California Policy and Politics Weekend

‘Shocking’: Tornado flips cars, sends people to hospital in Santa Cruz County -- A rare Northern California tornado touched down in Scotts Valley (Santa Cruz County) on Saturday afternoon, knocking over power lines, felling trees, flipping vehicles and injuring at least five people, one critically. Matthias Gafni, Anthony Edwards, Maliya Ellis in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Andrea Chang and Ben Poston in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/14/24

Why Southern California’s fire season will extend through December -- Below normal rainfall and Santa Ana winds are adding to the fire risk in December in Southern California - where the Franklin Fire is still burning in Malibu. Diana Leonard in the Washington Post$ -- 12/15/24

Skelton: Kamala Harris should run for governor -- but only if she wants to solve California’s problems -- Kamala Harris could make history as the first woman and person of color to be elected California governor. But she’d need to really want the job. She couldn’t see it as merely a consolation prize after losing the presidential election to Donald Trump. Nor could she view it as a stepping stone back to the White House. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/15/24

Barabak: How organized labor boosted California Democrats — by not talking like Democrats -- The California Labor Federation shunned partisanship in favor of a campaign focusing on hard work and noting the lack of congressional accomplishment. The strategy helped flip a handful of House seats. Mark Z. Barabak in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/15/24

Patrick Soon-Shiong’s controversial shakeup at the L.A. Times: ‘Bias meter,’ opinion upheaval and a call for growth -- Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong on his plans to shake up the newspaper and build for the future. James Rainey in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/15/24

Who is David Sacks, the Bay Area venture capitalist tagged by Donald Trump to lead on AI, cryptocurrency? -- Incoming President Donald Trump’s appointment of Bay Area venture capitalist David Sacks as his artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency “czar” and head science and technology adviser brings the region — and the tech industry — into the White House in an unprecedented way, experts say. Ethan Baron in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 12/15/24

Meta Urges California Attorney General to Stop OpenAI From Becoming For-Profit -- Mark Zuckerberg’s company is siding with Elon Musk in a fight against the developer of ChatGPT. Jessica Toonkel, Keach Hagey and Meghan Bobrowsky in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 12/14/24

Anti-slavery movement charts its path forward -- An unlikely setback in progressive California has activists working to remove slavery exceptions from state constitutions grappling with the best way to draft future ballot measures. Emily Schultheis Politico -- 12/14/24

Pelosi undergoes ‘successful’ hip replacement surgery in Luxembourg after injury -- Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi underwent hip replacement surgery, her spokesperson announced Saturday, after being hospitalized for an injury while traveling in Luxembourg. The surgery was “successful” and the 84-year-old “is well on the mend,” the spokesperson, Ian Krager, said in a statement. Irie Sentner Politico -- 12/14/24

The Bay Area still has the highest cost of living in the U.S. But one region is catching up -- Housing prices in the Bay Area are twice the national average, according to new federal data. Christian Leonard in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 12/14/24

Bird flu reportedly prompts another raw milk recall -- State agriculture officials announced a raw milk recall from Stanislaus County producer Valley Milk Simply Bottled, YubaNet has reported. Susanne Rust in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/14/24

In Coronado, Awaken Church sparks a citywide debate over faith, freedom and hate -- Its militantly right-wing politics have prompted a sustained opposition campaign, and created some 'pretty dramatic divisions' in local church communities. Maura Fox in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 12/15/24

Education

‘Kicking the can down the road’: School closures in California painful but inevitable -- While the politics might be fuzzy, the math is clear: In 2013, more than 6.2 million students attended state public schools. Ten years later, there were 5.8 million, and by 2033, 5.1 million. That’s a loss of 1 million children sitting in California classrooms in just two decades. Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 12/14/24

The mysterious ideology of Luigi Mangione: Anti-corporate hero? Far-right tech bro? -- The political ideology he articulated online — on social media platforms from X and Reddit to Goodreads — defied neat left-right binaries and showed a young man steeped in a hodgepodge of online Silicon Valley philosophy and heterodox ideas. Summer Lin and Jenny Jarvie in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/14/24

California issues landmark rules to improve home insurance market -- Landmark regulations intended to encourage insurers to write more policies in risky wildfire neighborhoods through the use of complex computer models were released Friday by the state. Laurence Darmiento in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/14/24

Breathe

U.S. Supreme Court will decide if oil industry may sue to block California’s zero-emissions goal -- The Supreme Court opened the door Friday for a potential challenge to California’s long-standing authority to set stricter emissions limits for new vehicles, including its “zero emissions” goal for 2035. David G. Savage in the Los Angeles Times$ Alejandro Lazo CalMatters -- 12/14/24

Biden Administration Is Said to Allow California to Ban New Gas-Powered Cars -- California and 11 other states want to halt the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to try to stop them. Coral Davenport in the New York Times$ -- 12/14/24

California lawmakers want to cut red tape to ramp up clean energy but rural communities push back -- California Assemblymember Buffy Wicks is feeling a time crunch in California’s quest to combat climate change. So she’s trying to speed up renewable energy source construction and storage. Deborah Brennan CalMatters -- 12/14/24

Workplace

Amid intimidation claims, Wells Fargo investigators vote to unionize -- The move is the latest in a campaign to organize workers at the San Francisco bank, which is notable in an industry that historically has had low rates of unionization. Suhauna Hussain in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/14/24

Van Nuys landscaping company fined for ‘serious’ and ‘willful’ heat violations -- The company, Parkwood Landscape Maintenance, must pay $276,425 for failing to provide employees with access to water, shaded area and proper training on preventing heat-related illness, according to the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, known as Cal/OSHA. Suhauna Hussain in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/14/24

Street

After pandemic explosion, California drug overdose deaths are falling fast -- Experts speculate the drop, which mirrors the nationwide trend, could be due to a combination of factors: expanded treatment and intervention efforts, recent crackdowns on the illicit opioid trade and less lethal pills on the street — or simply because the overdose epidemic has passed its inevitable peak. Ethan Varian in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 12/15/24

Co-founder of California white supremacist group to be freed -- Robert Paul Rundo, co-founder of Rise Above Movement, an extremist group that brawled at political rallies in California, will be released after sentencing hearing. Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/14/24

San Diego Sheriff agrees to make all jails safer for people with disabilities -- The settlement partially resolves a lawsuit that accused San Diego County jails of failing to comply with federal standards. Kelly Davis in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 12/14/24

POTUS 47

Trump and His Picks Threaten More Lawsuits Over Critical Coverage -- The small flurry of threatened defamation suits is the latest sign that the incoming Trump administration appears poised to do what it can to crack down on unfavorable media coverage. David Enrich in the New York Times$ -- 12/15/24

Industrial and business groups send Trump a deregulatory wish list -- Over 100 manufacturing and business groups are asking for a rollback of Biden administration regulations on pollution, worker safety and consumer protections. Susanne Rust and Ian James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/15/24

Elon Musk put $277 million into the election. He’s $200 billion richer this year -- The bulk of the increase, more than $170 billion, has come since Election Day. Faiz Siddiqui and Trisha Thadani in the Washington Post$ -- 12/15/24

Trump’s executive action strategy: Go ahead, sue me -- Even proponents of unilateral moves such as restricting birthright citizenship and rejecting federal spending measures expect them to face litigation. That’s part of the plan. Isaac Arnsdorf and Jeff Stein in the Washington Post$ -- 12/14/24

Trump is filling his Cabinet fast. But can he fulfill his promises? -- The president-elect’s personnel decisions raise questions about whether his true priorities square with those of the people who voted for him. Dan Balz in the Washington Post$ -- 12/15/24

The Week CEOs Bent the Knee to Trump -- Companies abandoned him after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. Now, they are rushing to curry favor with the president-elect as he prepares to return to the White House. Brian Schwartz, Dana Mattioli and Rebecca Ballhaus in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 12/14/24

CEOs Want Trump to Change Course on Tariffs. He Isn’t Budging -- Donald Trump’s tariff threats have triggered a behind-the-scenes lobbying campaign to soften or alter the president-elect’s plans. But the effort faces a potentially insurmountable roadblock: Trump isn’t budging. Brian Schwartz in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 12/15/24

Tech billionaires Zuckerberg, Bezos and Altman help bankroll Trump’s inauguration. What to know -- Tech executives, attempting to ease tensions with President-elect Donald Trump, are opening up their wallets after the former president staged a historic return to the White House. Queenie Wong in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/14/24

Tim Cook Dines With Trump at Mar-a-Lago -- The chief executive of Apple is the latest in a series of technology executives who are traveling to Florida to meet with the president-elect. Theodore Schleifer and Tripp Mickle in the New York Times$ -- 12/14/24

RFK Jr. ally filed petition to revoke FDA approval for polio vaccine -- A lawyer affiliated with Kennedy petitioned the FDA in 2022 to revoke approval of the polio vaccine despite scientific studies showing its safety and efficacy. Rachel Roubein and Lauren Weber in the Washington Post$ -- 12/14/24

Trump’s CDC pick wouldn’t let go of false theory vaccines cause autism -- Dave Weldon’s long record of promoting the disproven link between vaccines and autism raises concerns among some public health experts about his ability to run the CDC. Lena H. Sun, Fenit Nirappil and Aaron Schaffer in the Washington Post$ -- 12/15/24

Polio survivor Mitch McConnell criticizes efforts to undermine vaccine -- The statement is the first time the Senate minority leader has publicly weighed in on the nomination process beyond acknowledging meeting with some of Trump’s picks for his administration. Maegan Vazquez in the Washington Post$ Sheryl Gay Stolberg in the New York Times$ -- 12/14/24

Trump calls for ending daylight saving time. It’s ‘inconvenient,’ he says. -- “Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation,” the president-elect wrote, criticizing the century-old practice of shifting clocks twice per year. Dan Diamond in the Washington Post$ -- 12/14/24

Also

Freddie Freeman’s World Series walkoff grand slam baseball sells at auction for $1.56 million -- Bidding for Freddie Freeman’s World Series walkoff grand slam ball didn’t heat up until the final moments, with the auction ending at $1.52 million. Steve Henson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/15/24

Dick Van Dyke rescued by neighbors in Malibu fire, reunited with lost cat -- Dick Van Dyke is celebrating his 99th birthday Friday with his wife and pets — including his beloved cat Bobo, who briefly went missing — thanks to neighbors who helped rescue the legendary screen and stage actor from his home this week as a wildfire swept through Malibu. Nathan Solis in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/14/24

Cats in L.A. County die after drinking recalled raw milk -- The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said Thursday that it is investigating two possible cases of H5N1 bird flu in cats that consumed recalled raw milk from Raw Farm LLC. The animals have died. Susanne Rust in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/14/24