California Policy and Politics Friday

Police swarm Powell Street transit station in S.F. after apparent shooting -- San Francisco law enforcement and other emergency response officials swarmed the Powell Street transit station Friday morning after an apparent shooting. Megan Cassidy in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/13/24

‘Surreal’: Firefighter describes moment he rescued woman from blazing Airport fire -- A fire chief described the moment he saved a woman who was walking within feet of the blazing Airport fire, calling the harrowing moment that was caught on camera “surreal.” Cal Fire Riverside County Battalion Chief Mike Martinez saw the woman walking down Ortega Highway around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. Noah Goldberg and Colleen Shalby in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/13/24

Firefighters gaining control over destructive Southern California wildfires -- Little by little, firefighting crews in Southern California are gaining control over three wildfires that have destroyed dozens of buildings, burned more than 100,000 acres and kept countless residents out of their homes for days. Joseph Serna and Summer Lin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/13/24

Federal firefighters run out of leadership teams as fires rage across West -- As powerful wildfires rage across the West, including in California, Nevada, Oregon and Idaho, the federal government this week ran out of leadership teams to oversee firefighting efforts. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/13/24

Containment, hotshots, evacuation orders: Understanding key wildfire terms -- Here’s a quick guide to many of the terms that public safety officials use to describe the progress of wildfires, the efforts to stop them and the measures taken to protect residents. Jon Healey and Joseph Serna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/13/24

Inland Empire wildfire threats cast light on home insurance crisis -- In addition to wildfires, the residents and property owners in the Inland Empire face another crisis, the departure of companies willing to insure homes against catastrophes. Deborah Brennan CalMatters -- 9/13/24

Mother defends man accused of intentionally setting huge California wildfire -- The 34-year-old Norco man arrested on suspicion of starting the Line fire, which has raged through San Bernardino County, tried multiple times to start a fire before succeeding, prosecutors allege. Ruben Vives in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/13/24

Policy and Politics

Newsom signs another retail theft bill amid rising concerns about crime in California -- Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday signed the last of a bundle of retail theft bills crafted by Democratic lawmakers to address the rise in organized retail theft crimes that have shaken Californians. Anabel Sosa in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/13/24

As an S.F. supervisor, Mark Farrell wanted to fund a pet cause. He repeatedly turned to companies with business at City Hall -- In the fall of 2015, then-San Francisco Supervisor Mark Farrell was on the hunt for private donations to a pet cause: opening schoolyards to children on the weekends. Matthias Gafni, Michael Barba in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/13/24

Rancho Palos Verdes is known for landslides. It’s also home to Trump’s golf course -- A mile west of Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, a road sign warns: “Use Extreme Caution. Constant Land Movement.” Hailey Branson-Potts in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/13/24

PG&E

California regulators approve fourth PG&E rate increase of the year -- The rate hike, amounting to $6 per month for customers, will go toward recouping roughly $944 million that PG&E is paying due to bad storms in 2022-2023 as well as for wildfire mitigation. It is scheduled to be in effect for 17 months. Kate Galbraith in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/13/24

Housing

Court strikes down S.F. law requiring 10-day waiting period for eviction notices -- A San Francisco ordinance giving renters who face eviction more time to meet their property owners’ requirements has been struck down by a state appeals court, which said California law requires compliance within three days. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/13/24

Homeless

Sleeping with a pillow or blanket outdoors can be a sign of illegal camping in Santa Monica -- The Santa Monica City Council has voted to take out a section of the anti-camping ordinance that allowed homeless people to use pillows and blankets while sleeping outdoors. The new ordinance is scheduled to go into effect next month. Ruben Vives in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/13/24

The under-the-radar proposal to end homelessness in Los Angeles for $20 billion -- Homelessness spending in Los Angeles must more than double to $2 billion a year to end sleeping on the streets in the city, according to a draft report by housing officials. Liam Dillon and Doug Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/13/24

AI

Why AI is better than humans at talking people out of their conspiracy theory beliefs -- In a series of experiments, the artificial chatbot was able to make more than a quarter of people feel uncertain about their most cherished conspiracy belief. The average conversation lasted less than 8½ minutes. The results were reported Thursday in the journal Science. Karen Kaplan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/13/24

Climate

A key ally in the battle against climate change? People over 60 -- Climate change is sometimes viewed as a ‘young person’s problem,’ but Third Act and its older-than-60 members say it’s an ‘everyone problem.’ Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/13/24

Scientists become a source of hope and information on TikTok, Instagram -- Instead of waiting years for their studies and work to be published in academic journals, some climate scientists use social media to extend their reach — and their brand. Melissa Gomez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/13/24

Environment

Gen Z: Will they finally solve the plastic crisis? -- Gen Z has been heralded as being more invested in environmental issues. But a discussion with ‘green’ youths suggests the plastic habit may be hard to break. Susanne Rust in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/13/24

Earthquake

California remains in puzzling ‘earthquake drought’ despite recent shaking -- There’s now an entire generation of Californians who have grown up without experiencing the damaging earthquakes we saw in the 1980s and 1990s. Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/13/24

Education

Bay Area colleges debut new mega dorms to serve thousands of desperate students -- Taken together, Bay Area public colleges and universities have added more than 3,400 beds for students since late 2023 with more on the way. Sam Whiting in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/13/24

Walters: California’s dysfunctional ‘dashboard’ of school ratings finally gets a well-deserved beatdown -- Nine years ago, as the state Board of Education was working on a system to inform Californians about what was happening in schools, one of its professional advisors, Nancy Brownell, delivered what she described as a “very brief” summary. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 9/13/24

Stanford’s new president takes charge at a tumultuous time. He told us changes are ahead -- In a wide-ranging interview with the Chronicle, Jonathan Levin discusses challenges facing the university. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/13/24

Why Gavin Newsom could ban legacy admissions -- A bill on the governor’s desk would ban legacy preferences at California’s universities. It’s not just leftists who are on board. Blake Jones Politico -- 9/13/24

Street

Man tied to the killing of actor Johnny Wactor pleads guilty to attempted robbery and theft -- Leonel Gutierrez, 18, was arrested last month along with two other people on suspicion of murder in Wactor’s May 25 shooting death after a lengthy investigation by Los Angeles police turned up DNA and fingerprints on a car jack that linked them to the shooting. Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/13/24

Are California prisons stiffing inmates on $200 release payments? Lawsuit says they are -- A 51-year-old California law requires the state to give $200 to prisoners upon release. Many wind up with less, according to a new class-action lawsuit. Cayla Mihalovich CalMatters -- 9/13/24

Top of the Ticket

First 2 post-debate polls roll in; Harris continues to lead nationally -- The vice president continues to lead in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, while Donald Trump leads in Georgia and Arizona. Lenny Bronner, Diane Napolitano, Kati Perry and Luis Melgar in the Washington Post$ -- 9/13/24

With Kamala Harris on the ballot, Trump portrays California as a hellscape -- To hear Donald Trump and JD Vance tell it, California is teetering on the brink of apocalypse. Californians shrug and call it jealousy. Reis Thebault in the Washington Post$ -- 9/13/24

Trump’s Haitian immigrant comments create a storm in Florida -- When a group of 50 Democrats of Caribbean descent gathered to watch the presidential debate in a South Florida suburb this week, the room filled with stunned laughs as former President Trump repeated a baseless rumor that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were stealing dogs and cats so they could eat them. Noah Bierman in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/13/24

Trump Says He Won’t Do Another Debate as Harris Announces Cash Haul: Sept. 12 Campaign News -- Vice President Kamala Harris is said to have raised $47 million in the 24 hours after the debate on Tuesday. She pushed former President Donald J. Trump to participate in another debate after he said he was done with them. Maggie Haberman, Shane Goldmacher and Theodore Schleifer in the New York Times$ Marianne LeVine, Maeve Reston, Josh Dawsey and Sabrina Rodriguez in the Washington Post$ -- 9/13/24

At a Key Moment in Trump’s Campaign, a Social-Media Instigator Is at His Side -- The former president’s decision to elevate Laura Loomer, a far-right activist known for racist and homophobic posts online, has stunned even some Trump allies. Ken Bensinger in the New York Times$ Patrick Svitek in the Washington Post$ Joseph Pisani and Alex Leary in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 9/13/24

Antisemitic Ads About Doug Emhoff Target Muslim Voters in Michigan -- An ad campaign in the state, funded by a group that appears tied to Republicans, seems designed to remind Muslim voters of Kamala Harris’s pro-Israel views and her husband’s Jewish faith. Katie Glueck in the New York Times$ -- 9/13/24

After Bomb Threats and Political Vitriol, Ohio Mayor Says Enough -- Springfield, which has attracted thousands of Haitians, has been at the center of a fiery immigration debate and baseless rumors amplified by Donald J. Trump and JD Vance. Miriam Jordan in the New York Times$ -- 9/13/24

Trump Allies Are Working On Plans to Privatize Fannie and Freddie -- Former Trump administration figures and bankers have been discussing plans on ending U.S. government control of the mortgage-finance giants should Trump win the presidential election, according to people familiar with the matter. AnnaMaria Andriotis and Gina Heeb in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 9/13/24

Harris puts pressure on Trump in an elusive battleground: North Carolina -- The vice president has raised Democrats’ hopes of winning the Tar Heel State, a populous battleground that has been just beyond their grasp ever since Barack Obama briefly turned it blue in 2008. Hannah Knowles and Yasmeen Abutaleb in the Washington Post$ -- 9/13/24

Vance says Trump’s plan to end war in Ukraine could include creating demilitarized zone -- In a podcast interview, Vance also said a “peace settlement” could involve barring Ukraine from joining the NATO alliance. Maegan Vazquez and Karen DeYoung in the Washington Post$ -- 9/13/24

Is There More to JD Vance’s MAGA Alliance Than Meets the Eye? -- The New Right has a blueprint for taking power. JD Vance could be following it. Ian Ward Politico -- 9/13/24