Updating . . .

California vs. Florida: Why are people moving from one state to the other? -- Cross-country moves between progressive California and conservative Florida have taken an outsize role in the rivalry between Govs. Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom, who are set to debate Thursday night. Hailey Branson-Potts in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/23

Gavin Newsom has defended California’s homelessness crisis. Now he’s embracing controversial policy changes -- Gov. Gavin Newsom is trying to finish the job Ronald Reagan started more than half a century ago as he seeks to transform California’s mental health system — even if it means forcing some people into treatment. Rachel Bluth Politico -- 11/29/23

Newsom vs. DeSantis is also California vs. Florida. Who’s got the better place to live? -- Florida’s got lower taxes. California is more aggressive about protecting the environment. Florida is considered more business-friendly. California is a bit more diverse and, by some measures, residents are more involved with their communities and neighbors. David Lightman in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/29/23

Walters: Newsom vs. DeSantis: A real debate on the issues or just more mudslinging? -- After months of long-distance exchanges, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will have a face-to-face debate on Thursday. Will it be a mature conversation or just more mudslinging? Dan Walters CalMatters -- 11/29/23

Abcarian: Trump’s plan to subvert American democracy is on the record. Will Republican voters care? Believe Donald Trump when he tells us what he'd do with another White House term: eliminate civil service job protections, jail his political enemies and spit on the Constitution. Robin Abcarian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/23

Blue power: Will ocean waves be California’s new source of clean energy? -- Only a few small demonstration projects off the West Coast have harnessed the power of waves and tides. Costs are high and hurdles are challenging. Julie Cart CalMatters -- 11/29/23

Newsom announces plan to crack down on deadly street drug known as ‘tranq’ -- Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to target dealers trafficking in xylazine, a sedative only authorized for veterinary use, but frequently mixed with fentanyl and detected in overdose deaths. Anabel Sosa in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/23

From decarbonization to electric cars, California hopes to showcase climate leadership at COP28 -- World leaders are gearing up for COP28, an annual U.N. climate conference that will begin this week in Dubai, and California is expected to play a sizable role in the proceedings. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/23

‘Deep disappointment’: Global climate envoy Newsom is alienating environmentalists at home -- Gov. Gavin Newsom has been positioning himself as a global climate leader this year, evangelizing California environmentalism in China and at the United Nations. But at home, he is increasingly at loggerheads with leading environmentalists. Ari Plachta in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/29/23

GM to ‘substantially’ reduce Cruise investment after S.F. crash, CEO says --General Motors plans to “substantially” scale back investments into the company’s Cruise autonomous vehicle division next year. Dominic Fracassa in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/29/23

Over objections from both sides of DA Pamela Price recall effort, Alameda County supervisors approve rule changes -- Both sides of the battle contend recall-rule rewrite is unfair. Will McCarthy in the East Bay Times$ -- 11/29/23

Workplace

What day laborers are hired to do: the dangerous, the gross, the sometimes illegal -- After four day laborers were hired to dump bags of body parts, others recount stories of strange, and sometimes illegal, jobs they were hired to do. Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/23

Disney has ‘enough room to build another Disneyland’ in Anaheim, chairman says -- ‘We’ve got so much space to play with,’ Disney theme park chairman Josh D’Amaro said during at an employee town hall in New York City. Brady MacDonald in the Orange County Register -- 11/29/23

Talking to Chatbots Is Now a $200K Job. So I Applied -- Welcome to the world of prompt engineering, where you’re paid to get the best answers from AI. Joanna Stern in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/29/23

Housing

Santa Clara County moves forward with 100% affordable downtown San Jose development -- The 213-unit proposed project includes senior affordable housing and affordable for-sale townhomes. Grace Hase in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/29/23

Cutting-edge affordable homes could sprout in San Jose on vacant lot -- An estimated 174 affordable units would be built in an apartment building on the empty lot, according to documents posted on the San Jose Planning Department website. George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/29/23

San Diego home prices rising 2nd fastest in the nation -- The S&P Case-Shiller Indices said San Diego moved up to its highest spot in the 20-city ranking since August 202. Phillip Molnar in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/29/23

Homeless

Reno Is Beating the Odds in Solving Homelessness -- Number of unsheltered dropped by more than half in this Nevada city after large tent to house its homeless was built. Jim Carlton in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/29/23

Water

A California dry farmer’s juicy apples show how agriculture can be done with less water -- Some California growers specialize in dry farming, working with nature to grow apples and melons without irrigation. They tout the approach as a water solution. Ian James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/23

Education

Allegations of sexual violence at Fresno State resurface at nearby City College -- Fresno City College Academic Senate President Tom Boroujeni at center of allegations. Thomas Peele, Lasherica Thornton EdSource -- 11/29/23

Aliso Canyon   Santa Susana

UCLA study looks at cancer, births, ER visits after 2015 Aliso Canyon gas leak -- The massive SoCalGas blowout drove nearly 10,000 people from their homes. Health worries remain. Olga Grigoryants in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 11/29/23

Cleanup of toxic ‘burn pit’ at Santa Susana Field Lab will start in the spring -- The 6-acre site bordering San Fernando Valley was a dumping spot for radioactive pollutants. Olga Grigoryants in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 11/29/23

Also

A mysterious pneumonia outbreak is sweeping China. Here’s how it compares to COVID -- China is confronting a wave of respiratory illness among children whose cause is uncertain. But unlike with COVID, health officials assert they have not detected any “unusual or novel diseases.” Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/29/23

Sacramento turns to unexpected solution for downtown crows: A man with an even bigger bird -- For a man with nearly 40,000 Instagram followers, a talent for drawing media attention and a pocket full of raw squirrel meat, Adam Baz is surprisingly soft-spoken. Ariane Lange in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/29/23

California Policy and Politics Wednesday

California struggles to knock Trump off the ballot -- Democrats across the country have launched several long-shot challenges to Trump’s ballot status over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. But the deadline for California Secretary of State Shirley Weber to certify which presidential candidates will appear on the ballot is just a month away. Dustin Gardiner Politico -- 11/29/23

Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo likely to enter race for Congress -- Liccardo is attending a Silicon Valley fundraiser this weekend, and is likely to form an exploratory committee before then. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/29/23

L.A. City Council approves law requiring Airbnb hosts to get police permits -- Several Airbnb hosts expressed alarm about the proposal at a council committee hearing last week, calling the requirement of a police permit excessive. Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/23

Backlash to affirmative action hits pioneering maternal health program for Black women -- Conservative groups have sued to shut down the Abundant Birth Project, a San Francisco program that offers a monthly stipend to support pregnant Black and Pacific Islander women. Ronnie Cohen | KFF Health News in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/23

California congressman says his office was vandalized with anti-Israel messages -- Valadao shared a photo of the outside of his office in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. The photo showed a red liquid splattered across the front doors and facade of the building and flyers that read “MURDERED BY ISRAEL” with photos of children and what appears to be information about each child. Shira Stein in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/29/23

Hate Fliers

L.A. council members seek report on hateful fliers during emotional meeting -- Los Angeles City Council members on Tuesday ordered a report on threatening fliers and antisemitic messages left on residents’ properties. The move followed an emotional council committee meeting where dozens of public speakers warned the members that their actions could lead to censorship of pro-Palestinian messaging. Caroline Petrow-Cohen, Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/23

Anti-Semitism

Lawsuit accuses UC Berkeley Law School of ‘unchecked spread of anti-Semitism’ -- The lawsuit said the climate on campus has become more hostile since the Oct. 7 assault on Israel by military forces from Hamas. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/29/23

Workplace

Tech layoffs: S.F. video game developer cuts 265 jobs -- Unity, a San Francisco-based platform for creating video game software, plans to trim its workforce by 3.8%, equating to 265 jobs globally. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/29/23

Bay Area tech layoffs pass grim milestone with new Qualcomm job cuts -- The nearly 200 Qualcomm layoffs in the Bay Area are part of the tech and telecommunications titan’s move to slash more than 1,000 positions in California. George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/29/23

Homeless

More S.F. homeless people would be put on buses out of the city under new proposal -- A San Francisco supervisor who’s running for mayor wants to expand the city’s two-decade-old program offering homeless people a fully paid trip back home after the number of people using it dropped precipitously during the pandemic. Aldo Toledo in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/29/23

Wildfire

‘Outlandish’: Lawyers say father, son didn’t spark 2021 California wildfire with gunshots -- Testimony began Tuesday in a court hearing over how the devastating Caldor Fire began in 2021, with prosecutors signaling that they may try to show errant gunfire from two suspects sparked the Northern California blaze. Sam Stanton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/29/23

Environment

Sierra Club calls California Forever’s plans to build new city a ‘clandestine possession’ -- California Forever’s CEO said the plan would preserve open space and that the new city would offer a balance of jobs and housing, which would help Solano County residents find work closer to home. J.K. Dineen in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/29/23

Education

Frustrated S.F. State students walk out over class cuts, rising tuition and executive pay hikes -- San Francisco State will cut hundreds of classes this spring, citing falling enrollment. Tuition is also set to rise, even as executives enjoy double-digit raises. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/29/23

UC professors push back on plan to teach ‘viewpoint-neutral’ Middle Eastern history -- More than 150 professors from throughout the UC system signed a letter asking president Michael Drake to rescind a plan to require “viewpoint-neutral” instruction about Middle Eastern history. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/29/23

Street

He survived being shot 16 times by deputies. Another cop called the shooting ‘reckless’ -- Erik Talavera stole a trailer and was shot 16 times by two deputies because he held a knife. He survived and is suing the San Diego County, alleging excessive force. Salvador Hernandez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/23

Family of slain Palmdale deputy files $20-million wrongful-death claim against county -- Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer was gunned down in September. Now, his parents are alleging that he worked so much forced overtime he couldn’t stay alert against threats. Keri Blakinger in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/23