L.A. mayor’s race is in major flux, days before deadline
LAT, DAVID ZAHNISER/NOAH GOLDBERG: "The race for Los Angeles mayor has been in an extraordinary state of flux, with the candidate lineup shuffling and reshuffling in the final days before the filing deadline.
On Thursday, former schools Supt. Austin Beutner dropped out of the race, citing the death of his 22-year-old daughter. Hours later, L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said she was still deciding whether to launch her own challenge against Mayor Karen Bass."
Long Beach mayoral candidate facing death threats after viral video calls on gang leaders to oppose ICE
LAT, RUBEN VIVES: "The video clip posted last week on social media by Rogelio Martinez, a mayoral candidate for the city of Long Beach, was short and to the point.
“I need to see 55 gang leaders here this coming Monday, we need to take back our city, enough is enough, ICE needs to get out of Long Beach and this is the only way that I know how to get them out; peacefully, but with strong force, but peacefully.”"
What are the political goals of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new memoir?
SACBEE, ANDREW GRAHAM: "In 2004, Gavin Newsom, at the time the mayor of San Francisco, posed with his then-wife Kimberly Guilfoyle for a magazine photograph that quickly became infamous.
In the photo, the couple lay entwined on a fancy carpet, wearing dinner attire, in a posh San Francisco home owned by the oil rich Getty family with a sweeping view of the Pacific Ocean visible behind them."
L.A. public defenders are on a remarkable win streak as Trump DOJ charges activists
LAT, BRITTNY MEJIA: "As they waited for jurors to return a verdict, the lawyers were on edge.
Rebecca Abel and Kyra Nickell, both deputy federal public defenders, had spent days in trial defending their client, whom the government accused of assaulting a federal law enforcement officer with a camera and later with a shove to the chest during an immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles last August."
Trump shares racist image of the Obamas. White House says backlash is ‘fake outrage’
LAT, ANA CEBALLOS: "President Trump shared a short video clip on social media late Thursday depicting former President Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes, drawing immediate public backlash that the White House characterized as “fake outrage.”
The image, which Trump posted on his official Truth Social account around midnight, was included toward the end of a one-minute video clip that promoted a conspiracy theory about voting irregularities in the 2020 presidential election. In it, the Obamas are portrayed as apes as “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” plays in the background."
Amazon pulls ‘Melania’ after theater mocks film on marquee
CHRONICLE, AIDIN VAZIRI: "Amazon MGM Studios has pulled the documentary “Melania” from a suburban Oregon movie house after the theater used its marquee to poke fun at the film and its subject, first lady Melania Trump.
The Lake Theater & Cafe in Lake Oswego, a Portland-area suburb known for cheeky and irreverent marquee messages, stopped screening the film after receiving a call from Amazon, according to the theater’s management."
New bill aims to allow California AG to sue oil companies for disaster costs
SACBEE, STEPHEN HOBBS: "A California legislator wants the state to be able to sue oil companies to pay for insurance losses and higher prices following fires, floods and other disasters.
“We know that the years ahead are going to be dramatically more dangerous,” said state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, who authored the new bill. “And we can’t allow Californians, our residents, our small businesses, to be left holding the bag.”"
Tens of thousands of Californians pay more for health insurance this year after subsidy cuts
LAT, MEG TANAKA/MELODY PETERSEN: "For Mikayla Tencer, being self-employed already meant juggling higher taxes, irregular income and the constant pressure of finding her own health insurance. This year, it also meant rethinking how often she could afford to see a doctor.
The 29-year-old content creator in San Francisco paid $168 a month last year for a Blue Shield health plan through Covered California. This year — without enhanced federal subsidies that expired at the end of December — that same plan would have cost $299 a month, with higher copays."
One of California’s first labor fights over AI is playing out at Kaiser
LAT, QUEENIE WONG: "Workers of one of the most powerful unions in California are forming an early front in the battle against artificial intelligence, warning it could take jobs and harm people’s health.
As part of their ongoing negotiations with their employer, Kaiser Permanente workers have been pushing back against the giant healthcare provider’s use of AI. They are building demands around the issue and others, using picket lines and hunger strikes to help persuade Kaiser to use the powerful technology responsibly."
Your kid’s phone never closes. Why do California’s rec centers? (OP-ED)
CAPITOL WEEKLY, WILL LU: "The rec center court at 3:30 p.m. is loud in the best way. Sneakers squeak on the hardwood. The ball thumps. When someone misses a wide-open layup, they get a quick nudge from a friend, not a haptic buzz from a smartphone in a pocket. Everybody laughs anyway. For a little while, the phone stays tucked away because real life is louder.
That scene is not nostalgia. It is competition. A basketball game or a library study group is one of the few things that can compete with an algorithmic feed."
California wants colleges to count work experience for credit. How’s it going?
CALMATTERS, ADAM ECHELMAN: "Laylah Rivers had already been a paratrooper in the U.S. Army and worked at various tech companies across the West Coast. But when she enrolled at a Los Angeles community college at 31, she was just another freshman — alongside students nearly half her age.
Luckily, West Los Angeles College has a program that acknowledges students’ prior work experience. The college gave her seven credits, the equivalent of about two classes, after she provided a copy of her military transcript and evidence of computer courses she took while working at Amazon. “Of course, with 13 years of experience, I should get more credit for what I’m doing,” she said. “But I’m grateful.”"
Parents anxious but supportive as SFUSD strike looms: ‘Even one day could affect their learning’
CHRONICLE, ANNA BAUMAN/LUCY HODGMAN: "With a potential teacher strike set to begin as soon as Monday in San Francisco, parents had mixed reactions to the news that their kids’ classrooms could shutter indefinitely as teachers demand raises, better healthcare coverage and special education support.
Even for those sympathetic and supportive of teachers, many SFUSD families were anxious and confused about next week as details surrounding a possible strike remained unclear. Labor leaders and district administrators began an 11th-hour negotiation meeting at 5 p.m. Thursday evening."
California spends billions based on this pollution tracker. Who benefits from its latest update?
CALMATTERS, ALEJANDRA REYES-VELARDE: "California is again updating the system it uses to decide which polluted communities get cleanup funding. The tool, CalEnviroScreen, has already steered billions of dollars to the state’s most burdened neighborhoods, but critics say it still overlooks some of them.
The update is reigniting a long-smoldering debate: officials promise they’re listening to communities more than ever, while advocates say the state’s data gaps leave some areas invisible to the system designed to help them.ss"
California, West to see ‘major pattern change’ as rain, snow enter forecast
CHRONICLE, GREG PORTER: "The ridge of high pressure that has dominated California's weather since early January is finally showing signs of weakening. On the heels of a record warm December, January ended up near record warm as well, with a clear national dipole between the warm West and cooler East.
What the National Weather Service describes as a "major pattern change" is on the horizon. Forecast models anticipate an end to the 60- and 70-degree temperatures, with rain and snow returning to parts of California as early as Sunday, and a more significant precipitation window opening next week."
Your ultimate California Super Bowl guide — how to watch, sound smart and have fun
SACBEE, STAFF: "This wasn’t the game at Levi’s Stadium 49ers fans dreamed of. Super Bowl LX comes to Santa Clara Sunday, but pits the Niners’ nemesis Seattle Seahawks against the New England Patriots. The Golden State connection hasn’t necessarily been a silver lining for local fans, but it has had some red-and-gold hues this week, and we have provided ways for you to enjoy it.
Depends on how you look at it."
This California bill sparked fears of a mileage tax for drivers. Here’s what it actually does
CHRONICLE, RACHEL SWAN: "The idea of taxing California drivers by the mile has been kicked around for years in transportation circles, and it’s still a long way from being implemented.
But try telling that to panicked drivers who are flooding the Internet with petitions and sharply worded posts, warning that a “gas mileage tax” is coming."
Here are 10 to 15 stations that could close under BART doomsday scenarios
CHRONICLE, RACHEL SWAN: "BART has nailed down the ten stations that could close if voters decline to bail out the rail agency in November, a dire scenario that would gut service across the Bay Area.
Half of these potential casualties — Pittsburg Center, North Concord, Orinda, South San Francisco and San Bruno — lie on BART’s popular yellow line. The blue line from Dublin/Pleasanton to Daly City would lose two stations, Castro Valley and West Dublin/Pleasanton. South Hayward and Warm Springs would be dropped from the orange line, and the Oakland International Airport connector from the Coliseum station would also shutter. Staff would implement this “phase one” service plan as early as next January."
Why some fear Burbank airport is an accident waiting to happen. ‘Everybody has had concerns’
CHRONICLE, GRACE TOOHEY/ANDREW J. CAMPA: "The airspace over Los Angeles is among the most congested in the world, but the Hollywood Burbank Airport is uniquely situated, creating extremely tight parameters around the midsize airport.
Burbank’s main runway is particularly short, and there is significant, nearby air traffic from the busy Van Nuys Airport — located just six miles away — leaving little room for error as pilots prepare to land at Burbank, according to a review of safety records and interviews with local and national aviators."
