Supreme Court today considers whether Trump can be disqualified because of Jan. 6 insurrection
LAT, DAVID G. SAVAGE: "The Supreme Court is hearing arguments Thursday on whether former President Trump can be disqualified from running for election this year because of allegations he incited a mob assault on the Capitol after he lost the 2020 election.
At issue is whether he violated a post-Civil War constitutional amendment that says no person may “hold any office, civil or military” after having taken an oath to support the Constitution and later “engaged in insurrection” against the United States."
READ MORE -- Supreme Court ruling on Donald Trump’s presidential run could affect California. Here’s how -- Sacramento Bee, GILLIAN BRASSIL
California’s trees are dying in huge numbers — and Tahoe is the epicenter
LAT, KURTIS ALEXANDER: "California’s forests continue to see mass die-offs of trees as a result of too little water, insect infestation and disease. But last year’s wet winter provided at least some relief, new federal data shows.
Roughly 28.8 million trees died statewide in 2023, according to the U.S. Forest Service’s annual aerial survey. The central Sierra Nevada, including the Lake Tahoe basin, and the state’s far north experienced the brunt of the mortality."
The unloved L.A. River just prevented a flood disaster. Can more of its water be saved?
LAT, HAYLEY SMITH: "As intense atmospheric rivers become more common in a warming world, so too do questions about stormwater capture in Los Angeles. Each year, when rain pours down and the L.A. River roars back to life, Angelenos want to know how much of that water is being captured and stored — and how much is washing out to sea.
The piling rig was in position, ready to drive a concrete pillar 40 feet into the ground. Just beyond the rig on this winter afternoon, trucks and cars continued streaming down State Road 198 in Hanford, separated from the construction site by white dividers."
California wants to cap your medical bills. Guess who’s pushing back.
CALMatters, ANNA B. IBARRA: "A new state office charged with controlling the rising cost of health care in California is moving toward one of the most aggressive goals in the nation, aiming to cap cost increases to 3% a year.
You might not notice right away if the Office of Health Care Affordability commits to the tentative goal it released last month and takes steps to enforce it. But, over time, experts say the cap on price increases could make a difference in how much Californians pay for health care."
Everything you need to know about the legal battle S.F. school district is facing over elections
The Chronicle, JILL TUCKER: "The San Francisco Unified School District is used to its share of political upheaval and court battles, but the legal hand grenade tossed at the district demanding a change to how school board members are elected sent shock waves across the city.
Bay Area attorney Scott Rafferty has demanded that city’s school officials shift from citywide board elections to smaller district races by November or face a lawsuit that could cost millions of dollars in legal fees."
Judge tosses potential $1.7B lawsuit challenging removal of Hastings’ name from S.F. law school
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: "A judge found that an 1878 California law saying the state’s law school in San Francisco “shall forever be known” as Hastings College of the Law was not a binding contract, but simply an ordinary statute that future lawmakers were free to amend or repeal.
That means the state did not violate a binding promise to Serranus Hastings by changing the school’s name last year to the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, Superior Court Judge Richard Ulmer said Tuesday. The change was based on evidence that Hastings had ordered troops to slaughter thousands of Native Americans in the 1860s. The suit by Hastings’ descendants sought $1.7 billion in damages and interest."
California plans to use AI to answer your tax questions
CALMatters, KHARI JOHNSON: "A constant hum fills the air at California’s tax agency this time of year — phones ring and keyboards clack as hundreds of thousands of Californians and businesses seek tax guidance.
Call volume quadruples to up to 10,000 a day; average wait times soar from four minutes to 20. “Right from the get-go when the bell rings at 7:30 you (already) have a wait,” said call center chief Thor Dunn, adding that workers with other jobs are trained to hop on the phones during peak periods. “All hands on deck.”"
5 Marines aboard helicopter that crashed outside San Diego are confirmed dead, military says
LAT, NATHAN SOLIS, JON HEALEY: "Five U.S. Marines aboard a helicopter that went down during stormy weather in the mountains outside San Diego are confirmed dead, a Marine commander said Thursday.
It was the second fatal crash for Marines in Southern California involving a Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion, a heavy lift helicopter, in the last six years. The Marines said an investigation into the latest crash is underway."
Ex-Oakland police chief files blistering lawsuit against city, Mayor Thao
The Chronicle, RACHEL SWAN: " Former Oakland police Chief LeRonne Armstrong has filed a scalding lawsuit against the city and Mayor Sheng Thao, claiming that Thao illegally fired him for criticizing the city’s federal court monitor — and that the monitor pressured her to do it.
“This is an unusual wrongful termination case,” Armstrong’s attorneys said in the complaint, filed Monday evening in Alameda County Superior Court. “The city’s sole decision-maker (Mayor Thao) has repeatedly and publicly explained her reasons for the unlawful termination — and those reasons are illegal and retaliatory on their face.”"
High-speed rail is coming to the Central Valley. Residents see a new life in the fast lane
LAT, MELISSA GOMEZ: "The piling rig was in position, ready to drive a concrete pillar 40 feet into the ground. Just beyond the rig on this winter afternoon, trucks and cars continued streaming down State Road 198 in Hanford, separated from the construction site by white dividers.
Then, the pile-driving began. Foot by foot, the rig’s hammer slammed the pillar into the ground with the rhythmic beat of a metronome. With every blow, the ground shook and exhaust spewed. The beam would be one more in a network of pillars pounded deep into the earth to create the foundation for a high-speed rail line that in a matter of years will glide along tracks above the state highway, launching a new era in California’s Central Valley."
One crash set off a new era for self-driving cars in S.F. Here’s a complete look at what happened
The Chronicle, RICARDO CANO: "San Francisco entered a new era of self-driving cars on Aug. 10 when state regulators granted Cruise and Waymo unlimited commercial expansion in the city. The decision by the California Public Utilities Commission marked a major victory for the companies, and the emerging autonomous vehicle industry, as their robotaxis were suddenly allowed to operate paid, driverless ride-hailing in San Francisco at all hours.
Fifty-three days later, at about 9:30 p.m., a driverless Cruise car nicknamed “Panini” struck a jaywalking pedestrian near the intersection of Market and Fifth streets, setting General Motors-owned Cruise into a tailspin. Though the Oct. 2 crash was initiated by a human hit-and-run driver, Cruise’s handling of the incident led to its indefinite suspension in California."
At a cost of nearly $1 million a unit, stalled S.F. affordable housing project set to start again
LAT, JK DINEEN: "Two years after construction was halted because of a dispute with an adjacent church, the 63-unit, low-income development at 78 Haight St. in San Francisco is seeking $10.5 million in additional funding in order to get the project back on track.
The additional funding, which will bring the total project cost to $61.5 million — nearly $1 million per unit — would cover “structural and foundation repairs as well as any escalation in construction and operating costs for the project at large,” according to Anne Stanley, spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development."
An initiative promised 20,000 homes for mentally ill Californians. It delivered far less
CALMatters, STAFF: "In the fall of 2018, California’s voters were determined to make a dent in the state’s rapidly escalating homelessness crisis. By a wide margin, they supported a ballot measure sold as No Place Like Home, which promised to use taxpayer money earmarked for mental health treatment to pay for a $2 billion housing bond.
Voters who read the Yes campaign’s description of the measure that November saw a bold promise: 20,000 new units of permanent supportive housing."
‘I was just shocked’: City concerned about run-down Berkeley student housing co-ops
The Chronicle, NANETTE ASIMOV: "On Loren Thatcher’s first day in her new home, the smell of cat urine was so overwhelming that she dropped everything, including her orientation at UC Berkeley, to scrub the ancient carpet.
She had moved into Ridge House, a mansion-sized rental for UC Berkeley students a block north of campus on Ridge Road."