California Policy and Politics Friday

Insurance commissioner prohibits policy cancellations for fire victims -- California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has barred insurance companies from canceling residential coverage of some 750,000 policyholders affected by the Airport, Bridge and Line fires. Laurence Darmiento in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/20/24

Breed: Homeless people living in RVs in S.F. who refuse shelter will face towing -- Mayor London Breed confirmed Friday that San Francisco is planning aggressive restrictions on overnight parking of recreational vehicles to tackle the surge of people living in them amid neighborhood pushback. Maggie Angst in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/20/24

In unusual rebuke of San Diego County sheriff, coroner rules diabetic man’s jail death a homicide by neglect -- Keith Galen Bach had been dead for hours. The alarm on his insulin pump was still beeping when an investigator from the medical examiner’s office arrived at the Men’s Central Jail following his death last September. Kelly Davis and Jeff McDonald in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/20/24

Fire engineer arrested on suspicion of setting blazes in Northern California -- While fellow firefighters were battling voracious blazes throughout Northern California, Cal Fire engineer Robert Hernandez is accused of igniting his own fires, according to authorities. Andrew J. Campa in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/20/24

Mayor Breed pushes back at fierce attacks during Chronicle-KQED S.F. mayoral debate -- San Francisco Mayor London Breed fought back against stinging attacks from her four leading challengers Thursday during a heated debate as the race to lead the city enters its final and most intense period. J.D. Morris in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Sydney Johnson KQED -- 9/20/24

Newsom appears unlikely to campaign heavily against Proposition 36 but cautions voters -- Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday was noncommittal when pressed about whether he plans to campaign against Proposition 36, a controversial anti-crime measure on the November ballot that targets theft and drug offenses and has divided Democrats. Anabel Sosa in the Los Angeles Times$ Andrew Sheeler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/20/24

In an effort to create more affordable homes, Gov. Newsom signs package of housing bills -- The new laws aim to boost the availability of housing in a variety of ways, including streamlining the approval process for certain projects and requiring that local municipalities create plans to house the most vulnerable Californians. Andrew Khouri in the Los Angeles Times$ Ethan Varian in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/20/24

Pilot program offers Long Beach homeowners up to $250,000 in low-interest loans to build ADUs -- Eager to boost the supply of affordable housing, city officials in Long Beach devised a program that could help a limited number of homeowners build an extra unit on their land. Andrew J. Campa in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/20/24

California secretary of state among officials in 16 states receiving suspicious packages -- A suspicious package containing unbleached flour was received at the California secretary of state’s headquarters in Sacramento, in what appears to be the latest in a series of suspicious packages sent to election officials across the country, officials reported Thursday afternoon. Clara Harter in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/20/24

Social media platforms engaged in ‘vast surveillance’ and failed to protect young people, FTC finds -- The Federal Trade Commission released a report Thursday slamming social media platforms including Facebook’s parent company, Meta, as well as TikTok, Google-owned YouTube, Snap and other online services over privacy and youth safety concerns. Queenie Wong in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/20/24

Newsom’s gas price proposal debated at special session legislative hearings -- The first two hearings of the state Assembly’s special session to consider Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to prevent gas price spikes via a refinery supply mandate come amid criticism from oil companies that new rules would create artificial shortages of fuel in California. Kristin J. Bender in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/20/24

A guide to California’s sleeper House battlegrounds -- These four congressional races, though overshadowed by toss-up contests in the Central Valley and Southern California, are still in play. Lindsey Holden and Tyler Katzenberger Politico -- 9/20/24

Walters: In California’s one-party system, political family feuds fill competitive vacuum -- Aristotle is said to have coined the phrase “nature abhors a vacuum” — or “horror vacui” in Latin — as a principle in the physical world. However it applies equally well to politics, particularly in a one-party state such as California. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 9/20/24

Breathe

California emissions drop 2.4% due to electric vehicles and cleaner fuels, officials say -- The California Air Resources Board reports that state carbon emissions dropped about 9.3 million metric tons in 2022 compared to 2021. Tony Briscoe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/20/24

Rancho Palos Verdes

Landslides Swallowed Up Houses in California. Owners Still Have to Pay -- Ongoing slides have caused devastating damage to homes on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, but owners remain on the hook for mortgages and other monthly fees—even if their properties are completely destroyed. Nancy Keates in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 9/20/24

Workplace

X marks its spot: Elon Musk picks Bastrop County for the social media site’s headquarters -- Elon Musk’s empire in Bastrop County is growing again as his social media company moves its headquarters to the Central Texas county about 30 miles outside Austin. Brandon Lingle in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/20/24

AI? New jobs? California’s local news deal with Google leaves lots of unanswered questions -- Weeks after California announced a $250-million public-private partnership with Google to fund local news outlets and develop AI, many aspects of the deal remain uncertain. Jenny Jarvie in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/20/24

Massive layoffs for Cisco and IBM erase hundreds of Bay Area tech jobs -- All told, well over 1,000 tech jobs are being lost in the Bay Area due to the job cuts by Cisco, IBM and Advantest. George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/20/24

Insurance

Why Ricardo Lara says his plan to fix California’s insurance crisis will work -- At a CalMatters event, California’s insurance commissioner says the changes he’s making will help homeowners and business owners. One idea: A state grant for those who spend money to protect their property from wildfires. Sameea Kamal CalMatters -- 9/20/24

Homeless

What happens to homeless people after encampment sweeps? That’s on cities, Gavin Newsom says -- Gov. Gavin Newsom deflected questions about where homeless Californians are supposed to go if their encampments get swept. Marisa Kendall CalMatters -- 9/20/24

Education

UC approves new less-lethal arms for its police force amid protest -- The UC Regents approved campus requests for more tools for UC police months after campus protesters clashed with law enforcement. Mikhail Zinshteyn CalMatters -- 9/20/24

UC chancellors get big raises, putting them between $785,000 and nearly $1.2 million -- UC chancellors will be paid about $900,000 at Davis and Irvine; a bit less at Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Riverside and Merced; and nearly $1.2 million at San Francisco. Teresa Watanabe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/20/24

Professors accuse UC system of illegally punishing free speech -- In a complaint to state labor officials, a University of California teachers’ union said Thursday that UC is illegally punishing faculty who side with pro-Palestinian protesters — not just by breaking up campus encampments and arresting their occupants, but by forbidding teachers to discuss the subject in class. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/20/24

The Top Colleges for Helping Students Move Up the Socioeconomic Ladder -- California schools lead the way, with 15 of the top 20 schools in the 2025 Wall Street Journal/College Pulse rankings. Tom Corrigan in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 9/20/24

Career education is redundant and convoluted. Gavin Newsom says he’ll fix it -- California taxpayers fund career education at high schools, adult schools, community colleges, regional occupational programs and for-profit trade schools. Critics say it reflects “an incredible lack of coordination.” The governor says he’s producing a “master plan” to remedy that. Adam Echelman CalMatters -- 9/20/24

California rolls out career path grants to schools – nearly a year late -- California is poised today to announce which schools will share a windfall to bolster career paths for students – but delays and mishaps have meant that thousands of students missed the opportunity to participate. Carolyn Jones CalMatters -- 9/20/24

Street

San Francisco is on pace for its lowest number of homicides since 1960 -- So far this year, San Francisco has had 24 killings — a 37% decrease compared with the same time period last year, according to SFPD data. Danielle Echeverria in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/20/24

Rite Aid’s answer to retail theft at Compton store: Lock up all its products -- Customers there are greeted by rows and rows of shelved items — makeup, chips, baby formula, paper towels, lotion and juice — that are locked behind plexiglass. Karen Garcia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/20/24

Sacramento Sheriff calls for stricter fentanyl laws as deadly drug is smuggled into the jail -- The sheriff, who spoke at a news conference at the Main Jail in Downtown Sacramento, said his deputies have confiscated 500 grams of fentanyl that recently arrested inmates tried to smuggle into his two jail facilities this year. “That is enough fentanyl to kill the entire population of Elk Grove,” Cooper said about the confiscated fentanyl. Rosalio Ahumada in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/20/24

SF Chronicle AI

We’ve covered Kamala Harris since 1995. Our ‘news assistant’ answers your questions -- Now with Harris atop the Democratic presidential ticket, we’re introducing a new way to engage with our decades of coverage: an AI-powered tool designed to answer your questions about Harris’ life, her journey through public service and her presidential campaign. Editing by Brittany Schell. Design and development by Ryan Serpico, Maren Kranking, Alejandra Arevalo and Miko Deloso. Powered by the Hearst Newspapers DevHub in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/20/24

Top of the ticket

Harris, With an Online Avalanche, Outspends Trump by Tens of Millions -- The week of their debate, Kamala Harris outspent Donald Trump by 20 to 1 on Facebook and Instagram. It was just one sign of how uneven their online advertising battle has become. Shane Goldmacher and Nicholas Nehamas in the New York Times$ -- 9/20/24

How Trump’s lies about pet-eating migrants brought misery to Springfield, Ohio -- A disturbing scenario has played out at public schools across Springfield, Ohio, in recent days, with children turned away as they arrive or, worse, rushed out of classrooms, all because of bomb threats. David Wharton and Ben Poston in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/20/24

Kamala Harris to Oprah: ‘If somebody breaks in my house, they’re getting shot’ -- The vice president one again clarified her stance on guns after identifying herself as a gun owner during the presidential debate. Jordan Parker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/20/24

Harris Hits Core Campaign Themes in Emotional Forum With Oprah Winfrey -- Vice President Kamala Harris spoke off the cuff, as guests included a teenager shot at her school and the family of a woman in Georgia who died as a result of the state’s abortion ban. Erica L. Green in the New York Times$ -- 9/20/24

Five Issues Where Kamala Harris Flip-Flopped -- Vice president has abandoned progressive stances she embraced a few years ago. Tarini Parti and Rosie Ettenheim in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 9/20/24

The Actual Electoral Map Is Three States -- If the former president wins the East Coast trio of Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia, he will go back to the White House. Jonathan Martin Politico -- 9/19/24

Former Teamsters leader criticizes non-endorsement of Harris for president -- James P. Hoffa, who led the Teamsters for 23 years, said it was a mistake for the union not to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, the “correct choice for labor.” Frances Vinall in the Washington Post$ -- 9/20/24

Trump’s Impulse After Robinson Bombshell Report: Ignore, and Power Through -- CNN’s article scrambled G.O.P. plans for winning North Carolina. People close to Donald Trump are holding out hope Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson will decide to quit the governor’s race. Jonathan Swan, Maggie Haberman and Shane Goldmacher in the New York Times$ -- 9/20/24

Trump says if he loses election, Jewish voters would have ‘a lot’ to do with it -- Trump again suggested that American Jews owe him their votes because of his positions on Israel, invoking dual-loyalty trope. Isaac Arnsdorf and Marianne LeVine in the Washington Post$ Chris Cameron and Michael Gold in the New York Times$ -- 9/20/24

Springfield, Ohio, Braces for a Possible Trump Visit, Though Details Are Scarce -- Donald Trump promised to visit the city “in the next two weeks.” Some residents welcomed a visit, but others were opposed, as officials said preparations were underway. Mattathias Schwartz, Kevin Williams and Maggie Haberman in the New York Times$ -- 9/20/24

Scarred by violence, lawmakers plan for possible ‘mass casualty’ event -- Congress must ensure it can continue to govern in the aftermath of mass violence, a bipartisan group of House members argues. Amy Gardner and Jacqueline Alemany in the Washington Post$ -- 9/20/24

Trump Floats Long-Shot Proposal for 10% Cap on Credit-Card Rates -- Past proposals for higher caps haven’t gained traction. Angel Au-Yeung in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 9/20/24

Also

California Bible college students claim they were confined, surveilled and made to do unpaid labor -- Former students of Olivet University, headquartered near Anza in a remote part of Riverside County, claim they were required to work, at times for no pay, and couldn’t leave campus without permission. Colleen Shalby in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/20/24

California drivers can get mobile licenses on their iPhones — but they need physical ones too -- California is the seventh U.S. state to adopt mobile driver’s licenses for iPhones, part of a growing push by businesses and governments to make digital IDs commonplace. Khari Johnson CalMatters -- 9/20/24