California Policy and Politics Thursday

Trump Administration Sues California in Bid to Nix Car Pollutant Rules -- The lawsuit, filed Thursday by the Justice and Transportation departments, targets the California Air Resources Board over its standards for limiting pollutants from light-duty vehicle tailpipes. The suit also takes issue with the state’s efforts to boost production of zero-emission vehicles. Clara Hudson in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 3/12/26

California could be attacked by drones because of Iran war, memo warns. Officials downplay threat -- Law enforcement agencies across California were recently warned that the Iran war could lead to a surprise drone attack in the Golden State, but sources told The Times on Wednesday there’s no credible intelligence to support it. Richard Winton and Salvador Hernandez in the Los Angeles Times$ Nathaniel Percy, Ryanne Mena, Andrea Klick in the Orange County Register$ Devlin Barrett, Laurel Rosenhall, Soumya Karlamangla and Shawn Hubler in the New York Times$ Jessica Flores, Sophia Bollag in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/12/26

Newsom opens commanding lead over Harris in 2028 California primary poll -- The California governor was leading the former vice president by 14 percentage points in their home state, according to a poll by Politico and its partners. Blake Jones Politico -- 3/12/26

Most L.A. voters undecided about mayor’s race, with support for Bass at 20%, poll finds -- The poll by Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics found that about 51% of Angelenos have not made up their minds about who should lead the city. Noah Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/12/26

California governor candidates have a similar goal: ‘Housing, housing, housing’ -- Try as they might to distinguish themselves in a crowded race, Republican and Democratic hopefuls to be the next California governor have a largely similar message when it comes to the state’s severe housing costs: Build more homes, and do it faster. Stephen Hobbs in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/12/26

$5 to sign a ballot petition with someone else’s name? Video spurs California investigation -- A video circulating online appears to show signature collectors paying people to sign initiative petitions under other people’s names, according to officials, and now the state has opened an investigation. Cierra Morgan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/12/26

‘We’re talking about people’s lives:’ California lawmakers grill DMV director on deadly failures -- The man in charge of California’s Department of Motor Vehicles finally had to face tough questions Tuesday about what his agency is doing to address an increase in road deaths in recent years. Though he didn’t provide many answers. Lauren Hepler and Robert Lewis Calmatters -- 3/12/26

California sues over Trump demand for college admissions data based on race -- The Trump administration’s demand that colleges and universities provide detailed admissions data broken down by race, gender and other characteristics was challenged Monday in federal court by a coalition of states led by Massachusetts and California. Sharon Bernstein in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/12/26

10 projects from Newsom’s mental health bond were supposed to open in 2025. That didn’t happen -- None of the projects expected in 2025 under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mental health ballot measure have opened, CalMatters has found, even though the governor says the bond is exceeding its goals. Marisa Kendall Calmatters -- 3/12/26

Walters: As gas prices soar, California’s new carbon emission rules prompt a war of words -- This week — as the conflict between the U.S. and Iran raged and gasoline prices soared due to disruption in the global oil trade — a political war erupted in California over proposed air pollution rules that could increase fuel prices even more. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 3/12/26

Housing

L.A. will continue to fund eviction defense program -- A dispute over the city of Los Angeles’ eviction defense program came to an end Tuesday when the City Council approved millions of dollars in funding for the next 15 months. Noah Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/12/26

New Tax

Sacramento voters may see half-cent tax for street safety, transit funding -- Sacramento residents and neighborhood advocates are pushing a November ballot measure that would raise an estimated $70 million a year for street safety improvements and expanded public transit service. Ariane Lange in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/12/26

Education

Family of student who died after being hit by water bottle says LAUSD failed to stop bullying -- The parents of Khimberly Zavaleta Chuquipa say their daughter was struck in the head with a metal water bottle while she tried to help her sister who was being attacked by a group of bullies. Ruben Vives in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/12/26

California sues Oakland Unified over alleged failure to address antisemitism -- The California Department of Education has sued the Oakland Unified School District over what it says was the district’s failure to address “pervasive antisemitism” on its campuses. Aldo Toledo in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/12/26

As enrollment flattens at most University of California campuses, it surges at Riverside -- In UC Riverside’s case, officials say years of working to improve the campus’ reputation and its academic prestige have resulted in more demand from families and students. Michael Burke EdSource -- 3/12/26

Street

$1-million reward offered for California murder suspect, an FBI ‘Ten Most Wanted’ fugitive -- A $1-million reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of a man suspected in a 2019 fatal shooting in Sylmar, who also is considered one of the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” fugitives. Salvador Hernandez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/12/26

Also

Huntington Beach surf dog Sugar, battling cancer, goes for one last ride -- Ryan Rustan held Sugar the Surfing Dog in his arms Saturday morning on the north side of the Huntington Beach Pier. He smiled as they took in the sun’s rays before getting out in the water on a surfboard. Matt Szabo in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/12/26

Why hundreds of people in L.A. are strapping cameras on their bodies to do chores -- The hottest new gig-economy job in Los Angeles is performing at home to help artificial intelligence understand how humans move. Nilesh Christopher in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/12/26

Bill Cosby, Out of Prison and the Public Eye, Faces Civil Trial -- The entertainer whose conviction was overturned in 2021 still faces sex assault lawsuits from multiple women, including one playing out now in a California court. Graham Bowley in the New York Times$ -- 3/12/26

POTUS 47

Oil Crisis Worsens as Iran’s Leader Vows to Keep Vital Route Closed -- Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader, struck a defiant tone on Thursday in his first known public comments since succeeding his slain father, vowing to keep blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil route, and to avenge “the blood of the martyrs.” Aurelien Breeden, Rebecca Elliott, Erika Solomon and John Yoon in the New York Times$ -- 3/12/26

400 million barrels of oil to be released from strategic reserves as Iran targets commercial ships -- Attacks on multiple commercial ships in the waters around Iran on Wednesday increased global energy concerns, pushed nations to unleash strategic oil reserves and sparked fresh critiques of the Trump administration’s readiness for a war it started. Kevin Rector in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/12/26

Pentagon Tells Congress First Week of Iran War Cost More Than $11.3 Billion -- In a Capitol Hill briefing, officials gave their most comprehensive assessment of the cost of the first six days of the war, but the number omitted several aspects of the operation. Catie Edmondson in the New York Times$ -- 3/12/26

Iranian school was on U.S. target list, may have been mistaken as military site -- The strike killed at least 175, many of them children, and has raised questions as to whether the military’s use of AI to identify targets was a factor. Tara Copp, Souad Mekhennet, Meg Kelly, Alex Horton and Susannah George in the Washington Post$ -- 3/12/26

Ukraine’s US air defenses are at risk in Iran war -- The war with Iran is sucking up expensive U.S. air defense munitions that Ukraine desperately needs, putting future deliveries at risk and threatening Kyiv’s ability to counter Russian ballistic missile attacks. Paul McLeary, Jack Detsch and Chris Lunday Politico -- 3/12/26

Why DOJ Hasn’t Charged Anyone Else From the Epstein Files -- The release of the Epstein files was supposed to quell the controversy over whether the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein committed child sex crimes with a host of wealthy, prominent men. But more than a month after the release, something like the opposite has happened. Ankush Khardori Politico -- 3/12/26

Pentagon bars press photographers over ‘unflattering’ Hegseth photos -- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s staff took issue with images taken in a rare briefing last week and decided to shut out photographers from two subsequent news conferences. Scott Nover in the Washington Post$ -- 3/12/26