Updating . . .

California Policy and Politics Monday

Critical weather radar is out of service — and may explain weirdness in forecasts -- A Bay Area weather radar system that provides critical data meteorologists use to track incoming storms has been out of service since midday Saturday. Rain splashing across weather apps Saturday night seemed to vanish after the radar, which sits atop Mount Umunhum in the Santa Cruz Mountains, went offline. Anthony Edwards in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/3/25

A California facility could save endangered delta smelt. But federal funding under Trump just ended -- The Trump administration has ended federal funding for a captive breeding program for California’s endangered delta smelt, threatening the future of the fish that the president blames for burdensome water regulations. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/3/25

Who should pay billions for climate disasters? California and others take aim at Big Oil — will the strategy work? -- California and other states and counties are using a legal strategy that took down Big Tobacco, hoping to make fossil fuel companies pay for damage they have long denied. But many obstacles remain. Alejandro Lazo CalMatters -- 3/3/25

A 2018 law aimed to ‘Trump-proof’ California on immigration. What has it accomplished? -- Two days after Donald Trump won the 2016 election, California state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León canceled a flight to Germany and called his executive staff for a meeting. Andrea Castillo in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/3/25

A looming threat could bankrupt California counties — and it’s not fires or Trump -- A wave of sexual assault lawsuits threatens to bankrupt Los Angeles County and severely imperil its ability to recover from the January wildfires, lawyers for the nation’s largest county told the California Supreme Court in a filing last week. Sophia Bollag in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/3/25

Bay Area Ukrainians hold ‘emergency rally’ after Trump’s Oval Office blowup -- The Bay Area’s Ukrainian community crowded the streets near San Francisco’s Embarcadero for the second time in two weeks Sunday in what was billed as an “emergency rally” after President Donald Trump’s tense Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that cast doubt on the future of U.S.-Ukraine relations. Nora Mishanec in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/3/25

Chinatown importers, retailers bear the brunt of Trump’s tariffs -- Chinese American business owners in the Bay Area who import products such as Tiger Balm and water chestnuts from China are absorbing President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes. Ko Lyn Cheang in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/3/25

Skelton: Many Californians fear that democracy is in peril -- The most important problem facing America? It’s not the economy or immigration. For Californians, it’s political extremism coupled with threats to democracy. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/3/25

Contamination fears drive push to remake state cannabis agency -- Criticism that California is failing to fully address contamination in its weed crop has prompted a push for the governor and lawmakers to step in and remove that authority from the state agency in charge. Paige St. John in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/3/25

Problems With New California Bar Exam Enrage Test Takers and Cloud Their Futures -- The faulty rollout last week of the new licensing test, which was approved by the California Supreme Court in October and was touted by the state bar as a way to save money, has outraged test takers and the law school community at large, and prompted an investigation by California lawmakers and a lawsuit. Orlando Mayorquín in the New York Times$ -- 3/3/25

S.F. red tape makes it too hard for City Hall to function, lawmaker says. He wants to change that -- San Francisco officials rely on proprietary databases to do core aspects of their jobs, but oftentimes they encounter a frustrating roadblock: the city’s exhaustive contracting requirements. J.D. Morris in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/3/25

California made a big bet on producing its own insulin. There’s no ‘date certain’ for delivery -- Two years ago, California made a bold announcement that it would manufacture a state-branded, low-cost insulin. Drug manufacturers, insurers, economists and diabetics took notice. It had the potential to disrupt the market, bring down drug costs and save patients’ lives. Kristen Hwang CalMatters -- 3/3/25

Workplace

California’s fast food council after one year: A few meetings, three staff members hired -- One year into California’s landmark effort to regulate conditions for more than a half-million fast food workers, the state council appointed to oversee the industry has barely settled on how to conduct meetings. Jeanne Kuang CalMatters -- 3/3/25

Housing

San Francisco is No. 1 in the country on this metric — and it shows just how hard it is for new homebuyers -- The median down payment among homebuyers in San Francisco and San Mateo County was 26% of the purchase price at the end of last year — the highest percentage of any major U.S. metropolitan area. Christian Leonard in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/3/25

Education

What led to this UC’s ‘remarkable’ 45% jump in applications? One last-minute maneuver -- Freshman applications to this reliable safety school of the University of California — which typically creep up by about 1,500 every year — surged by 16,000, a startling increase that UC reported a couple of weeks ago. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/3/25

Which districts are on California’s latest financial danger lists — and why -- Oakland, San Francisco and Hayward have joined four smaller districts on the five-alarm fire list of the state’s most financially stressed districts —those flirting with insolvency. John Fensterwald EdSource -- 3/3/25

California Democrats seek to rein in content on Israel in high school ethnic studies -- A new bill is the latest twist in controversies about ethnic studies, and allegations of antisemitism, in California public high schools. Molly Gibbs, Grant Stringer in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/3/25

Street

L.A. podcast host says he called 911 and waited on hold for an hour. ‘What if my son was choking?’ -- Police publicly disputed his estimate for how long it took to respond to his call, with L.A. Police Capt. Ray Valois telling NBC4 the call was picked up in 74 seconds and then was de-prioritized as a non-emergency call. Sandra McDonald in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/3/25

He died alone on a Bay Area street. Could these new treatment reforms have saved him? -- A crime measure California voters approved in November gives repeat drug offenders the choice to enter treatment and have the felony wiped away. Ethan Varian in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/3/25

Also

Oscars 2025 winners list: ‘Anora’ wins five Academy Awards, including four for filmmaker Sean Baker -- “Anora” filmmaker Sean Baker was the big winner with a record-tying four Oscars. Baker’s quartet of statuettes were for original screenplay, editing, director and best picture. Mikey Madison of “Anora” took the prize for actress in a leading role. Tracy Brown and Kevin Crust in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/3/25

POTUS 47

Trump Has Glossed Over High Prices. Republicans Worry It Will Cost Them -- President Trump promised during the campaign to lower prices on day one of his presidency. But with costs still high, Republicans are worried the same economic factors that helped Trump win the election could come back to bite him if inflation remains stubborn. Tarini Parti, Xavier Martinez and Josh Dawsey in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 3/3/25

Government shutdown looms as Trump tries to assert new spending powers -- Funding will expire in less than two weeks if lawmakers don’t extend the deadline. Jacob Bogage in the Washington Post$ -- 3/3/25

Trump’s opponents see a sweeping crackdown on free speech -- Some of it aims to stamp out diversity, equity and inclusion and what he terms “radical gender ideology.” Some of it is aimed at media organizations whose language he dislikes. In other cases, the attacks target opponents who have spoken sharply about the administration. Naftali Bendavid in the Washington Post$ -- 3/3/25

Democrats Invite Fired Federal Workers to Trump’s Congressional Address -- The move comes as lawmakers hear from constituents over President Trump’s and Elon Musk’s efforts to slash federal spending and cull the civil service ranks. Maya C. Miller in the New York Times$ -- 3/3/25

Hegseth Orders Pentagon to Stop Offensive Cyberoperations Against Russia -- The defense secretary’s instructions, which were given before President Trump’s blowup with the Ukrainian president, are apparently part of an effort to draw Russia into talks on the war. Julian E. Barnes, David E. Sanger and Helene Cooper in the New York Times$ -- 3/3/25

U.S.A.I.D. Memos Detail Human Costs of Cuts to Foreign Aid -- The world is likely to see millions more malaria infections and 200,000 cases of paralytic polio each year, according to an agency whistle-blower. Apoorva Mandavilli in the New York Times$ -- 3/3/25

McManus: Trump is cheering Elon Musk now, but if anything goes wrong it will be the president’s problem -- For the last six weeks, President Trump’s demolition man Elon Musk has rampaged across the federal bureaucracy — freezing payments, firing workers and disabling entire agencies. Doyle McManus in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/3/25

How China came to dominate the world in renewable energy -- China now eclipses every other country in the world — including the United States — in the green technologies of the future. Here’s how it achieved this lead. Christian Shepherd and Jinpeng Li in the Washington Post$ -- 3/3/25

Hiring freezes, fewer grad students: Funding uncertainty hits colleges -- Some universities are freezing hiring, admitting fewer graduate students and warning that recent federal changes and proposals pose an existential threat to higher education. Susan Svrluga in the Washington Post$ -- 3/3/25

Economic Upheaval and Plans to Retaliate: Canada Braces for Tariffs -- President Trump’s plan to apply 25 percent tariffs on Canadian exports is set to start on Tuesday. They would deal a brutal blow to Canada’s economy. Ian Austen in the New York Times$ -- 3/3/25