Updating Thursday . . .

Ballot drive could force California voters into first major LGBTQ reckoning since Prop. 8 -- Several groups oriented around anti-LGBTQ efforts in California are trying to place three initiatives on the November 2024 ballot aimed at curtailing transgender kids’ rights. Erin Allday in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/31/23

A secret recording. Boasts of late-session ‘jam.’ Insurance fight bursts into the open -- A consumer advocate and a building lobbyist walk onto a Southwest flight from Los Angeles to Sacramento. Christopher Cadelago, Camille Von Kaenel Politico -- 8/31/23

S.F. overdose crisis: Overwhelmed outreach program forced to focus on most desperate homeless cases -- An ambitious effort to rapidly connect San Francisco’s homeless drug overdose victims with treatment and housing has become so overwhelmed that the city has been forced to revise its strategy to focus on the most desperate cases. Kevin Fagan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/31/23

The world’s largest dam demolition has begun. Can the dammed Klamath River finally find salvation? -- As four aging hydroelectric dams are demolished, tribes and communities along the Klamath River wait anxiously to see what the future holds. “Once a river is dammed, is it damned forever?” experts ask. Rachel Becker CalMatters -- 8/31/23

As El Niño gathers strength, lawmakers look to fortify Pajaro’s flood-ravaged levee -- Residents and lawmakers are pushing to speed up repairs to the damaged Pajaro levee. With an El Niño winter approaching, they’re not taking chances, they say. Susanne Rust in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/31/23

Tech billionaires’ secretive plan to build a California city from scratch -- The billionaires behind Flannery Associates have bought up more than 140 parcels in Solano County with dreams of ‘a new city with tens of thousands of new homes.’ Nathan Solis in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/31/23

The Real Story of Musk’s Twitter Takeover -- In an exclusive excerpt from his new biography ‘Elon Musk,’ Walter Isaacson offers a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most surprising and controversial decisions of the mogul’s career. Walter Isaacson in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 8/31/23

She competed in Tough Mudder; a pustular rash was her prize. Hundreds got ill — and angry -- Hundreds of people who rolled in the mud at the Tough Mudder obstacle course in Sonoma County fell ill from a bacterial infection. Jeremy Childs in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/31/23

Heat-related deaths are up, and not just because it’s getting hotter -- Heat-related illnesses and deaths in California and the U.S. are on the rise along with temperatures, and an increase in drug use and homelessness is a significant part of the problem, according to public health officials and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Phillip Reese | KFF Health News in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/31/23

Newsom plans to transform San Quentin State Prison. Lawmakers and the public have had little input -- California Gov. Gavin Newsom has ambitious and expensive plans for a dilapidated factory at San Quentin State Prison where inmates of one of the nation’s most notorious lockups once built furniture, and lawmakers have given him the greenlight to start with little input or oversight. Trân Nguyễn Associated Press -- 8/31/23

Thousands of California inmates are sentenced to die in prison. Should some get to seek parole? -- They are lobbying for Senate Bill 94, which would allow some life-without-parole-prisoners who committed crimes before June 5, 1990, to petition a judge for lesser sentences. Lindsey Holden in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/31/23

Arellano: Cindy Montañez, environmental and political pioneer, reflects as her time runs out -- By winning a a seat on the San Fernando City Council, Montañez became one of the first members of the Prop. 187 generation to win elected office in L.A. County. Gustavo Arellano in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/31/23

Workplace

The high price of California state worker contracts -- Despite warnings from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office and concerns from some labor-friendly Democrats, the Senate budget committee on Wednesday approved two bills to fund new contracts for three-fourths of the state’s rank-and-file workers. Lynn La CalMatters -- 8/31/23

San Francisco sues staffing startup, alleging it misclassifies workers as contractors -- San Francisco is suing hospitality staffing company Qwick, which classifies workers as independent contractors rather than employees. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/31/23

California Treasurer Fiona Ma calls on Hollywood studios to end writers’ and actors’ strikes -- California State Treasurer Fiona Ma sent letters this week to studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, urging them to negotiate “fair deals” to end the dual strikes led by film and TV writers and actors. Wendy Lee in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/31/23

Wildfire

Map: Two wildfires merge in Northern California’s Smith River complex -- The Smith River wildfire complex surpassed 80,000 acres on a day of increased fire activity. Amid strong wind and low humidity Wednesday, the Kelly and Coon fires merged at the complex’s southwest edge, said the daily report from the forest service’s fire managers. The item is in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/31/23

Gas

​​Bay Area gas prices keep climbing ahead of Labor Day weekend. Here’s why -- This time around, the latest surge in prices in California has more to do with the spate of hot weather and an active hurricane season limiting oil supply in the western part of the country, according to John Treanor, a AAA spokesperson. Ricardo Cano in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/31/23

Housing

San Diego to begin talks with developer to transform former Ritz-Carlton site into 100% affordable housing -- Longtime affordable housing developer Chelsea Investment Corp. wants to redevelop the city-owned site at 7th and Market with rental units affordable to households earning from 30 percent to 80 percent of median income. Lori Weisberg in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/31/23

Homeless

Homeless people were given lump sums of cash. Their spending defied stereotypes -- Researchers in Canada found homeless people who received a cash transfer spent it on housing and transportation over “temptation goods” like alcohol or drugs. Kelsey Ables in the Washington Post$ -- 8/31/23

Education

Caltech’s new admissions path: No calculus, chemistry, physics class requirements for some -- The California Institute of Technology is charting a new admissions path by dropping calculus, chemistry and physics course requirements for some underserved students and will offer alternative ways to demonstrate knowledge in those fields. Teresa Watanabe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/31/23

Street

‘Most helpless feeling in the world’: Moms gather in S.F. to call attention to opioid ODs -- International Opioid Overdose Awareness Day, observed annually on Aug. 31, is about more than remembrance. Jordan Parker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/31/23

How can LA combat its fentanyl crisis? MacArthur Park offers clues -- A walk through the alleyways around MacArthur Park reveals the harsh landscape of Los Angeles’s fentanyl epidemic. People pass out with a burned piece of tin foil in one hand and a butane torch lighter in the other. Those who are awake often hunch over to cope with the bone-deep aches of withdrawals. Clara Harter in the Orange County Register -- 8/31/23

California debates solitary confinement in local jails — and whether it’s really possible to end it -- In Sacramento, county inmates sometimes go weeks without feeling an outside breeze on their faces. In San Francisco, some haven’t seen sunlight in years. And in Los Angeles, detained people complain of cells covered in blood or feces. Hannah Wiley, Keri Blakinger in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/31/23

Also

Lionel Messi and Inter Miami are coming to L.A. Ticket prices are sky high -- Trying to see Lionel Messi and Inter Miami take on LAFC this weekend? A ticket could set you back at least $500. Samantha Masunaga, Kevin Baxter in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/31/23

Who goes to Burning Man? Increasingly, it’s rich, well-educated people -- Who are the Burning Man attendees camping out in the Nevada desert for a week to meet friends, create art and, if they want, howl at the moon? Data collected by the festival organizers gives a pretty good idea. Christian Leonard in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/31/23

Merchant: What Stephen King — and nearly everyone else — gets wrong about AI and the Luddites -- Is it foolish to believe that authors should resist having their works used to train AI without getting paid for it? Stephen King thinks so, but he misunderstands some important history. Brian Merchant in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/31/23

California Policy and Politics Thursday

9th Circuit reverses itself, upholds ‘qualified immunity’ for LAPD officer in gym shooting -- Reversing a decision from December, a panel of federal appellate court judges ruled Wednesday that a Los Angeles police officer who fatally shot a man in a gym shower in 2018 is protected from litigation by the controversial judicial doctrine of “qualified immunity.” Kevin Rector in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/31/23

Newsom embraces dirty energy in bid to stave off blackouts -- The California governor is focused on keeping the lights on even if it means reversing pledges to eliminate dirty and risky power sources. Wes Venteicher Politico -- 8/31/23

Countless Californians use the drugs being targeted for price cuts — including these Bay Area lawmakers -- Potentially millions of Californians use the drugs the Biden administration is targeting for Medicare price cuts, and that includes at least two Bay Area lawmakers who’ve been open about their health struggles. Shira Stein in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/31/23

L.A. City Council pushes for legal action against Texas governor over migrant buses -- An 11th busload of migrants from Texas arrived even as the City Council was asking L.A.’s city attorney to look into suing the state of Texas and Gov. Greg Abbott. Julia Wick in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/31/23

DA Brooke Jenkins committed misconduct in case that launched her recall efforts, court finds -- An appeals court says S.F. DA Brooke Jenkins committed misconduct in a murder case that led her to quit Chesa Boudin’s office and join the campaign to recall him. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/31/23

Move over, San Francisco: The suburbs of Silicon Valley are calling -- San Francisco, a major beneficiary of the last decade’s boom as young workers flocked to a lively urban center, is floundering due to an exodus of people and empty office buildings. The suburban region of Silicon Valley, meanwhile, has seen its economy hold up relatively well from remote work and the fortunes of the likes of Nvidia Corp. and Apple Inc. Eliyahu Kamisher | Bloomberg in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/31/23

Amid new spills and stink, U.S. Senators request millions more to fix Tijuana sewage crisis -- California Senators Padilla and Feinstein are asking Congress to double federal funding to make urgent repairs to the failing treatment plant in South County. Tammy Murga in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/31/23

Workplace

Riverside Community Hospital nurses protest staffing, work conditions -- They picketed the hospital Wednesday, claiming HCA Healthcare has put profits over patient care. Kevin Smith in the Orange County Register -- 8/31/23

Biden proposed new rules to boost Americans’ overtime pay. California is way ahead of him -- President Biden unveiled a proposal Wednesday to enhance overtime protections for millions more Americans. California already has stronger rules in place. Laurence Darmiento in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/31/23

California to fund 401(k)s for prison guards on top of CalPERS pension in ‘major policy change’ -- California correctional officers are on track to win a deal that “fundamentally enhances” their retirement benefits through a “major policy change,” according to an initial analysis of the agreement produced by the Legislative Analyst’s Office. Maya Miller in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/31/23

Housing

Real estate shakeup: Buyer found for nearly $1 billion in mortgages tied to S.F.’s largest landlord -- A buyer has been selected for the huge $940 million mortgage portfolio tied to 2,149 San Francisco apartments controlled by Veritas Investments, the city’s largest residential landlord, and its partners. Roland Li in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/31/23

San Jose risks penalties after plan to add more than 60,000 new homes fails to meet state requirements -- California regulators say San Jose’s proposal to add more than 60,000 new homes over the next decade isn’t up to snuff, leaving the city as still the last of the Bay Area’s three largest metropolises without a finalized state-mandated housing plan. Ethan Varian in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/31/23

Wildfire

Wildfire prompts evacuations near Santa Cruz -- Firefighters evacuated homes and closed roads southeast of Watsonville, on the border of Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. Nora Mishanec, Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/31/23

Maui

Maui officials say tourists needed to prevent 'secondary economic disaster' -- Early messaging from politicians and others told tourists to stay away from Maui following the fires, then changed to specifically warn them away from West Maui. The return of tourists to open parts of the island, they have said, is essential to its recovery. Clare Fonstein in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/31/23

Education

North Valley Military Institute, accused of failure and possible fraud, closes school -- Poor educational outcomes, financial mismanagement, failure to secure classroom space and claims of possible fraud — these are among the many criticisms leveled at North Valley Military Institute (NVMI), which is ceasing operations this fall. Clara Harter in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 8/31/23

Street

Suspect in Uber crash that killed 3 in South L.A. was on probation in murder case, LAPD says -- Before the crash, Black was allegedly driving at about 100 mph on Vermont Avenue and ran a red light at Imperial Highway about 20 seconds before he hit the Uber. Moreno said the collision site “looked like a bomb went off.” Summer Lin in the Los Angeles Times$ Josh Cain in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 8/31/23

‘Feels a little unsafe’: Uncertainty and few easy solutions after Emeryville mall chaos -- Yet days after the Sunday afternoon brawl at Bay Street Emeryville, shoppers, restaurantgoers and criminal justice experts strained to explain the sudden outburst of violence, one of several seen across the nation around the same period of time. Jakob Rodgers, Austin Turner in the East Bay Times$ -- 8/31/23

Court overturns child molestation conviction and 125-year sentence over victim’s visa issue -- A state appeals court overturned a Santa Rosa man’s child-molesting convictions and 125-year prison sentence Wednesday because jurors were never told that one of his alleged victims was trying to help her mother obtain a visa allowing migrants to remain in the United States if they aid in the investigation of serious crimes, such as sexual abuse. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/31/23

Jury awards $30 million to mother of boy killed by ex-LAUSD employee -- A jury says L.A. Unified should pay a woman $30 million after an after-school supervisor killed her child while babysitting him in 2019. Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/31/23

Also

Mom shamed for bringing her son to Burning Man insists the festival is ‘definitely a place for kids’ -- Bianca Snyder, shamed for bringing her son to Burning Man, insists it’s ‘definitely a place for kids’ and encourages moms to be confident in their choices. Emily St. Martin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/31/23

Faster trains to begin carrying passengers as Amtrak’s monopoly falls -- The only private operator of intercity passenger trains is about to launch new service in Florida. Next? Trains at 186 mph between Las Vegas and Southern California. Luz Lazo in the Washington Post$ -- 8/31/23

Meet the Couple Spending Millions to Save California’s Architectural Gems -- John McIlwee and Bill Damaschke’s collection has included the Lautner-designed Garcia House in Los Angeles and the former Rancho Mirage estate of Gerald and Betty Ford. Katherine Clarke in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 8/31/23