California Policy and Politics Friday

Gene Hackman died of heart disease, his wife of hantavirus days earlier, officials say -- Santa Fe County officials announced that actor Gene Hackman died from heart disease with Alzheimer’s disease as a contributing factor and that his wife, Betsy Arakawa, died from hantavirus. Rodents were considered a contributing factor in her death. Nathan Solis in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/7/25

Army Corps knew Trump order would waste California water, memo shows -- The Army Corps colonel responsible for releasing reservoir water at Trump’s direction knew it wouldn’t reach Southern California as he promised, a memo obtained by The Post shows. Scott Dance and Joshua Partlow in the Washington Post$ -- 3/7/25

Kamala Harris sets a deadline for her next move --Former Vice President Kamala Harris is seriously considering a run for governor of California — and has given herself a deadline to decide. Eugene Daniels and Christopher Cadelago Politico -- 3/7/25

 

Some Insurers Pledge to Ease Burden on L.A. Fire Victims, but Others Say No -- Most insurance companies will not require policyholders to itemize lost belongings, though some major companies, including State Farm, have refused. Rukmini Callimachi in the New York Times$ -- 3/6/25

As LA County sues Edison over deadly fire, is the state’s wildfire fund in jeopardy? -- Fire investigators have not found Edison responsible for the Eaton fire — but mounting lawsuits heighten concerns about its potential liability for the deadliest and most destructive blaze since the state created a fund to prevent wildfires from bankrupting utilities. Alejandro Lazo and Sergio Olmos CalMatters -- 3/7/25

California delegation unites behind wildfire aid plea -- California lawmakers coalesced behind a bipartisan push for more wildfire recovery aid, projecting unity across party lines as President Donald Trump and other Republicans seek to link federal help to conservative policy priorities. Jeremy B. White Politico -- 3/7/25

An audit found California was unprepared to help vulnerable people in a fire. Five years later, lawmakers finally talk about it -- Five years ago, as COVID-19 hit the state, legislators cancelled a hearing to discuss a state audit that found the state’s office of emergency services and at least three California counties weren’t prepared to help vulnerable people during natural disasters. That hearing finally took place Wednesday. Sameea Kamal CalMatters -- 3/7/25

Smoke detectors in the sky: Will wildfire affect bird behavior? -- It’s part of a broader scientific effort to understand the impacts that this disaster of unprecedented scope will have on L.A.’s varied ecosystems, many of which were already stressed by a changing climate. Corinne Purtill in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/7/25

 

Silicon Valley’s inequality gap is growing twice as fast as in rest of U.S. -- Nine local billionaires hold 15 times the wealth of the bottom half of households combined. Ethan Varian, Grant Stringer in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/7/25

CA bill addressing armed vigilantism draws swift GOP backlash -- Los Angeles Assemblymember Rick Zbur says he wants to narrow the standards for justifiable homicide. Critics say he wants to make self-defense illegal. Lynn La CalMatters -- 3/7/25

Bird flu infected California cows. Why didn’t milk prices spike like egg costs did? -- Bird flu outbreaks sent egg prices soaring in recent months, in some cases north of $9 per dozen. While the virus also spread to dairy cattle, the outbreaks didn’t seem to boost California milk prices. Annika Merrilees in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/7/25

 

Interior Secretary Burgum eyes national monuments for energy resources -- California is home to 21 monuments, including two that were designated by former President Biden just before he left office. Lila Seidman in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/7/25

Bourbon Is Banned, California Wine Canceled, as Canada Pulls U.S. Alcohol -- Giovanni Cassano, a restaurant owner in the Canadian province of Ontario, was not going to let a trade war get in the way of his diners’ thirst for Californian wine, Jim Beam Kentucky bourbon or Texan-made Tito’s vodka. Soon, however, he and his diners might not have a choice. Vjosa Isai and Ian Austen in the New York Times$ -- 3/7/25

‘It’s just chaos’: How California scientists are facing attacks on science by Trump and DOGE -- “We’re feeling frustrated,” Needhi Bhalla, a professor of molecular, cell and developmental biology at UC Santa Cruz, said of the precarious situation. “And wondering why something that has benefited from bipartisan support for 70 years is now currently a target. Jack Lee in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/7/25

Gavin Newsom shocks LGBTQ allies with criticism of transgender athletes -- In the first episode of his new podcast, the governor said it was “deeply unfair” for transgender athletes to participate in girls' sports, breaking with the Democratic Party. Republican lawmakers called on him to support a ban on transgender athletes in California. Alexei Koseff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/7/25

Garofoli: Forget the Resistance. Democrats are part of the Compliance -- Kamala Harris bent over backward to appeal to Republican voters in her campaign for president — whether it was using former Rep. Liz Cheney as a top surrogate or prominently touting her Republican endorsements. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/7/25

High-speed rail leader says project needs to find new funding or costs and timeline will expand -- Two weeks after the Trump administration announced a compliance review of California’s high-speed rail project, the head of the rail authority stressed the need for new sources of funding to guarantee the train’s completion. Colleen Shalby in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/7/25

Alameda County cities warned of privacy concerns with immigrant ID program -- Data privacy experts warned Alameda County officials on Thursday that information shared as part of municipal ID programs could be used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to conduct raids on immigrant communities. Chase Hunter, Sierra Lopez in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/7/25

Madera calls itself a ‘welcoming city.’ Here’s how that differs from a sanctuary city -- “We’re not asking for sanctuary status,” a supporter said. “What we’re asking for is that the people in our community not fear our local police.” Erik Galicia in the Fresno Bee$ -- 3/7/25

Lopez: Trump promised lower food prices immediately, but I gave him six weeks. Here’s my grocery bill -- On Jan.19, the last day of the Joe Biden presidency, I went to my neighborhood supermarket and priced 28 items, including milk, eggs, bacon and potatoes. Six weeks into the second Donald Trump presidency, I went back to the same store and priced the same items. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/7/25

Tesla’s stock is plummeting. So is the Bay Area’s respect for its vehicles -- Once perceived as luxury clean-air automobiles, Teslas have, in the last five years, become avatars in a series of culture wars. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/7/25

 

California anti-poverty activist accused of defrauding investors out of more than $145 million -- Sanberg, 45, of Orange, was arrested Monday, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The official court record is sealed, but in a statement authorities alleged he conspired to defraud two investor funds. Andrew J. Campa in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/7/25

Walters: Study tells California legislators to declare war on red tape — but will they? -- Construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and its more famous cousin, the Golden Gate Bridge, began in 1933, and both were carrying traffic by 1937. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 3/7/25

Workplace

A California union boss thought his $300K salary would count toward his pension. Here’s why it won’t -- Gerry Serrano had an outsize presence in Orange County politics as a police union leader. He lost a court battle over how much of his pay should count toward his CalPERS pension. Adam Ashton CalMatters -- 3/7/25

Education

California sues Trump administration for cutting teacher training over ‘illegal DEI’ -- The programs aim to bring more teachers to understaffed STEM classes and work with students who are disabled or learning English. The Trump administration said the programs promote inappropriate and “divisive ideologies.” Jaweed Kaleem in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/7/25

Embattled Silicon Valley school district faces questions about lavish teacher housing -- Like many districts across California and the country, Mountain View Whisman School District decided to build affordable housing to help recruit and retain teachers and other staff who were finding it increasingly difficult to afford the high-priced rents and mortgages in the neighborhoods where they work. Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/7/25

S.F. State to cut three sports teams to help close giant budget gap -- San Francisco State will eliminate three of its 13 athletics teams this summer — baseball, men’s soccer and women’s indoor track and field — to save up to $1 million a year, the university announced Thursday. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/7/25

How to describe middling and poor test scores? State Board frets over the right words -- Officials swap focus groups' recommendation of Below Basic and Basic for Minimal and Developing. John Fensterwald EdSource -- 3/6/25

Workplace

Salesforce joins other tech giants in scaling back DEI efforts -- In its most recent annual financial disclosure, filed Wednesday, the San Francisco customer relationship management giant removed references to diversity and inclusion as a “core value” and eliminated language tying executive compensation to diversity goals. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/7/25

Stater Bros. lays off dozens of clerks for the first time in 89 years -- Stater Bros. Markets has laid off dozens of clerks in its Southern California stores for the first time in its 89-year history, blaming inflation and tariffs for its decision. Sandra McDonald in the Los Angeles Times$ Pat Maio in the Orange County Register -- 3/7/25

AI

Arellano: Did AI really defend the KKK at the end of my column? Let’s discuss -- Journalism schools teach that writers should report the news, not be the news. But what happens when one of your articles goes viral — not for its content but rather for how an AI doohickey swallowed up what you wrote and upchucked a controversial summation? Gustavo Arellano in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/7/25

Homeless

Court-ordered audit finds major flaws in L.A.’s homeless services -- An audit of homeless services provided by Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority found them disjointed and lacking adequate data systems and financial controls. Doug Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/7/25

Bay Area city’s ban on homeless encampments triggers legal battle -- A Fremont law that makes it a crime to camp in public or help a homeless person do so violates the rights of unhoused people and those seeking to assist them, according to a newly filed lawsuit. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/7/25

San José mayor proposes jailing homeless people who repeatedly refuse shelter -- “Homelessness can’t be a choice,” Mahan said during a news conference to announce his proposed ordinance. “I’m proposing that after three offers of shelter, we hold people accountable for turning their lives around.” Hannah Wiley in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/7/25

Also

Yosemite locksmith fired by DOGE lands ‘a little job’ with Jimmy Kimmel -- A former locksmith at Yosemite National Park, who was abruptly fired as part of a wave of federal layoffs under Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, received an unexpected job offer from late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/7/25

Will Trump’s tariffs affect your travel plans to Mexico and Canada? -- Recent tariff battles probably won’t raise the price of your flight or hotel in Mexico or Canada, but a slump in cross-border business travel could be on its way. Americans abroad may be less welcome and should practice cultural sensitivity. Christopher Reynolds in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/7/25

This Marin kayaker just paddled 2,500 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, alone -- The 48-year-old French American, of Larkspur, set out on Dec. 23 from the island of El Hierro, the westernmost of the Canary Islands. Aided by the trade winds, he paddled his sea kayak westward, ending his voyage at the Caribbean island of Martinique — to widespread accolades. Gregory Thomas in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/7/25

POTUS 47

Judge Won’t Block DOGE Access to Sensitive Treasury Data -- In a ruling Friday, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington, D.C., rejected a request by a retirees’ group and two labor unions to block DOGE from accessing the payment system, which processes tax refunds, Social Security payments, Medicare spending and federal salaries. Jan Wolfe and Jacob Gershman in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 3/7/25

Homeland Security Tells TSA Agents It Will Ignore Labor Contract -- Policy change potentially sets up fight with union representing government workers after seven-year agreement was ratified in 2024. Allison Pohle in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 3/7/25

DOGE redefines ‘fraud’ to defend cutting federal employees, programs -- Outside watchdogs and analysts say Trump and Musk are using overly broad claims of fraud to build political support for their plans. Dan Diamond and Faiz Siddiqui in the Washington Post$ -- 3/7/25

How Trump’s ‘51st State’ Canada Talk Came to Be Seen as Deadly Serious -- President Trump, in an early February call, challenged the border treaty between the two countries and told Justin Trudeau he didn’t like their shared water agreements. Matina Stevis-Gridneff in the New York Times$ -- 3/7/25

Judge Blocks Trump Administration’s Funding Freeze Indefinitely -- A second federal judge has indefinitely blocked President Trump’s freeze on federal grants and loans, saying the White House had “put itself above Congress” and undermined democracy. Jan Wolfe in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 3/7/25

Inside U.S. spy agencies, workers fear a cataclysmic Trump cull -- Late last month, an analyst at a U.S. military intelligence facility was called to a 2 p.m. meeting at his agency’s headquarters. Then came the news he and many colleagues had dreaded: They would be fired the next day. Warren P. Strobel and Ellen Nakashima in the Washington Post$ -- 3/7/25

Trump expands retribution campaign against law firms that aided his foes -- Trump hit another major law firm that worked for his political rivals with an executive order seeking to limit its ability to work for the U.S. government. Perry Stein and Michael Birnbaum in the Washington Post$ Devlin Barrett in the New York Times$ -- 3/7/25

Inside the White House’s new media strategy to promote Trump as ‘KING’ -- The Trump administration has transformed its traditional press shop into a rapid-response influencer operation, and “they’re all offense, all the time.” Drew Harwell and Sarah Ellison in the Washington Post$ -- 3/7/25

‘People Are Going Silent’: Fearing Retribution, Trump Critics Muzzle Themselves -- People say they are intimidated by online attacks from the president, concerned about harm to their businesses or worried about the safety of their families. Elisabeth Bumiller in the New York Times$ -- 3/7/25

Paramount says Trump’s CBS ‘60 Minutes’ lawsuit seeks to ‘punish’ network -- Paramount Global has asked a federal judge to toss President Trump’s $20-billion lawsuit over edits to a “60 Minutes” interview, alleging Trump’s legal effort was designed to “punish” CBS for editorial decisions — a violation of protected free speech rights. Meg James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/7/25

IKEA beds? Dressers? Inside the ‘exceedingly odd’ DOGE office setup -- The agency is also considering spending about $25,000 to install a washer and dryer on the building’s 6th floor, according to a Feb. 25 invoice obtained by POLITICO. There is also a child’s play area decorated with a stuffed animal and toys, according to a photo of the room shared with Politico. “People are definitely … sleeping there,” said one GSA staffer. Hannah Northey and Danny Nguyen Politico -- 3/7/25

Trump signs executive order to create ‘strategic reserve’ of crypto -- President Donald Trump late Thursday signed an executive order authorizing the federal government to stockpile cryptocurrency assets that it seizes through law enforcement proceedings, a move aimed at boosting the digital assets industry. Jasper Goodman and Declan Harty Politico -- 3/7/25

Labor regulator Trump fired must be reinstated, judge rules -- A federal judge repudiated President Donald Trump’s effort to remove the chair of the National Labor Relations Board, calling it an “illegal act” and “power grab” that misunderstands the limits of his authority. Kyle Cheney and Nick Niedzwiadek Politico -- 3/7/25

Trump’s Embrace of Putin Has Germany Thinking of Nuclear Weapons -- President Trump’s embrace of Russia is causing Europeans to rethink their security and giving currency to an idea the U.S. has long sought to avoid: a nuclear-armed Germany. Bertrand Benoit in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 3/7/25