California’s top 3 Senate candidates seek edge in race for Feinstein’s old seat
The Chronicle, CYNTHIA DIZIKES: "The top three California Democrats running for U.S. Senate vied Sunday for the endorsement of a major health care union during a forum that underscored the similarities of their policy positions over their differences.
Reps. Barbara Lee of Oakland, Katie Porter of Irvine and Adam Schiff of Burbank fielded questions for 90 minutes from a panel of reporters and moderator Lisa Matthews, a veteran journalist and top editor at the Associated Press, on a range of topics crucial to California voters, including health care, housing, minimum wage, gas prices and term limits for appointed and elected officials."
Black Angelenos greet California’s new senator with delight, wariness and high expectations
LA Times, TYRONE BEASON: "Democrat Laphonza Butler was heralded as the nation’s third Black female senator when she was sworn in Tuesday to replace California Sen. Dianne Feinstein. She’s also the first out gay person of color to serve in the U.S. Senate.
Black Angelenos, many of whom feel a disconnect between themselves and elected leaders regardless of party, are torn about what it means for them."
Facing a no-win situation, Newsom made a surprise decision with Senate appointment
LA Times, TARYN LUNA: "The death of Sen. Dianne Feinstein last month left a California U.S. Senate seat vacant and, seemingly, put Gov. Gavin Newsom in a no-win situation of his own making.
But Newsom didn’t see it that way."
Gavin Newsom vetoes bill to decriminalize psychedelic drugs in California
Sacramento Bee, ANDREW SHEELER: "Psychedelics will remain illegal in California, after Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have decriminalized possession of certain hallucinogenic drugs.
In a veto statement released Saturday, Newsom said he believed in the underlying science of hallucingens — its effectiveness in treating mental illnesses like depression and PTSD — calling it “an exciting frontier.”"
Newsom blocks a bill to ban caste discrimination in California
CALMatters, SAMEEA KAMAL: "Neither the draw of making California the first state to pass such a law, nor the month-long hunger strike by supporters persuaded Gov. Gavin Newsom to add caste to the list of categories in the state’s housing, education and employment discrimination laws.
In his veto message today, Newsom said the bill was “unnecessary.”"
Pelosi, Breed among hundreds at S.F. synagogue voicing support for Israel during ‘dark hour’
The Chronicle, CATHERINE HO: "What was supposed to be a day of celebration of a Jewish holiday turned into a somber gathering at San Francisco’s Congregation Sherith Israel on Sunday morning as hundreds of Bay Area residents came together to pray, mourn the lives lost in the Hamas-led attacks on Israeli civilians, and offer support for the Jewish community.
Sunday was Simchat Torah, normally a joyous occasion with song and dance commemorating the end of one annual cycle of reading Torah scrolls and the start of another."
Kevin de León says he deserves another chance. Critics say he’s ‘gaslighting’ L.A.
LA Times, BRITTNY MEJIA, DAVID ZAHNISER: "The crowd applauded the moment Kevin de León walked up.
Abuelas pulled him in for a warm embrace. Entire families, standing in line at the recent El Sereno food giveaway, asked for selfies with him."
LA Times, SALVADOR HERNANDEZ, NATHAN SOLIS: "One year since the leaked recording of a backroom conversation among three Los Angeles City Council members and a prominent union president rocked local politics and opened up old racial wounds, the healing process for many Angelenos is still ongoing.
The four Latino political leaders — Councilmembers Kevin de León, Nury Martinez and Gil Cedillo, and L.A. County Federation of Labor chief Ron Herrera — took part in a conversation that included profane and derogatory comments about Black people, Oaxacans and others, and how to bend the city’s redistricting process to their own benefit."
A world away from Israel, L.A.’s Jewish community reels under vast sense of loss
LA Times, ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN, REBECCA ELLIS: "When Sharon Farber turned her phone back on after seeing a play with her daughter Saturday, frantic WhatsApp messages poured in from the other side of the world.
Her sister in Israel told her that she and other relatives were hiding in bomb shelters because the country was under attack. Terrified and unable to work or sleep, Farber spent the day and night on the phone, calling and texting family and friends, and scrolling through the news."
Why California’s weather is set up for abrupt seasonal shifts soon
The Chronicle, GERRY DIAZ: "Summer-like heat waves will likely yield to the first storms of the water year in the coming weeks as dramatic weather swings arrive in October.
A high pressure system is expected to haul unusually hot temperatures and dry air to California next week. Seasonal changes will then begin to undercut heat as cold and wet areas of low pressure increase in coverage during the second half of the month."
Bay Area’s sweltering heat continues, but relief is in sight
The Chronicle, GERRY DIAZ: "An end to the so-called second summer is on the horizon as the relentless heat over the Bay Area tapers off.
The National Weather Service’s heat advisories will continue Saturday for communities along San Francisco Bay and in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Residents can expect a few breaks from the unusually hot weather in the afternoon, but the biggest changes to temperatures arrive by the end of the week."
A fix for California’s teacher shortage? Pull back the retirees who’ve already left
BANG*Mercury News, ELISSA MIOLENE: "Exactly six months after Susan Gonyo retired, the calls began coming in. She had spent two-and-a-half decades teaching at a Santa Rosa elementary school, and as soon as the mandatory 180-day separation period set by the state’s teacher pension agency had passed, her former principal was already asking her to return.
It was right after pandemic-era school closures. The teacher shortage was just getting worse. And so, 67-year-old Gonyo went back to the classroom — first as a substitute, and then as a part-time teacher."
Newsom vetoes bill that would allow condoms to be freely distributed to public high school students
LA Times, ANABEL SOSA: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday vetoed legislation that would have provided teenagers attending public high school with access to free condoms and prohibited retailers from refusing to sell them to youths.
Newsom said that although he agreed that providing condoms are “important to supporting improved adolescent sexual health,” the bill would have created an unfunded program that was not included in the state’s annual budget."
Lessons from the 1978 teachers strike in Fresno: Bonds, trust will suffer
EdSource, LASHERICA THORNTON: "Nearly 45 years ago, in the fall of 1978, teachers across Fresno Unified stood at the gates of their schools, rather than in front of dozens of students in the classroom. They’d made a decision to participate in what is still the district’s only strike in history.
Students were no longer with the teachers they’d grown to know. They had to contend with substitute teachers or administrators who gave them packets of work in combined classrooms or in the cafeteria."
Rents in this Bay Area city have fallen more than in any of the other largest U.S. towns
The Chronicle, CHRISTIAN LEONARD: "Rents for one-bedroom units in Oakland were down 7.2% in September from a year earlier, the biggest drop among the United States’ 100 largest cities.
Median asking rent was about $1,430 in Oakland for a one-bedroom rental, according to data from Apartment List. That’s the lowest rent for the city since at least 2017, the earliest year of data available from the listing site and more than $100 lower than the price in September 2022."
BANG*Mercury News, ROBERT SALONGA, HARRIET BLAIR ROWAN/KQED*LISA PICKOFF-WHITE: "Twice in a two-month span, a fragile, self-destructive Thompson “Tommy” Nguyen encountered San Jose police officers trained to deal with people in a mental health crisis. The first time, Nguyen’s family worried the officers might hurt Nguyen, and sent them away.
The second time, police killed him."
Massive Israeli troop buildup on Gaza border as fighting with Hamas rages
LA Times, NABIH BULOS, LAURA KING: "Israel battled Hamas infiltrators for a third day Monday and massed tens of thousands of troops near the Gaza Strip, which Palestinian militants used as a springboard for the biggest attack in decades on Israeli territory.
A land invasion of the crowded Mediterranean enclave looked possible as the combined death toll on both sides surpassed 1,100. From the air, Israeli warplanes, helicopters and artillery pummeled Gaza for a second consecutive night, striking more than 500 targets that the Israeli military said were linked to Hamas and to Islamic Jihad, a smaller extremist group."