Updating Saturday . . .   

SoCalGas

SoCalGas backed case against Berkeley gas ban and asked customers to pay, advocates say -- The nation’s largest gas utility sought to charge ratepayers more than $1 million for legal fees to support a challenge to Berkeley’s ban on natural gas hookups in most new buildings, a move environmental advocates called a brazen attempt to block climate-friendly policies in California cities. Ari Plachta in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/22/23

PG&E

Customers shred electricity bill plans backed by PG&E, other utilities -- A prominent Bay Area energy economist is warning that forthcoming changes to the way PG&E and other power companies in California bill customers could leave many people with sticker shock. George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/22/23

Policy & Politics

Book bans are soaring in U.S. schools, fueled largely by new laws in Republican-led states -- Book bans in school libraries, gassed up by legislation pushed by conservatives, rose nearly 30% last semester, according to PEN America. Alexandra E. Petri in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/22/23

Former L.A. Mayor Richard J. Riordan battled, but ultimately honored, the media -- Plenty of Los Angeles mayors have fumed about their coverage in this newspaper. Richard J. Riordan may be the only one who retaliated with a satirical essay aimed at one of his tormentors: me. James Rainey in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/22/23

Workplace ++

‘I was able to give back’: Landmark firefighting law sparks new hope for former inmates -- Then in September of 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 2147 into law, allowing incarcerated people who served as inmate firefighters to have their records expunged. Prior to its passage, many inmates were unemployable as firefighters after leaving prison because of their criminal records — even if they had spent years doing the exact same job, and even though California had a shortage of firefighters. Will McCarthy in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/22/23

Education

Bill to provide $17,000 for those opting out of public schools defeated in California senate committee -- A bill that would have provided school choice vouchers died at the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday. Elissa Miolene in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/22/23

Street

California Supreme Court rejects lawsuit challenging Newsom’s plan to treat mental illness -- Gov. Gavin Newsom’s CARE Court plan to address severe mental illness, substance use and homelessness is on track to move forward after the high court rejected a legal challenge. Hannah Wiley in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/22/23

Since photos’ release, LAPD has been quietly scrubbing police rosters from portal -- As the hand-wringing at Los Angeles Police Department headquarters continues over the release of police officers’ pictures, the city has been quietly scrubbing the names and ranks of cops from its public records website. Libor Jany in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/22/23

Knight: She survived one of S.F.’s most horrific crimes. Why has she been forced to relive it again and again? -- Thanks to legal loopholes and inaction by state officials, the man who savagely killed Annette Carlson’s husband as she looked on, before raping and beating her, is set to go before California’s parole board — for the 17th time. Heather Knight in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/22/23

Climate

‘Carnage everywhere’: Exploded homes, collapsed buildings after Tahoe’s worst winter in 70 years -- South Lake Tahoe just survived its heaviest winter in a generation, and the damages are still being tallied. Gregory Thomas, Claire Hao in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Jim Carlton in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 4/22/23

Downtown

Hoeven: S.F. is struggling. Sacramento is booming. So why are both of their downtowns flailing? -- While San Francisco struggles to ward off an impending economic “doom loop” triggered by office workers fleeing the city to work remotely — gutting its tax base and decimating regional transit systems like BART — you won’t have to travel very far to find the beneficiaries of this exodus. Chief among them: the largely rural region surrounding Sacramento. Emily Hoeven in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/22/23

Middle Class Refunds

Why over 1 million Californians still don't have their middle class tax refunds -- You wouldn’t think it would be this hard to give money away, but around six months after California began issuing “Middle Class Tax Refunds,” more than 1 million households that were supposed to receive their payment on prepaid debit cards still have not activated them. Kathleen Pender in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/22/23

A's

How much do the A’s matter to Oakland’s identity? -- They know that if the once-#RootedInOakland team completes a new deal to buy land and build a stadium in Las Vegas, it won’t change a thing about Oakland’s cultural diversity, food offerings, artistic contributions, progressive values and overall coolness. They also know better than most the nuances of loving something that doesn’t love you back. Shomik Mukherjee in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/22/23

Cannabis

Marijuana is mainstream but weed tourism isn’t booming. Here’s why -- At the LitCo dispensary downtown, Brett “Rollan Buds" Davis approached me with a weed waiver. “It’s so you don’t blame us for getting high,” said Davis, who owns Weed Bus Los Angeles and was guiding the Movie Set Tour on a recent Thursday afternoon. With two joints and a container of edibles in my bag, I took full responsibility. Andrea Sachs in the Washington Post$ -- 4/22/23

Also:

Eureka! After California’s Heavy Rains, Gold Seekers Are Giddy -- The mother lode of winter storms has sent water blasting through rock crevices and rivers in the Sierra Nevada, leading to more glittering discoveries by prospectors. Thomas Fuller, Jim Wilson in the New York Times$ -- 4/22/23

 

 

California Policy and Politics Saturday

Gavin Newsom, California leaders celebrate abortion pill access after Supreme Court decision -- California leaders commended Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision that will temporarily preserve access to abortion pills, doubling down on their push to protect reproductive services in the Golden State. Maggie Angst, Lindsey Holden in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/22/23

S.F. fentanyl crisis: Newsom directs CHP and National Guard to combat drug dealing in city -- California state police and the California National Guard will start a partnership with local law enforcement agencies to disrupt fentanyl trafficking in San Francisco in the wake of city officials asking for state and federal help cracking down on open-air drug dealing. Sophia Bollag , Mallory Moench in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/22/23

Do the 15 Los Angeles city councilmembers wield too much power? -- A committee ponders how many districts L.A. needs, and how many residents each should represent. Linh Tat in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 4/22/23

Workplace

Another S.F. tech company prepares mass layoffs that could hit 30% of staff -- Lyft’s new CEO is preparing mass layoffs that could reportedly hit almost 30% of its workforce, one of the deepest cuts by any tech company during the pandemic. Roland Li in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/22/23

Labor union SEIU appeals Prop. 22 challenge to California Supreme Court -- The Service Employees International Union and a group of rideshare drivers on Friday petitioned the California Supreme Court to review a recent appeals court ruling that largely upheld the 2020 law, the union said. Suhauna Hussain in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/22/23

Bay Area tallies net job losses in March as tech slowdown jolts region -- The loss of 5,600 jobs in the Bay Area, reported Friday by the state Employment Development Department, concludes a remarkable streak of employment gains in the nine-county region that had extended 25 consecutive months. George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/22/23

Oakland Trader Joe’s store becomes first to unionize in California -- Workers at the Trader Joe’s store in Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood voted to unionize, but the national organizing effort suffered a setback. Suhauna Hussain in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/22/23

S.F.’s unemployment rate rises as tech layoffs continue -- San Francisco’s unemployment rate went up to 3% in March from 2.9% in February, continuing a rise that started in January amid widespread tech layoffs. Ricardo Cano in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/22/23

Guns

Triggers and tragedies: Wrong-place shootings put ‘stand your ground’ laws in the spotlight -- They were shot after pulling into the wrong driveway, ringing the wrong doorbell, getting into the wrong car in a parking lot. Jaweed Kaleem in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/22/23

Wildfire

Wildfires are ravaging the American West. Can a contest help solve the problem? -- A group backed by corporate and foundation donations is putting $11 million in prize money to solve a problem: detecting and stopping wildfires. Noah Bierman in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/22/23

Palm Springs

How Palm Springs ran out Black and Latino families to build a fantasy for rich, white people -- Palm Springs faces a $2-billion reparations claim from Black and Latino families who were burned out of their homes 50 years ago during “slum clearance.” Gale Holland in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/22/23

Housing

California housing crisis: Inside the push to ramp up the ‘backdoor revolution’ -- Nearly one in five new homes built in California is an accessory dwelling unit, or ADU. Now, a San Francisco lawmaker wants to make it even easier to build such backyard cottages or in-law suites. Dustin Gardiner in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/22/23

Street

Prosecutors say Los Gatos party mom tried to flee justice, hide assets and smuggle drugs into jail -- Tearful teens and parents urged maximum sentence for Shannon O’Connor. John Woolfolk in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/22/23

Twitter

Elon Musk is gifting blue check marks to celebrities who don’t want them -- Elon Musk’s long-promised purge of legacy blue check marks arrived Thursday. Samantha Chery and Avi Selk in the Washington Post$ -- 4/22/23

A's

A’s Las Vegas plan: Where will they play between now and 2027? -- Oakland Athletics’ two options are staying at Coliseum or heading to Las Vegas and their Triple-A facility. Michael Nowels, Jon Becker in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/22/23

Natural Gas

A fight brewing in Oregon could decide how we heat our homes and cook -- In Eugene, the natural gas industry plans to spend millions to defeat the city’s ban on gas in newly built homes. If it succeeds, the industry may take the fight to other U.S. cities and counties. Anna Phillips in the Washington Post$ -- 4/22/23

Also:

New S.F. condo owner gives 81-year-old longtime resident 3 days to clear out -- An 81-year-old woman whose $1.4 million condominium in the Upper Haight was auctioned for half its value now has three days to leave. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/22/23

Goats go on the lam from a park in San Francisco, head for Ghirardelli Square -- A herd of working goats walked off the job Friday in San Francisco, blocking traffic and nearly making its way to Ghirardelli Square, about half a mile from where the goats started. Christian Martinez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/22/23

 

Friday Updates  

Two wrongly convicted L.A. men declared innocent after serving nearly 17 years -- Two men who served nearly 17 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of attempted murder after a 2004 shooting were declared innocent Thursday by a California judge. Under a new law, the state is required to pay them each $140 for every day they spent behind bars, or about $900,000. Christopher Weber Associated Press -- 4/21/23

California hits ambitious goal for electric cars two years early -- If it seems like there are more Teslas, Chevy Bolts and electric Ford Mustangs on freeways and in driveways across California, there’s a reason for that. There are. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/21/23

Policy & Politics

Lawmakers plan to focus on California fentanyl crisis -- What could have been a dramatic showdown Thursday, orchestrated by Republican legislators demanding action on bills addressing California’s fentanyl crisis, was ultimately avoided with a deal for a special hearing next week. Lynn La CalMatters -- 4/21/23

Harris, Feinstein told in 2018 of American killed by fentanyl pills from Mexican pharmacy -- In 2018, the family of a man killed by a fentanyl pill from a Mexican pharmacy called on U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and then-Sen. Kamala Harris to act. Little has been done in the intervening years. Connor Sheets, Keri Blakinger in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/21/23

Texas school voucher fight is a test of the power of ‘anti-woke’ rhetoric -- Republicans are pitching school voucher programs to combat ‘the radical woke agenda.’ But rural Texas conservatives like their schools just the way they are. Noah Bierman, Genaro Molina in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/21/23

Battle Over Labor Secretary Nominee Reflects a Larger Fight for Biden -- Business groups are critical of the candidate, Julie Su, and key senators are wavering. The administration’s labor policies are central to the clash. Noam Scheiber in the New York Times$ -- 4/21/23

Taxes and Wealth

‘Excessive wealth disorder’: Should the ultra-rich pay more to help solve America’s problems? -- Boosting taxes on America’s wealthiest people could bring in trillions of dollars to help the country solve its most pressing problems, according to Gabriela Sandoval, executive director of the non-profit Bay Area think tank Excessive Wealth Disorder Institute. Ethan Baron in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/21/23

Workplace

Lyft to Cut at Least 1,200 Jobs in New Round of Layoffs to Reduce Costs -- Latest cuts could impact 30% or more of company’s over 4,000 employees. Preetika Rana, Lauren Thomas, Emily Glazer in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 4/21/23

Street

How a California lawyer cashed in on criminal justice reform by fanning the hopes of inmates’ families -- A Times investigation found that Aaron Spolin built a booming enterprise by fanning false hopes in some families desperate to get their loved ones home. Harriet Ryan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/21/23

His ads call him ‘California’s top-ranked habeas attorney.’ Where’s the evidence? -- Aaron Spolin advertises himself as ‘California’s top-ranked habeas attorney,’ but The Times found that his firm failed to conduct the work required. Harriet Ryan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/21/23

Oakland police warn of armed robbers using their vehicles to trap victims -- A recent, “alarming” increase in armed robberies and carjackings in Oakland prompted a public warning from the city’s police department, who said suspects had begun using vehicles as battering rams before robbing people at gunpoint. Danielle Echeverria in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/21/23

Storm Train

NOAA Forecasters See a Respite for California -- Weather forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday issued their latest outlook for the United States, and there’s at least one piece of hopeful news for a state that has already had a wild year, weather-wise: California. Raymond Zhong in the New York Times$ -- 4/21/23

PG&E

Need power in California? Get in line -- California is in the midst of a renewable energy transformation — investing more than $50 billion in a pivot away from fossil fuels — but Sam Moss just wants to turn the lights on. Wes Venteicher Politico -- 4/21/23

Coliseum

If the A’s do leave Oakland, can the Coliseum be salvaged? -- Victor Matheson, a leading analyst of the business side of professional sports, had no trouble explaining why the Oakland Coliseum is likely to languish now that the A’s seemingly have doubled down on Las Vegas. John King in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/21/23

Fragile Banks

Hiltzik: Love it or hate it, the Silicon Valley Bank bailout won’t cost taxpayers a cent -- What’s the dirtiest word in financial policy? My vote goes to “bailout.” The term evokes giveaways to the most undeserving of fat cats, people who accept “responsibility” for financial crises as long as that doesn’t involve punishment. Michael Hiltzik in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/21/23

Twitter

Twitter removes its ‘government-funded’ media label from NPR, Canada’s CBC -- Twitter has removed labels describing global media organizations as government-funded or state-affiliated, a move that comes after the Elon Musk-owned platform started stripping blue verification checkmarks from accounts that don’t pay a monthly fee. Barbara Ortutay Associated Press in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/21/23

Elon Musk Sows Confusion on Twitter After Removing Legacy Check Marks -- Kim Kardashian and Oprah lose their checks, LeBron James keeps his and the NYC government account gets impersonated. Alyssa Lukpat in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 4/21/23