Takeaways from Trump’s State of the Union address

LAT,KEVIN RECTOR: "In his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, President Trump struck a confident and defiant tone — claiming huge victories tackling crime in major U.S. cities, securing the nation’s borders, deporting undocumented immigrants, bringing down costs for American households and commanding respect for the U.S. on the world stage.

“The state of our union is strong,” Trump said — at a time when he is significantly weakened politically, with a sluggish economy, shrinking support for his signature immigration crackdown and some of the lowest approval ratings of his political career."''

Trump announces ‘war on fraud’ to target California in defiant State of the Union speech

CHRONICLE, ALED\XEI KOSEFF: ":sident Donald Trump announced a new “war on fraud,” targeting Democratic states including California, during his annual State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

The speech included few details on what this effort would entail. Trump said it would be led by Vice President JD Vance and he suggested that it could uncover enough fraud in public programs to balance the national budget."

Trump defends immigration crackdown at State of Union as approval ratings plummet

LAT, ANDREA CASTILLO: "To defend an increasingly unpopular immigration crackdown during his State of the Union speech, President Trump highlighted the victims of crimes perpetuated by undocumented immigrants.

But as Democrats pointed out, the president’s lengthy speech made no reference to the U.S. citizens, including Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, who were killed by immigration agents."

As Escondido debates contract with ICE, other local officials weigh whether to cooperate on immigration enforcement

CALMATTERS, DEBRAH BRENNAN: "The Escondido City Council on Wednesday will discuss an agreement that allows ICE officers to share its police firing range, as critics demand the city cancel the contract amid aggressive immigration raids.

Escondido police conduct their own training at their firing range on Valley Center Road and also lease it to other agencies. They have provided access to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for more than a decade, and formalized it through a 2024 contract, Police Captain Erik Witholt said."

Trump’s comment to U.S. Olympic hockey men reflects why none of us should ‘stick to sports’

CHRONICLE, ANN KILLION: "That was a rough couple of weeks for the “Stick to Sports” folks, who — at best — always sound a bit naive about how the sports world works, as though athletic endeavors happen in a remote silo off in the distance and are not a reflection of society at large.

The wildly popular Milan Cortina Winter Olympics — the highest rated in 12 years — were a perfect illustration of how sports always has and always will intersect with society and the issues of the times."

A new caretaker class? As robots go mainstream, there’s a job they’re creating instead of eliminating

LAT, NILESH CHRISTOPHER: "Charlie Snodgrass used to be a gig driver, delivering burritos and pad Thai around Los Angeles. Today, he handles the robots that do his old job.

He is one of the first of a new class of workers — a robot wrangler — paid to care for and train AI-powered bots as they learn to work in the real world."

What California’s planned power outages are costing schools: darkness, disruption and debt

CALMATTERS, ALEJANDRA REYES-VELARDE: "One windy morning in December 2024, teachers at Orange Vista High School rushed students into a line that stretched to the street. Southern California Edison had cut the power for parts of Riverside County to prevent its equipment from sparking a fire.

Lessons ended. Classrooms went dark. And anxious parents in the Inland Empire city of Perris waited impatiently to greet their children. A month later, the school lost power again, days after the Eaton and Palisades fires to the northwest destroyed entire Los Angeles County neighborhoods."

1 in 10 Cal State students face homelessness. This emergency housing program helps

CALMATTERS, KHADEE JAH KHAN: "Nineteen hours after leaving Coachella Valley, Oscar Deleon Jr. stepped off a bus with four bags of clothes, $800, admission to Chico State University, and no idea where he was going to live or work. All he knew was that he was taking his agriculture professor’s advice from College of the Desert and transferring to a university to continue his education.

He checked into a hotel. Two days later, at orientation, he learned about the Rapid Rehousing program at Chico State. The program’s community partner, True North Housing Alliance, a nonprofit that addresses homelessness in Butte County, paid for Deleon’s hotel bill. The university transferred Deleon to student housing for the school year and helped him secure financial aid to cover most of the cost."

LAUSD shows big improvement in Advancement Placement class enrollment, passing scores

LAT, CHRISTOPHER BUCHANAN: "Los Angeles Unified high school students have shown strong gains in Advanced Placement course enrollment, with a little more than half earned passing test scores last year that enable them to earn college credits at many universities, officials announced Tuesday.

In the 2024-25 school year, nearly 60,000 LAUSD students enrolled in an AP class, which is a rigorous, standardized, college-level course. Over a five-year period beginning in the 2020-21 school year, the district’s AP class participation grew by 50%."

A fourth major California wine company announces layoffs this year

CHRONICLE, JESS LANDER: "For the fourth time in 2026, a major California wine company has confirmed layoffs.

Jackson Family Wines, the sixth-largest U.S. wine company, permanently shuttered its Carneros Hill Winery, located in Sonoma’s Carneros wine region, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice filed with California authorities on February 12. The closure resulted in 13 layoffs."

Transamerica Pyramid sale could be turning point for S.F. real estate

CHRONICLE, LAURA WAXMANN/ROLAND LI: "The Transamerica Pyramid has long been a bellwether for San Francisco’s office market.

It was a symbol of the city’s 1970s skyscraper boom, derided by some as an architectural abomination before becoming an icon of the city. Then it was the first trophy skyscraper to sell after the pandemic upended the market’s tech-fueled leasing momentum, in a $650 million deal that stunned market observers. Last year, it became the first building in San Francisco to secure an office lease over $300 per square foot, even as the city’s core is experiencing record vacancies."

BART found a fix for the problem that caused 34,000 delays in a year

CHRONICLE, RACHEL SWAN: "An atmospheric river roiling in the clouds this week presents a critical test for BART.

The rail system, famous for slowing, perceptibly, at any hint of moisture in the air, got a software upgrade last year that made it resilient to wet weather. Now trains can keep rolling at 70 miles per hour without fear of the wheels skidding, no matter how slippery the tracks get."