California Policy and Politics Sunday

Garofoli: Many Dems are stuck: Becerra, Steyer or someone else? Here’s what to know -- Across California, blank ballots are sitting on kitchen tables, staring back at Democratic voters undecided about whom to back for governor. Many voters remain stumped, days before the June 2 primary. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/24/26

News Analysis: Uncertainty, frustration define messy midterm battles for mayor, governor and Congress -- With little more than a week left until primary voters winnow the candidates for Los Angeles mayor, California governor and Congress, there remains a palpable sense of political uncertainty among the electorate — attributable to a lack of clear front-runners, redrawn political maps, messy party infighting and competing voter frustration with both President Trump and the state’s Democratic establishment. Kevin Rector in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/26

‘Yes, this is an ad’: Steyer’s paid influencer blitz is roiling California’s governor race -- Last month, Carly Nelson, a Tampa, Florida-based influencer and social media consultant, made an unusual departure from her typical stream of fashion photos and motivational quotes by weighing in on California politics. Kate Talerico, Joaquin Palomino in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/24/26

Leaked files, ‘nuclear verdicts,’ bruising attacks: Inside the L.A. city attorney race -- City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto faces a tough reelection fight from challengers on opposite ends of the political spectrum. Sonja Sharp and James Queally in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/26

GOP governor hopefuls give closing arguments to Central Valley Republicans -- The rivals promised sweeping conservative overhauls — new dams, tougher crime policies, gutting environmental rules — as Central Valley voters, anxious over water and culture wars, weighed which Republican could win statewide. Nicole Nixon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/26

L.A. is safer than it’s been in decades, but crime is an issue dominating the mayor’s race -- Homicides in Los Angeles are down to levels not seen since the 1960s. Neighborhoods once awash in gang violence now sometimes go weeks, even months, without a shooting. And the follow-home robberies and street takeovers that captured the public’s attention in recent years have largely subsided. Libor Jany in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/26

Lopez: Spencer Pratt, please call me. You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into -- More than 30,000 people are waiting for their broken sidewalks to get fixed, but there’s no money. The mayor’s power is limited in Los Angeles, and the fixes aren’t as easy as we’d like them to be. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/26

Orange County chemical

Garden Grove chemical tank remains intact Sunday morning, no contaminants found in air nearby -- Air quality officials say they have not detected any contaminants in the area of the malfunctioning chemical storage tank in Garden Grove. The news comes as fire officials prepared to update the public on Sunday, May 24. The tank did not explode or leak overnight. Brian Rokos in the Orange County Register$ -- 5/24/26

Why experts, emergency crews haven’t been able to find a solution to Garden Grove chemical threat -- Experts and emergency crews have been working for nearly two days to try and prevent a potentially catastrophic chemical spill or explosion at Garden Grove aerospace manufacturing facility, but have so far been unable to find a fix. Sean Emery in the LA Daily News Rong-Gong Lin II and Hannah Fry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/26

Explosion would cause significant damage around Garden Grove plant, blast zone map shows -- If the failing chemical tank in Orange County does explode, the aerospace plant where it sits and dozens of homes surrounding it could suffer severe damage, according to a map released by authorities Saturday. Areas within roughly 1,100 feet of the tank would suffer severe damage; and beyond that, areas within about 0.3 miles, moderate damage; and beyond that, areas within about 0.4 miles, light damage, from the blast. Rong-Gong Lin II and Sean Greene in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/26

Outrage, frustrations grow as residents await word on possible Garden Grove chemical blast find few answers -- Frustrations boiled over Saturday as displaced residents and community leaders awaiting the possible explosion of a chemical storage tank in Garden Grove demanded answers from public officials — and consequences for the company behind the potential disaster. Jason Henry, Sean Emery,Tony Saavedra and Victoria Le in the Orange County Register$ -- 5/24/26

How worried should you be about a Garden Grove chemical spill or explosion’s impact on your health? -- A potential explosion or chemical spill in Garden Grove involving the substance methyl methacrylate, or MMA, used in aerospace manufacturing, could cause serious harm to residents’ respiratory or nervous systems if they are exposed to it, experts said Friday, May 22. Sierra van der Brug and Andre Mouchard in the Orange County Register$ -- 5/24/26

What we know about GKN Aerospace, the firm at center of O.C. chemical leak -- The chemical leak that triggered evacuations across a swath of Orange County on Friday is located at GKN Aerospace, a manufacturing company based in the United Kingdom. Hannah Fry and Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/26

San Diego mosque shooting one in long line of racist terror attacks. ‘A throughline that does not stop.’ -- Hate ideology now moves rapidly through mainstream social media, gaming platforms, encrypted chats and anonymous online forums. Kristen Taketa, Kelly Davis in the San Diego Union Tribune -- 5/24/26

Shot after San Diego mosque attack, landscaper says he’s the ‘luckiest guy on the planet’ -- 'If not for my helmet, I would probably not be alive today,' 52-year-old Tafu Letuli said in a statement. Rob Nikolewski in the San Diego Union Tribune -- 5/24/26

‘Broad-based panic’: White House green card policy alarms Bay Area immigration advocates -- Bay Area immigration advocates expressed bewilderment and alarm after the Trump administration announced that people seeking green cards in the U.S. will soon be forced to return to their home countries to apply. Lucy Hodgman, St. John Barned-Smith in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/24/26

Los Angeles hotels are still waiting for a surge in demand from the World Cup -- Hotel rooms in Los Angeles and other FIFA World Cup host cities could sit empty, despite high expectations that the global sporting event would be a boon to the city. Caroline Petrow-Cohen in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/26

Education

Why this Cal State program produces some of the highest-paid grads in the country -- What does the nursing program at Cal State East Bay have in common with Stanford University, the academic powerhouse down the road in Silicon Valley? Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/24/26

Oakland schools struck a costly teachers deal. Now no one seems sure they can pay for it -- It’s been nearly three months since Oakland teachers celebrated a decisive victory at the bargaining table after district officials gave in to nearly all their demands to avoid a strike. Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/24/26

Environment

Defying Trump, California continues to bet big on offshore wind -- While the Trump administration takes extraordinary measures to halt the development of offshore wind power in the United States, Southern California is advancing a $4.7-billion plan to deploy hundreds of towering wind turbines in waters off the state’s coast. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/26

California cap-and-trade overhaul could slash funding for transit, housing and fire prevention -- Scores of agencies and advocates, from big-city mayors to housing departments to BART and Muni, are urging the California Air Resources Board to reject the updated “cap and trade” regulation, now called “cap and invest,” for fear of missing out on big money. The air board is scheduled to vote on the overhaul at its meeting next week. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/24/26

Inspired by Jane Goodall, students build nurseries to reforest L.A.’s fire-scorched communities -- Students traumatized by the 2025 fires are cultivating campus nurseries to reforest Southern California’s fire-scarred landscapes, fulfilling an idea co-conceived by the late conservationist. Lila Seidman in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/26

Trump proposal to eliminate ‘roadless areas’ in forests draws ire among Southern Californians -- A 25-year-old rule keeping certain wilderness regions in the Angeles, other forests, roadless may be revoked, thereby inviting mining or logging operations. Steve Scauzillo in the LA Daily News -- 5/24/26

Yosemite traffic backs up as holiday weekend crowds test no-reservation policy -- Drivers visiting Yosemite National Park on Saturday ran into long delays at multiple entrances, and in some cases were directed to turn around as Memorial Day weekend crowds overwhelmed parking areas and roads into the park. Kate Talerico in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/24/26

Insurance

Here’s exactly what roof types California’s 20 largest insurers won’t cover -- Does your home have a flat roof? Is it made of wood, or past its expected lifespan? These are a few factors that could cause you to be dropped or denied coverage by California’s largest home insurance companies. Megan Fan Munce in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/24/26

Housing

Maxine Waters and Elizabeth Warren, progressive stalwarts, tangle over housing bill -- Two icons of the American left — Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Maxine Waters — are feuding over an unlikely subject: Congress’ approach to housing policy. Jasper Goodman Politico -- 5/24/26

AI and Biological Weapons

A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons -- One evening last summer, Dr. David Relman went cold at his laptop as an A.I. chatbot told him how to plan a massacre. Gabriel J.X. Dance in the New York Times$ -- 5/24/26

POTUS 47

Trump’s Justice Department scrubs its website of news releases about Jan. 6 defendants -- The Department of Justice is acknowledging it has removed from its website news releases about criminal cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, calling the information about the prosecutions “partisan propaganda.”Eric Tucker Associated Press -- 5/24/26

Trump Is Setting His Sights on Restricting Legal Immigration -- After a year focused on immigrants here illegally, the Trump administration is now making it harder for legal migrants to stay in the country. It is a risky pivot. Hamed Aleaziz in the New York Times$ -- 5/24/26

This congressman's family was swept up in WWII Japanese detention. He sees a repeat in today's raids -- The congressman returned home last Fourth of July to startling stories in Southern California as immigration patrols swept through communities and one constituent told him about starting to carry a passport as proof of the right to be in the country. Lisa Mascaro Associated Press -- 5/24/26

Barabak: The ‘greatest threat’ to rule of law in decades. That’s how lawyers, judges see Trump -- A new survey finds deep concern about presidential overreach, persecution of enemies and other unchecked abuses of power. The poll shows the stakes in November. Mark Z. Barabak in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/26