BANG*Mercury News, JOHN WOOLFOLK: "There was the greeting from the Democratic governor and local congresswoman at the steps of Air Force One at Moffett Field in Mountain View. There was the sun-splashed speech in the Palo Alto bay lands to tout his environmental policies and $600 million in funding for climate projects. There was not one but two fundraisers with some of Silicon Valley’s wealthiest donors for his re-election campaign.
President Biden was everywhere in Silicon Valley on Monday. His motorcade crisscrossed the South Bay to begin a three-day visit to the Golden State in a sign that the 2024 campaign for the White House is in full swing — 17 months before Election Day."
Biden, in Palo Alto, announces large pot of money in funding to fight climate change
The Chronicle, DANIELLE ECHEVERRIA: "Standing in front of salt marshes at the edge of the San Francisco Bay on Monday, President Biden announced $600 million in funding for coastal communities building projects to protect against the impacts of climate change, as well as $2.3 billion to bolster electric grid resilience.
Joined by Gov. Gavin Newsom, Peninsula congresswoman Anna Eshoo, Santa Clara County and Palo Alto elected officials and local activists at the Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center in Palo Alto, Biden said that the funding was part of his administration’s focus on “aggressive climate action” amid the devastating impacts of climate change, including wildfires, drought and floods in California. The event was part of Biden’s brief visit to Silicon Valley, where he will also attend a pair of fundraisers and an event on artificial intelligence."
Biden to meet with experts about the dangers of AI on visit to San Francisco
LA Times, QUEENIE WONG: "President Biden is scheduled to meet researchers and advocates with expertise in artificial intelligence on Tuesday in San Francisco as his administration attempts to tackle potential dangers of a technology that could fuel misinformation, job losses, discrimination and privacy violations.
The meeting comes as Biden ramps up efforts to raise money for his 2024 reelection bid, including from tech billionaires. While visiting Silicon Valley on Monday, he attended two fundraisers, including one co-hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman who has numerous ties to AI businesses. The venture capitalist was an early investor in Open AI, which built the popular ChatGPT app, and sits on the board of tech companies including Microsoft that are investing heavily in AI."
How a network of ‘phony’ groups sprung up to fight Newsom’s oil regulations
The Chronicle, DUSTIN GARDINER: "California lawmakers were on the verge of passing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to allow the state to cap the profits of oil companies when a trio of advocacy groups with innocuous-sounding names went on an advertising blitz.
The groups — nonprofits that call themselves Californians Against Higher Taxes, Californians for Affordable and Reliable Energy and Californians for Energy Independence — campaigned against Newsom’s measure in a blizzard of social media posts and television ads. The groups said that further regulation of oil refineries would make the state more dependent on foreign crude oil imports or would raise the cost of gas for consumers, dubbing the proposal “Gavin’s gas tax.”"
CEQA Reform? With Antonio Villaraigosa and Micah Weinberg
Capitol Weekly, STAFF: In May, Governor Newsom offered a series of proposals to revise the California Environmental Quality Act ( CEQA). The 1970 law was intended to limit unintended consequences of development, but has increasingly been used to slow or derail environmentally-positive projects ranging from infill development to solar installations. Reforming CEQA has long been a priority in Sacramento, and Newsom’s proposals were hailed by many in both the business and environmental communities.
Legislative leaders were less impressed – especially with the lightning fast timeline – and a Senate budget committee sidelined the proposals a week later. However, we all know that nothing ever dies in Sacramento, so the Governor’s plan is more likely than not to be revisited – the question is when."
What would it take to secede from California? Here’s what a constitutional law expert says
Sac Bee, ANGELA RODRIGUEZ, MICHAEL MCGOUGH: "If a county were to consider seceding from a state, what are the measures it would have to take?
County-level secession is not a new concept, but no single county has ever successfully seceded to become its own state, though a group of counties did split off from then-Confederate Virginia during the Civil War to become West Virginia."
Analysis: California’s balanced budget requirement
Capitol Weekly, CHRIS MICHELI: "Does California have to adopt a “balanced budget”? The short answer is yes. But there are several interesting aspects to this legal requirement.
Prior provisions of the California Constitution were interpreted to require a balanced budget. For example, Article IV, Section 12(a) requires the Governor to submit a budget by January 10th and, “if recommended expenditures exceed estimated revenues, the Governor shall recommend the sources from which the additional revenues should be provided.” This constitutional provision was deemed to at least require the Governor to submit a balanced budget."
After years of trying, a Right to Repair proposal proceeds in the legislature
Capitol Weekly, BRIAN JOSEPH: "Apple, headquartered in California, generally doesn’t make it easy for consumers to turn to third parties to fix its products. But California legislators nonetheless are moving forward with a proposal to make such repairs a veritable right for residents.
Advocates have been trying for the last five years to get lawmakers to approve a so-call “Right to Repair” law, which would grant consumers and independent repair shops access to parts and tools to fix consumer electronics and appliances, including cell phones and refrigerators."
How fresh will CalFresh be? Food benefits on the table in state budget talks
CALMatters, RYA JETHA: "Every Thursday at the Fairfield Farmers’ Market, many customers don’t pay for their fruits and vegetables with cash, credit card or Apple Pay. Instead, they go to the information booth, swipe their CalFresh EBT card and receive paper vouchers to spend on produce.
Under Market Match, California food aid recipients get as much as $10 in matching money — meaning they have at least $20 to spend every week at their local farmers’ market."
Juneteenth is not a state-paid holiday in California. Union, workers hope to change that
Sac Bee, MARCUS D SMITH: "Avanti Blakney, a California state employee, made sure to have an enjoyable weekend because she knew come Monday, she would not have the luxury of taking the full day off despite the Juneteenth holiday.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when enslaved persons in Galveston, Texas, were finally made aware of their freedom, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed by Abraham Lincoln."
A year after S.F.’s mpox crisis, experts are still wary of a new outbreak. What are the risks now?
The Chronicle, GABE CASTRO-ROOT: "When an outbreak of mpox, formerly called monkeypox, hit the United States and Europe last summer, epidemiologists and the general public — still reeling from COVID-19 — feared that the pathogen could quickly turn into the next pandemic.
But the virus took a very different turn. Cases in the U.S. peaked at an average of about 450 per day in early August; by the end of 2022, the country’s daily case average was down to five."
Why are killer whales going ‘Moby-Dick’ on yachts lately? Experts doubt it’s revenge
LA Times, SUSANNE RUST: "The attacks started suddenly and inexplicably in the spring of 2020 — pods of endangered killer whales began ramming yachts and fishing boats in European waters, pushing some off course and imperiling others.
Since then, there have been more than 500 reports of orca encounters off the Iberian peninsula. In most cases, the financial and structural damage has ranged from minimal to moderate: Boats have been spun and pushed, while rudders have been smashed and destroyed. Three vessels have been so badly mauled, they’ve sunk."
California charter school students outperform district school 'twins' in national study
EdSource, JOHN FENSTERWALD: "Charter school students in California significantly outperformed similar students in nearby traditional public schools in reading and scored about the same in math, according to a comprehensive study of pre-pandemic test results of charter schools nationwide, released earlier this month.
Skeptical about VR goggles? How Apple and Disney could create the future of entertainment
LA Times, BRIAN CONTRERAS: "When Apple announced its long-awaited augmented reality headset, Vision Pro, earlier this month, part of the pitch was that these “Ready Player One”-esque goggles would change how we consume entertainment.
With Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger on hand to show off visually immersive new features in entertainment and sports, it seemed like two of the best-known brands in the media world were placing their bets on augmented and virtual reality. Imagine seeing digital confetti rain down during a college football game, or watching “The Mandalorian” from the desert sands of Tatooine."
California homelessness: Largest study in decades reveals ‘fundamental problem’ behind issue
The Chronicle, MALLORY MOENCH: "California’s homeless population is predominantly made up of people who lived in the state before losing their housing, with nearly half over the age of 50 and a disproportionate number who are Black and indigenous, according to a statewide study released Tuesday.
The UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative conducted the study, which its authors said was the largest examination of homeless adults in nearly three decades."
Gun violence rocks nation over holiday weekend, with multi-victim shootings in at least 7 states
LA Times, GRACE TOOHEY: "First, it was shootings in Southern California that sent revelers scrambling, fearing for their lives over the holiday weekend. One person was killed Saturday in San Diego during a Juneteenth celebration, and at least eight were injured in gunfire at a house party in Carson.
Hours later, in Madera County, a father and son were killed in two linked shootings."
The Chronicle, P.D.: "San Francisco officials reacted with shock and unease after a gunbattle erupted in the bustling Fisherman’s Wharf area Sunday evening, calling it an illustration of violence that is rattling cities throughout the nation.
“We have a problem with guns in this country, and San Francisco is not immune,” Supervisor Rafael Mandelman said of the chaotic incident, the latest sign of a firearms scourge across the Bay Area. Oakland also saw a string of shootings during the weekend — one of which left a 6-year-old wounded in crossfire — and residents of the Mission District are still reeling from a mass shooting earlier this month that injured nine people."
Titanic tourist submersible carrying 5 disappears on trip to see wreck in North Atlantic
LA Times, ALEXANDRA E. PETRI, SUMMER LIN: "An intensifying search-and-rescue mission was underway Monday after a submersible watercraft used for tourist expeditions to view the wreck of the Titanic went missing Sunday with five people aboard in the North Atlantic, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard said on Twitter that it was searching for a 21-foot submersible from the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince that lost contact about 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Mass. The vessel “submerged Sunday morning, and the crew of the Polar Prince lost contact with them approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes into the vessel’s dive,” the Coast Guard wrote on Twitter."