251 employees at its San José headquarters in another round of layoffs, according to a recent government filing. Annika Duneja in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/5/26

KQED agrees to nearly $900,000 settlement in wage-theft lawsuit -- The proposed settlement, which has received preliminary approval from a San Francisco Superior Court judge, would cover more than 580 current and former hourly employees who worked for the Bay Area’s flagship public media outlet between August 2019 and May 2025. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/5/26

Water

A new California law will ban watering decorative grass, even in non-drought years, starting Jan. 1 -- Schools, cities and counties will be affected first, then businesses and homeowners associations. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/5/26

Wildfire

New app to provide California wildfire updates to the public directly from fire agencies -- More than 60 fire agencies have signed on to share emergency information on AwareCA, which users can download for free. Karen Kucher in the San Diego Union Tribune -- 9/5/26

Data Center

Data centers aren’t banned in Fresno — yet. Here’s what the city council did instead -- Fresno will have to wait several more months before the city can finalize a proposed 10-year moratorium on data centers. Melissa Montalvo in the Fresno Bee -- 9/5/26

AI

ChatGPT bans campaigns from using AI to make ads. They’re doing it anyway -- Artificial intelligence has subtly entered the machinery of the 2026 midterms, with major-party candidates acknowledging in campaign filings and website fine print that they are using the technology to court voters — despite limits imposed by leading AI companies to protect elections from the technology’s risks. Cat Zakrzewski, Lydia Sidhom and Clara Ence Morse in the Washington Post$ -- 9/5/26

Insurance

Major California home insurer plans to write new policies for first time since 2022 -- For the first time since 2022, Allstate Insurance could begin writing new home insurance policies in the state of California — with one condition. On Monday, the company submitted a filing to the California Department of Insurance indicating it would reopen for business if regulators approve an overall 1.4% rate increase for existing as well as new customers. Megan Fan Munce in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/5/26

Education

How Trump’s proposal to strip tax-exempt status affects California private schools -- A proposal by the Trump administration to revoke the tax-exempt status of private schools with diversity, equity and inclusion programs could make it harder for independent schools to raise money and maintain programs intended to broaden access for minority students. William Melhado, EdSource in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/5/26

How can schools help homeless students? These researchers have some ideas -- New UCLA research finds schools in San Diego County and statewide need to do more to support homeless students, calling homelessness an educational crisis that requires regional investment, dedicated funding, more federal protections and integrated cross-system support. Jemma Stephenson in the San Diego Union Tribune -- 9/5/26

Guns

A gun store opened next to a daycare. It could change laws in this California town -- City and county leaders are rushing to draft buffer-zone rules, business-license changes and temporary moratoriums on new gun stores near daycares, schools, parks and other children’s spaces. The clash highlights California’s patchwork gun-zoning laws and Goleta’s history of mass shootings. Hailey Branson-Potts in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/5/26

Street

L.A. man wrongfully convicted of attempted murders to be freed after 12 years in prison -- A Los Angeles County man will soon be freed from state prison where he spent 12 years after being wrongfully convicted of shooting two men in Lynwood in 2013, prosecutors said Friday. James Queally in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/5/26

Why is the San Diego mosque killing case against a teen girl being tried in North Carolina? -- As two teenagers stormed a San Diego mosque, livestreaming from a camera on a helmet, authorities say a 17-year-old girl was in North Carolina, watching, recording. Prosecutors allege she not only failed to warn authorities about the planned attack, but she had also agreed to disseminate both the recorded footage and the shooters’ hate-filled manifesto. Teri Figueroa in the San Diego Union Tribune -- 9/5/26

Also

A billionaire was accused of stealing Malibu sand. Now he’s donating a new beach to the public -- Beachgoers may be the big winners in a high-profile dispute between the California Coastal Commission and Mark Attanasio, the billionaire businessman who owns the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team. Jack Flemming in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/5/26

Gray wolf sighting in Lake County sparks hopes of continued California comeback -- The recent sighting of an endangered gray wolf in northern Lake County has energized wildlife experts who say the animal’s arrival marks a crucial development for the species’ recovery in California, nearly a century after wolves disappeared from the state. Darrell Smith in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/5/26

Tesla’s Cybercab launch triggers federal safety probe -- The gold-colored, two-door vehicle was first unveiled nearly two years ago in Los Angeles. It lacks a steering wheel, gas pedal and mirrors. Caroline Petrow-Cohen in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/5/26

FCC asks court to reject ABC’s 1st Amendment claims -- The FCC is asking a D.C. judge to dismiss ABC’s 1st Amendment lawsuit, calling Disney’s challenge to an unusually early license review “meritless” and insisting no decision has yet been made. Disney argues the commission is weaponizing its regulatory power to retaliate against ABC’s coverage of President Trump, in a test case with sweeping implications for press freedom and political speech. Meg James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/5/26

Global warming is ruining their way of life. These Colorado ranchers demand accountability -- As the U.S. Supreme Court considers a case in which major oil companies are being sued for the effects of global warming, a group of Colorado ranchers is voicing support for the the idea that the fossil fuel industry should be held to account. Ian James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/5/26

POTUS 47

Judge again halts USPS mail ballot plan as Trump administration seeks Supreme Court relief -- A federal judge again blocked the U.S. Postal Service from enforcing President Trump’s sweeping new mail ballot rules. California has led the legal charge against the rules, arguing they could cause chaos and disenfranchise millions of voters. Kevin Rector in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/5/26

Pentagon Subjects Roughly 50 Members of the Joint Staff to Polygraph Tests in Expanded Leak Hunt -- U.S. government investigators have taken the extraordinary step of subjecting roughly 50 members of the U.S. military’s Joint Staff to polygraph tests over leaks to journalists, including about how the Iran war has created a shortage of crucial munitions, according to officials briefed on the move. Jonathan Swan, Adam Entous and Maggie Haberman in the New York Times$ -- 9/5/26

Judge Orders Trump Officials to Divulge Names of Those Who Set Up $1.8 Billion Fund -- Mr. Blanche has repeatedly said the fund is dead, but President Trump has been more circumspect, indicating his support for compensating people like the rioters who were prosecuted for attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Alan Feuer in the New York Times$ Salvador Rizzo in the Washington Post$ -- 9/5/26

Inside the D.O.J.’s Investigation of Fauci and Other Virus Scientists -- As Dr. Anthony Fauci has faced public scrutiny from congressional Republicans, the D.O.J. has pursued a quieter and more expansive effort against a wider circle of researchers. Benjamin Mueller and Glenn Thrush in the New York Times$ -- 9/5/26

What the War in Iran Has Cost One Gold Star Family -- On a windy afternoon in late July, a mother and a father stood on the tarmac at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, watching as soldiers carried a flag-draped case down the ramp of a cargo plane. Stephen and Shari Feehan’s only child, First Lt. Tyler James Feehan, was inside. Katie Rogers in the New York Times$ -- 9/5/26