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California Policy and Politics Sunday
Santa Clara County running illegal network of group homes for highly troubled children -- Assaults, missing children and a fentanyl overdose rock unsanctioned homes. Scooty Nickerson, Julia Prodis Sulek in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/26/24
Campaign to recall Oakland Mayor Thao says it has enough signatures to qualify for ballot -- But it will be a few months before Oakland voters can be certain. The campaign, Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao, known as OUST, has until July 22 to submit its signatures. Christian Leonard in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/26/24
Marqueece Harris-Dawson secures enough support to become the next L.A. City Council president -- On Friday, seven council members introduced a motion calling for Harris-Dawson to fill the post, giving him the required eight-member majority, once his own vote is included. David Zahniser in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/26/24
California Sen. Alex Padilla convinces colleagues to vote against bipartisan border bill -- In an impassioned Senate floor speech, Padilla criticized the legislation as inadequate and encouraged his fellow senators to “do what’s right for Dreamers, farmworkers and other long-term undocumented members of our communities.” Andrea Castillo in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/26/24
San Diego’s unusual deal to settle asbestos violations? Planting thousands of trees -- The city’s deal with the Air Pollution Control District over violations at a firefighter training facility and other city workplaces calls for $4.7 million for a tree-planting program. Jeff McDonald in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 5/26/24
Workplace
‘Sick and tired’: Alcatraz ferry workers strike amid tough labor talks -- The 94 unionized ferry workers, who run and maintain the boats, are seeking higher wages, more consistent schedules and other workplace benefits, Secchitano said. Elena Kadvany in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/26/24
Tesla under investigation over Fremont factory toxic emissions, and faces lawsuit over alleged health harms -- Bay Area air-quality officials have launched an investigation into Tesla, charging the electric automaker with letting massive amounts of harmful toxins escape into the air from its Fremont car factory. In a double blow, an environmental group has filed a new lawsuit against the company over such pollution releases. Ethan Baron in the East Bay Times$ -- 5/26/24
Homeless
Why won’t San Diego publicly share detailed data about who’s enrolled in homelessness programs? -- A fight over accessing records shows the difficulties of balancing transparency with privacy. Blake Nelson and Lyndsay Winkley in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 5/26/24
Housing
South Lake Tahoe split over proposal to tax property owners who leave homes vacant -- A South Lake Tahoe nonprofit, Locals for Affordable Housing, has collected enough signatures to place a measure on the November ballot that aims to tax property owners between $3,000 and $6,000 for units that sit vacant for more than half a year. Ruben Vives in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/26/24
Street
Man killed after interrupting suspected catalytic converter thieves in downtown L.A. -- Thieves can make hundreds of dollars selling them to auto parts suppliers or scrapyards, where they can be melted down and the highly valuable metals extracted. Alex Wigglesworth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/26/24
A slingshot-wielding vandal shattered glass in Azusa for years. An 81-year-old suspect has been arrested -- For nearly a decade, authorities say, an unknown vandal shattered windows and windshields on North Enid Avenue in Azusa. The weapon of choice: a slingshot. Colleen Shalby in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/26/24
AI
The Great AI Challenge: We Test Which Bot Is Best -- We tested OpenAI’s ChatGPT against Microsoft’s Copilot and Google’s Gemini, along with Perplexity and Anthropic’s Claude. Here’s how they ranked. Dalvin Brown, Kara Dapena and Joanna Stern in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 5/26/24
Why Google’s AI might recommend you mix glue into your pizza -- Hilariously wrong AI responses show that chatbots can’t tell jokes from facts and they can invent confident-sounding answers. Shira Ovide in the Washington Post$ -- 5/26/24
Water
How a water scientist hopes to save California habitats that could be pumped dry -- Hydrologist Melissa Rohde studies California ecosystems that depend on groundwater. In many areas, declining water levels put habitats at risk of drying up. Ian James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/26/24
Also
Environmentalists urge California wildlife officials to investigate bottled water operation -- Environmental activists have opened a new front in their long-running fight against a company that pipes water from the San Bernardino Mountains and bottles it for sale as Arrowhead brand bottled water. Ian James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/26/24
California Policy and Politics Saturday
UC worker strike to hit UCLA, Davis next. A looming question: Is this walkout legal? -- The University of California academic workers’ strike is expected to amp up Tuesday with walkouts at UCLA and UC Davis after a state labor board declined to immediately stop it, ruling that a university complaint did not meet the legal standard required for its intervention. Howard Blume, Jaweed Kaleem in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/25/24
Far From the Protests, Some Students Try to Meet in the Middle -- They sat scattered in a classroom after hours on chairs attached to desks, 15 undergraduates at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, trying to make sense of the world and its discontents, starting with the recent campus Israel protests. Molly Ball, Ruby Wallau in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 5/25/24
Politics & Policy
Gavin Newsom pounces as Republicans come to Big Oil’s defense -- Nineteen Republican attorneys general asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to block lawsuits from California and four other states attempting to make major oil companies pay for climate change damages. Wes Venteicher Politico -- 5/25/24
California lawmakers advance apology for slavery, funding frameworks for reparations -- California lawmakers moved several reparations bills, including an apology for slavery. But several other bills died. Wendy Fry CalMatters -- 5/25/24
Wealthy S.F. mayoral candidate Daniel Lurie declines public funding -- The announcement comes amid what is expected to be one of most expensive mayoral races in San Francisco history, a crowded race in which candidates have together already raised millions of dollars ahead of the November election. Aldo Toledo in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/25/24
Workplace
Kaiser doctors in Northern California vote to unionize -- Medical residents at Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California hospitals have voted to unionize, becoming the first group of doctors in the health system to do so — and the latest in a nationwide trend of young physicians joining organized labor to seek better working conditions. Catherine Ho in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/25/24
San Diego’s life science industry has a new challenge: Too much space -- San Diego’s world-renowned life science cluster broke a new record at the start of the year: The vacancy rate for lab and office spaces hit 14 percent — an all-time high. Natallie Rocha in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 5/25/24
Hotel strike nears end as union reaches more tentative deals with holdouts -- More striking hotel workers edge toward finish line after seven more hotels reach tentative agreements. Suhauna Hussain in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/25/24
Homeless
California big city mayors call for continued state homelessness funds -- Several California big city mayors urged Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers this week to continue state funding to combat homelessness, money that they said has been a lifesaver for thousands of people on the streets of the Golden State. Vik Jolly in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/25/24
Education
San Diego Unified superintendent under internal investigation -- The district won’t say what prompted the investigation, which began last month and is expected to cost about $100,000. Kristen Taketa in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 5/25/24
LAUSD caves to public outcry: No more timed testing for 4-year-olds -- Following a public outcry from parents and teachers, the Los Angeles Unified School District has decided to make timed reading tests optional for most transitional kindergarten students. Jenny Gold in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/25/24
Staying Afloat
As more Californians fall behind in making debt payments, one group stands out -- Stubbornly high inflation and interest rates are taking an increasing toll in California as the state experiences rising unemployment and slowing wage gains. And those feeling it the hardest: the largest and perhaps most budget-minded generation of them all. Don Lee in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/25/24COVID
Early signs of rising COVID in California as new FLiRT subvariants dominate -- California may be headed to an earlier-than-normal start to the summer COVID-19 season, with coronavirus concentrations in sewage rising in some areas along with the statewide positive-test rate. Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/25/24
Street
Burglary gangs are literally planting cameras in Southern California yards to spy on residents, police say -- A Temecula electrician was left scratching his head this month when he discovered two devices, including a camera with a lens poking through a leaf taped to it, hidden in the planter in his front yard. The camera was pointed toward a neighbor’s home. Brian Rokos in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 5/25/24
San Diego Border Patrol agent sentenced for helping move drugs, migrants across border while on duty -- Hector Hernandez, who was arrested last year following a sting operation, was sentenced in San Diego federal court to seven years and three months in prison. Alex Riggins in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 5/25/24
Also
Cleanup of polluted Southern California ‘brownfields’ gets a $3-million boost from feds -- Five Southern California communities have been awarded federal grants totaling $3 million to help transform polluted “brownfield” sites into land that’s safe for development, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced. Tyrone Beason in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/25/24
Suspected cyber attack continues to hobble operations at Palomar Health Medical Group -- Nearly three weeks after experiencing a suspected cyberattack and shutting down its computer network, Palomar Health Medical Group continues to operate without fully functional systems, and patients say they are experiencing longer wait times for everything from scheduled appointments to prescription refills. Paul Sisson in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 5/25/24
New Mexico judge denies Alec Baldwin’s motion to dismiss criminal case in ‘Rust’ shooting -- Baldwin’s trial on the felony charge is expected to begin in July. If convicted, he would face a prison sentence of up to 18 months. He has pleaded not guilty. Meg James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/25/24