CALMatters's YU STELLA YUE: "Described by its author as the “most significant political reform” in decades, a 2022 law designed to limit businesses’ and contractors’ attempts to sway local elected officials with campaign contributions cleared the California Legislature without a single “no” vote.
Two years later, some of the same legislators who backed the measure want to water it down — and they have the backing of developers and labor unions."
Inside the far-right plan to use civil rights law to disrupt the 2024 election
LA Times's SARAH D. WIRE and MACKENZIE MAYS: "At a diner just off the freeway north of Sacramento, a mostly white crowd listened intently as it learned how to “save America” by leaning on the same laws that enshrined the rights of Black voters 60 years ago.
Over mugs of coffee and plates of pot roast smothered in gravy, attendees in MAGA and tea party gear took notes about the landmark Voting Rights Act and studied the U.S. Constitution. They peppered self-proclaimed “election integrity” activist Marly Hornik with questions about how to become skilled citizen observers monitoring California poll workers."
California begins demolition of 173-foot dam as part of nation’s largest removal project
The Chronicle's KURTIS ALEXANDER: "The historic dam-removal project on the Klamath River, along the remote California-Oregon border, is hitting another milestone this week as demolition of the largest of four targeted hydroelectric dams gets underway.
Iron Gate Dam, a 173-foot dam in Siskiyou County, is scheduled to start being disassembled by work crews Wednesday, an endeavor that is expected to continue until September or October."
DEA’s big marijuana shift could be a lifeline for California’s troubled pot industry
LA Times's SALVADOR HERNANDEZ: "If the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reclassified marijuana as a less dangerous drug, it wouldn’t eliminate the conflicts between the feds and states such as California that have legalized many uses of the substance.
But it would bring one significant shift that could give California’s licensed pot companies a badly needed boost: a lighter tax burden."
Californians are protecting themselves from wildfire. Why is there still an insurance crisis?
CALMatters's LEVI SUMAGAYSAY: "Spend any time thinking or talking about insurance in California these days and you’re bound to hear the word “mitigation.”
Fire officials, lawmakers, insurance agents and others are asking homeowners to help lower the risk of devastating wildfires by making improvements to their properties — in some cases at great expense — and often in the context of trying to hang on to their insurance policies. The state has spent about $3.7 billion on forest management in the past seven years. Communities, fire districts and others are doing their part, too."
READ MORE -- Thousands of homeowners in this wealthy Bay Area city are set to lose insurance: ‘No good options' -- The Chronicle's MICHAEL CABANATUAN
College protests in California: See what’s happening at UCLA and other campuses
The Chronicle's JESSICA FLORES: "Pro-Palestinian demonstrations have spread across college campuses in California and throughout the country, with students calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war and demanding that school administrators stop all investments tied to Israel.
Students at more than a dozen universities in California have rallied and set up encampments, holding study groups, prayers, art workshops and more. In some cases, demonstrations — and the response to them — have disrupted academics, campus life and commencement plans."
California colleges got billions in pandemic relief funds. What will happen once it’s gone"
CALMatters's ADAM ECHELMAN: "In March 2020, colleges were on the verge of a crisis. Students were dropping out en masse, and California’s public colleges and universities predicted they might lose billions of dollars within the year.
Enter the federal government. In three installments over the following year, Congress gave more than $8 billion to California’s public colleges and universities as part of a national rescue plan. For the California State University system, the stimulus money accounted for roughly a quarter of its annual revenue."
CSU awards $4.6 million to advance Black student success
EdSource's DIANA LAMBERT: "California State University has awarded $4.6 million to its campuses to advance Black student success. It is part of $10 million that the university system has committed to spending over the next three years to meet the recommendations of the Black Student Success Report released last year.
The report evaluates how the public university system is supporting Black students and addressing persistent trends in low Black student enrollment, retention and graduation rates, according to university officials."
When you can’t read a medicine bottle: California immigrants struggle with low English literacy
EdSource's EMMA GALLEGOS: "Nine years ago, Analilia Gutierrez gave birth to her son, a micro preemie who needed intensive care.
At the time, Gutierrez, an immigrant from Mexico, spoke and read little English. Filling out health forms and trying to keep up with her son’s care was an overwhelming experience. Interpreters, if available, sometimes created problems with misinterpretation."
California protects its Joshua trees. A new bill could allow more to be cut down for development
CALMatters's RYAN SABALOW: "Democratic Assemblymember Juan Carrillo has mixed feelings about the Joshua trees that are scattered across his sprawling Southern California desert district.
“The Joshua tree is an iconic symbol of the higch desert,” he told CalMatters. “We have to save that. We have to preserve it.”"
Campaign to erect new city on Solano County ranchland submits signatures for November ballot
LA Times's CONNOR SHEETS: "A billionaire-backed vision to erect an idealistic new city on scrubby grassland in rural Solano County is one step closer to becoming reality.
On Tuesday, the Bay Area tech leaders behind the campaign, dubbed California Forever, held a news conference to announce that they had turned over more than 20,000 voter signatures to the Solano County registrar in support of putting the issue before local voters. If the county validates at least 13,062 of those signatures, the measure would go before voters in November, seeking to amend zoning codes to allow the residential project to be built on agricultural land."
Restaurant surcharges will soon be illegal in California
The Chronicle's ELENA KADVANY: "The California attorney general’s office confirmed on Tuesday that a new California law that bans junk fees will apply to surcharges at restaurants, following months of anxiety and confusion in the food industry.
Starting July 1, under SB478, California restaurants will no longer be able to charge service fees — which have become an increasingly common tool to sustain higher wages for workers as food businesses move away from tips — and must instead fold them into menu prices, the attorney general’s office said. The law applies to all fees other than taxes, the attorney general’s office said, including other surcharges restaurants use to offset costs, such as San Francisco’s ordinance requiring businesses to provide health care or credit card processing fees."
Crime falls in Oakland through first third of year, raising hopes of turnaround
The Chronicle's ELI ROSENBERG: "Oakland officials are hailing new data showing that crime has fallen significantly, after a spike in 2023 drew national attention and raised concerns among residents about the direction of the city.
Crime is down 33% overall in Oakland so far this year compared with the same period in 2023, according to the latest police statistics through April 28, with significant drops in categories including homicides, assaults, rapes, and burglaries."
More than 50 are injured when L.A. Metro train, bus collide outside Exposition Park
LA Times's ANDREW J. CAMPA: "A Los Angeles Metro train and a USC transportation bus collided outside Exposition Park shortly before noon, injuring 55 people, according to authorities.
Los Angeles firefighters rolled to the scene at 11:54 a.m. after receiving a report of an accident at 901 W. Exposition Blvd., just north of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County."