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Divided by Israel-Hamas war, ​​Bay Area college students fear for their safety — and mental health -- As tensions rise, some students fear violence, but many others are concerned about their mental health or about being doxxed for their views. Meanwhile, universities are struggling to respond. Kevin Fagan, Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/29/23

McManus: Could wars in Ukraine, Gaza bring ‘major changes in the international order’? Fiona Hill thinks so -- The onetime Russia advisor to then-President Trump fears that support for Ukraine is gradually eroding, encouraging Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to wait the West out. “Putin feels everything is trending in his favor,” she warns. Doyle McManus in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/29/23

Bikes or cars? The battle over one Bay Area bridge lane is heating up -- With the future of the bike lane on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge up for review, a business group is calling for change, while cyclists seek to keep their place on the span. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/29/23

Will pilot’s bad trip be sobering setback for California quest to legalize psychedelic mushrooms? -- An East Bay pilot’s midair meltdown last week in which he tried to shut off the jet engines and later told police he’d been depressed and recently took magic mushrooms may prove a setback for the quest to make California the third state to legalize psychedelic drugs. John Woolfolk in the East Bay Times$ -- 10/29/23

Workplace

Wage theft of more than $400,000 from Oakland hotel workers is largest claim in city history -- The results of a three-year city investigation unveiled on Friday revealed that 128 hotel workers were collectively underpaid $404,491 for nearly a year’s worth of paychecks — the largest wage theft finding in Oakland’s history. Katie Lauer in the East Bay Times$ -- 10/29/23

Water

A new SoCal underground water storage project aims to keep supplies flowing during drought -- A solution to help bolster Southern California’s water outlook during future droughts is taking shape in the Mojave Desert. Ian James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/29/23

Arrowhead bottled water company sues to continue piping from California forest -- The company that sells Arrowhead 100% Mountain Spring Water is suing to challenge California regulators’ recent ruling that the company must stop taking much of the water it pipes from the San Bernardino National Forest for bottling. Ian James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/29/23

Climate

‘We have to stop’: Plan for fossil-fuel drilling on the flanks of San Francisco Bay draws protest -- ​​Two years after public opposition halted a bid to drill natural gas in Suisun Marsh, next to San Francisco Bay, a Florida energy company is taking another run at it. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/29/23

San Francisco has fewer trees than most major cities. Residents are trying to fix that -- San Francisco has a smaller tree canopy than most other major cities, especially in low-income neighborhoods. That could change with neighborhood efforts and new federal funding. Tara Duggan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/29/23

Housing

In Alameda County’s busiest week in eviction court history, tenants must pay up, or move out -- One is spending all her money on a messy divorce. One was shot in the foot and couldn’t collect his disability check. More than one lost a job to the pandemic. Kate Talerico in the East Bay Times$ -- 10/29/23

Poverty rises in Southern California as older people, kids fall behind -- New report finds the economic divide is growing, a result of ending some pandemic-era programs and high cost of housing. Andre Mouchard in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 10/29/23

More high-rise housing, 50,000 new residents: San Diego planners unveil proposal to transform Hillcrest -- The neighborhood’s new growth blueprint would add one-way streets, pedestrian promenades and an LGBTQ historic district. David Garrick in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 10/29/23

Street

Half Moon Bay’s Day of the Dead commemorates lives lost in mass shootings -- Families and friends of the departed gathered in Half Moon Bay over the weekend during a Day of the Dead commemoration with a special focus on the lives lost during January’s mass shootings at two farms. Warren Pederson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/29/23

‘A full-on inferno’: The history of range trailer fires at the L.A. Sheriff’s Department -- When a mobile shooting range caught fire in early October, it wasn’t the first time the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department suffered such an incident. Keri Blakinger in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/29/23

What will ‘Cop Campus’ mean for the Bay Area? -- The construction of a $43 million police headquarters and training facility pits the city of San Pablo against outside activists. Both sides see the massive project as symbolically significant. Daniel Lempres in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/29/23

Baby Phoenix died of a fentanyl overdose in a pink flowered onesie. Neighbors insist they tried to raise the alarm -- Questions are swirling after a 3-month-old San Jose girl’s death and her father’s arrest: ‘No reason why this baby had to die’ Julia Prodis Sulek, Scooty Nickerson in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 10/29/23

Also

How a robotaxi crash got Cruise’s self-driving cars pulled from Californian roads -- Two months before Cruise’s driverless cars were yanked off the streets here for rolling over a pedestrian and dragging her about 20 feet, California regulators said they were confident in self-driving technology and gave the company permission to operate its robotaxi service around the city. Trisha Thadani in the Washington Post$ -- 10/29/23

House Speaker Built Career Fighting in Conservative Legal Trenches -- Mike Johnson came to Congress with a long legal record battling gay rights, abortion and limits on religious expression in the public sphere. Laura Kusisto, Mariah Timms, Scott Patterson in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 10/29/23

California Policy and Politics Sunday

For L.A. Jews, weeks of war have changed everything -- Los Angeles is home to the second-largest Jewish community in America, with more than 500,000 members. And for the last few weeks, it’s been reeling. Summer Lin, Nathan Solis, Grace Toohey in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/29/23

Thousands rally in downtown L.A. against Israel’s air and ground war in Gaza -- Thousands of people waving the black, green, red and white Palestinian flag and chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” gathered at Pershing Square on Saturday afternoon to protest Israel’s escalating air and ground war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Connor Sheets in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/29/23

San Francisco protest calling for ceasefire in Gaza shuts down US 101 Central Freeway -- A large group of several thousand protesters marched up to the Central Freeway in San Francisco around 4 p.m., stopping Saturday afternoon traffic for about an hour, while calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The recent deadly conflict is entering a fourth week of massive death counts, endless bombardments and international furor. Harriet Blair Rowan in the San Jose Mercury$ Daniel Lempres in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/29/23

An aide to an L.A. councilman traded Holocaust jokes about Amy Schumer. Now he’s out -- Josh Androsky, senior advisor to Soto-Martínez, took part in an exchange on X, formerly known as Twitter, earlier in the day that featured puns about concentration camps and what appeared to be disparaging remarks about Schumer’s weight. David Zahniser in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/29/23

Walters: Another wet winter looms. California needs to get serious about water management -- California’s reservoirs are more full than usual thanks to last winter’s heavy rain and snow storms. Scientists believe that the state could see a repeat. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 10/29/23

Housing

Smith: What a refusal to study turning a freeway into housing says about L.A.’s future -- Until a few days ago, Michael Schneider truly believed that his nonprofit, Streets For All, had solid enough political support to pursue what was certain to be an unpopular idea in L.A.: a study of whether it makes sense to rip up a Westside freeway and replace it with affordable housing and a humongous park. Erika D. Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/29/23

Report: Breed proposal creates new retail opportunities in S.F. at expense of housing -- A new city report found that legislation proposed to create new opportunities for small businesses could bring 270 to 1,300 new jobs to San Francisco — if business owners get on board with it. Megan Fan Munce in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/29/23

Homeless

To address homelessness crisis, L.A. County needs mental health workers, fast -- Policymakers including the Board of Supervisors and Mayor Karen Bass promised to address homelessness. Department of Mental Health vacancies hold them back. Jaclyn Cosgrove in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/29/23

‘Hostile architecture’ vs. beautification: Sidewalk planters are flashpoint in homelessness crisis -- To deter homeless encampments, businesses and residents across San Francisco are turning to street planters — though a Chronicle survey showed that tents often reemerge nearby. Danielle Echeverria in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/29/23

Education

‘Going off the rails again’: Is City College of S.F. headed for a financial death spiral? -- As faculty and unions advocate for more courses and teachers, some worry the school could spend its way back into crisis. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/29/23

Street

Violent video seeking public’s help prompts YouTube to suspend LAPD’s account, department says -- The LAPD says the suspension followed the department’s plea for help in identifying two suspects who beat a man in the Venice area -- an attack caught on video. Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/29/23

Alameda County DA Pamela Price’s laptop reportedly stolen in car burglary -- The work laptop of Price, target of a recall campaign amid rising crime, was stolen in a car burglary in Oakland, KGO-TV reported. Danielle Echeverria in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/29/23

Also

‘Friends’ star Matthew Perry dead at 54, found in hot tub at L.A. home, sources say -- The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing, did not cite a cause of death. No drugs were found at the scene, sources said. Richard Winton, Matt Brennan, Connor Sheets in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/29/23

Sacramento NAACP president, 5 officials suspended amid financial misconduct investigation -- At least six officers at the Greater Sacramento NAACP including its president, longtime advocate and influential leader Betty Williams have been suspended by the national civil rights organization on allegations of financial impropriety, information obtained by The Sacramento Bee shows. Darrell Smith in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/29/23

How big is Bay Area boom in India-born residents? Together, they’d rank as the region’s fourth-largest city -- Indian immigrants now make up 1 out of every 5 residents in some South and East Bay ZIP codes. Harriet Blair Rowan in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 10/29/23

Indians Are Entering the U.S. Illegally in Record Numbers -- Some asylum seekers say Modi’s Hindu nationalist policies are driving them out, while others are drawn by job opportunities. Tarini Parti in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 10/29/23