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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

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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

 

California Policy and Politics Friday

Federal judge extends block on Trump executive order seeking to limit mail voting in the midterms -- A federal judge on Friday extended her prohibition against the U.S. Postal Service implementing President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to limit mail voting during the midterms, putting another major obstacle in the way of the administration as the first states begin sending out mail ballots. Nicholas Riccardi, Lindsay Whitehurst Associated Press -- 9/4/26

 

Bass is asked to testify before Congress about waste and fraud in L.A.’s response to homelessness -- A House subcommittee has asked Mayor Karen Bass to testify in Washington about alleged waste, fraud and mismanagement in L.A.’s federally funded homelessness system. The inquiry follows HUD’s effort to suspend LAHSA from applying for and receiving federal grants, which has been blocked by a judge. David Zahniser and Doug Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/4/26

Bass returns campaign donations from leaders of anti-gang nonprofit after Times inquiry -- Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is returning $9,700 in contributions from entrepreneur Danny Bakewell Sr. and other leaders of a nonprofit group that received millions of dollars in gang prevention contracts from her office, according to her campaign. David Zahniser in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/4/26

Gavin Newsom says he plans to endorse in S.F. House race to replace Nancy Pelosi -- Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday he hoped to endorse in the San Francisco congressional race to replace Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, and that he would likely do so as part of a batch of endorsements in California races. Sophia Bollag in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/4/26

In South Carolina, Gavin Newsom makes an early play for 2028 voters -- Most of the crowd that gathered Thursday morning in a small church community room were fans of Gavin Newsom, eager to take a photo with the California governor and likely presidential candidate. Sophia Bollag in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/4/26

 

EPA can’t curtail California’s emission rules as judge grants injunction against agency -- A federal judge says California has legal authority to set its own clean-air standards for motor vehicles, including a future ban on new gasoline-powered cars, rejecting a challenge by the Trump administration. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/4/26

Lack of FEMA funds cuts off key recovery program for Eaton, Palisades fire survivors -- The California program helping Eaton and Palisades fire survivors access recovery resources and navigate the FEMA reimbursement process will be terminated at the end of the month because of a lack of federal funding. Clara Harter in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/4/26

Highway 1 reopens in Big Sur in time for Labor Day weekend as crews make progress on Timber Fire -- Emergency officials reopened Highway 1 in Big Sur on Thursday, providing a lifeline to restaurants, hotels and other businesses that have been largely shut down for nearly a month during the height of tourist season as the Timber Fire has burned across thousands of acres. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/4/26

California bill aiming to target ‘surveillance pricing’ dies in Legislature -- A California bill that aimed to prevent retailers from charging customers different prices based on personal information that they collect died in the Legislature. Stephen Hobbs in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/4/26

ICE

Six judges fired as Sacramento immigration court faces major overhaul under Trump -- Sacramento’s immigration court has undergone one of the most dramatic shake-ups in the country, with six of the seven judges serving there at the start of President Donald Trump’s second term fired in the past year. Mathew Miranda in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/4/26

Workplace

Bay Area tech layoffs already top last year as more job cuts surface -- Through the start of September, tech companies have revealed their decisions to eliminate 12,947 jobs in the Bay Area, this news organization’s review of dozens of WARN notices on file with the state Employment Development Department shows. George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/4/26

PayPal plans to lay off hundreds of workers at its South Bay headquarters -- PayPal plans to lay off 251 employees at its Silicon Valley headquarters, the latest Bay Area tech cutbacks from a company already undergoing a broader global restructuring. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/4/26

Walters: California’s political hopefuls remain silent on state’s job losses, unemployment -- The aspirants for those positions are making all sorts of promises to win voters’ approval. But few, if any, have mentioned a slow-motion menace affecting a fundamental facet of life: jobs. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 9/4/26

Hiring burst of 162,000 jobs in August puts the focus squarely back on inflation in the US -- The U.S. job market rebounded in August as employers added a surprising 162,000 jobs. The unemployment rate stayed at a low 4.1%. Paul Wiseman Associated Press Justin Lahart in the Wall Street Journal$ Lauren Kaori Gurley in the Washington Post$ -- 9/4/26

Climate

Trump is trying to terminate EVs in California. Is that even possible? -- Trump is moving to strip California’s emissions authority, end tax credits and erase electric vehicle sales mandates, reshaping the national market while leaving the state’s clean-car future tangled in Washington-level uncertainty. Yet California’s EV adoption keeps climbing, with nearly 1 in 6 new cars fully electric, robust used sales and hundreds of millions in state incentives replacing lost federal rebates. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/4/26

Water

California’s biggest reservoir in decades is facing a crucial moment. Will there be enough water? -- On Thursday, state water regulators released a draft permit for the highly anticipated Sites Reservoir, outlining how much water the proposed $6 billion facility in rural Glenn and Colusa counties can draw from the Sacramento River and, importantly, when those draws can be made. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/4/26

Data Centers

Would CEQA changes apply to data centers under Prop. 45? Experts remain unsure -- The measure reforms the environmental review process for a number of “essential projects,” such as water systems, clean energy, health facilities and transportation. However, opposition to Prop. 45 has grown from uncertainty regarding its application to data centers, which its language does not specifically mention. Sofia Williams in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/4/26

Fact check: Is Sam Altman right that almonds use more water than ChatGPT queries? -- Altman claims 38,000 ChatGPT queries equal one almond’s water use. Experts say public data center water data is too sparse to verify his math. Rachel Becker Calmatters -- 9/4/26

AI

Zuckerberg opposed White House AI proposal in private call with Trump -- Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed concerns about plans for a national AI regulator in a previously unreported phone call with President Donald Trump last month, marking the involvement of one of the world’s top tech executives in a fraught White House policy debate. Sophia Cai and Charles Rollet Politico -- 9/4/26

Why the Hugging Face Hack Should Make You Worry More About A.I. -- The attack by an aggressive “collective” of OpenAI agents shows the danger of artificial intelligence systems that organize themselves. Kevin Roose in the New York Times$ -- 9/4/26

OpenAI’s president claims AI is as capable as humans now -- ChatGPT maker OpenAI’s president said Thursday that the era where artificial intelligence is broadly as capable as humans has arrived, a controversial milestone that some leaders in AI have predicted would mark a major shift in human history. Gerrit De Vynck in the Washington Post$ -- 9/4/26

Develop

Investors place billion-dollar real estate bet on Silicon Valley’s future -- Betting big on Silicon Valley’s future, an investment group led by an England-based firm paid a combined $1.16 billion for six tech campuses in three cities, according to several grant deeds filed in Santa Clara County in September. George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/4/26

Education

Community colleges suddenly oppose plan to let them offer more bachelor’s degrees -- Two bills sent to Newsom set new rules for determining when colleges can create bachelor’s degrees and how many they can offer. Mikhail Zinshteyn Calmatters -- 9/4/26

California schools are sitting on arts money. A change in law might get them to spend it -- A bill to clarify how schools should spend California’s $1 billion annual investment in arts education is headed for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk after legislators reached a compromise with a champion of the original initiative. Carolyn Jones Calmatters -- 9/4/26

Trump targets private school tax-exempt status over race-based aid. California takes notice -- The Trump administration is proposing a new rule that would strip private colleges and private grade schools of their tax-exempt status if they provide targeted help to students based on their race, a significant escalation in the White House’s campaign to eradicate diversity programs directed at Black, Latino and other minority students. Howard Blume, Jaweed Kaleem and Collin Binkley in the Los Angeles Times$ William Melhado EdSouce -- 9/4/26

California judge rules against Trump on transgender athletes. What happens next? -- A federal judge this week dismissed a key Trump administration challenge to California rules allowing transgender students to compete on athletic teams in accordance with their gender identities. But legal experts say the decision, while significant, may not be the end of the legal saga over transgender rights and school sports. Sharon Bernstein in the Fresno Bee -- 9/4/26

Climate

As world braces for ‘super’ El Niño, research suggests global warming has increased its punch -- This year’s rapidly building “super” El Niño is forecast to be the strongest on record, prolonging extreme heat, floods and drought worldwide and threatening economic, ecological and human costs. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/4/26

Street

S.F. Mayor Lurie launched an intensive push to improve chaos in the Mission. Did it work? -- Night had just fallen on San Francisco's 16th Street BART plaza on Wednesday when police pulled up to a frenzied scene they've confronted many times before. Abigail Vân Neely, J.D. Morris in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/4/26

Also

Wolf spotted in California coastal mountains just north of Bay Area -- A gray wolf was spotted last week in rural Lake County, marking new territory for the endangered carnivore in California’s Coast Range. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/4/26

This Vintage Printing Press Has Become a Darling of Silicon Valley -- One of the companies most treasured by San Francisco’s philanthropists and tech innovators is also one of the city’s most old-fashioned: Arion Press makes books the same way Johannes Gutenberg did some 600 years ago, casting letters and numbers out of an alloy of lead, antimony and tin. Alexander Nazaryan, Poppy Lynch in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 9/4/26

SF Camerawork is reopening — and now has a $1 million boost -- SF Camerawork has secured $1 million in state funding over the next two years, strengthening its prospects after a turbulent August that included an announced closure and a sudden reorganization. Tony Bravo in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/4/26

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Trump again appeals to Supreme Court on mail-voting restrictions with midterm elections looming -- The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to reject an order by a federal judge that halts it from implementing a new rule regulating mail ballots, hours after being unable to tell that judge whether the computer system that would govern the entire project was operational yet. Lindsay Whitehurst, Michael Casey, Nicholas Riccardi Associated Press James Romoser in the Wall Street Journal$ Abbie VanSickle in the New York Times$ -- 9/4/26

‘We've told them he cannot come’: Republicans grapple with how to handle Trump on the trail -- Interviews with more than two dozen GOP lawmakers, candidates and operatives show a party far from unified on how to handle the president in tough races. Andrew Howard, Meredith Lee Hill and Erin Doherty Politico -- 9/4/26

Trump to Break Ground on Arch Before Getting Approval -- Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, announced plans to start work on the site of the 250-foot-tall triumphal arch. Final approval of the project is still pending. Luke Broadwater and Emily Badger in the New York Times$ Jesse Bedayn Associated Press -- 9/4/26