California Policy and Politics Wednesday

Newsom Wows the Climate Conference That Trump Decided to Skip -- The California governor painted the president as a threat to American competitiveness by letting China dominate the renewable energy industry. Somini Sengupta in the New York Times$ -- 11/12/25

The climate president in waiting -- The world wants an American climate leader, and Gavin Newsom is happy to play the part — even if the country he represents isn’t quite ready to follow. Camille von Kaenel Politico -- 11/12/25

Newsom at UN talks: 'Donald Trump is temporary' -- The California governor told a global climate conference that the Trump administration was "doubling down on stupid." Camille von Kaenel Politico -- 11/12/25

Trump wants oil drilling off the coast of California. But does anyone else? -- The Trump administration reportedly has plans to open the waters off California’s coast to new oil and gas drilling for the first time in four decades, drawing swift condemnation from Gov. Gavin Newsom, lawmakers and environmental groups who say it would be disastrous for the state’s environment, economy and clean energy targets. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ Chaewon Chung in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/12/25

Gavin Newsom: Democrats need to recast climate change as ‘affordability’ issue -- “It’s about economic power. I think we have to reframe it as a cost of living issue,” he said during a press conference, when asked about how to make climate mitigation policies resonate with voters. Lia Russell in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/12/25

Newsom adviser to nervous Dems: Lean in on immigration -- Juan Rodriguez wants Democrats across the country to take heed of how the California's redistricting campaign embraced the issue and won. Melanie Mason Politico -- 11/12/25

ICE

Immigrant detainees say they were harassed, sexually assaulted by guard who got promoted -- For more than a year, detainees at a California immigrant detention center said, they were summoned from their dorms to a lieutenant’s office late at night. Hours frequently passed, they said, before they were sent back to their dorms. Andrea Castillo in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/12/25

Workplace

Novartis opens new manufacturing plant in Carlsbad -- Swiss drugmaker Novartis opened a new 10,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Carlsbad to make cancer drugs, as part of its promised $23 billion investment push to build out its domestic U.S. facilities over the next five years. Nilesh Christopher in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/12/25

Combate Global MMA franchise to move production to Burbank from Miami -- The franchise, which will air on Spanish-language network Estrella TV after a six-year run on Univision, will film 20 live events at Estrella’s new networks studio, starting in February. Samantha Masunaga in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/12/25

Water

No deal on the Colorado River despite Trump administration deadline -- The federal government has often set deadlines on the Colorado River, but in recent years has rarely enforced them. Negotiations among California and the six other basin states will now continue into next year, as Arizona ramps up its rhetoric and calls for a firmer hand from the Trump Administration in the talks. Rachel Becker Calmatters -- 11/12/25

Turning Point

Turning Point tour ends with fights and arrests at UC Berkeley. Our student reporters were there -- A few hundred feet apart, yet worlds away politically, furious students at UC Berkeley protested the final stop of the conservative organization Turning Point USA’s “American Comeback Tour,” hosted Monday night on what is known as the nation’s most liberal campus. Ella Carter-Klauschie and Chrissa Olson Calmatters -- 11/12/25

Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point closes tour at UC Berkeley, testing free speech roots -- The University of California, Berkeley added to its long history as a hotbed of free speech and liberal activism Monday, when Turning Point USA, the conservative student movement started by Charlie Kirk, ended its national tour with an event on the campus a few months after the assassination of the influential right wing figure. Eric He Politico -- 11/12/25

Justice Department to Investigate Protests at Turning Point Event at Berkeley -- Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the department’s civil rights division, wrote on X that the division would “investigate what happened here.” Ms. Dhillon, a conservative lawyer from California, described the protesters as members of Antifa, a label that the Trump administration has applied to broad groups of people protesting against the government. Tim Arango in the New York Times$ Alexei Koseff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Jenny Jarvie in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/12/25

Wildfire

Residents were left behind at senior facilities as Eaton fire raged. State finds serious lapses -- In two reports published recently by the California Department of Social Services, investigators describe the harrowing circumstances of three women who were left behind in the assisted living facilities during the deadly Jan. 7 fire. Grace Toohey in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/12/25

‘Herd immunity’: A coastal community wants to become fireproof after the Palisades fire -- Some Palisades fire survivors in Sunset Mesa are rebuilding with fireproof materials, applying a “herd immunity” concept where protected homes shield vulnerable neighbors from fires. Insurance companies offer significant discounts for fireproof homes and communitywide coverage, making resilient rebuilding more financially feasible for disaster victims. Jack Flemming in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/12/25

Housing

Sausalito’s vote for more housing could create the unthinkable: Urban density in Marin County -- Marin County election officials may still be counting votes, but already the pieces of what could eventually become a new home for hundreds of Sausalito households are taking shape. J.K. Dineen in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/12/25

Grape Glut

Sonoma County winegrowers face grape glut as vines pulled statewide -- Jeff Bitter, a wine industry analyst and president of Allied Grape Growers in Healdsburg, predicts 2025 could be California’s smallest grape crush in 30 years. In response to the sluggish wine market, many wine producers are scaling back production, leaving countless growers stranded with unsold fruit. Sarah Doyle in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/12/25

Street

S.F. federal drug cases plummeted under Trump administration, data shows -- A Chronicle analysis of federal prosecution data, however, shows that since Trump took office, federal officials have significantly dialed back an initiative that targeted some of San Francisco’s most high-priority criminal offenders and fast-tracked the deportations of those convicted. Megan Cassidy in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/12/25

Also

Tense air traffic control audio captures jets’ near-miss during LAX takeoff -- A near-collision between two passenger planes departing from Los Angeles International Airport on Oct. 31 highlighted concerns about the safety of flying during an ongoing government shutdown. Terry Castleman in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/12/25

Fast-moving atmospheric river storm could bring four days of rain to California -- A fast-moving atmospheric river is heading toward California this week and could pack a punch, threatening periods of heavy rain and possible flooding and debris flows in recently burned areas. Rong-Gong Lin II and Summer Lin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/12/25

POTUS 47

House Democrats release Epstein email that claimed Trump ‘spent hours’ with victim -- In the 2011 email, the disgraced financier wrote to Ghislaine Maxwell that Trump had “spent hours at my house” with one of Epstein’s victims and that encounter “has never once been mentioned” by police. Matthew Choi in the Washington Post$ Jenny Jarvie in the Los Angeles Times$ Hailey Fuchs Politico Khadeeja Safdar and Joe Palazzolo in the Wall Street Journal$ Michael Gold in the New York Times$ -- 11/12/25

Trump built a surprising voter coalition. One key piece just cracked -- Latino voters, who swung toward President Donald Trump in 2024, boomeranged back to Democrats last week, signaling the fraying of his coalition less than one year into his second term. Madison Fernandez, Jessica Piper and Melanie Mason Politico -- 11/12/25

Republicans need Trump for the debate on Obamacare credits -- With affordability top of mind for voters going into the midterms, too much is at stake for Trump to stay away again as the GOP grapples with whether to extend the ACA subsidies, allow premiums to spike or craft new health policy. Alex Gangitano and Eli Stokols Politico -- 11/12/25

Obamacare could collapse under Trump’s new plan, policy experts say -- With direct cash payments from the federal government into special accounts, “healthy people could get much cheaper insurance that has medical underwriting and doesn’t cover preexisting conditions, but that would leave much sicker people in the ACA pool, and likely send it into a death spiral,” said Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at KFF, a nonpartisan research organization. Kelly Hooper and Robert King Politico -- 11/12/25

Kash Patel’s ‘Effin Wild’ Ride as FBI Director -- In just one week in October, he ticked off his bosses with premature comments about a terror investigation and squeezed in a trip to the ‘Boondoggle Ranch’ on the bureau jet. Sadie Gurman, Aruna Viswanatha, Josh Dawsey and Jack Gillum in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/12/25

What if Democrats’ Big Shutdown Loss Turns Out to Be a Win? -- They assert that in hammering away at the extension of health care subsidies that are slated to expire at the end of next month, they managed to thrust Mr. Trump and Republicans onto the defensive, elevating a political issue that has long been a major weakness for them. Annie Karni in the New York Times$ -- 11/12/25

Who Didn’t Suffer During the Shutdown? People Flying Private -- Since the federal government shut down on Oct. 1, people who fly on commercial airlines have faced disruptions, delays and deepening flight cuts at 40 busy airports. At the same time, the private aviation industry had its best month in nearly 20 years, according to industry numbers. Christine Chung in the New York Times$ -- 11/12/25

Trump’s affordability push is speaking louder than his words -- President Donald Trump insists Republicans have already won the affordability battle. His actions tell another story. Megan Messerly and Myah Ward Politico -- 11/12/25