California Policy and Politics Friday

Safety concerns over solar panels were raised a year before massive Boyle Heights fire -- A year before a massive fire at a Boyle Heights cold storage building sent polluted smoke into surrounding communities, the operator of the facility came to Los Angeles City Hall with a request. Alex Wigglesworth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/10/26

 

Billionaire exodus? California drew 10 times more venture capital than any other state this year -- Despite high-profile billionaire departures and complaints about costs, California is pulling in more than $335 billion in venture capital — about ten times New York — fueled by an AI boom. Los Angeles and Southern California are emerging as power centers in this surge, with nearly $8 billion invested across 207 deals, led by space and defense firms such as Anduril Industries and Impulse Space. Nilesh Christopher in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/10/26

Workplace

How exposed is your job to AI? Look up your profession -- Each circle is an occupation, positioned by its AI exposure score and sized by employment. Hanna Zakharenko, Wesley Ratko and Alexandra Kanik in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/10/26

 

State workers’ union claims bad water, bedbugs, asbestos among post-RTO ‘hazards’ -- State employees reported asbestos, bedbugs, waterborne bacteria and other “hazardous conditions” in government workplaces after returning to offices under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mandate. Evelyn Ronan and Sofia Williams in the Sacramento Bee$ Felicia Alvarez KVIE Abridged -- 07/10/26

San Diego still can’t reach new deals with its three public safety unions, days after contracts lapse -- All three are in the rare position of working under expired contracts, as they continue to bargain new ones with the city. David Garrick in the San Diego Union Tribune -- 7/10/26

AI

News outlets urge a judge to sanction OpenAI in a high-stakes AI copyright fight -- The New York Times, the Daily News and other media outlets are asking a federal judge to impose sanctions on OpenAI, escalating a fight over artificial intelligence and copyright that could shape the future of a struggling news industry. Matt O’Brien, Jocelyn Noveck Associated Press -- 7/9/26

 

Gavin Newsom says he’ll gladly campaign for democratic socialist candidates -- Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday dismissed panic over democratic socialist and other progressive candidates winning primaries in key congressional races, saying he would gladly campaign for them to help Democrats retake power in Congress. Sophia Bollag in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/10/26

Newsom heads to Nevada, kicks off midterm campaign swing with eye on 2028 -- The three-day jaunt, much like his book tour earlier this year, serves the strategic purpose of burnishing his reputation as a party team player, while building relationships that could pay off in a future presidential bid. And it marks the start of a longer political push in advance of the November elections. Melanie Mason Politico -- 7/10/26

Newsom on Platner: ‘Clearly there wasn’t enough vetting done.’ -- Newsom, a likely 2028 presidential contender, urged Democrats to focus on “what do we do to win and move forward.” A crowded field of Democrats in Maine are already maneuvering in the contest to replace Platner as the party’s nominee. Lindsey Holden Politico -- 7/10/26

Walters: How Newsom’s complex history with the oil industry could affect a presidential run -- Gavin Newsom and his family have had a long and complicated relationship with the oil industry. The latest chapter in the saga, a legal and political dispute over state aid to the California’s refineries, could affect Newsom’s presidential ambitions. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 7/10/26

 

Forecast for historic El Niño is getting much stronger — and also longer -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration now puts the chance of a very strong El Niño at 81% by the end of the year, up from 63% in its June update. But the forecast is not only getting stronger. It is getting longer. Greg Porter in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/10/26

California will see its first monsoon storms of the season, raising fire concerns -- The storms could reach Central California as early as Sunday, bringing gusty winds across the Sierra Nevada and a 10% chance of lightning but producing very little rain, said Carlos Molina, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Hanford. Alex Wigglesworth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/10/26

 

Frustration, fury reign at Boyle Heights town hall on Lineage warehouse fire -- In Boyle Heights, a raucous town hall erupts into boos and chants as residents blame a burning Lineage cold-storage warehouse for toxic smoke, putrid odors and weeks of unanswered questions. Salvador Hernandez, Clara Harter and Seamus Bozeman in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/9/26

ICE

Sunnyvale family alleges ICE beat father in front of daughter before deportation -- A deported Sunnyvale carpenter and his U.S. citizen family are suing the federal government and two private prison companies, alleging ICE agents beat him during a violent arrest last year before he was denied proper medical care for months in immigration detention. Ethan Baron in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/10/26

Housing

Here’s what the ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ federal housing bill means for California -- The federal housing bill does a lot of little things. Supporters hope it will put a dent in both California and the nation’s housing shortage. Ben Christopher Calmatters -- 7/10/26

SF Centre

Buyers walk away from S.F. Centre deal, sending shuttered mall back to market -- One source tracking the sale of the city’s fully vacant downtown mall reported the deal was killed, in part, after the developers failed to renegotiate an existing long-term lease held by the San Francisco Unified School District for a portion of the property. Laura Waxmann in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/10/26

Education

LAUSD faces ‘severe’ signs of insolvency; county warns it could take control of budget -- The Los Angeles Unified School District faces “severe” indications that it will be insolvent by November 2027 — falling $231 million into the red and unable to make payroll — county analysts have concluded, setting up a 45-day deadline for the school board to amend their budget or face losing significant future authority over spending decisions. Jaweed Kaleem, Howard Blume and Kori McNair in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/10/26

Newsom signs bill to boost special ed spending as Sacramento schools struggle -- Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Thursday that includes a $2.4 billion increase for special education programs in California schools, calling the budget a step toward improving services for students across the state. Chaewon Chung in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/10/26

Street

Eviction averted for thousands of formerly homeless people losing housing vouchers -- An infusion of new federal housing funds has spared about 4,200 formerly homeless Angelenos from losing their rent subsidies in December, averting a looming wave of evictions. Doug Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/10/26

Also

California soccer fans sue StubHub after it fails to deliver expensive World Cup tickets -- In federal court in New York last week, two Californians — Julia Reeker Moghal and Reuben Renteria — sued StubHub seeking monetary damages and a ban on the company selling World Cup tickets. Lily Wright in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/10/26

The California Street Where Strict Rules Govern How Much Homes Can Change -- On Santa Monica’s La Mesa Drive, landmarking makes updating historic homes and architectural gems a challenge—but for some buyers, that’s the area’s biggest appeal. E.B. Solomont, Adam Amengual in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 7/10/26

When Even the Owners Call it ‘Disaster Mansion’ -- First-time buyers from the Bay Area won an abandoned house at a Kingston, N.Y. tax auction. Eight years later, they’re still restoring it. Alexandra Marvar, Lauren Lancaster in the New York Times$ -- 7/10/26

POTUS 47

Iran Hatched Fresh Plot to Kill Trump, Israel Told U.S. -- Israel recently shared new intelligence with the U.S. that it said showed Iran was considering new plan to assassinate president, sources say. Anat Peled, Alexander Ward and Marianne LeVine in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 7/10/26

Bombing and a Tentative Accord Didn’t Work. Does Trump Have a Plan C for Iran? -- The administration appears to be reverting to an all-stick, no-carrot approach. But it has yet to answer why it believes economic warfare and bombing will yield a different result this time. David E. Sanger in the New York Times$ -- 7/10/26

Trump Administration Fires Members of Independent Election Group -- The firings and a resignation render the Election Assistance Commission useless. The moves come as President Trump seeks to impose control over how ballots will be counted in the midterms. Erica L. Green in the New York Times$ -- 7/10/26

Courts reject Trump's Hail Mary bids to avoid paying E. Jean Carroll -- After three years, three levels of the federal courts system and countless legal filings, Donald Trump must pay E. Jean Carroll. Erica Orden Politico -- 7/10/26

1 year in, ICE’s mass detention policy is on the ropes -- Federal judges have spent a full year overwhelmingly rejecting ICE’s effort to lock up people the Trump administration is seeking to deport — finding a combination of illegality, unconstitutionality, incompetence and cruelty at a shocking scale. More than 15,000 times. Kyle Cheney Politico -- 7/10/26

Trump Wanted 20,000 Peacekeeping Troops in Gaza. He Is Starting With 10 to 20 -- The initial deployment, which has been delayed, is a fraction of the size billed by the president’s Board of Peace. Feliz Solomon in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 7/10/26