LGBTQ+ culture wars surface in heated Riverside County congressional race
LA Times, SEEMA MEHTA: "What could have been a routine vote in Congress to approve transportation funding has become a culture war flashpoint in one of the nation’s most competitive House races — the fight for a Riverside County seat, with GOP Rep. Ken Calvert facing a challenge from a Democrat in a race that is drawing national attention.
Calvert, who has represented parts of the Inland Empire for more than 30 years, was among the House Republicans who voted last week to yank funding from three LGBTQ+ community centers in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, handing Democrat Will Rollins an easy attack line in the race to represent a district with one of the largest concentrations of LGBTQ+ voters in the nation."
Capitol Weekly, BRIAN JOSEPH: "Although two ballot sports betting ballot measures went down in flames last year, some forms or derivatives of sports betting are not only legal in California, but at least one tribe with a casino is facilitating it.
The key to understanding how this could be is to understand that “sports betting,” in the broadest sense, can take many different forms. The ballot measures that were so soundly defeated last year dealt specifically with what most people probably think about when they hear the term sports betting: the wagering of money on the outcome of a sporting event or the performance of an athlete in a game."
California Exodus: Once growing rapidly, state population projected to remain the same through 2060
BANG*Mercury News, ETHAN VARIAN: "After adding residents for nearly its entire history, California can expect its population to remain roughly the same through 2060, new projections show, in a trend that would upend previous predictions and threaten the Golden State’s status as an economic powerhouse.
The forecast from the state’s finance department comes on the heels of three years of unprecedented population declines totaling about 1%, as residents fed up with high housing costs and other quality-of-life concerns fled California in droves."
San Francisco workers can go on strike as state board tosses city ban
The Chronicle, ALDO TOLEDO: "A state employment board this week gutted sections in the San Francisco city charter forbidding public workers from striking, a decision that could be a harbinger of labor disputes with most city contracts expiring or due for renegotiation in 2024, according to the Department of Human Resources.
In a landmark decision filed Monday, the California Public Employment Relations Board sided with two local unions — the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers Local 21 and the Service Employees International Union Local 1021 — effectively ending half-century-old rules prohibiting public service workers from striking for better working conditions."
Why did California family have to pay to move fallen Marine’s remains? Congressman blasts Pentagon
Sac Bee, MOLLY JARONE, GILLIAN BRASSIL, MICHAEL WILNER: "In 2021, the $60,000 price tag for transporting the remains of fallen U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole Gee reportedly nearly fell on the shoulders of her family, according to a letter sent Wednesday to the Pentagon.
In it, Rep. Kevin Kiley, who represents Roseville in Congress, asked Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to explain “how this apparent travesty could occur.”"
Dangers worsen as long heat wave grips Southwest without relent
LA Times, HAYLEY SMITH: "For nearly a month, millions of people across the American Southwest have sizzled, sweated and sweltered under a heat wave that refuses to let up.
Day after day, residents from Fresno to Phoenix have endured triple-digit temperatures and hot, restless nights that have offered little relief."
LA Times, CARI SPENCER: "Firefighters continued to battle three large brush fires Wednesday that, combined, had scorched hundreds of acres in Southern California, damaging power lines and shutting down roads amid triple-digit temperatures.
The latest, dubbed the Owen fire, ignited in the Santa Monica Mountains shortly before 2 p.m. and was gauged, around 3 p.m., at 50 acres, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. A revised size-up at 5 p.m. Wednesday estimated the fire at 25 acres."
Charts show UC admissions rates for every high school in California
The Chronicle, NAMI SUMIDA: "The merits of a public versus private school education have long been debated among parents and researchers, especially as it relates to college admissions.
But according to new data from the University of California, public and private school applicants in the state have near equal chances of getting into UCLA and Berkeley."
What to know about bachelor's degrees at California Community Colleges | Quick Guide
EdSource, MICHAEL BURKE: "In California, students seeking a bachelor’s degree are no longer restricted to pursuing one at the University of California, California State University or any other four-year university.
That’s because an increasing number of the state’s community colleges are now offering or will soon offer those degrees. From San Diego City College in the south to Shasta in the far northern part of the state, a total of 31 baccalaureate programs across 27 colleges are either currently available to students or have been approved and will soon be offered."
Sen. Feinstein sends letter seeking answers about Golden Gate Fields closure
The Chronicle, RON KROICHICK: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein jumped into the conversation about the closure of Golden Gate Fields on Wednesday, sending a letter to the racetrack’s owners seeking clarity about their plans.
Feinstein fired off the brief letter to Belinda Stronach, chairwoman, CEO and president of the Stronach Group, which has owned Golden Gate Fields since 2011. The company announced on July 16 that it will close Northern California’s only major thoroughbred track after the fall meet ends in December.
In the letter, Feinstein wrote she is “seeking clarification of your transition plans, including disposition of the land and stadium.” Feinstein also asked about “the rationale” for closing the track, pressed Stronach on how it will help track employees find other work and wondered about plans for the land."
Musicians deal with stingy streamers and AI threats, too. So why aren’t they on strike?
LA Times, AUGUST BROWN, KENAN DRAUGHORNE: "Every day, Joey DeFrancesco hears from fellow musicians who see actors and screenwriters on strike, and wish they were on a picket line too.
“A lot of musicians are really angry now. I get messages all the time asking ‘Why aren’t we on strike?’ ” said DeFrancesco, guitarist for the rock band Downtown Boys and co-founder of the activist nonprofit group United Musicians and Allied Workers. “Writers and actors are on strike demanding changes in how streaming platforms compensate labor. They’re fighting at the bargaining table. Most musicians don’t even have a seat at that table.“"
Taylor Swift fans ‘welcome’ to tailgate, says Santa Clara official — despite Levi’s Stadium ban
The Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI: "Despite an earlier warning that tailgating will be prohibited at Levi’s Stadium before Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated Eras Tour concerts at the home of the 49ers this weekend, one Bay Area public official is giving fans her permission to shake it off.
Santa Clara Council Member Kathy Watanabe, a longtime critic of the 49ers organization, is encouraging Swifties — even those without tickets — to congregate in the parking lots and surrounding streets before and during the shows. She confirmed to The Chronicle that the stadium’s rule against tailgating is unenforceable."
Gang tied to killing of two El Monte police officers is swept up on federal charges
LA Times, RICHARD WINTON: "Federal investigators, El Monte police and Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies arrested alleged members of the Quiet Village gang Wednesday, naming the group in a series of indictments that accuse them of conspiring to commit murder, other violent crimes and drug trafficking.
The cases stem from the killing of two El Monte police officers last June during a confrontation at a motel with a member of the gang. Officers Michael Paredes and Joseph Santana were responding to a domestic violence report when Justin Flores — a documented member of the Quiet Village gang with multiple prior convictions — shot them in the head."
S.F. doesn’t have the highest homelessness rates in California. These cities do
The Chronicle, MALLORY MOENCH: "Oakland and Los Angeles both have higher rates of homelessness than San Francisco, with those three California cities topping a list of 16 similar cities across the country, according to a new analysis released Wednesday. Oakland fared much worse than San Francisco with 1,147 homeless people per 100,000 residents versus 887.
The report from the San Francisco Controller looked at homeless rates as well as housing and shelter across peer cities to get a sense of how San Francisco stacks up. It found large West Coast cities have higher rates of overall homelessness, including unsheltered homelessness, than many of their East Coast counterparts."
Red-light cameras are coming to these busy S.F. intersections. Here’s when
The Chronicle, RICARDO CANO: "Several highly trafficked intersections in San Francisco will be getting cameras that can automatically detect and ticket drivers who run red lights.
Once they’re installed, by 2025, the eight red-light cameras will join the ones that the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency already operates at 13 locations throughout the city. The cameras take snapshots of front license plates and drivers’ faces when their vehicles cross intersections after the lights turn red, and citations are mailed to violators."
Sinéad O’Connor, fierce activist and haunting singer of ‘Nothing Compares 2 U,’ dies at 56
LA Times, NARDINE SAAD: "Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor, who shot to fame in 1990 with a shaved head and the Prince-written hit “Nothing Compares 2 U,” then cemented her place in pop culture by shredding a picture of the pope on “Saturday Night Live,” has died.
The death of the soulful, complicated star, whose mental health struggles often threatened to eclipse her art, was announced in a family statement Wednesday issued to the BBC. She was 56."
Trump says he would end European visas on US citizens planned for 2024
The Hill, LAUREN SFORZA: "Former President Trump says he would put an end to Europe requiring entry fees for U.S. travelers if elected to the White House next year.
"Wow! "U.S. CITIZENS WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR A VISA TO TRAVEL TO EUROPE STARTING IN 2024." he posted on Truth Social. "Think of this. We give them everything, including military protection and trade, and now we have to pay them to go there.""