California Policy and Politics Saturday

As the coast begins to crumble, the clock ticks on moving San Onofre’s radioactive waste -- Storm-driven erosion exposes vulnerability of California coast , reviving questions about keeping 3.6 million pounds of radioactive waste just 100 feet from the Pacific at decommissioned San Onofre nuclear power plant. lanca Begert, Allen J. Schaben in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/12/26

Northern California to see powerful winds, fire danger; red flag warnings issued -- Red flag warnings have been issued for parts of the Sacramento Valley, Lake County, northeastern California and near Tahoe as Saturday shapes up to be a windy day across the northern part of the state. Greg Porter in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/12/26

With mail-in rules uncertain, here’s how Californians can prepare to vote in November -- The Supreme Court is weighing President Trump’s plan to limit universal mail-in voting with just seven weeks until the November election. California officials are urging people to vote early. Maya C. Miller Calmatters -- 9/12/26

 

California’s biggest lake is in crisis. Now tribes are coming back to save its sacred fish -- Seven tribes signed on with state agencies and local governments to formally co-manage the Clear Lake watershed, the first agreement of its kind under a new state tribal stewardship initiative. Mercury contamination, toxic algal blooms and invasive fish have threatened a rare and revered local fish, the chi. Noah Haggerty in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/12/26

California officials allow plans for the country’s biggest kelp farm to move forward -- California has long been farm country, and its oceans soon could be, too. State coastal officials voted Wednesday to allow a plan to build the United States’ largest kelp farm 6 miles (10 kilometers) off the Southern California coast to move forward as the Trump administration seeks to ramp up aquaculture in the Pacific Ocean. Amy Taxin Associated Press -- 9/12/26

Housing

Order to build thousands of housing units on the VA’s West LA campus stands on appeal -- The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday upheld a federal judge’s order requiring the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to build 2,550 units of housing on its West Los Angeles campus. A two-paragraph order denied the VA’s request to have the entire 9th Circuit review a three-judge panel’s rejection of its appeal. Doug Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/11/26

UCLA

UCLA chancellor rebukes law school event featuring 9/11 ‘mastermind’ attorney -- UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk took the unusual step of publicly rebuking a law school 9/11 symposium that promoted a panel with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s defense attorney. Frenk stressed that UCLA “does not endorse” the event while saying academic freedom “does not require us to be neutral about antisemitism or terrorism.” Jaweed Kaleem in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/12/26

Street

Waymo pulls over, calls cops on juvenile riders who had ‘ghost gun,’ authorities say -- The company pulled the car over after detecting a “violation of our terms of service involving a firearm,” the spokesperson said. The company alerted emergency services and “cooperated fully” with San Francisco police. Iris Kwok in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/12/26

San Jose police officer fired after using Flock database to track cousin’s domestic violence accuser -- San Jose police fired an officer who used the department’s license-plate tracking system to track a woman who had accused his cousin of domestic violence, Chief Paul Joseph disclosed Friday. Robert Salonga in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/12/26

AI

Anthropic CEO seeks immediate slowdown on AI -- Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on Saturday called for the immediate slowdown of artificial intelligence development, warning that recent advances in AI have begun to outpace the industry’s ability to understand and control the technology. Ben Johansen Politico Robert McMillan in the Wall Street Journal$ Mike Isaac in the New York Times$ -- 9/12/26

OpenAI reveals another rogue AI attack -- OpenAI’s artificial intelligence launched a cyberattack against an online service months before a July hack against startup Hugging Face, the company confirmed Friday, a revelation that could ramp up calls for safety regulations across the industry. Chase DiFeliciantonio Politico -- 9/12/26

Why It’s Difficult for Tech Companies to Rein In A.I. -- Researchers say artificial intelligence is developing faster than the systems put in place to monitor and control it. Sheera Frenkel and Dylan Freedman in the New York Times$ -- 9/12/26

AI Is Powerful Enough to Crack Our Hardest Math Problems—and Kill Us All -- You don’t need to know any math to understand why the Millennium Prize breakthrough matters. It’s proof of AI’s accelerating and terrifying progress. Ben Cohen in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 9/12/26

Anthropic says it blocked misuse of its AI that could have supported biological weapons -- As AI models grow more powerful, elaborate cyberattacks no longer require sophisticated skills and even lone individuals can create threats that would not have been possible even a year ago, Anthropic said. The company said it has added stronger safeguards in its latest models to restrict biological research that could also be used to make weapons. Barbara Ortutay Associated Press -- 9/11/26

 

‘I don’t have any’: Trump brushes aside concerns over AI’s existential risks -- President Donald Trump downplayed concerns about the catastrophic risks of artificial intelligence raised this week by some AI researchers, saying late Thursday he was focused instead on the U.S. losing its edge in the tech arms race. Casey He Politico -- 9/12/26

‘It’s going to be fine’: Trump rebuffs rising alarm over AI dangers, sparking outcry -- President Trump said he had no concerns with the breakneck pace of AI progress. Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Washington on Sept. 24 for an official summit and state dinner, with AI development expected to top the agenda. Michael Wilner in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/12/26

 

Mike Johnson urged to cancel House recess over AI warnings -- The letter to Johnson, drafted by Sam Liccardo (D-Calif.), says "urgent action" is needed "to address catastrophic risk posed by advanced artificial intelligence," according to a copy first obtained by Axios. The letter is co-signed by Reps. George Whitesides (D-Calif.), Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) and Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) but was still being circulated as of Friday afternoon. Andrew Solender Axios -- 9/12/26

Also

California is changing its license plate sequence for the first time since the 1980s -- California has officially run out of combinations for its current license plate sequence, ending a string of plates dating back to the 1980s. Karen Garcia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/12/26

USDA gives California $4M to fight Costco-linked bugs threatening the wine industry -- In July, the U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture rejected U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla’s and Adam Schiff’s request for $32 million in emergency funding to combat California’s growing glassy-winged sharpshooter problem. Now, the federal agency is providing $4 million to the California Department of Food and Agriculture for the fight against the grapevine-destroying pests, specifically for efforts to control the Costco shipment incidents. Lizzie Kane in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/12/26

POTUS 47

How Trump Is Wielding Power to Stifle Speech -- President Trump has harnessed agencies across the government to curtail press freedoms, a sweeping campaign that free speech advocates say will have lasting effects. Jim Rutenberg and Maggie Haberman in the New York Times$ -- 9/12/26

Gulf Tankers Are Running Out of Ways to Export Oil: ‘These Waters Aren’t Safe’ -- The world’s most valuable energy corridors are pinching shut. On Friday, Houthi militants backed by Iran expanded their control of the Red Sea, threatening a critical route for Persian Gulf crude. Lisa Friedman, Jenny Gross and Rebecca F. Elliott in the Wall Street Journal$ Rachel Chason, Evan Halper, Suzan Haidamous, Mohamad El Chamaa and Karen DeYoung in the Washington Post$ Rachel Chason in the Washington Post$ -- 9/12/26

Trump says the Iran war is worth the price. The bill keeps growing -- The war’s cost to the average American household’s pocketbook is about $1,650 as of last week, a combination of energy, interest rates and the costs of the war, according to Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. It’s a number he said grows by the day. Scott Waldman Politico -- 9/12/26

These are the Trump investigations Democrats plan if they win in November -- “There’s so much corruption and grift that it’s going to take the entire House on the Democratic side to do investigations appropriately,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-California), who would probably lead investigations as chair the Oversight Committee in a Democratic-held House, said in an interview. “We are all talking.” Alexei Koseff and Meryl Kornfield in the Washington Post$ -- 9/12/26