The latest plan for California high-speed rail: Connect it to Yosemite
CHRONICLE, RACHEL SWAN: "Political leaders in Merced are weighing a novel idea for high-speed rail: skip downtown, and link the train to Yosemite National Park.
The concept would require moving a station from the city’s population center to an area that many people would consider the boondocks. Instead of rolling into a multi-modal hub surrounded by restaurants and grocery stores, the train would veer four miles southeast, to what’s currently a country road lined with pistachio orchards and a defunct wholesale warehouse."
Newsom walks thin line on immigrant health as he eyes presidential bid
LAT, CHRISTINE MAI-DUC: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has acknowledged he is eyeing a presidential bid, has incensed both Democrats and Republicans over immigrant healthcare, underscoring the delicate political path ahead.
For a second straight year, the Democrat has asked state lawmakers to roll back coverage for some immigrants in the face of federal Medicaid spending cuts and a roughly $3-billion budget deficit that analysts warn could worsen if the AI bubble bursts. Newsom has proposed that the state not step in when, starting in October, the federal government stops providing health coverage to an estimated 200,000 legal residents — comprising asylees, refugees and others."
Union leaders have a message for Newsom: Regulate AI if you want to be president
CALMATTERS, KHARI JOHNSON: "If Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to be president of the United States then he must address artificial intelligence’s impact on workers. That’s the message sent today in Sacramento by members of the AFL-CIO, a union with a combined 2.3 million members.
In attendance at a press conference, held steps from the California state capitol, were AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler, California Labor Federation president Lorena Gonzalez, and the heads of four state labor federations, including from traditional early primary states like Iowa and states vying for earlier spots in the primary state calendar like Georgia and North Carolina."
For many lawmakers, free sports tickets are all in the game
CAPITOL WEEKLY, BRIAN JOSEPH: "With gifts to state officials capped at $630, no legislator should be accepting free tickets to Super Bowl 60, which start on secondary markets at more than $6,000 a piece.
But that hasn’t stopped them from taking a lot of free tickets to other sporting events."
Sports gambling is illegal in California. So why is it so easy to bet on the Super Bowl?
CHRONICLE, SUSIE NEILSON: "To write this story, I had to commit what is arguably a crime. It wasn’t hard.
I spent a few hours watching YouTube videos and listening to podcasts to prepare. The upside was high — I could earn thousands of dollars by tapping my phone a few times, if the TV ads enticing me to commit this transgression were to be believed — and, in the short term at least, the downside was minimal. I might lose a little money, but my odds of getting in trouble with the authorities were slim."
Tech entrepreneur enters L.A. mayor’s race, becoming the latest to take on Karen Bass
LAT, DAVID ZAHNISER/DOUG SMITH: "A tech executive who made a fortune developing education software, then waded into the fight against homelessness, is now entering the race for Los Angeles mayor.
Adam Miller, co-founder of Better Angels, a nonprofit focused on preventing homelessness and building affordable housing, filed paperwork on Wednesday to run against Mayor Karen Bass in the June 2 primary election." -- --
READ MORE -- Austin Beutner ends run for L.A. mayor, a month after daughter’s death -- LAT, DAVID ZAHNISER
Statutory statements by the Legislature should guide courts
CAPITOL WEEKLY, CHRIS MICHELI: "When the California Legislature includes certain statements in legislation that is ultimately enacted, I believe these enacted statements should guide California courts. What am I talking about? These statements include legislative findings and declarations, intent statements, and related statutory language.
These types of statements should be codified and read by the courts as part of the statutory language when judges and justices engage in statutory interpretation of ambiguous enactments."
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.”"
UCLA fires a DEI leader over Charlie Kirk comments. Did his speech go too far?
LAT, JAWEED KALEEM: "In the days after Charlie Kirk was fatally shot in September while speaking at a Utah college campus, stunned followers of his conservative movement mourned online, condemning political violence. From his Los Angeles home, Johnathan Perkins, a Black diversity, equity and inclusion director at UCLA, had a different take.
“Good riddance,” he wrote on Bluesky. In another post: “It is OKAY to be happy when someone who hated you and called for your people’s death dies — even if they are murdered.”"
S.F. teachers to strike starting Monday, source says
CHRONICLE, JILL TUCKER: "San Francisco Unified School District teachers notified district officials that they plan to launch their first strike in decades next week, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Teachers were expected to be on the picket line, and not in classrooms, starting Monday morning barring an 11th-hour agreement, the person said. The person was not authorized to speak publicly about strike plans and was granted anonymity in accordance with Chronicle policies."
Sac City food worker’s paychecks delayed amid confusion over fiscal solvency plan
SACBEE, JENNAH PENDLETON: "A nutritional services employee at one of Sacramento City Unified’s high schools served 140 students breakfast Tuesday morning, and in return received 140 “thank yous.”
“Everyone says ‘good morning’ or ‘have a good day,’” she said. “I really enjoy it.”"
‘Rex block’ over California is jumbling weather patterns and flipping the forecast
CHRONICLE, ANTHONY EDWARDS: "The atmosphere is entering a state of disarray over California.
After coastal areas from Half Moon Bay to Los Angeles experienced record-breaking temperatures Wednesday, a major cooldown is expected Thursday before a chance of rain Friday. Terms and conditions apply, though."
‘No one warned us’: Toxic mushroom superbloom fuels California’s largest poisoning outbreak
CHRONICLE, ANNA BAUMAN/CATHERINE HO/DAVID HERNANDEZ: "Laura Marcelino and her husband were out for a walk in late November with five of their children at Toro Park, a hillside hiking spot near their home in Salinas, when they stumbled upon some mushrooms with yellowish caps.
Thinking they recognized them as an edible variation from their native Mexico, they gathered a handful to bring home."
‘It has no heart’: Why Levi’s Stadium is the worst-rated Super Bowl site
CHRONICLE, HANNA ZAKHARENKO/DANIELLE ECHEVERRIA: "Levi’s Stadium is having a big year. It will host its second Super Bowl in the span of a decade this weekend, before turning around to host several World Cup games this summer, not to mention several major concerts along the way.’
Unfortunately, it seems lots of people hate the place."