Updating Thursday . . .

Baseball legend Steve Garvey considering US Senate bid in California, energizing beleaguered GOP -- You’d have to go back a generation — to 1988 — to find the last time a Republican candidate won a U.S. Senate race in heavily Democratic California. This time, the party might get an MVP on the ballot. Michael R. Blood Associated Press Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/1/23

California takes on Florida-style book bans -- Gov. Gavin Newsom and other top California officials Thursday cautioned school administrators against restricting what students read and learn about marginalized groups — marking their most forceful response to a spate of conservative-led book challenges to date. Blake Jones Politico -- 6/1/23

18-wheel robot trucks on freeways? California lawmakers don’t trust DMV to ensure big rig safety -- When Teslas are in self-driving mode, they’ve been recorded crossing into oncoming traffic and hitting parked cars. But what would happen if an 80,000-pound, 18-wheel driverless truck suddenly went off the rails? Russ Mitchell in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/1/23

California’s Senate candidates mostly vote the same — except on these key issues -- California voters have their work cut out for them when it comes to weighing the three top candidates to replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 2024, given their similar resumes and positions on most issues. Shira Stein in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/1/23

California bill for eviction protections advances, but watered down after landlord opposition -- A bill to shore up eviction protections for tenants survived the California Senate Wednesday, but only after real estate interests forced the removal of several significant provisions. Lindsey Holden in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 6/1/23

Majority of Californians fear worsening weather swings due to climate change, poll finds -- Nearly 70% of registered voters say they expect that volatile fluctuations between severe drought and periods of heavy rain and snow — what some call weather whiplash — will become more common in the future due to climate change, according to a new UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/1/23

S.F. started taxing vacant storefronts. Here’s why only 74 owners and tenants have paid so far -- The low number means there were only 2.6% of around 2,800 San Francisco property parcels that were potentially subject to the tax. Roland Li, Susie Neilson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/1/23

S.F. leader who plotted city’s post-pandemic roadmap leaving her position -- Kate Sofis, Mayor London Breed’s chief economic development honcho, is leaving her position to take another economic development job with the city. J.K. Dineen in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/1/23

Silicon Valley Classic departs, leaving Bay Area without elite tennis tournament -- The Women’s Tennis Association announced on Thursday that the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic is moving from San Jose to Washington D.C. to merge with a men’s event in 2023. Marisa Ingemi in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/1/23

Reparations

For many Black Californians, skepticism and hope over reparations -- The reparations debate remains one of the hottest topics in town, particularly in communities like Crenshaw, Leimert Park and Inglewood — the heart of Black L.A. Brennon Dixson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/1/23

Affirmative Action

California private colleges fear affirmative action ban as Supreme Court prepares to rule -- College administrators are revamping admissions and doing more high school outreach, while student activists are campaigning against a potential ban. Itzel Luna CalMatters -- 6/1/23

Workplace

Senate passes $25 minimum wage for healthcare workers. What will it mean for hospitals? -- Senators initially debated the bill for over an hour before coming up three votes short on the first attempt. By evening, they sent the bill to the Assembly with the bare minimum of 21 votes. Maya Miller in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 6/1/23

Supreme Court Says Employer Can Sue Union for Losses Caused by Work Action -- The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a building-materials company could sue a union it claims tried to spoil its concrete and damage its trucks during a strike, without waiting for the National Labor Relations Board to resolve allegations between labor and management. Jess Bravin in the Wall Street Journal$ Noam Scheiber in the New York Times$ -- 6/1/23

Bay Area tech layoffs top grim milestone after jobs cuts by Meta, Nuro, others -- Tech companies have revealed plans to eliminate nearly 25,000 jobs during 2022 and so far in 2023, according to this news organization’s analysis of numerous WARN notices that employers have filed with the state Employment Development Department. George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 6/1/23

Oakland hit with class-action lawsuit over ransomware attack -- The massive ransomware attack that exposed reams of sensitive personal data stored by the city is now the subject of a class-action lawsuit by city employees who say their information wasn’t properly protected. Shomik Mukherjee in the East Bay Times$ -- 6/1/23

Newton: Are the jobs created by the Inland Empire warehouse boom built to last? -- But the wages they provide barely keep people out of poverty, and this work may soon disappear altogether because of automation. Is the region prepared for what comes next? Jim Newton CalMatters -- 6/1/23

Merchant: Two Uber drivers read the fine print — and won millions for California gig workers -- It’s a long and confusing law, but Gomez studied it when it passed, and took note of one of its more arcane benefits: a provision that grants drivers making the bare minimum a small reimbursement for vehicle expenses. Brian Merchant in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/1/23

Tourism workers seek $25 minimum wage before Olympics, World Cup in Los Angeles -- An L.A. City Councilmember proposes upping the minimum wage for airport and hotel workers to $25 an hour and raising it each year until it reaches $30 in 2028. Businesses are balking. Alejandra Reyes-Velarde CalMatters -- 6/1/23

Encino Hospital Medical Center nurses allege lax safety, security -- They say management isn't doing enough to protect them following last year's stabbing of two nurses and a doctor. Kevin Smith in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 6/1/23

Grazing goats prevent California wildfires. New salary rules may jeopardize the industry -- California wildfire prevention is at risk after new labor requirements separated goat herders from sheep. Goats are an economical and sustainable method of clearing underbrush. Grace Toohey in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/1/23

Journalists at country’s largest newspaper chain will walk off the job -- Hundreds of staffers at Gannett newspapers across seven states are protesting their company’s leadership and job cuts. Elahe Izadi in the Washington Post$ -- 6/1/23

Environment

Central Valley flooding offers birds bountiful water. Will it also poison them? -- Central Valley flooding has raised a new potential threat to migrating birds: Massive die-offs from bacteria-contaminated water. Susanne Rust in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/1/23

It was the most controversial land-use debate in Napa history. Now, Walt Ranch has been sold -- On Wednesday, the Land Trust of Napa County finalized the purchase of Walt Ranch from its previous owners, who endured a relentless, 17-year battle against environmental groups in order to plant a vineyard in Napa’s rural Eastern Hills. Jess Lander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/1/23

Medi-Cal

Health coverage for 24,000 of San Diego County’s neediest residents could be in jeopardy -- On April 24, the county mailed more than 26,000 Medi-Cal renewal packets to San Diego County’s neediest residents whose health insurance coverage started in the month of June. So far, only about 2,400 of those packets have been returned. Paul Sisson in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 6/1/23

California eye docs say they can’t afford Medi-Cal rates. Patients have few other options -- Some optometrists say the stagnant Medi-Cal reimbursement rates for eye care services have forced them to choose between providing much-needed care to low-income patients and keeping their businesses afloat. Maya Miller in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 6/1/23

Street

Chabria: This California D.A. says the death penalty is possible in Davis stabbings -- In Yolo County, just west of Sacramento, the decision on whether to pursue the death penalty rests with one man, Dist. Atty. Jeff Reisig. Anita Chabria in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/1/23

Crime is down in L.A. as city plans to spend $3.2 billion to expand LAPD -- Violent crime decreased 10% year over year, with property crime down as well after both rose in 2022. Terry Castleman in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/1/23

East Bay resident with drone leads police to Uber-riding Texas teen suspected in home invasion robbery -- A resident operating a personal drone located a teenager suspected of a home invasion robbery, then helped lead officers to him by tipping them that he was trying to flee the scene in an Uber, police said. Rick Hurd in the East Bay Times$ -- 6/1/23

Also

The Padres Spent Big on Players—Then Lost the TV Deal That Helps Pay for Them -- San Diego has a huge player payroll of $250 million. This week, the regional sports network that pays some of the bill stopped paying, leaving the team in a bind. Lindsey Adler, Sarah Krouse in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 6/1/23

Mike Pence calls Dodgers’ inclusion of ‘Sisters’ in Pride night ‘deeply offensive’ -- Former Vice President Mike Pence voiced his disagreement with the Dodgers’ inclusion of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in the club’s Pride night on June 16 against the San Francisco Giants, tweeting Wednesday that the invitation was “deeply offensive” and calling on Major League Baseball to apologize to “Catholics across America.” Fabian Ardaya in the New York Times$ -- 6/1/23

Arellano: I quit Twitter for a week. I didn’t miss it. Be worried, Elon Musk -- It might seem easy to do, gentle reader. But there are Twitter users, and then there’s me. I joined the social media platform in 2008, and it’s been one giant roll in the proverbial mud for me ever since. I love its immediacy, its randomness, its easy interface, its chaos. Gustavo Arellano in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/1/23

50 years after a classmate’s slaying, three amateur sleuths set out to find her killer -- Solving a cold case is a daunting prospect for anyone, let alone amateurs. But three women are determined to find justice for a slain high school classmate. Laura J. Nelson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/1/23

Video captures dog fending off coyote attacking fellow pooch in Mission Viejo backyard -- In their 30 years of living in Mission Viejo, Erin and David Macaluso say, they had never once seen a coyote enter their backyard. That all changed the night of May 1. Jeremy Childs in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/1/23

California Policy and Politics Thursday

California Dems are angry over these three concessions as House approves debt limit deal -- Progressive Democrats are unhappy with three of the provisions in particular: changes to work requirements for people on the supplemental nutrition assistance program, or SNAP, waiving environmental impact assessments for some federal actions and ending the pause on student loan repayments. Shira Stein in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/1/23

How did Orange County’s representatives vote on the debt ceiling deal? -- The House voted Wednesday night to raise the debt limit, just a few days before the U.S. hits the expected June 5 deadline for when the debt could default — and it did it with the approval of most of Orange County’s representatives. Hanna Kang in the Orange County Register -- 6/1/23

California to send $95 million to undocumented flooding victims – months after promising ‘rapid response’ -- Gov. Gavin Newsom in March said state relief would soon help flood victims who don’t qualify for federal emergency relief. The state has yet to name nonprofits that will dole out the aid. Nicole Foy CalMatters -- 6/1/23

California has investigated Catholic priest sex abuse for years. Victims want answers on what they found -- After Pennsylvania authorities issued a bombshell report in 2018 detailing widespread sexual abuse of children and coverup in the Roman Catholic church, California’s attorney general invited victims here to share their stories. John Woolfolk in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 6/1/23

Lawmakers and Big Tech clash over the fate of self-driving semitrucks in California -- California lawmakers are moving forward with plans to restrict the deployment of self-driving semitrucks — a move that industry representatives say is misguided. Maggie Angst in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 6/1/23

Meta threatens to pull news from Facebook over proposed California law -- Facebook parent company Meta threatened on Wednesday to pull news from its sites in response to a proposed California law that would force the platform to pay journalists. Sophia Bollag in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/1/23

San Francisco exodus: Where the richest residents are moving -- The highest-earning households generally went to resort towns or other major metropolitan areas, while those with the lowest average incomes mostly remained in California. Christian Leonard in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/1/23

S.F. budget grows to record high. Here's how much Mayor Breed wants to spend on homelessness, crime -- San Francisco’s budget is expected to reach $14.6 billion — a record high — for each of the next two fiscal years, even as it works to close a massive two-year deficit of about $780 million. J.D. Morris, Mallory Moench in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/1/23

Ron DeSantis bringing his presidential campaign to Sacramento. The price to see him? $3,330 -- Florida governor and 2024 presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis will visit the California capital June 19th for a “roundtable breakfast” priced at $3,300 per ticket. Jenavieve Hatch in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 6/1/23

Sen. Alex Padilla pushes to grant 5 million undocumented workers ‘long overdue’ citizenship -- The legislation targets individuals who worked in sectors —that include farm workers like Ramirez — deemed essential during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mathew Miranda in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 6/1/23

Wildfire

PG&E reaches $50-million settlement with Shasta County in 2020 Zogg fire -- Pacific Gas and Electric Co. will pay $50 million in a legal settlement with Shasta County for its role in causing the 2020 Zogg fire, which tore through several rural Northern California communities, killing four people and burning more than 56,000 acres. Jeremy Childs in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/1/23

State Farm won’t write new home policies in California. Here’s what could happen next -- Some insurance advocates say the news is not as catastrophic as it may appear, noting that there are more than 100 other insurers still doing business in the state, although at least two others, AIG and Chubb, which both cater to high-end homes, have made similar moves this year. Claire Hao, Carolyn Said in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/1/23

Street

Danny Masterson convicted of 2 counts of rape, ‘That 70’s Show’ actor faces 30 years to life -- “That ’70s Show” star Danny Masterson was led out in handcuffs from a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday and could get 30 years to life in prison after a jury found him guilty on two of three counts of rape at his second trial, in which the Church of Scientology played a central role. Andrew Dalton Associated Press James Queally in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/1/23

‘The public has an interest’: Federal judge orders sheriff to release internal records on jail deaths -- The county must turn over the reports within one week, so lawyers for the Union-Tribune and other news outlets can develop privacy protocols. Kelly Davis, Jeff Mcdonald in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 6/1/23

Fentanyl

California advances fentanyl bills focused on prevention, increased penalties -- California lawmakers have advanced more than a dozen bills aiming to address the fentanyl crisis, including some that would impose harsher prison sentences for dealers, ahead of a critical deadline this week. Sophie Austin, Adam Beam Associated Press -- 6/1/23

Santa Rosa mother arrested after 1-year-old child overdoses on fentanyl -- The child’s 39-year-old mother was arrested on suspicion of felony child abuse with serious injury and booked into Sonoma County Jail, authorities added. The child is expected to recover. Joel Umanzor in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/1/23

Homeless people fight to save lives, and stay alive, as L.A.’s fentanyl crisis worsens -- Fentanyl is fueling a surge in overdoses among unhoused people in Los Angeles, playing out as a daily battle for life and death in encampments. Ruben Vives in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/1/23

LAPD found 700 ‘ghost guns’ — now it is getting $5 million -- In 2020, over the course of numerous investigations, the Los Angeles Police Department recovered more than 700 “ghost guns” — weapons often having no serial numbers and built from components sold without background checks by Nevada-based company Polymer80, according to the Los Angeles city attorney’s office. Christian Martinez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/1/23

Workplace

Thousands of local hotel workers move closer to a strike: ‘Living in L.A. is no longer an option’ -- A union is asking 15,000 workers at hotels in Los Angeles and Orange counties to authorize a strike during the height of tourist season. Suhauna Hussain in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/1/23

Google downsizing its Bay Area office space by 1.4 million square feet -- Some 1.4 million square feet of mostly vacant office space will be placed on the sublease market, a Google spokesperson told The Chronicle. The space being placed for rent is at campuses in Mountain View and Sunnyvale. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/1/23

We Asked Workers Why They’re Not Coming Back to the Office -- Terrible commutes. Expensive child care. Employees explain why they will keep working from home. Ray A. Smith, Julia Carpenter in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 6/1/23

Gas

A summer bummer for gas: Pump prices expected to remain high thanks to travel demand -- Gas prices in Southern California are expected to remain high throughout this summer vacation season, pushed up by a rise in travel demand that began with a surge in road trips over the Memorial Day weekend, experts say. Salvador Hernandez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/1/23

Education

The Pride flag will fly at Chula Vista Elementary School District office after board reconsiders vote -- The resolution also directs the district to implement measures to prevent hate and threats and create a working group. Tammy Murga in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 6/1/23

Gov. Newsom, legislators may soon end education grant worth $2,500 -- Workers who lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic and are enrolling in a college program have until June 15 to apply for a California relief grant to receive up to $2,500 as state lawmakers seek to cut programs to plug a budget hole. Mikhail Zinshteyn CalMatters -- 6/1/23

Amid pockets of rising student homelessness, California districts tap Covid funding to help families -- Pandemic-era funding has helped school staff identify and support more homeless students, but its expiration is looming. Staff are afraid of how this loss will impact students. Betty Márquez Rosales, Emma Gallegos, Daniel J. Willis EdSource -- 6/1/23

Also

Departures Force Los Angeles Philharmonic to Reinvent Itself, Again -- Its beloved music director, Gustavo Dudamel, is leaving for New York, and its innovative chief executive, Chad Smith, is going to Boston. Now the esteemed orchestra is pondering what’s next. Adam Nagourney, Joshua Barone and Javier C. Hernández in the New York Times$ -- 6/1/23