Berkeley vs. Berkeley Is a Fight Over the California Dream
SHAWN HUBLER, CONOR DOUGHERTY and SOPHIE KASAKOVE, NY Times: “Kiara Bragg has spent years imagining herself at the University of California, Berkeley — walking through Sproul Plaza, navigating crowds of students, becoming the first in her working-class family to graduate from her state’s iconic flagship school.
Phil Bokovoy imagines, too. In his mind’s eye, the city where he moved in 1983 as a graduate student is a college town where, if he had his way, the Craftsman homes would still be affordable for professors and campus life — the packed living quarters, the beer-soaked parties — would not disrupt surrounding neighborhoods.
A reasonably priced education at a world-class public university. A single-family house in a neighborhood that is clean and peaceful. For generations, these have been pillars of the California dream.”
As California’s gas prices surge, rideshare drivers want Uber and Lyft to pay more
BENJY EGEL, SacBee: “If there were ever a city to have rideshare and limousine driver influencers, it would be Los Angeles.
When he’s not driving for Uber, Lyft or his own company Limowell, Torsten Kunert makes videos for more than 50,000 YouTube subscribers under the name Rideshare Professor.
One problem dominates his comments sections these days: Soaring gas prices and their direct effect on drivers’ take-home pay. He’s among the drivers urging gig economy giants like Uber and Lyft to raise pay because of the increased expenses.
Even mild COVID cases may be causing accelerated brain shrinkage, study says
The Chronicle, ANNIE VAINSHTEIN: "Even mild cases of COVID-19 can cause brain shrinkage and an accelerated reduction of gray matter, a new study has found.
The study joins a growing body of evidence suggesting that even less severe cases of COVID-19 can affect the brain, though its authors and other experts said more research is needed to determine whether the impacts could be reversible or long-term — and it is unclear whether infection has significant effects on thinking, memory and other functions that affect quality of life.
The study, published Monday in the journal Nature, looked at brain scans of people before they contracted the coronavirus and in months after. It is the first of its kind to take a longitudinal approach, examining changes over time."
Returning money to California taxpayers may aid state budget
AP, ADAM BEAM: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to send people another round of government checks, this time to help offset the record high cost of gas, will do more than just win him political points in an election year — it could help him balance the state’s budget.
California had a record surplus last year and while not as large this year the excess could still reach $29 billion. The state constitution limits how much money the Legislature can spend each year through a complex formula based on how much money the state collects in taxes. The state has rarely surpassed the limit in the more than four decades it’s been on the books.
But revenues have been climbing so fast that Newsom expects the state to be at least $2.6 billion past the limit this year and perhaps much more."
Newsom promised relief from high gas prices in California. But don’t expect much
LA Times, GEORGE SKELTON: "Don’t get excited about receiving meaningful tax relief as gas prices soar, despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s promise in his State of the State speech.
If it’s anything like the so-called rebate that the governor and Democratic legislators concocted last year, it will be unfair and won’t help much of the middle class.
One hopeful sign: Newsom edited the tax relief line in his text before delivering it Tuesday to legislators, and didn’t use the word “rebate.” The governor also wisely erased a reference to submitting the relief details in May, when he revises his state budget proposal."
How to spend less on gas: Fix your car. Drive slower. Ignore Shaq
LA Times, JON HEALEY: "Outrageously high gas prices are killing your wallet. But they could lead to a better life for the car or truck you’ve been driving into the ground.
That’s because caring more for your ride can reduce your gasoline costs, experts say. Catch up on all the maintenance you’ve put off. Drive less aggressively. Leave the car in the driveway and walk instead of driving a mile to the store.
There’s a long list of simple things you can do to squeeze a few extra miles out of each gallon of gas. Yes, some of them will cost you more than your next fill-up. And yes, some of them will consume more of your time."
U.S. Banned Russian Oil. Will Suspension of Gasoline Tax Be Next?
Wall Street Journal, TARINI PARTI/ANDREW RESTUCCIA: "President Biden is facing calls from some Democrats to push for the suspension of the federal gasoline tax as the next move to counter soaring prices in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Democratic governors from states including Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania this week pushed Congress to suspend the tax, which amounts to 18 cents a gallon, for the rest of the year. Some Senate Democrats who are facing difficult re-election fights in November also renewed their call for legislation that would halt the tax and are urging Mr. Biden to back the bill."
In L.A.’s election, Ukraine and the role of NATO emerge as campaign issues
LA Times, DAVID ZAHNISER: "L.A.'s local election campaigns traditionally have been framed around neighborhood-level issues — crime, housing, traffic congestion and, in more recent years, the homelessness crisis.
But this year, the bloody invasion of Ukraine by Russia could change that. Several candidates in the June 7 election have begun criticizing the Democratic Socialists of America, whose supporters in L.A. are looking to unseat at least two City Council members, over the group’s response to the overseas conflict.
Days after Russian troops entered Ukraine, the DSA issued a statement calling for the U.S. to withdraw from NATO, which serves as a defense pact for much of Europe and North America. Although the statement denounced Russia’s decision to invade, it also argued against further intervention in Ukraine, and said the U.S. should end the “imperialist expansionism that set the stage for this conflict.”"
Newsom, unions eye $50k bonuses for juvenile prison workers
CalMatters, RHONDA LYONS: "As the state prepares to close its youth prisons, workers for the Division of Juvenile Justice could receive up to $50,000 bonuses to stay on the job until then, CalMatters has learned.
If approved, the bonus appears to be among the largest offered by the state to retain a group of employees.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration and at least six unions are negotiating the pay bumps, hoping the large incentives will keep the youth facilities staffed until their June 30, 2023, closures. "
Assembly bill would tax house flippers, those who sell homes a few years after buying
Union-Tribune, DEBORAH SULLIVAN BRENNAN: "House flippers could be taxed 25 percent of their profit under the California Speculation Act, a bill introduced by Assemblymember Chris Ward, D-San Diego.
Assembly Bill 1771 aims to discourage real estate speculation that Ward said drives up home prices as equity investors outbid individual home buyers.
“We’ve heard of people getting into their first home getting beat by cash offers” from investors, Ward said at a news conference Wednesday at the San Diego County Administration Center."
Former US official’s death in California ruled suicide
AP, DON THOMPSON: "A former Department of Homeland Security official’s death two years ago that generated right-wing conspiracy theories was ruled a suicide Wednesday by a Northern California sheriff-coroner.
Evidence found during the investigation into Philip Haney’s death has now spurred a new investigation into how he obtained “contraband” documents.
Haney, 66, was found dead with a single gunshot wound Feb. 21, 2020, in a park-and-ride lot along a busy state highway in a rural area of Amador County, east of Sacramento. He was a former DHS national security official for 15 years and self-described whistleblower critical of President Barack Obama’s administration."
L.A. mayoral candidates want more cops. They’ll have to clear a hiring bottleneck first
LA Times, KEVIN RECTOR, BENJAMIN ORESKES: "With violent crime in Los Angeles near a decade high, several leading candidates for mayor are campaigning on promises to put more police officers on the streets.
U.S. Rep. Karen Bass wants to move hundreds of officers out from behind desks and get the department to its fully authorized strength. City Atty. Mike Feuer wants 500 more officers on the force. Billionaire developer Rick Caruso and City Councilman Joe Buscaino, a former cop himself, have both said they want to hire 1,500 more officers, which would bring the Los Angeles Police Department’s sworn force to about 11,000.
But fulfilling such campaign promises won’t be easy, according to LAPD officials and overseers — not just because of fiscal constraints and still-rumbling efforts to “defund” police, but because of an administrative bottleneck in the hiring process that has throttled recruitment since the COVID-19 pandemic began."
Judge rules against Trump lawyer John Eastman in dispute with Jan. 6 investigators
LA Times, MELANIE MASON: "A federal judge on Wednesday handed an incremental victory to the congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection in a case involving California attorney John Eastman.
Eastman, who advised former President Trump on efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, has been fighting to prevent the committee from seeing more than 100 emails involving him.
The judge ruled against Eastman for now, saying the court would review the documents to determine which can be turned over to the panel."