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California Policy and Politics Thursday

Magnitude 4.7 earthquake in Malibu rattles Southern California -- The temblor struck around 7:30 a.m. and was felt across the region. Some residents were alerted by the state’s quake early warning system. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake was felt over a wide swath of L.A. and Ventura counties and as far away as Goleta and Indio. The quake was centered in the Malibu hills off Kanan-Dume Road around Ramirez Canyon. Rong-Gong Lin II and Karen Garcia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/12/24

Wrightwood stunned by Bridge fire destruction: ‘Never believed it would happen’ -- Visibility was at a minimum in this rustic San Gabriel Mountains town on Wednesday as flames from the explosive Bridge fire chewed through several homes and outbuildings. Nathan Solis, Hayley Smith and Lila Seidman in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/12/24

Threat to homes lingers from Southern California wildfires, officials say -- Firefighting crews were working to gain the upper hand on several wildfires burning across Southern California on Thursday morning, but cautioned that the threat remained for communities in the fires’ paths. Nathan Solis, Hannah Fry and Summer Lin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/12/24

SoCal fires burn 100,000 acres, destroy dozens of homes and injure 13 -- Three fast-moving wildfires have burned homes, caused injuries and scorched more than 100,000 acres across Southern California in a matter of days, prompting a state of emergency as firefighting crews attempt to assess damage and nm,vcgain control over the blazes. Hannah Fry, Nathan Solis, Summer Lin, Alex Wigglesworth and Gina Ferazzi in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/12/24

‘Moonscape’: Airport fire evacuees wait, and hope the blaze spares them -- The Airport fire, which sparked Monday in Orange County’s Trabuco Canyon, has gained ferocity. On Wednesday, the fire was still burning out of control as it moved into Riverside County, scorching tens of thousands of acres and burning homes. Rachel Uranga and Ashley Ahn in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/12/24

34-year-old man arrested on suspicion of arson in Line fire in San Bernardino County -- Authorities on Tuesday arrested Justin Wayne Halstenberg, a resident of Norco. He is suspected of starting a fire in the area of Baseline Road and Alpine Street in Highland on Thursday, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. Ashley Ahn in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/12/24

Southern California wildfires worsen firefighter shortage as West explodes -- More than 3,100 fire personnel and 22 helicopters were assigned to the Line fire on Wednesday. At the same time, more than 629 fire personnel, including seven helicopters, were fighting the Airport fire, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Alex Wigglesworth, Hayley Smith and Hannah Fry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/12/24

California AG warns big tech and AI companies about pushing election falsehoods -- California Attorney General Rob Bonta wrote to executives at top artificial intelligence and social media companies Wednesday, reminding them of prohibitions against “voter intimidation, deception, and dissuasion” related to the upcoming election that might be created or amplified by their technology tools. Chase DiFeliciantonio in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/12/24

Skelton: The allure of Trump among California Republicans remains despite his depravity -- Donald Trump finally met his match in a debate. Kamala Harris not only dominated and clobbered him, she goaded him into appearing unhinged. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/12/24

Walters: California schools face twin perils: chronic absenteeism and declining enrollment -- California’s public schools have a numbers problem —and it’s not just that their students don’t score very highly in national tests of mathematics ability. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 9/12/24

Workplace

Lawmakers take ‘creative’ approach to enforcing heat safety rules for California farmworkers -- A bill on Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk aims to add teeth to the state's outdoor heat safety standards by making it easier for farmworkers to make a workers' compensation claim against an employer for heat illness. Rebecca Plevin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/12/24

Oil

Judge strikes down city of L.A.’s ban on new oil drilling -- A high-profile law intended to phase out oil production within Los Angeles city limits has been struck down by a judge who ruled that the state, not the city, has jurisdiction over many aspects of drilling operations. Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/12/24

Homeless

Boichik and Berkeley businesses sue over homeless encampments: ‘People are afraid to come here’ -- A group of Berkeley businesses, including some prominent names in the food and drink industry, have filed a suit against the city of Berkeley over homeless encampments near them, becoming the latest flashpoint in a contentious national debate. Elena Kadvany in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/12/24

No sleeping bags, keep moving: California cities increase crackdown on homeless encampments -- More than two-dozen California cities passed, strengthened or are considering ordinances that penalize people for sleeping outside, after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed cities to crack down. Marisa Kendall CalMatters -- 9/12/24

Guns

15-year-old son of LAPD officers killed himself with gun found in home. L.A. County to pay $495,000 -- The gun was locked in a safebox. But on Dec. 17, 2019, Aiden Smith, the son of two divorced Los Angeles police officers, guessed the code: his mother’s birth year, according to court records. Rebecca Ellis in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/12/24

9/11

‘We’re the Only Plane in the Sky’ -- Where was the president in the eight hours after the Sept. 11 attacks? The strange, harrowing journey of Air Force One, as told by the people who were on board. Garrett M. Graff Politico -- 9/12/24

Climate

Climate disasters can elicit despair when they go viral. These activists found inspiration -- Young activists on social media stress the urgency of climate change: ‘Once you start seeing it in your life, then you have no option but to act.’ Melissa Gomez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/12/24

Fast Fashion

Can anything slow fast fashion down? Lawmakers are giving it a go -- The rise of low-cost, trendy clothing has led to criticism of waste, carbon emissions and labor exploitation, prompting new legislation. Stephanie Yang in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/12/24

Education

L.A. Unified to pay $24 million to three elementary students allegedly molested by teacher -- The Los Angeles Unified School District board has agreed to pay $24 million to three former students to settle claims that they were sexually abused by their Langdon Avenue Elementary School teacher on multiple occasions in his classroom during school hours in 2006 and 2007. Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/12/24

Ten L.A. schools to stop standardized tests amid debate: ‘Endless boredom’ or essential tool? -- Ten public schools, with extra resources, will be able to develop their own student measures to replace a bevvy of standardized tests that L.A. Unified is currently using. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/12/24

She quit her job assured she had a position in S.F. schools. Then the district froze scores of jobs -- The Bay Area social worker was thrilled when she got the email in late June from San Francisco Unified officials saying she had landed a position for the upcoming school year, her dream job working with city students. Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/12/24

Weinstein

Harvey Weinstein indicted on additional sex crimes charges ahead of New York retrial -- Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has been indicted on additional sex crimes charges ahead of his retrial in New York, Manhattan prosecutors said at a hearing Thursday. Michael R. Sisak Associated Press -- 9/12/24

Top of the Ticket

Project 2025 to California: Report abortion data or lose billions in Medicaid -- Project 2025, the 900-page conservative playbook for the next Republican president, issues an ultimatum for California: track and report abortion data to the federal government or risk losing billions in Medicaid funding for reproductive health. California is one of only three states that do not report abortion data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Monique O. Madan CalMatters -- 9/12/24

Trump stokes suspicions about assassination attempt, raising fears of more violence -- After an initial period of relative restraint, the former president has begun blaming the shooting on his opponents and amplifying conspiracy theories. Isaac Arnsdorf in the Washington Post$ -- 9/12/24

Anatomy of a racist smear: How false claims of pet-eating immigrants caught on -- How an anti-immigrant rumor spread from a random Facebook post to leadership of the Republican Party and the biggest influencers on social media so quickly. Sarah Ellison and Jeremy B. Merrill in the Washington Post$ -- 9/12/24

Trump faces a fact check from Ohio city thrust into spotlight -- A city manager in Ohio and the father of a young boy killed in a school bus accident are pushing back on a right-wing campaign against Haitian migrants in their community that has been fueled by former President Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance. Emmy Martin Politico -- 9/12/24

How Trump Uses Vitriol for Migrants to Sideline Other Issues -- In Tuesday night’s debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, he doubled down on the vitriol, promoting a debunked conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants were killing Americans’ house pets and eating them for dinner. Michael D. Shear, Hamed Aleaziz and Jazmine Ulloa in the New York Times$ -- 9/12/24

Arizona GOP billboards implore voters to ‘EAT LESS KITTENS’ -- In a news release, the Arizona GOP said the billboards are “a humorous, but sobering reminder of the stakes involved in the fight for secure borders and safe communities.” Kyle Melnick in the Washington Post$ -- 9/12/24

Harris, After a Debate Success, Confronts a Battleground ‘Game of Inches’ -- Her campaign is riding high, but still sees the race as an exceedingly close grind. Her aides have new hopes of focusing the race squarely on Donald Trump’s fitness for office. Reid J. Epstein, Erica L. Green and Nicholas Nehamas in the New York Times$ -- 9/12/24

Linda Ronstadt slams Trump’s ‘hate show,’ joins Taylor Swift in endorsing Kamala Harris -- Linda Ronstadt has joined the ranks of esteemed female musicians endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris by paying homage to Taylor Swift’s viral social media post supporting the Democratic presidential candidate. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/12/24

Taylor Swift drives more than 330,000 visitors to U.S. voter information site -- It looks like the pop mega-star may have pulled off another voter registration coup after encouraging her more than 283 million followers to make sure they are ready to vote in the Nov. 5 presidential election. Martha Ross in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/12/24

‘Childless dog lady’ Stevie Nicks recreates Taylor Swift’s viral endorsement post -- Nicks accompanied her message with a photo showing her holding her dog Lily posted to the social media platform X on Wednesday, Sept. 11, paying homage to Swift’s Instagram post the night before, which was signed “Childless Cat Lady” and featured the pop superstar holding one of her three cats. Aidin Vaziri, Zara Irshad in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/12/24

Trump, Vance definitely don’t care about Taylor Swift’s Harris endorsement -- After the pop icon endorsed Harris after her debate with Trump, both Republicans brushed off her public support of the vice president in the 2024 contest. Her announcement, which she posted to Instagram around 11 p.m. on Tuesday night, garnered 9.3 million likes since she posted it. Mia McCarthy Politico -- 9/12/24

We Asked Undecided Voters Who Won the Trump-Harris Debate -- Most agree on the winner but remain set in their views about the two candidates. Sabrina Siddiqui in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 9/12/24

Trump Says He Had a Great Debate. His Allies Privately Say Otherwise -- Donald J. Trump’s aggressive spinning of his debate performance suggested he knew it was suboptimal, and left aides considering how to move ahead with eight weeks to go. Jonathan SwanShane Goldmacher and Maggie Haberman in the New York Times$ -- 9/12/24

Trump’s Alternative for Obamacare Is Now Just ‘Concepts of a Plan’ -- Former President Donald J. Trump once promised to replace Obamacare with “something terrific.” But as the 2010 law has become more popular, he has sounded less confident about a repeal. Noah Weiland and Margot Sanger-Katz in the New York Times$ -- 9/12/24

After fiery debate, Harris and Trump camps wrangle over a second one -- Harris’s aides are confident she won Tuesday’s showdown but are looking for more ways to reach swing voters. Trump aides discuss whether a second debate would help or hurt. Toluse Olorunnipa, Marianne LeVine, Michael Scherer and Josh Dawsey in the Washington Post$ -- 9/12/24

Also

Inside California's brutal underground market for puppies: Neglected dogs, deceived owners, big profits -- A Times investigation has found that truckloads of dogs from profit-driven mass breeders pour into the state from the Midwest, feeding an underground market where they are resold by people claiming to be small, local home breeders. Alene Tchekmedyian, Melody Gutierrez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/12/24

Diamonds, pearls and 15th century art: Dianne Feinstein’s possessions will be auctioned in L.A. -- The U.S. Senate has been described as a “millionaire’s club,” and the late California Sen. Dianne Feinstein was among its wealthiest members. Laura J. Nelson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/12/24

A mystery map found at the Transamerica Pyramid set off a treasure hunt. Here’s what was found -- It was just another busy June 2024 day at the under-renovation Transamerica Pyramid when John W. Gullixson received an email tip that there might be something momentous buried underneath the skyscraper. Peter Hartlaub in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/12/24