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California lawyers must soon take a yearly civility oath, prompting free speech concerns
CHRONICLE, BOB EGELKO: "Starting next month, each of California’s 286,000 attorneys will have to swear each year to “strive to conduct myself at all times with dignity, courtesy and integrity” or risk losing their license to practice law. Unless, that is, the oath is found to unduly restrict freedom of speech, an argument that may find some support in the state Supreme Court, which would have the last word.
The “civility” oath was first proposed in 2013 by then-State Bar President Patrick Kelly and was required by the bar for all new lawyers in 2014. The latest action by the bar’s Board of Trustees, approved Feb. 27 and taking effect on April 1, will add the civility pledge to the oath every lawyer in California must take, when renewing their license each year, to “support the Constitution of the United States and the State of California” and “perform my duties as an attorney to the best of my ability.”"
California Congress members demand answers on deportation of 6-year-old deaf child, family
CHRONICLE, JESSICA FLORES: "Members of California’s congressional delegation on Monday called for an investigation into the recent deportation of a Bay Area mother and her two young children, including a 6-year-old boy who is deaf.
In a letter sent Monday, the congress members demanded that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State work with the family’s legal representatives to return them back to the United States through humanitarian parole so the deaf child can access their assisted hearing devices and receive medical support."
Villaraigosa’s dreams for a political comeback meet reality — again
LAT, DAKOTA SMITH: "Former L.A. mayor and current candidate for governor Antonio Villaraigosa wants voters to know that he navigated billion-dollar budgets, cracked down on violent crime and championed the expansion of bus and rail lines.
The onetime state Assembly speaker argues he’s the only Democratic candidate with the experience to do the complicated job of running California."
Former Newsom advisor received $50,000 payout after leaving state job amid federal probe
LAT, MELODY GUTIERREZ: "Gov. Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff, Dana Williamson, left state service with two things: a federal corruption investigation and more than $50,000 in pay for vacation time she accrued but never took.
State payroll records reviewed by The Times show Williamson used approximately $30,000 in unused vacation time to remain on California’s payroll through Jan. 31 — seven weeks after Newsom’s office indicated she had departed — before collecting an additional $22,000 lump-sum payout for the hours she had left."
Capitol Briefs: Dems launch ‘get out’ effort
CAPITOL WEEKLY, STAFF: "His open letter asking low-polling Dems to get out of the gubernatorial race fell mostly flat, so California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks is trying something new in hopes of culling the field – math. Or more accurately, a new polling project he hopes will give said candidates empirical reasons to get out and reduce the chance of his party being shut out of the November election.
Hicks on Tuesday introduced the California Voter Opinion, Trend, & Engagement Research (VOTER) Index, a new large-sample statewide polling project he says will “provide a consistent snapshot of the California Governor’s race ahead of the Primary Election.”"
Citing Iran crisis, Trump orders Santa Barbara oil pipeline restart. California will fight it
CALMATTERS, ALEJANDRO LAZO: "The Trump administration invoked emergency powers under the Defense Production Act Friday, ordering the restart of the Santa Ynez offshore oil platform and pipeline along the Santa Barbara County coast that was shuttered after a spill released thousands of barrels of crude into the Pacific 11 years ago.
The move, which comes in response to skyrocketing fuel prices in the wake of the Iran conflict, brought an immediate threat to sue by Gov. Gavin Newsom."
Trump’s war rhetoric is coarse. It’s also heard differently, depending on the audience
LAT, KEVIN RECTOR: "In one of his latest missives on social media, President Trump complained that he wasn’t getting enough credit for “totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran, militarily, economically, and otherwise.”
“We have unparalleled firepower, unlimited ammunition, and plenty of time,” he wrote of a war that has crippled the global supply of oil, sharply increased gas prices, cost U.S. taxpayers billions, left thousands dead and wounded, and so far defied Trump’s own “short term” timetable."
Cuban leaders signal concessions to appease Trump, but also ensure political survival
LAT, PATRICK J. MCDONNELL/ANA CEBALLOS/KATE LINTHICUM: "For more than six decades, communist Cuba thwarted every destabilizing measure Washington aimed its way — assassination plots, a trade embargo, sabotage, travel bans and, most notoriously, the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, when Fidel Castro’s revolution was still young and the Cold War raging.
Now, many are wondering: Is the death knell finally tolling for the Cuban Revolution?"
Lawmakers tried to kill California’s online community college. Now it’s growing rapidly
CALMATTERS, ADAM ECHELMAN: "Calbright College seemed doomed from the start. Just months after enrolling its first students in 2019, the online community college was under fire from faculty groups, and the state Assembly had agreed to shut it down. It had “poor management,” “ineffective and inappropriate hiring,” and “inadequate” support for students, a 2021 state audit found.
Yet Calbright College managed not only to soldier on but to grow."
Which California colleges are the best investment? Here’s how they compare to other schools
CHRONICLE, HANNA ZAKHARENKO/NAMI SUMIDA: "When it comes to affordability and long-term payoff, California’s public universities are some of the best in the country.
According to a 2025 analysis by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, attending a University of California or California State University campus yields a higher return on investment than the typical public university in the rest of the country. After 10 years, the study found that a graduate of the typical UC or CSU school will see an ROI of $247,000, while it is only $178,000 in the rest of the country."
‘I loved it because I love writing’: Student filmmakers, animators strive for a spot in L.A.’s entertainment industry
EDSOURCE, VANI SANGANERIA: "In an old auto shop classroom in Hollywood High School, Mawuena Akorli zips across the room with a tripod-mounted camera in one hand and a penciled directive in the other: more black goo.
“And the secret to it is food dye and blue agave,” said Mawuena, a junior. “It’s very sweet and very yummy, but it’ll get the job done. You’ll look terrifying.”"
Education equity in California must have MLLs at the center (OP-ED)
CAPITOL WEEKLY, ALMA CASTRO: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom has released his proposed state budget, and K-12 education is a major part of it. But while the budget is discussed in terms of billions of dollars, the most important issue is not how much is spent, but how the decisions are made and for whom. Curriculum adoption is not just a purchasing decision, but one of the most significant equity decisions educators can make.
For California’s 1.1 million multilingual learners (MLLs), equity does not happen automatically but requires intentional action. While the Governor’s proposed budget appropriately elevates education as a statewide priority through broad investments and initiatives, those efforts alone cannot guarantee equitable outcomes. Generalized education funding often leaves decisions to local discretion, where MLL needs can be overlooked."
California bets on an obscure tool to replace clean air authority Trump revoked
CALMATTERS, ALEJANDRA REYES-VELARDE: "When a package arrives at your door, it has likely traveled through a chain of ports, railyards and warehouses throughout the state. All those ships, trains and trucks leave behind a trail of diesel exhaust as they go, driving some of the highest asthma rates in communities.
For decades, state and federal regulators have tried to clean that up. Now much of their authority is in doubt: the Trump administration revoked California’s authority to mandate electric vehicles and pulled back federal power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions — undermining California’s most effective tools."
California’s record-shattering heat forecast explained in five numbers
CHRONICLE, ANTHONY EDWARDS: "Unseasonable heat is set to shatter records across California this week. The hot spell will be remarkable not only for its intensity, but its duration and areal extent.
San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose and Los Angeles could all measure their hottest March temperature in modern history. Millions of people are covered by heat warnings and advisories, snowmelt is rapidly accelerating, and wildfire danger is creeping up."
California’s snowpack was already meager. Now comes an extraordinary heat wave
LAT, IAN JAMES: "The warm winter has left very little snow in California’s Sierra Nevada, and now an extreme heat wave is accelerating the rapid melt in the mountains.
The Sierra snowpack measures 48% of average for this time of year, according to state data, down from 73% of average in late February."
The Bay Area’s hottest job market right now? It’s not tech
CHRONICLE, ROLAND LI: "After Sydney Villanueva was laid off from her job as a project manager at a San Jose web design agency in 2023, she spent two years looking for new work, sending out thousands of applications.
“That’s kind of when the job market started to go down,” she said. “It got worse and worse and worse.”"
Downtown L.A. needs retail resuscitation. San Francisco’s subsidized shops offer a solution
LAT, ROGER VINCENT: "As much of downtown L.A. continues to feel dark and deserted, local businesses want the city to steal San Francisco’s secret for firing up foot traffic.
The tech mecca has slowly begun to emerge from one of the country’s deepest declines in downtown retail, in part through a program that peppered the city with subsidized pop-up shops."
Plan for 900 homes could bring transformative change to this Bay Area city
CHRONICLE, SARAH RAVANI: "A Las Vegas developer is proposing more than 900 homes on a former Coast Guard site in a large East Bay suburb — a major move in a city that has struggled to bring massive housing projects to fruition.
Developers Eddie Haddad and Georges Maalouf want to build 940 homes — 403 townhomes, 409 detached homes, 56 accessory dwelling units and 72 affordable homes — on the 59-acre site at 3295 Haleakala St. in Concord, just two miles from the North Concord BART station."
