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

California Policy and Politics Monday

1,000 Gaza protesters rally in Hollywood ahead of Oscars, blocking traffic -- “Let’s shut it down!” protesters chanted as they swarmed Sunset. The crowd began moving westward on the boulevard, led by a white van with half a dozen people on top chanting into a microphone and megaphone. Ashley Ahn in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/11/24 .. --

L.A. Times wins first Oscar for ‘The Last Repair Shop,’ about LAUSD music program -- The heartwarming “The Last Repair Shop,” directed by Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers and co-distributed by L.A. Times Studios and Searchlight, took home the prize in the documentary short category at the Oscars on Sunday. Josh Rottenberg in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/11/24

A school bus, donated dresses, Alicia Keys’ hairstylist: Two LAUSD students go to Oscars -- It’s a quest for a dress that these students could have never imagined. Thanks to a corps of community volunteers and donors they are ready for their red carpet walk on Sunday. Ashley Ahn in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/11/24

Skelton: You can relax Gavin: Biden showed he’s not a doddering old man -- President Biden, in his State of the Union speech, reminded me of a cranky old grandpa emphatically telling his concerned adult offspring: “Look, kids, I’m not moving out of the house. So forget it.” George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/11/24

California’s Ballot Measure on Mental Health Care Still Isn’t Decided. Why? -- Proposition 1 was expected to be widely approved, but the vote is close. Here’s what the measure is and what’s at stake. Shawn Hubler in the New York Times$ -- 3/11/24

Garofoli: Steve Garvey’s ‘Seinfeld’-esque campaign strategy: Do nothing, and hope to succeed -- Don’t expect Garvey’s strategy to change now that the Republican former Los Angeles Dodger star will face Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff in November. Except that now, the Schiff-friendly political action committee that boosted Garvey with $10 million of free advertising in the primary is going to shift gears and try to crush him. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/11/24

High-profile S.F. Asian Americans are jumping off the Mayor Breed bandwagon as rivals seize advantage -- Kit Lam, a prominent Chinese American organizer of the 2022 San Francisco school board recall, will become Daniel Lurie’s AAPI political director. Ko Lyn Cheang, J.D. Morris in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/11/24

This wealthy San Francisco neighborhood could be deciding factor in hotly contested supervisor race -- A highly motivated group of Sea Cliff residents is hoping to shape the future of the Democratic Party in San Francisco. Aldo Toledo in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/11/24

Oakland’s mayor has found a counter-narrative to quiet critics on crime. Is it true? -- An audit places the blame for the decline of a key anti-violence program on a previous administration, but some question its findings. Shomik Mukherjee in the East Bay Times$ -- 3/11/24

Calmes: Unhappy with the Supreme Court? Your vote for president could make it worse -- We’ve learned the hard way: It matters whether Donald Trump or President Biden is picking federal judges. Jackie Calmes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/11/24

McManus: Biden says America is ‘coming back.’ Trump says we’re ‘in hell.’ Are they talking about the same nation? -- Biden and Trump offer converging narratives about the country: one optimistic, one apocalyptic. That collision is the core of the 2024 election. Doyle McManus in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/11/24

Workplace

These gigs offer paths to higher wages for young Californians. Now they’re facing budget cuts -- California seeded a program to place thousands of young people in apprenticeships. Just as it’s starting, a state budget deficit may delay funding. Alejandra Reyes-Velarde CalMatters -- 3/11/24

Housing

S.F.’s first new office conversion projection in doubt as developer faces foreclosure -- It’s unclear how the default will affect the developer’s plans to repurpose the century-old office building into housing. Laura Waxmann in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/11/24

Homeless

Sacramento gave a homeless camp a lease as an experiment. Here’s what happened -- Camp Resolution, a completely self-governed, city-sanctioned homeless encampment, was supposed to be a model Sacramento could copy for future sites. That didn’t happen, and now it’s under threat of prosecution. Marisa Kendall CalMatters -- 3/11/24

PG&E Rates

‘It’s crazy’: How soaring PG&E rates are impacting California’s electric car owners -- One of the joys of owning an electric car used to be relatively cheap charging. But with PG&E rates rising sharply, the calculus is changing. Julie Johnson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/11/24

Develop

A bird’s eye view of proposed Bay Area utopian community --Tech billionaire backers of a sweeping proposal to build an idealistic community from the ground up in the Bay Area released an aerial view of the project’s plans for tens of thousands of homes surrounded by open space, trails and using renewable energy sources. Melody Gutierrez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/11/24

Climate

California’s historic storms continue. Here’s how much scientists say it’s being driven by climate change -- Many ingredients contribute to extreme storm activity, but scientists agree that climate change is already amping up winter rains — and may bring even wilder weather in the future. Jack Lee, Joseph Howlett in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/11/24

Vaccines

More parents are delaying their kids’ vaccines, and it’s alarming pediatricians -- More parents are choosing to delay childhood vaccinations, such as the MMR vaccine. Doctors worry toddlers remain vulnerable as measles spreads. Jenny Gold in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/11/24

RoboTaxi

California could require robotaxi companies to share more performance data or risk hefty fines -- A frequent criticism by San Francisco officials as driverless robotaxis became common on city streets has been that California’s laws have been slow to catch up to reality. Ricardo Cano in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/11/24

Education

Silicon Valley is pricing academics out of AI research -- With eye-popping salaries and access to costly computing power, AI companies are draining academia of talent. Naomi Nix, Cat Zakrzewski, Gerrit De Vynck in the Washington Post$ -- 3/11/24

Feds investigate UC Berkeley over reports of discrimination based on ancestry -- Since Hamas’ surprise attack against Israel on Oct. 7, education officials have announced investigations into dozens of colleges and universities, including Stanford, UCLA and UC San Diego. Nora Mishanec in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/11/24

Cal State’s online transfer planner aims to ease burden on community college students -- With hopes of helping ease the transfer process, the CSU system opened its new online CSU Transfer Planner for all California community college students in January. Ashley Bolter, Delilah Brumer EdSource -- 3/11/24

Street

Deputy kills 15-year-old wielding a ‘bladed’ garden tool, officials say -- A 15-year-old Apple Valley youth wielding a garden tool was shot and killed Saturday by a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy, according to a statement from the department. Paige St. John in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/11/24

Mickail Myles was stopped by sheriff’s deputies and beaten 10 years ago. The ensuing lawsuit cost the county $11M — and counting -- The facts behind a San Diego lawsuit now before a federal appeals court are horrific by any measure. Jeff McDonald in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 3/11/24

LAPD less-lethal launchers often ineffective in subduing suspects, report says -- Police use of foam rubber projectiles the size of a soda can have only less than a 38% success rate in Los Angeles. Scott Schwebke in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 3/11/24

Tripod

Is Joshua Tree’s famed three-legged coyote being loved to death? The legend of Tripod -- Everybody loves Tripod the three-legged coyote, but High Desert locals say that visitors are spoiling the beast with handouts and causing a dangerous situation. Alex Wigglesworth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/11/24

Also

AP retracts Kate Middleton photo ‘because it appeared to be manipulated’ --After weeks of wild speculation about her health, the state of her marriage and even the collapse of the House of Windsor, Catherine, Princess of Wales, supposedly marked the U.K. Mother’s Day holiday on Sunday by sharing a photo of herself surrounded by her children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. Matt Brennan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/11/24

 

California Policy and Politics Sunday

‘Path to 218 runs through California’: State races pivotal in fight to control the House -- California’s importance in any strategy to win control of the House in the November 2024 election is one of the few things Republicans and Democrats agree on. Julia Wick in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/10/24

Katie Porter prepared for the wrong war -- Katie Porter is ending her Senate campaign the same way she started it: by pissing off members of her own party. Melanie Mason, Christopher Cadelago Politico -- 3/10/24

Smith: California isn’t sending a Black woman to the Senate. But Barbara Lee won anyway -- The longtime Oakland lawmaker was defeated in the primary by Adam Schiff and Steve Garvey, disappointing a close-knit California sisterhood. But all is not lost. Erika D. Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/10/24

Code Pink makes plea for Gaza in Golden Gate Bridge march with feminist focus -- More than 100 marchers, including many parents and children, rallied Saturday on the Golden Gate Bridge in support of Palestinians under siege in Gaza as a humanitarian crisis there continues to unfold. Julie Johnson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/10/24

San Francisco ties welfare to drug-screening, boosts police powers in stunning tough-on-crime shift -- In a bid to address the city’s drug crisis — and the crime and homelessness that come with it — San Francisco voters shifted right in Tuesday’s primary, approving ballot measures that aim to boost enforcement powers. Hannah Wiley in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/10/2494104

This single spot in S.F. is a barometer on the state of the city -- By day, the area is surprisingly vibrant, with kids and games and sunshine. By night, the old demons emerge from the shadows. Carl Nolte in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/10/24

Will California follow Oregon’s ‘strategic’ approach to psychedelics? -- California seems most likely to next join the club – and the first to do so via legislation rather than a ballot measure – given that Golden State lawmakers approved a legalization bill last year. Rich Ehisen Capitol Weekly -- 3/10/24

Feeling threatened for their response to Israel-Hamas war, Irvine councilmembers get police protection -- Local council meetings have become a flashpoint for heated debates over the Israel-Hamas war, and after the Irvine City Council decided against formally weighing in, some councilmembers say harassment against them has ramped up. Hanna Kang in the Orange County Register -- 3/10/24

Lopez: Cereal for dinner? It’s one way to beat supermarket inflation -- Strategies for coping with inflation and rising grocery prices? Coupons, bargain bins, rationing and ‘cereal for dinner’ Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/10/24

Workplace

S.F.’s unemployment rate jumps to highest level in over two years amid heavy tech layoffs -- San Francisco and San Mateo County, which make up a single metro division, saw a loss of 15,700 jobs in January. The hardest-hit sector was professional, scientific and technical services, which lost 4,000 jobs. Roland Li in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/10/24

94104

California ZIP code with highest average income is a mansion-free area of S.F. -- The 94104 ZIP code, which includes a handful of blocks in the city’s Financial District with such buildings as 555 California St. and the Ritz-Carlton residences, had an average household income of about $5.5 million in 2021, according to recently released tax data from the IRS. Christian Leonard in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/10/24

Reverse Exodus

They were part of the Bay Area exodus. Now, they’ve decided to return -- When the coronavirus pandemic struck, two couples decided to leave the Bay Area, citing everything from high housing costs to dwindling opportunities. Four years later, they’re back. Kate Talerico in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/10/24

Flood

Overhaul of faulty Monterey County levee is finally underway — but flood risks remain -- Construction of a new flood control system on the Pajaro River is finally on the fast track, a year after a long-neglected levee ruptured and inundated the tiny Monterey County farm town of Pajaro. Jessica Flores in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/10/24

One year after Pajaro levee breached, many residents remain in dire need -- Even as more aid comes in from the state, some residents worry it is too little, too late. Luis Melecio-Zambrano in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/10/24

Education

English learner advocates in California oppose ‘science of reading’ bill -- Two prominent organizations say the proposal would dismantle progress made to improve reading instruction for those students. Zaidee Stavely EdSource -- 3/10/24

Students’ mental health challenges persist — Bay Area schools are doing something about it -- Wellness centers are helping students reduce stress and anxiety. Hannah Poukish in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/10/24

Street

He had a badge, his car had emergency lights, he pulled people over — but he wasn’t a cop, authorities say -- Steven Sawhill, 70, of Canyon Lake, was arrested after he allegedly used a fake badge and a white Ford Crown Victoria sedan to pull over drivers in Riverside County. Salvador Hernandez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/10/24

Also

What’s in a $178,000 Oscars Gift Bag? -- Whether they win or not, top nominees reliably leave the Oscars with thousands of dollars of swag. Here, a look at how the most extravagant goody bags in Hollywood come together. Ashley Wong in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 3/10/24

Storied presses print L.A. Times for the last time as production moves to Riverside -- The Los Angeles Times will soon outsource the printing of the newspaper, moving from the Olympic plant, once a crown jewel in a vast media empire. Thomas Curwen, Genaro Molina in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/10/24

A school bus, donated dresses, Alicia Keys’ hairstylist: Two LAUSD students go to Oscars -- It’s a quest for a dress that these students could have never imagined. Thanks to a corps of community volunteers and donors they are ready for their red carpet walk on Sunday. Ashley Ahn in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/10/24

Microplastics may be new risk factor for cardiovascular disease, researchers say -- Add one more likely culprit to the long list of known cardiovascular risk factors including red meat, butter, smoking and stress: microplastics. Susanne Rust in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/10/24