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California Policy and Politics Saturday

SoCal braces for more Santa Ana winds as fire destroys homes in Orange County -- The Norte fire burned more than 460 acres in south Orange County, destroying six homes and prompting evacuation orders for about 6,000 homes as firefighters struggled with zero containment. Santa Ana winds and heat fueled the blaze and threatened more fires, though forecasters said the strongest winds were easing; crews also battled blazes near Camp Pendleton and in Malibu. Iris Kwok, Ruben Vives, Karen Garcia and Hannah Fry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/17/26

 

California Says D.O.J. System for Identifying Noncitizens Is Sloppy -- Officials said that they received thousands of names lacking critical identifying information like Social Security numbers, and that many of the names were paired with California addresses over which they had no jurisdiction. Shawn Hubler and Nicholas Nehamas in the New York Times$ Kevin Rector in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/17/26

 

What does ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on Prop 40 really mean? It depends on your votes on two other props -- That’s because Props 41 and 42, which never mention billionaires but are backed by some of the state’s wealthiest residents, are also on the ballot and have provisions that conflict with Prop 40. (Props 41 and 42 do not conflict with each other.) Under the California Constitution, if two conflicting measures on the same ballot both pass with more than 50% of the vote, the one that gets the most “yes” votes prevails. Kathleen Pender in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/17/26

Tech helped make California unaffordable. Now it’s paying to fix it -- Major tech companies are now contributing millions of dollars to support California ballot initiatives aimed at lowering residents’ housing and transportation expenses. The giving is particularly notable coming from an industry that has often been blamed for exacerbating income disparities in the state. Aaron Mak Politico -- 10/17/26

LA28

City Controller subpoenas financial records from ’28 Olympic organizers -- Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia issued a legal demand Friday for the organizers of the 2028 Summer Olympics to disclose more information about the organization’s finances — including bank statements, detailed plans for venue construction and the size of contracts with outside vendors. James Rainey in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/17/26

Water

Arizona escalates water war, intervening in lawsuit over federal Colorado River cuts -- In a sign of rising tensions over the water-starved Colorado River, Arizona has joined Nevada in suing the Trump administration for imposing major water cutbacks across the Southwest. Ian James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/17/26

Workplace

California’s move to block SEIU Local 1000 state worker strike likely to fail -- Next week’s strike appears to be moving ahead. The Public Employment Relations Board on Friday sided with SEIU Local 1000 by expressing its intent to deny the state’s request to block the strike. Corey Schmidt in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/17/26

South Bay is a bright spot in California’s latest jobs report -- Adjusted for seasonal volatility, the Bay Area lost 1,000 jobs last month, while California shed 9,300, the state Employment Development Department reported Friday. The South Bay, however, added 1,100 positions, a slowdown from gains of 4,300 in July and 4,400 in August, according to EDD data. George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 10/17/26

41 Roseville railyard workers, families sue Union Pacific over cancer, toxic exposure -- Forty-one current and former workers at Union Pacific’s Roseville railyard, including 11 who have died, were named in six lawsuits filed Wednesday alleging the railroad failed to protect employees from toxic substances that caused cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other serious illnesses. Madison Smalstig in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/17/26

Can Sacramento become a chip hub? Business leaders make their pitch to global firms -- Sacramento business officials — energized by a string of recent investments by semiconductor companies here — pitched the region to an international group of industry representatives on Friday, making the case that the capital region is a strong competitor for more research, design and manufacturing sites. Annika Merrilees in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/17/26

The Silicon Valley Job That Demands Three Years of 24/7 Hustle -- The job requirements are straightforward if not hellacious: Work at the office in person from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Be available “around-the-clock,” including nights and weekends if needed. Oh, and you must maintain this schedule for three years. Katherine Bindley and Chip Cutter in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 10/17/26

Marketplace

California winegrowers pulled up almost 10% of the state’s vineyards last year. Is it enough? -- Wine sales have plummeted alongside the United States’ overall rate of alcohol consumption, which has spent two straight years at a historic low. Left with a years-long grape surplus that’s forced growers to spend money farming grapes that they can’t sell, many see vine removal as their only financial option. Lucy Hodgman in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/17/26

AI

How Culver City is quietly emerging as a new mecca for AI filmmaking -- The companies tout new creative possibilities, using generative tools for everything from short-form crime shows to commercials and film effects. But unions and many Hollywood workers fear AI will take jobs, even as studios explore hybrid productions and secure protections against fully synthetic performers. Nilesh Christopher in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/17/26

As San Jose presents draft rules for data centers, many still call for a moratorium -- As the city of San Jose presented its draft standards on data centers to the public for the first time Thursday evening, dozens of residents demanded an immediate pause or moratorium on the sites amid growing environmental, public health and quality-of-life concerns. Ryan Macasero in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 10/17/26

Anthropic quietly pitches its own AI safety bill to lawmakers -- The draft proposal would limit the circumstances in which the government could block the release of an advanced model and preempt some state AI safety laws. Owen Dahlkamp Politico -- 10/17/26

Education

New USC President Beong-Soo Kim faces high stakes: Trust, Trump and Trojan football -- Eyo-Dae Kim and Susan Kim attended the University of Southern California decades ago, two international students with little money and no family in the U.S. On Friday, their son, Beong-Soo Kim, stood before an Alumni Park crowd and was formally installed as the 13th president of their alma mater. Jaweed Kaleem in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/17/26

Also

‘Who else are you supposed to call?’ Sonoma sheriff accused of ignoring warnings before murder-suicide -- The legal guardians raising three children orphaned in a murder-suicide involving a Sonoma County sheriff’s deputy have accused law enforcement of worsening a dangerous situation. Julie Johnson, Annie Vainshtein in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/17/26

$10 a Gallon at This Gas Station by the Sea -- A gallon of premium unleaded gas was going for $9.999 — the highest number many pump displays allow. (Gorda does not sell diesel, which would be even more expensive, because truckers avoid the area.) It was an outrageous figure even in a state where the average price per gallon at the time hovered around $6, the steepest in the nation. Corina Knoll, Brandon Tauszik in the New York Times$ -- 10/17/26

Luna, a 10-year-old Jack Russell, just survived a month loose in Yellowstone National Park -- A California couple reunited with their 10-year-old dog Luna on Wednesday, wrapping up a more than a monthlong Yellowstone wilderness survival tour that included avoiding bears and coyotes while locating enough sustenance and shelter. Andrew J. Campa in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/17/26

POTUS 47

Trump’s team is in chaos as midterms enter final stretch -- Trump’s press secretary, Katie Zacharia, resigned Friday, her fifth day on the job. Public anxiety over corruption in government under the Trump administration has surpassed the economy as the top concern of voters, according a Fox News poll. Michael Wilner in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/17/26

Trump’s election fraud task force is going after the people who investigated him -- The White House task force that President Donald Trump charged with uncovering evidence of election fraud hasn’t produced any. Instead, it has shifted to releasing records that his administration is using to help build a public case against officials who investigated him. Isaac Arnsdorf and Perry Stein in the Washington Post$ -- 10/17/26

Trump signs executive order waiving sanctions against Russia -- The decision drew searing criticism from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, with GOP Sen. Thom Tillis calling it “beyond irresponsible." Victoria Craw and Natalia Abbakumova in the Washington Post$ -- 10/17/26

 

California Policy and Politics Friday

Norte fire burns homes in South Orange County -- A fast-moving fire in south Orange County has burned multiple homes in the San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano areas, as fierce Santa Ana winds fueled fire danger from Malibu to Camp Pendleton. Clara Harter, Richard Winton and Ruben Vives in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/16/26

Hack exposes data on millions of California students -- The names, addresses, demographic information and disability status of all 7 million students enrolled in California public schools over the past three school years were exposed in the breach, the CDE said. Eric He and Tyler Katzenberger Politico -- 10/16/26

Surge in ICE raids is aimed at discouraging voter turnout, immigration advocates say -- Amid reports of a surge in federal immigration raids, Los Angeles leaders and immigration advocates said Friday that the efforts appear aimed at discouraging turnout in the midterm elections, and urged voters not to be intimidated. Melissa Gomez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/16/26

 

Election lawyers say they’ve never seen anything like the DOJ’s lawsuit against California -- “Desperate.” “Illegal.” “Publicity stunt.” Election law experts struggled to find worthy adjectives to describe a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit that seeks to preemptively set aside about 20,000 California ballots the federal government claims were mailed to “likely noncitizens.” Raheem Hosseini, Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Hannah Wiley, Sophia Bollag in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Devlin Barrett and Laurel Rosenhall in the New York Times$ -- 10/16/26

How Claims of Widespread Noncitizen Voting Fall Apart -- While President Trump has claimed that noncitizens voted en masse and even tipped the scales in recent elections, research from partisan and nonpartisan groups alike has shown that instances of noncitizen voting are so rare that they have never been significant enough to change the outcome of an election. Amy Schoenfeld Walker, Jeremy White and Seamus Hughes in the New York Times$ -- 10/16/26

California files its 100th lawsuit against Trump, this time over ICE at courthouses -- California leaders want immigration agents to stay away from courthouses. They worry enforcement will prevent people from testifying in criminal trials. Nigel Duara Calmatters -- 10/16/26

California sues to block closure of Bay Area’s only National Archives facility -- The lawsuit argues that moving records out of the communities they document would make them harder to access, especially because fewer than 4% of National Archives records nationwide have been digitized. Some materials are too fragile to digitize, the state says. Aldo Toledo in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/16/26

A California proposition to fund medical research is creating strange alliances on both sides -- Proposition 38 would authorize the state to borrow $8.4 billion in general obligation bonds for immunology and immunotherapy research, presented as a way of backfilling some of the widespread cuts to federal research funding by President Donald Trump. Kathryn Palmer in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/16/26

SoCal woman who registered dog to vote must pay for billboards with her picture on them -- Laura Lee Yourex, 64, was charged in September 2025 with five felonies after posting a photo to social media showing her dog posing with a ballot while wearing an “I voted sticker,” Kimberly Edds, a spokesperson for the Orange County district attorney’s office, wrote in a statement. Terry Castleman in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/16/26

 

California diesel prices hit another record -- California diesel prices set another record on Thursday, reaching an average of $8.45 per gallon — a 4-cent jump from the day before, and up 24 cents from a month ago. Kate Galbraith in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/16/26

How this Saturday’s ‘No Kings Day’ protests will be different -- Saturday’s demonstrations will be different, focusing instead on voter-participation drives. Candidate endorsements, party promotions and active campaigning will be prohibited. Summer Lin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/16/26

 

Garofoli: Two of California’s most powerful politicians still haven’t weighed in on Prop 40 -- Two of California’s most powerful and prominent politicians — former Vice President Kamala Harris and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi — have yet to weigh in on the most divisive ballot measure before California voters: Proposition 40, likely for the same reason that Gov. Gavin Newsom opposes the measure. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/16/26

Daniel Lurie is asking S.F. voters for more power. Will they say yes in November? -- He’s pushing a parcel tax that would extend a financial lifeline to Muni. He’s backing one ballot measure that would fund affordable housing while opposing another that seeks to earmark certain tax proceeds for affordable homes. J.D. Morris in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/16/26

‘The valley has been left behind’: how one of California’s poorest areas became its toughest political battleground -- Rising costs and threatened healthcare benefits are testing voters’ loyalty to Trump as Democrat Randy Villegas challenges David Valadao Andrew Gumbel in The Guardian -- 10/16/26

Republicans are spending millions to oust a Democrat who won by 187 votes. Should he worry? -- Rep. Adam Gray, a Democrat from Merced, won the closest House race in 2024 by just 187 votes. Now the GOP, which is hungry for a win in California, is spending millions to try and oust him. Maya C. Miller Calmatters -- 10/16/26

Big Tech and Big Business are spending millions to block progressives on the California ballot -- With less than three weeks until Election Day, outside groups are pouring millions of dollars into two types of state legislative races: purple districts featuring a Democrat and a Republican, and safely Democratic districts featuring Democrats of different ideological stripes. Kate Wolffe Calmatters -- 10/16/26

Walters: New California laws arise from latest legislative skirmishes in endless ‘tort wars’ -- The state Capitol is an arena where lobbyists for thousands of interest groups battle over issues that mostly involve money — very often big money. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 10/16/26

Bass and Raman trade accusations over ICE — and former LAPD chief Daryl Gates -- Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has launched a new line of attack against City Councilmember Nithya Raman, accusing her opponent of romanticizing the era of former police chief Daryl F. Gates. David Zahniser in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/16/26

Medi-Cal

California falls short on Medi-Cal fraud, state report says -- The state has not investigated 26,000 of its 28,000 highest-risk Medi-Cal providers, the report says. Health officials dispute it. Jocelyn Wiener Calmatters -- 10/16/26

Housing

There’s a $11.25 billion housing bond on the ballot this November. Here’s what you should know -- Supporters say California desperately needs money to fund housing construction and make a dent in its homelessness and affordability crisis. Critics say bond financing isn’t the way to do it. Marisa Kendall Calmatters -- 10/16/26

Bass vs. Raman: Who can make housing more affordable? -- Mayor Karen Bass points to fast-tracked affordable housing, while challenger Nithya Raman has championed strong tenant protections. YIMBY groups back Raman; construction and trade groups favor Bass. Jack Flemming in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/16/26

Homeless

S.F. to overhaul its shelter policy. Will it get more people off the streets? -- San Francisco plans to set new limits on how long homeless people can stay in most city shelters, a move that critics worry could push some back to the streets. Ethan Varian in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/16/26

Wildfire

Mortgage lenders probed over how they handled L.A. wildfire insurance payouts -- California regulators on Thursday ordered the state’s licensed mortgage lenders and servicers to provide data on how they have handled the release of home insurance proceeds after complaints by January 2025 fire victims that their money was improperly withheld. Laurence Darmiento in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/16/26

Education

Why new limits on bachelor’s degrees worry some California community colleges -- Some community college leaders say caps on bachelor's degrees will keep them from responding to local workforce needs. Michael Burke EdSource -- 10/16/26

Also

S.F. leaders slam ‘gross’ AI video game where players shoot ‘zombies’ in the Tenderloin -- San Francisco leaders condemned a new zombie shooter game that turns a digital version of the Tenderloin into a shooting gallery, with targets that critics say resemble homeless residents and people with addiction. Laura Waxmann, Roland Li in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/16/26

Vincent Thomas Bridge to close for 16 months, raising fears of traffic and pollution -- The 63-year-old bridge connecting San Pedro to Terminal Island is undergoing construction to replace its aging deck. Caroline Petrow-Cohen in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/16/26

Risking arrest, he paints illicit crosswalks across L.A. ‘We can’t wait any longer’ -- At an intersection in Hyde Park that, days earlier, had been the scene of chaos — a young girl on the ground, a car with a teenage boy on the windshield, a mother screaming — Jonathan Hale led his band of rebels. They were armed with paint rollers. Andrew J. Campa, Etienne Laurent in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/16/26

POTUS 47

Trump’s Attacks on Voting Raise Fears He Will Try to Challenge Midterm Results -- Just weeks away from the midterm elections, Mr. Trump’s longstanding attacks on the integrity of voting systems are crystallizing into what many election officials and Democrats fear is an attempt to lay the groundwork to challenge the results in November. Zolan Kanno-Youngs in the New York Times$ -- 10/16/26

The Immigration Crackdown Is Making It Much Harder to Build Houses -- The summer surge in federal immigration raids is hitting the housing market, pushing up labor costs and freezing projects. Nicholas G. Miller in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 10/16/26

Trump officials scrutinized Omar in 2019. They didn’t find citizenship issues -- The earlier review of Omar’s immigration records looked at many of the same issues being investigated now. Ted Hesson, Jeremy Roebuck, Perry Stein and Salvador Rizzo in the Washington Post$ -- 10/16/26