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California Policy and Politics Sunday
Forget the high road: Newsom takes the fight to Trump and his allies -- By calling Stephen Miller a “cuck” and posting photos of President Trump with child molester Jeffrey Epstein, Gov. Gavin Newsom is adopting a much more aggressive social media strategy. The governor defended the more combative posture, saying he’s speaking the only language Trump and his supporters understand. Taryn Luna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 07/20/25
California has sued this Trump administration way more than the last one. Here’s where cases stand -- Attorney General Rob Bonta is heeding Gavin Newsom’s call to ‘Trump-proof’ California with lawsuits. Grant Stringer in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 07/20/25
After six months under Trump, California and L.A. are battlegrounds. Who benefits? -- President Trump’s administration has repeatedly centered its policy battles in California, including on immigration, transgender athletes and guns. Administration officials have said they are trying to improve the lives of state residents. State and local officials say California’s progressive values are under unconstitutional attack. Kevin Rector in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 07/20/25
‘Stay mad.’ Amid immigration raids, Epstein rumors, Trump team ramps up its trolling -- Morgan Weistling, an accomplished painter of cowboys and Old West frontier life, was vacationing with his family this month when he got a surprising message from a friend about one of his works of art. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, he said the friend told him, had posted a work he had painted five years ago to its official social media channels without his knowledge. Hailey Branson-Potts in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 07/20/25
Federal cuts leave Los Angeles County health system in crisis -- Los Angeles County’s health system, which is responsible for the care of the region’s poorest, is careening toward a financial crisis because of cuts from a presidential administration and Republican-led Congress looking to drastically slash the size of government. Rebecca Ellis and Niamh Ordner in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 07/20/25
Cuts to science grants force San Jose researchers, student to scramble -- Federal funds cut abruptly to professors, university students conducting health and other science research. Naomi Kotani in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 07/20/25
Trump releases frozen school grants with conditions; most funds for California still in limbo -- About $1.3 billion in previously withheld federal grant money for schools has been released by the Trump administration. Federal officials warned states that it will rescind funding if it is not spent for “allowable activities.” Most of the money, however, is still being withheld. Howard Blume and Annie Ma in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 07/20/25
‘It’s like a game of Whac-A-Mole’: How Trump’s ICE raids knocked Los Angeles to its knees -- For the second time in six months, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is the face of a city under siege. Melanie Mason Politico -- 07/20/25
How an ICE memo cast a shadow over a Pomona family’s hopes to reunite with their detained patriarch -- Jose Luis Lazada, a gardener, was one of thousands of immigrants swept up last month in President Donald Trump's massive immigration crackdown. Now he's in a Texas detention center. Though a judge has granted him bond, the increasingly complex legal process may keep him housed there for weeks, months, even a year. Ryan Carter in the Orange County Register$ -- 07/20/25
‘Keep ICE out of Dublin’: Hundreds protest prospect of immigrant detention centers -- Hundreds of protesters gathered Saturday at a park in Dublin to oppose the possibility of Immigration and Customs Enforcement reopening the nearby federal prison as an immigrant detention center. Jessica Flores in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 07/20/25
Trump imposes limits on Mexican flights and threatens Delta alliance in trade dispute -- The Trump administration imposed new restrictions Saturday on flights from Mexico and threatened to end a longstanding partnership between Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico in response to limits the Mexican government placed on passenger and cargo flights into Mexico City several years ago. Josh Funk in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 07/20/25
Driver slams into crowd outside Hollywood nightclub, critically injuring 7 and wounding more than 20 others -- A patron who had been tossed out of a popular East Hollywood nightclub early Saturday later intentionally smashed his car into a crowd outside the venue, injuring 30 people — including seven critically — before being pulled out of his vehicle and shot by a bystander, police said. Richard Winton, Laurence Darmiento, Rebecca Ellis, Malia Mendez and Queenie Wong in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 07/20/25
A plan to shoot 450,000 owls — to save a different owl — could be in jeopardy -- Federal wildlife officials approved a plan to cull barred owls in order to protect northern spotted owls, but it could be upended by funding cuts and congressional opposition. Lila Seidman in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 07/20/25
‘Not today, Satan’: Katy Perry aerial stunt goes awry in S.F. -- Pop superstar Katy Perry was heading into the home stretch of her concert at Chase Center on Friday, July 18, riding high above the San Francisco crowd on a giant mechanical butterfly. But as she belted her 2013 hit “Roar,” her mount suddenly jolted and dipped, throwing her off balance and shocking the crowd. Todd Inoue in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 07/20/25
Plan to streamline contracting rules hits very San Francisco roadblock -- The proposal aimed to simplify the process for contracts under $230,000 by removing a litany of disclaimers that contractors — large and small — must currently agree to before doing business with the city. Aldo Toledo in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 07/20/25
Workplace
California’s unemployment rate rises to highest in the country as layoffs mount -- California’s unemployment rate rose slightly, by 0.1 percentage point, to 5.4% in June, tying Nevada for the highest rate in the U.S., according to new federal data released Friday. The state lost a net 6,100 jobs, including 9,900 layoffs in business and professional services. Health care and government saw job gains, but other sectors all shrank. Roland Li in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 07/20/25
Street
S.F. teacher survives horrific throat-slashing attack in Italy: ‘It was a miracle’ -- The thought kept flashing through Nicholas Pellegrino’s mind as he sat on a train station outside of Milan, blood pouring from his throat. If the 29-year-old San Francisco high school teacher and track coach didn’t get help soon, he was going to die. St. John Barned-Smith in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 07/20/25
‘Distressing and alarming.’ More than 400 guinea pigs found at a South Los Angeles home -- Now they’re asking the public to help foster or adopt some of the rescued animals or to provide donations that will fund medical support and supplies. Queenie Wong in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 07/20/25
Also
Pushkina: I’m a former member of the Russian parliament. America is closer to Putin’s Russia than you know -- I didn’t understand the machinery of autocratic power, the mechanisms of control, the unspoken rules of party discipline. Now I do. And I see it developing here. Oxana Pushkina in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 07/20/25
Former sheriff Alex Villanueva registers for 2026 sheriff’s race -- Villanueva’s is the biggest name yet to declare in the race for the position he lost to Sheriff Robert Luna in 2022. Luna has already declared his plans to seek reelection. Connor Sheets in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 07/20/25
Can coyotes and bears be friends? An Altadena odd couple has neighbors talking -- Altadenans are no strangers to animal sightings — there are peacocks and parrots aplenty around town — but news of a coyote and black bear palling around town together recently has locals talking. Marah Eakin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 07/20/25
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A Kentucky Republican and a California liberal: The unlikely alliance pushing Trump on Epstein -- The unlikely alliance of the populist left and right has strengthened over the Jeffrey Epstein controversy. Leading the charge for Congress to vote on publicizing Epstein-related records are Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). Liz Crampton, Holly Otterbein and Daniel Desrochers Politico -- 07/20/25
Barabak: Here’s why Jeffrey Epstein’s tangled web is conspiratorial catnip -- The Jeffrey Epstein saga has all the elements of one of those top-shelf intrigues, with an added Shakespearean twist — a president whose political rise has been fueled by outlandish conspiracy theories and now faces a backlash from some of his most faithful devotees, as he tries to wriggle free from a deceitful web of his own design. Delicious, especially if you enjoy your schadenfreude served piping hot. Mark Barabak in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 07/20/25
National security elites accept Trump is creating a new world order -- Six months into President Donald Trump’s second administration, national security elites at the annual Aspen Security Forum have accepted that this president has irrevocably upended the global order. Eric Bazail-Eimil Politico -- 07/20/25
News Analysis: Trump’s ‘force of personality’ hasn’t delivered on key foreign policy goals -- When President Trump returned to the White House in January, he promised to deliver big foreign policy wins in record time. Doyle McManus in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 07/20/25
California Policy and Politics Saturday
30 hurt when car slams into crowd in Hollywood -- A driver smashed into a crowd outside a popular East Hollywood nightclub in the early hours of Saturday, injuring 30 people, including seven critically, before being shot and pulled from the vehicle. Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ Angie Orellana Hernandez and Victoria Craw in the New York Times$ -- 07/19/25
Did Border Patrol commit an ‘egregious violation’ in Sacramento immigration arrests? -- Immigration agents potentially violated a federal court order Thursday morning by arresting people in a south Sacramento Home Depot parking lot. Mathew Miranda in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 07/19/25
ChatGPT-maker OpenAI brings on former Sen. Laphonza Butler -- Former Sen. Laphonza Butler is now advising OpenAI, her first known client since the California Democrat left Congress and landed at the global public affairs firm Actum, people familiar with the contract told Politico and the ChatGPT-maker confirmed. Christine Mui Politico -- 07/19/25
After L.A. firestorms and Texas floods, forecasters haunted by warnings not being heard -- Two massive disasters this year — the Texas floods and Los Angeles firestorms — are leading some to grapple with the question of how to get officials and the public to care and take action. Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 07/19/25
Airbnb allowed rampant price gouging following L.A. fires, city attorney lawsuit alleges -- The Los Angeles city attorney’s office has filed a lawsuit against Airbnb, accusing the home-sharing platform of allowing price gouging at more than 2,000 rentals following the January firestorm. Katerina Portela in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 07/19/25
California cannabis companies thought Trump would be an ally. Then the raids happened -- Federal agents arrested hundreds of workers after immigration sweeps at a California cannabis company, stoking fears that President Trump might target the marijuana industry. Alexei Koseff Calmatters -- 07/19/25
3 L.A. County sheriff’s deputies killed in explosion ID’d; investigators search Santa Monica apartment -- Three deputies were killed Friday in an explosion at the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department’s Biscailuz Center Training Academy in East L.A., the deadliest incident for the agency in more than 160 years. Richard Winton, Nathan Solis, Hannah Fry, Christopher Buchanan, Connor Sheets and Clara Harter in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 07/19/25
Santa Monica apartment is focus of probe into blast that killed 3 L.A. County sheriff’s deputies -- Authorities investigating the deadly blast at a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department training facility are looking into connections to some explosives collected in Santa Monica. Richard Winton and Christopher Buchanan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 07/19/25
‘Best of the best,’ What we know about the 3 L.A. County sheriff’s detectives killed in explosion -- The fallen lawmen — identified as Dets. Joshua Kelley-Eklund, Victor Lemus and William Osborn — combined to serve the Sheriff’s Department for 74 years. They leave behind grieving colleagues, friends and family, including 16 children among them. Clara Harter in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 07/19/25
Deadly East L.A. blast follows other incidents at sheriff’s training facilities -- Sheriff Robert Luna said the blast at the Biscailuz Training Center in East Los Angeles marked the deadliest day in department history since 1857. But the most recent death at a training facility occurred last year, when a deputy died from burns suffered in a fire that erupted in a shooting range. Matthew Ormseth and Summer Lin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 07/19/25
Border Patrol’s Sacramento presence brings Trump’s immigration show of force to CA -- The political message was anything but subtle. “The state of California is not a sanctuary state,” Gregory Bovino, a top Border Patrol official, told a Fox News reporter in front of California’s Capitol Thursday. “There is no sanctuary anywhere.” Stephen Hobbs in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 07/19/25
Federal officers arrested a US citizen in Sacramento raid — was it legal? -- Jose Castillo’s arrest by federal Customs and Border Protection agents during an immigration raid at a Home Depot in south Sacramento on Thursday, captured on video by his wife, Andrea, was disturbing: a man running from armed and masked men, finally being pulled to the ground, as his wife screamed in the background that he was a U.S. citizen. Sharon Bernstein in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 07/19/25
Newsom ready to pursue lawsuit against Fox News host despite on-air apology -- The California governor, Gavin Newsom, and Fox News host Jesse Watters have locked into a political tit-for-tat after the network figure admitted to mistakenly claiming that Newsom lied about a phone call with Donald Trump during June’s anti-immigration enforcement protests in the state. Maya Yang The Guardian -- 07/19/25
What’s next for PBS and NPR after Republicans strip funding? -- Ken Burns has made more than 30 documentaries and won multiple Emmys. But without funding from public television, his educational programming such as “The Civil War” and “Baseball” might never have existed, he told “PBS News Hour” in an interview Thursday. Kaitlyn Huamani and Stephen Battaglio in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 07/19/25
EPA launches probe into ‘thick, poisonous smoke’ in Northern California -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched an investigation into the illegal pesticides crisis plaguing Siskiyou County after the board of supervisors declared a local state of emergency and requested Gov. Gavin Newsom’s support earlier this month. Jordan Parker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 07/19/25
Workplace
Agency protecting California’s workers doesn’t have enough people to do its job, audit says -- The audit said understaffing was to blame for many of the agency’s problems, with an overall vacancy rate of 32%, or 289 unfilled positions in the last fiscal year — with that rate much higher in certain district offices. Suhauna Hussain in the Los Angeles Times$ Jeanne Kuang Calmatters -- 07/19/25
Bay Area sanitation workers set to return to work Saturday -- Bay Area sanitation workers are set to return to their jobs Saturday after Republic Services and a union reached an agreement Friday, bringing the strike to an end as it entered its second week, according to a statement from Republic Services. Caelyn Pender in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 07/19/25
Wildfire
L.A. wildfires broke record for costliest in the history of the planet -- Gallagher Re, a global reinsurance firm, estimates that the January fires caused economic losses of $65 billion, including $40 billion of insured damage. That makes the two blazes the “costliest individual wildfire events ever recorded for the (re)insurance industry,” according to the report released Wednesday. Megan Fan Munce in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 07/19/25
Street
Man accused of killing parole agent in Oakland had dodged potential life sentence in recent plea deal -- Bryan Keith Hall was previously charged with attempted murder and assault after an incident in late 2022 when he reportedly stabbed a stranger in the neck. Anna Bauman in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 07/19/25
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Inside the Long Friendship Between Trump and Epstein -- For nearly 15 years, the two men socialized together in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Fla., before a falling out that preceded Mr. Epstein’s first arrest. Alan Feuer and Matthew Goldstein in the New York Times$ -- 07/19/25
How MAGA influencers put pressure on Trump, Bondi over Epstein -- When conservative podcaster Liz Wheeler visited the White House along with other MAGA influencers on Feb. 27, Attorney General Pam Bondi handed her a binder labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1.” Sarah Ellison in the New York Times$ -- 07/19/25
Trump said he ‘never wrote a picture in my life.’ Here are four -- President Donald Trump denied ever creating any drawings when asked about a sketch of a naked woman bearing his name that allegedly was part of a bawdy birthday gift to Jeffrey Epstein more than two decades ago. Jonathan Edwards in the New York Times$ -- 07/19/25
White House to Release $1.3 Billion in Frozen Funds for After-School Programs -- The money will allow federally funded after-school programs to open this school year, preserving a lifeline for working parents. But other federal dollars remain on hold. Sarah Mervosh in the New York Times$ -- 07/19/25
Judge Orders Trump Officials to Restore Funding for Radio Free Europe -- In a stern ruling, the judge rebuked the Trump administration for refusing to disburse funding that Congress had already approved. Minho Kim in the New York Times$ -- 07/19/25
Trump signs order creating new federal worker classification for at-will, political appointees -- Trump signed an executive order on Thursday creating a new classification of federal employees who would be subject to hiring and firing by the president, Schedule G, for employees working on policy, in the latest action by his administration to reshape the federal workforce. Michael Sainato and Rachel Leingang The Guardian -- 07/19/25
Gabbard Claims Obama Administration Tried to Undermine Trump in 2016 -- Democrats denounced a report issued by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence as politically motivated and error-ridden. Julian E. Barnes and David E. Sanger in the New York Times$ -- 07/19/25
Lawmakers Question Whether CBS Canceled Colbert’s Show for Political Reasons -- Paramount, the network’s parent, recently agreed to pay President Trump $16 million to settle his lawsuit over the editing of an interview on the CBS News program “60 Minutes.” Ashley Ahn in the New York Times$ -- 07/19/25
Jon Stewart says he could be next after Stephen Colbert’s show is canceled -- Skydance, the movie studio trying to buy CBS and Comedy Central parent company Paramount, appears eager to rid CBS of “a liberal taint.” Martha Ross in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 07/19/25
Health insurance through Affordable Care Act faces big premium hikes -- The average consumer could also pay 75 percent more for a marketplace plan, according to a KFF analysis, driven by the expiration of federal subsidies. Paige Winfield Cunningham in the Washington Post$ -- 07/19/25
E.P.A. Says It Will Eliminate Its Scientific Research Arm -- The Environmental Protection Agency said on Friday that it would eliminate its scientific research arm and begin firing hundreds of chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists, after denying for months that it intended to do so. Lisa Friedman and Maxine Joselow in the New York Times$ -- 07/19/25
White House shares diagnosis in rare acknowledgment of Trump’s age -- The White House on Thursday said that President Donald Trump has been diagnosed with a mild but chronic illness related to his age — a rare admission from one of the nation’s oldest presidents who has long sought to project vigor. Emily Davies in the Washington Post$ -- 07/19/25