Rough & Tumble ®
A Realtime Snapshot of California Public Policy and Politics		  
 
       
 
 
 

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California Policy and Politics Tuesday

California governor candidate unveils government reform plan, scathing assessment of status quo -- San José Mayor Matt Mahan proposes a five-point government reform plan tying pay raises for elected officials to measurable performance outcomes like reduced homelessness. His plan proposes no new taxes until the state proves better use of current funds. Nicole Nixon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/24/26

USC cancels gubernatorial debate amid uproar over candidates of color being excluded -- The University of Southern California canceled its Tuesday gubernatorial debate after facing fiery criticism about excluding every gubernatorial candidate of color. Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/24/26

Newsom Talks Trump, 2028 — and Where He Draws the Line on Israel -- The California governor opens up about family, risk and the choices that could shape his political future. Jonathan Martin Politico -- 3/24/26

Garofoli: California voters show ‘historically high’ disinterest in governor’s race. That could hurt Democrats -- Californians will receive their June 2 primary ballots in early May and yet there remains a “historically high” level of unawareness of the election to choose a new governor, a collective statewide shrug that is increasing the likelihood that a Republican will be the next governor of deep blue California. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/24/26

The scammer, the fixer and the cop: Inside L.A.’s world of millionaire ‘crypto kids’ -- A recent Los Angeles trial revealed a subculture that revolves around newly created crypto wealth and young men who flaunt money obtained through elaborate scams. A former LAPD officer was convicted of robbing a 17-year-old who had amassed a small fortune in stolen bitcoin. Matthew Ormseth and Libor Jany in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/24/26

Officials considered warning Altadena before Eaton fire, but no alert was sent -- Almost two hours before the Eaton fire broke out in the San Gabriel foothills Jan. 7, 2025, Los Angeles County emergency management officials had been pushed to send out an emergency alert to warn residents that increasingly high winds would pose a significant risk. But no such alert was sent. Grace Toohey in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/24/26

Trump administration illegally ordered restart of Central Coast oil pipelines, state lawsuit says -- A pipeline system along the Central Coast was halted after a devastating oil spill in 2015. The Trump administration has ordered the owner of the pipelines to restart the oil operation despite state and local objections. California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit Monday calling the order unconstitutional and unlawful. Grace Toohey in the Los Angeles Times$ Sharon Bernstein in the Sacramento Bee$ Alejandro Lazo Calmatters -- 3/24/26

Californians may need to mail ballots early as Supreme Court signals support for new election day deadline -- Californians may be forced to put their ballots in the mail well before election day to be certain they will be counted. That’s the likely outcome of a Republican challenge to mail-in ballots that came before the Supreme Court on Monday. David G. Savage in the Los Angeles Times$ Mark Sherman Associated Press -- 3/24/26

How do we assess the millions California spends in its legal wars against Trump? -- The state’s lawyers are involved in more than 120 lawsuits against the Trump administration, from efforts to secure promised funding to such issues as control of the California National Guard, gender-affirming care for minors and the price of eggs. Sharon Bernstein in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/24/26

Walters: Medi-Cal faces funding emergency from state miscalculations, federal budget cuts -- Gavin Newsom loves to brag about his accomplishments as governor — a syndrome that sometimes backfires when reality raises its ugly head. So it was in January 2022 when he proposed extending health care coverage to everyone in the state, including undocumented immigrants. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 3/24/26

Arellano: Why I’m not taking down my César Chávez photo -- But to eradicate Chávez’s civic presence so fast — to tear down his statues, relabel streets and parks named in his honor, paint over his image on old and new murals, to throw away artwork that has adorned homes and offices for decades — doesn’t remove the fact that millions largely saw him as a champion of the downtrodden until last week. Gustavo Arellano in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/24/26

Workplace

Layoffs in the Bay Area tech world hold a hard lesson for everyone -- Though C-suite executives have crowed about AI creating new workforce efficiencies, industry watchers say other pressures are pushing companies to cut back, including overhiring in recent years, economic uncertainty, high interest rates and chilled foreign investments. Jessica Roy in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/24/26

What happens to L.A.’s KNX and other stations when CBS News Radio goes away? -- KNX, the all-news station in Los Angeles that has carried CBS programming since 1936, posted a lengthy segment on the impending closure and explained how “KNX News is not going anywhere.” Stephen Battaglio in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/24/26

Why is Jeff Bezos raising $100 billion to bring AI to factories? Here’s what to know -- Jeff Bezos is trying to leapfrog into the artificial intelligence race with a $100-billion fund to acquire manufacturers and bring more AI superpowers to factory floors. Nilesh Christopher in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/24/26

America’s Chief Financial Officers Say AI Is Coming for Admin Jobs -- America’s chief financial officers say that artificial intelligence will push some people out of their jobs: primarily workers in routine, clerical and administrative roles. Workers with highly skilled roles, such as architects and engineers, are more likely to keep their jobs, especially if they can use AI to their advantage. Justin Lahart in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 3/24/26

Young Graduates Face the Grimmest Job Market in Years -- Artificial intelligence could reshape work, but for now a low-hire, low-fire labor market is the main impediment for young people seeking employment. Sydney Ember in the New York Times$ -- 3/24/26

Marketplace

As malls and department stores fade, California’s Ross and other discounters are booming -- As big malls and department stores close, bargain chains like Ross Dress for Less are rolling out new stores. Economic anxiety and inflation are leading shoppers to spend less and search for savings. In this bombed-out retail landscape, some chains are thriving and opening new outlets. Caroline Petrow-Cohen in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/24/26

ICE

Sacramento woman detained by ICE at San Francisco Airport, Rep. Doris Matsui says -- Videos, which have circulated on social media platforms, show two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in plainclothes detaining Lopez-Jimenez as several police officers and onlookers stand nearby. The woman, in handcuffs, can be seen screaming as a young girl with backpack cries nearby. Mathew Miranda in the Sacramento Bee$ Rick Hurd in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/24/26

New details emerge on ICE incident at SFO captured in viral videos -- The Trump administration on Monday said a struggle between two immigration agents and a woman at San Francisco International Airport Sunday evening was unrelated to the Trump administration’s broader plan to send Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to airports across the country to ease federal shutdown-related delays. Megan Cassidy in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/24/26

Education

Does lobbying at the Capitol work? These UC students say yes, and they’ve got receipts -- UC students have been waiting years for this moment — another chance at a bill to add a second student seat with voting power to the UC Board of Regents. Khadeejah Khan Calmatters -- 3/24/26

LAUSD moves to strip César Chávez’s name from two campuses and change focus of holiday -- LAUSD board will vote Tuesday to strip César Chávez’s name from two campuses following sexual abuse allegations against the late labor leader. The district will shift focus from honoring Chávez to celebrating the farmworkers movement. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/24/26

Audit slams California school officials' ties to Chinese boarding school -- California education officials have released an audit into a local school district and its ties to a private boarding school in China, finding “sufficient evidence” of “fraud, misappropriation of funds, or other illegal fiscal practices.” Nicole Einbinder Politico -- 3/24/26

Street

Digital tablets mellowed California prisons. Now a tech migration is riling users -- Every incarcerated person in a California prison has a digital table enabling communication with the outside world. A new vendor is bringing more streaming entertainment, but with a cost. Joe Garcia Calmatters -- 3/24/26

Also

Drone deliveries are coming to Bay Area homes, Google says -- Alphabet’s drone delivery company, Wing, said Monday that it plans to begin delivering packages to homes in the San Francisco Bay Area in the coming months, bringing the service to one of the company’s earliest testing grounds. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/24/26

Bill Cosby loses civil sex assault lawsuit in Los Angeles County; faces $19-million judgment -- Bill Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted a waitress in 1972 after escorting her to one of his shows, a civil jury in California concluded Monday, awarding the woman $19.25 million in damages. Fedor Zarkhin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/24/26

Also

Want to watch the San Francisco Giants opening day? It’s only on Netflix -- The 2026 Major League Baseball season will open at Oracle Park with a historic, marquee matchup between the San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees. It’ll be the only game on Wednesday — and yet, other than attending in person, Giants fans can only watch it if they have a Netflix subscription. G. Allen Johnson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/24/26

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Emerging DHS deal ‘acceptable,’ White House official says -- It would pair funding for most of the department, save for ICE enforcement operations, with a new GOP reconciliation effort to pass the left-behind funding plus parts of the GOP elections bill known as the SAVE America Act. Myah Ward Politico Lindsay Wise, Siobhan Hughes and Natalie Andrews in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 3/24/26

The Back-Channel Diplomacy Behind Trump’s U-Turn on Iran -- Egyptian intelligence officials managed to open a channel with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—the paramilitary group that protects the Iranian regime and is the country’s most powerful security and political entity—and put forward a proposal to halt hostilities for five days to build confidence for a cease-fire, some of the officials said. Those discussions laid the groundwork for an abrupt reversal more than 7,000 miles away in Florida. Summer Said, Alexander Ward, Benoit Faucon and Laurence Norman in the Wall Street Journal$ Tyler Pager, David E. Sanger and Farnaz Fassihi in the Wall Street Journal$ Karen DeYoung, Susannah George and Heba Farouk Mahfouz in the Washington Post$ -- 3/24/26

Trump just voted by a method he calls ‘mail-in cheating’ -- President Donald Trump, who is in the midst of pressuring senators to curb the use of mail-in voting, voted by mail ballot in Tuesday’s special election in Palm Beach County, Florida. Dan Merica in the Washington Post$ -- 3/24/26

 

California Policy and Politics Monday

Bill Cosby loses civil sex assault lawsuit in Los Angeles County; faces $19-million judgment -- Bill Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted a waitress in 1972 after escorting her to one of his shows, a civil jury in California concluded Monday, awarding the woman $19.25 million in damages. Fedor Zarkhin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/26

New details emerge on ICE incident at SFO captured in viral videos -- The Trump administration on Monday said a struggle between two immigration agents and a woman at San Francisco International Airport Sunday evening was unrelated to the Trump administration’s broader plan to send Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to airports across the country to ease federal shutdown-related delays. Megan Cassidy in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/23/26

 

Trump targets airports for ICE, but SFO might be spared -- San Francisco International Airport is one of about 20 U.S. airports that use private contractors, rather than federal TSA employees, to staff security checkpoints under federal oversight. Because those screeners are privately employed and funded, they continue to be paid during the shutdown, helping SFO avoid the staffing shortages seen elsewhere. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/23/26

Trump border advisor says ICE to deploy to U.S. airports Monday -- White House border advisor Tom Homan said that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to dispatch agents to airports as soon as Monday, and that he was working with other officials to determine where to send agents. Samantha Masunaga and Mark Olsen in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/26

The Supreme Court Could Make It Harder to Vote by Mail in the Midterms -- The Republican National Committee wants to toss ballots arriving after Election Day. Critics say thousands of votes — a majority cast by Democrats — are at stake. Nick Corasaniti in the New York Times$ -- 3/23/26

Prediction markets are seeing a political boom. Here’s what they might mean for California’s governor race -- As it ticks closer to Election Day, the prediction markets have gotten more confident in East Bay Rep. Eric Swalwell’s chances to be the next governor of California. It’s a stark contrast compared to recent polling that shows the race to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom is still wide open as many voters remain undecided or disengaged. Grace Hase in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/23/26

Hawaii faces more than $1B in storm recovery. California is still clamoring for L.A. fire aid -- If California’s experience is a barometer, Hawaii may have a long and frustrating recovery road ahead. Raheem Hosseini, Anthony Edwards in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/23/26

Scott Wiener passed laws that made it easier to build in California. Can he do the same in Congress? -- Scott Wiener has a reputation for producing and passing a lot of legislation. Congress has a reputation for doing nothing. If elected, will Wiener get housing laws passed at a national level? Ben Christopher Calmatters -- 3/23/26

Skelton: Trump attacking Newsom’s dyslexia proves president’s incompetence -- President Trump claims Gov. Gavin Newsom is unfit to be president because he has a “learning disability.” It’s a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black. The centuries-old pot-kettle idiom points out hypocrisy — as when one person accuses another of a flaw that afflicts himself. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/26

The California reckoning after Cesar Chavez’s fall -- Cesar Chavez’s name and likeness are swiftly being stripped from public landmarks. But the labor rights leader’s now-disgraced legacy cannot so easily be excised from the California identity. Melanie Mason Politico -- 3/23/26

Garofoli: Cesar Chavez scandal drives home why BLM, Occupy and Indivisible don’t rely on icons -- One of many gut punches in the recent investigation detailing sexual assault allegations Cesar Chavez came from the young accuser who told her mom after she said the civil rights icon assaulted her: “Cesar Chavez is just a man.” Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/23/26

Chuck Norris Boulevard? San Francisco petition seeks to rename Cesar Chavez Street -- A San Francisco firefighter and former candidate for supervisor has launched an online petition calling for Cesar Chavez Street to be renamed after actor and martial artist Chuck Norris, as communities across California grapple with abuse allegations against the labor leader. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/23/26

Caltrain to dedicate electric train to Pelosi to mark decades of transit advocacy -- In San Francisco, you can find Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi’s name on the 18-story downtown federal building and on a road in Golden Gate Park. Soon it will travel along the Bay Area’s railroads. Mario Cortez in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/23/26

Workplace

SFPD sees biggest hiring surge in years after recruitment slump -- While the department remains hundreds of officers short of recommended staffing levels, aggressive recruitment efforts — financed in part by private donations — appear to be yielding results, driven by an advertising blitz, the allure of regular pay increases, a streamlined application process and a political climate shift that experts say has made law enforcement careers more appealing. David Hernandez in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/23/26

What Young Workers Are Doing to AI-Proof Themselves -- Jackson Curtis planned to spend his career in insurance, where he’s worked the last 3½ years. Instead, the 28-year-old is now pursuing an abrupt shift: becoming a full-time firefighter. Rachel Wolfe and Te-Ping Chen in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 3/23/26

Mark Zuckerberg Is Building an AI Agent to Help Him Be CEO -- Meta Platforms chief uses the tool to get information faster as the company seeks to embrace artificial intelligence in all it does. Meghan Bobrowsky in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 3/23/26

$5 Diesel is Crushing Truckers. It Will Soon Be Felt Across the Economy -- Truck drivers in the U.S. are feeling some of the first economic effects of the rapid surge in the cost of diesel. Broader economic impact could hit soon. Jared Mitovich and Jeanne Whalen in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 3/23/26

Where does California state workers’ next potential boss stand on telework? -- Candidates in the crowded 2026 governor’s race have been debating a wide range of issues facing California: homelessness, environmental concerns and the state’s high cost of living. For one group of voters, there’s a niche issue that’s top of mind: Will their next boss support telework? William Melhado in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/23/26

Data Centers

Data centers under scrutiny by California lawmakers as fears rise about health and energy impacts -- A proposed data center in Imperial County has triggered fierce community opposition, with residents fearing impacts on air quality and rising utility bills. The facility received an exemption from environmental review, leaving residents without answers about health hazards as California lawmakers debate regulating AI data centers. Katie King, Gina Ferazzi in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/26

Education

Lesson plans go ‘out the window’ as educators pivot on César Chávez amid abuse allegations -- Educators are scrambling to revise lesson plans after sexual abuse allegations surfaced against César Chávez. Teachers face a complex challenge in addressing Chávez’s legacy with age-appropriate discussions. Jaweed Kaleem, Howard Blume and Kate Sequeira in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/26

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Trump says U.S. is postponing some strikes as it negotiates end to war with Iran -- The president’s announcement sent markets soaring and energy prices diving, as investors bet Iran’s blockade of a key shipping chokepoint could soon end. Michael Birnbaum in the Washington Post$ Bridget Brown, Lorian Belanger, Patrick Quinn, Hrvoje Hranjski Associated Press Alex Leary in the Wall Street Journal$ Luke Broadwater in the New York Times$ -- 3/23/26

War’s Attacks on Energy Could Turn Economic Shock Into Long-Term Damage -- A new phase targeting oil and gas infrastructure in the Persian Gulf threatens to hurt businesses and customers around the world for months or even years. Patricia Cohen in the New York Times$ -- 3/23/26

Jeffries tells Trump to ‘keep his reckless mouth shut’ -- House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said President Donald Trump could get “somebody killed” after the president accused Democrats of being the country’s “greatest enemy” after Iran. Cheyanne M. Daniels Politico -- 3/23/26

Israel Thought It Could Spur Rebellion Inside Iran. That Hasn’t Happened -- President Trump’s hopes that an Israeli plan to ignite an internal uprising against Iran’s theocratic government could bring the war to a swift end have so far been dashed. Mark Mazzetti, Julian E. Barnes, Edward Wong and Ronen Bergman in the New York Times$ -- 3/23/26

Trump Asks ICE Agents Not to Wear Masks as They Deploy to Airports -- The agents have been sent to help manage security bottlenecks that have sprung up amid a funding lapse for the Department of Homeland Security. Mariah Timms in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 3/23/26