California’s Delta waters are in poor ecological health, scientists warn
LAT, IAN JAMES: "California’s biggest rivers converge in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the waterways and wetlands forming an ecosystem where fresh water meets salt water from San Francisco Bay, and where native fish historically flourished.
Every few years, dozens of scientists examine the environmental health of the estuary in a report card that considers water flows, wildlife and habitat, as well as other factors. Their latest shows the bay is mostly in fair condition and stable, but the Delta is “mostly in poor condition and declining.”"
California’s plan to build largest reservoir in decades faces new snag
CHRONICLE, KURTIS ALEXANDER: "As California moves closer to construction of its largest reservoir in nearly 50 years, a union’s concerns about an out-of-state company building the water project are adding a late-stage complication.
Montana-based Barnard Construction Co. is expected to be named the main contractor for the proposed Sites Reservoir, 70 miles northwest of Sacramento, during a meeting Friday of the agency in charge of the $6 billion enterprise."
What is the Insurrection Act? Explaining the law and Trump’s threats to use it in cities
CHRONICLE, BOB EGELKO: "President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy troops that would quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration’s ongoing immigration crackdown.
The Insurrection Act is a centuries-old law allowing the deployment of U.S. troops into a state to stop an “insurrection,” or violent uprising against the government. In 2025, Trump had threatened to invoke the law in San Francisco, telling Fox News, “Don’t forget I can use the Insurrection Act. Fifty percent of the presidents, almost, have used that. And that’s unquestioned power.”"
READ MORE -- Trump threatens to use the Insurrection Act to end protests in Minneapolis -- LAT, STAFF
Judge skeptical on ICE agents wearing masks in case that could have national implications
LAT, SONJA SHARP: "A top Trump administration lawyer pressed a federal judge Wednesday to block a newly enacted California law that bans most law enforcement officers in the state from wearing masks, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Tiberius Davis, representing the U.S. Department of Justice, argued at a hearing in Los Angeles that the first-of-its-kind ban on police face coverings could unleash chaos across the country, and potentially land many ICE agents on the wrong side of the law if it were allowed to take effect."
Practical tips for working with appropriations committee staff (MICHELI FILES)
CAPITOL WEEKLY, CHRIS MICHELI: "In talking with both houses’ appropriations committee staff over the past few weeks, there are some practical tips that were shared with me for those working with the fiscal committee staff members. While some of these recommendations may seem obvious, many of them bear repeating. The following are some of the suggestions shared with me:"
Predictive markets set to make sports betting a big issue again
CAPITOL WEEKLY, BRIAN JOSEPH: "A ceasefire over sports betting in California may be ending after DraftKings and FanDuel recently adopted business models that threaten the political power of the state’s gaming tribes.
For the last couple of years, the ubiquitous sportsbooks (which began as daily fantasy platforms) had been trying to cozy up to the tribes after a bruising ballot box battle over sports betting in 2022 seemed to overwhelmingly establish that Indian Country holds all the keys to the lucrative Golden State gaming market."
California can fix recovery housing by not treating it like treatment (OP-ED)
CAPITOL WEEKLY, PETE NIELSEN: "California keeps circling the same debate about recovery housing without ever landing on a solution. For more than a decade, lawmakers have introduced bills aimed at sober living homes, recovery residences, and supportive recovery housing. Each effort starts from a reasonable goal: protect residents, safeguard communities, and ensure public dollars are spent responsibly. Yet despite years of legislation, studies, and pilot programs, confusion persists.
The reason is straightforward. California still lacks a clear, enforceable, statewide certification for recovery residences—one that is distinct from treatment and grounded in nationally recognized standards. Without that clarity, recovery housing exists in a policy gray zone. Providers operate under inconsistent rules, counties struggle to decide what they can fund, and residents are often left unsure of what they are actually receiving. The state doesn’t have a recovery housing problem because recovery housing doesn’t work. It has a problem because it refuses to define it correctly."
Is Grok chatbot creating sexual AI images? California launches investigation
SACBEE, KATE WOLFFE: "California is launching an investigation into X’s AI chatbot, Grok, after reports that it is generating nude images of people online.
Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the investigation on Wednesday, writing in a news release that the “avalanche of reports” about the production and dissemination of the material is “shocking.”"
Kaiser Permanente members may qualify for payments under $46 million data settlement
CHRONICLE, AIDIN VAZIRI: "Certain current and former Kaiser Permanente members may be eligible for a cash payment under a proposed $46 million class-action settlement tied to allegations that the health care provider improperly shared sensitive patient data through online tracking tools.
The settlement has received preliminary approval from a federal judge. It resolves a series of lawsuits accusing Kaiser of allowing third-party tracking code on its websites and mobile applications to transmit personal and health-related information without patients’ consent. The Oakland-based nonprofit health organization has 12.6 million members."
Report finds artificial intelligence risks in education outweigh the benefits
EDSOURCE, STAFF: "The risks of incorporating artificial intelligence into education outweigh the potential benefits, according to a report by the Brookings Institution’s Center for Universal Education, NPR reported.
The study focused on K-12 students, parents, educators and tech experts from 50 countries."
How did LAUSD students measure up to district goals? The wins, shortfalls and 2026 plan
LAT, HOWARD BLUME: "The Los Angeles school district is falling short of meeting school board-approved academic goals set four years ago, but students continue to improve faster on key academic measurements than the state as a whole, based on data released Tuesday.
The presentation to the Board of Education during a five-hour meeting kicks off a deeper evaluation as leaders prepare the district’s next strategic plan, which would take affect in July."
Will unseasonably hot weather dash Southern California’s hopes for a 2026 superbloom?
LAT, JEANETTE MARANTOS: "Wildflower expert Naomi Fraga was excited about the prospect of an extraordinary bloom this spring, after a winter of near record rainfall, but this week’s unseasonably hot, dry weather has dimmed her hopes for a superbloom year.
“Superblooms are not guaranteed every year, even after lots of rain,” said Fraga, director of conservation programs at California Botanic Garden in Claremont. “When it happens, it’s extraordinary, but you need all the stars to align, with rain, temperature and timing. We’ve had some of those ingredients, but it remains to be seen if the weather will cooperate to give us a spectacular bloom year.”"
Forecast models show split jet stream locking California into a stable weather pattern
CHRONICLE, GREG PORTER: "Forecast models are increasingly pointing toward weather patterns that would keep California warm and dry through late January.
A ridge of high pressure over the eastern Pacific is expected to strengthen over the weekend and into next week, effectively keeping the storm door closed for the West Coast. While the day-to-day details will continue to evolve, the larger-scale pattern driving that outcome is already coming into focus — and it starts with a split in the Pacific jet stream."
New research warns of major threats to Sacramento’s water supply
SACBEE, CHAEWON CHUNG: "Warming temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns will reshape the American, Bear and Cosumnes river watersheds, intensifying snowpack loss and placing greater strain on California’s water supply, a two-year study has found.
A draft watershed resilience report by the Regional Water Authority reviewed by The Sacramento Bee projects earlier snowmelt, shifting runoff patterns, and more water lost to evaporation due to climate change."
Spare the Air alert issued as pollution fills Bay Area skies
CHRONICLE, ANTHONY EDWARDS: "Poor air quality and hazy skies plagued the Bay Area on Wednesday during an extended spell of windless weather.
The air quality index dropped into the moderate or unhealthy for sensitive groups categories throughout much of the region Wednesday morning. Air was unhealthiest adjacent to the bay and delta, including in San Francisco, Oakland, Redwood City and San Jose."
The 401(k) milestones everyone should hit ASAP — and next steps to take once you pass them
CHRONICLE, STAFF: "Retirement sounds like fun. Saving for it, a little less so.
How much you need to save for retirement, and where you should be saving it, are questions without one-size-fits-all answers. For earlier generations, retirement planning was a little simpler: Your workplace offered a pension plan where your contributions were set and invested for you. Now, pensions are rare outside the public sector, and many of us will retire with only the money we invested on our own and Social Security."
The Valley, the South Bay and beyond: These are L.A.’s newest million-dollar neighborhoods
LAT, JACK FLEMMING: "In 2021, during the peak of the pandemic housing market that saw L.A. home prices skyrocket, The Times compiled a list of the newest neighborhoods to join the proverbial “million-dollar club,” where the typical single-family home value is above $1 million.
Five years later, plenty more have made the cut."
‘Blindsided’: Residents of this Bay Area city say officials hid plan to build tiny cabins for homeless
CHRONICLE< ANNIE VAINSHTEIN: "Frank Mason was sitting in his San Rafael backyard last October when he spotted a news helicopter circling overhead. It was a jarring sight in the quiet, unassuming neighborhood he had called home for more than a decade.
That day, Mason and dozens of his other neighbors learned city officials had planned a press conference just behind their houses on the 2.5 acre lot at 350 Merrydale Rd., where they would announce the creation of an interim tiny cabin community for 70 homeless people living in encampments in downtown San Rafael."
Wealthy S.F. neighborhood’s 700-unit housing development to break ground after 10 years
CHRONICLE, J.K. DINEEN: "Ten years after it was first proposed, the largest housing development ever planned for San Francisco’s Laurel Village is expected to break ground this year thanks to city tax incentives that will help fund the infrastructure, parks and affordable housing needed to jump start the project.
Developer Prado Group has confirmed that it expects to start construction in late 2026 on the first three buildings at 3333 California St., the former 10-acre UCSF campus that is slated to eventually be home to 744 housing units, a 175-spot childcare facility, about 40,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, and five acres of open space."
Homicides drop in Sacramento County, capital region in 2025. These are the stats
SACBEE, DARRELL SMITH: "The number of homicide deaths in Sacramento County in 2025 fell to the lowest level in decades, according to Sacramento County Sheriff’s officials, and declines were similar across the capital region, based on data collected and reviewed by The Sacramento Bee.
The agency, which patrols unincorporated areas of the county, investigated 18 homicide deaths in 2025 after ending the previous year with 37 homicides — a 54% decrease. The agency investigated 38 homicides in 2023 and 39 in 2022."
