California approves controversial electricity rate change. What’s coming to your bill?
ARI PLACHTA, SacBee: "As Californians get ready to turn on their air conditioning this summer, the state’s utility regulator approved a hotly contested change to residential electricity rates.
In a unanimous vote Thursday, the agency authorized a flat fee of up to $24.15 and cuts to electricity costs by 5-7 cents per kilowatt-hour. The change stands to impact 11 million customers of investor-owned utilities starting late next year. Regulators called it a key step to slashing carbon emissions from homes, arguing the “fixed charge” will help stabilize utility revenue and curb rising costs of California’s clean energy transition."
READ MORE -- California approves big, controversial change to electricity bills. Here are the details -- JULIE JOHNSON, Chronicle; Californians will see lower electricity rates and a new fee that won’t vary with power use -- BEN CHRISTOPHER, CALMatters
Today’s campus protesters invoke the anti-apartheid movement — but there’s one big difference
JOE GAROFOLI, SOPHIA BOLLAG, Chronicle: "When he addressed 60,000 people at the Oakland Coliseum in 1990 after his release from prison, Nelson Mandela credited California activists for pushing the UC system to divest from companies with ties to South Africa — a pivotal moment in the fight against the country’s racist apartheid system.
Today, pro-Palestinian student activists are drawing inspiration from that same movement, which successfully pressured the UC to divest $3.1 billion from companies doing business in South Africa."
READ MORE -- ‘Shut it down!’ How group chats, rumors and fear sparked a night of violence at UCLA -- MATTHEW ORMSETH, CONNOR SHEETS, BRITTNY MEJIA, RUBEN VIVES, JESSICA GARRISON, SUMMER LIN, LA Times; Jewish families say anti-Israel messaging in Bay Area classrooms is making schools unsafe -- HANNAH WILEY, LA Times
How bad will Gov. Newsom’s budget cuts be?
LYNN LA, CALMatters: "Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to unveil his revised proposed 2024-25 state budget at 11 a.m. today — and legislators, advocates and lobbyists are all bracing for likely deep spending cuts to bridge a big deficit.
His plan will account for updated tax revenue data through April. In his initial budget proposal in January, Newsom projected the shortfall to be $38 billion, though the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office later put it as high as $73 billion."
It’s time again for Gavin Newsom lingo bingo
JOHN OSBORN D'AGOSTINO, CALMatters: "If it’s another big speech by Gov. Gavin Newsom, then it must be time for CalMatters’ Newsom lingo bingo.
This is our third edition because, you know, our governor comes up with new turns of phrase — whether or not they’re used in everyday conversation."
President Joe Biden arrives in the Bay Area on fundraising trip
RYAN MACASERO, Mercury News:"President Joe Biden returned to the Bay Area for a two-day visit on Thursday evening, arriving at Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View around 7:38 p.m.
Air Force One arrived in Mountain View at 7:25 p.m. After disembarking from Air Force One, Biden walked directly off the ramp and boarded a chopper to San Francisco, where he was expected to spend the night. He boarded Marine One around 7:40 p.m., and the helicopter took off around 7:45 p.m. for San Francisco."
California lawmakers keep killing bills by not voting on them. Do the rules need to change?
RYAN SABALOW, CALMatters: "Among the most controversial bills that died this spring was a measure prompted by allegations that Gov. Gavin Newsom secured a lucrative benefit for a billionaire supporter by exempting his restaurants from a minimum wage increase.
Newsom dismissed the allegations as “absurd,” but KCRA 3 reported that the public might never get a full accounting of what happened because participants to the bill negotiations signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that threatened them with legal action if they spoke about the issue."
Turmoil leads to rapid rise for new Capitol lobbying firm
BRIAN JOSEPH, Capitol Weekly: "Eagle-eyed readers of Capitol Weekly’s recent report on quarterly lobbying payments might have spotted an unfamiliar firm name among the top recipients for the first quarter of 2024: the Deveau Burr Group.
Especially close readers also might have noticed that Strategies 360, a perennial top firm in Sacramento, was conspicuously absent from the list of top payees for the quarter, although we did report that it has raked in more than $5.3 million over the first 15 months of the 2023-24 legislative cycle."
Use solar power, kill a tortoise? Climate change solution carries environmental costs
ETHAN BARON, BANG*Mercury News: "Turn on your toaster, bulldoze a Joshua tree. Flip a light switch, feed an endangered tortoise to a badger.
Solar power, widely seen as humanity’s best hope for avoiding catastrophic climate change, can carry a heavy environmental cost, depending on where panels and transmission lines are built."
Experts blast CDC over refusal to test sewage for signs of H5N1 bird flu virus
SUSANNE RUST, LA Times: "It emerged as a powerful tool for public health officers during the COVID-19 pandemic, when it was used to gauge the prevalence of coronavirus in communities across the nation.
But wastewater surveillance — the testing of sewage for signs of pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2, poliovirus and mpox virus — has yet to be employed in the tracking of H5N1 bird flu virus."
California shifting to warmer, drier weather, but wildfire season still expected to be delayed
GRACE TOOHEY, LA Times: "After another rainy winter that dragged into springtime, California is finally moving toward a warmer and drier pattern, with temperatures expected to hit typical highs — or above — for this time of year.
“It’s feeling kind of spring [or] summery,” said Rose Schoenfeld, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard. “We don’t have any rain in our forecast coming up.”"
Using model or uniform acts for bill drafting
CHRIS MICHELI, Capitol Weekly: "When drafting new laws in California or in other jurisdictions, sometimes interest groups and those drafting legislation may turn to model laws or uniform acts. They may also review similar laws adopted by the federal government or other states, or even other jurisdictions around the globe. As readers might imagine, there are positive and negative aspects of using these other laws when drafting legislation.
Although bill drafting requires creativity in many instances, if a statute is working well in another jurisdiction, it may not be necessary to “re-create the wheel.” Similar laws in California, as well as those in other states or countries, might be useful when a drafting a new law. These uniform laws and model acts come from a variety of sources.'
Closure of Dublin woman’s prison was poorly planned, judge says in ordering further monitoring
CHRISTOPHER WEBER, AP via Merucry News: "The plan to close a troubled prison in California where female inmates suffered sexual abuse by guards was “ill-conceived,” a judge said while ordering close monitoring and care of the incarcerated women who were moved to other federal facilities across the country.
U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said in Wednesday’s order that last month’s decision by the Bureau of Prisons, or BOP, to shut down FCI Dublin “created serious concerns” for the well being of more than 600 women who were transferred out."
Disconnected youth: Some young Californians lack work, school options
FELICIA MELLO, CALMatters: "A new analysis from the Public Policy Institute of California finds the state’s economy is leaving a significant share of young people behind.
More than 1 in 10 Californians between the ages of 16 and 24 were not in school, working, or looking for a job in 2022, the Institute found. That’s lower than at the height of the 2009 recession, but higher than just before the Covid-19 pandemic."
The UCs are a better investment than most U.S. colleges. See data on every school
NUMI SUMIDA, Chronicle: "Californians are fortunate to have access to some of the best public universities in the country when it comes to the financial return on investment.
According to an analysis by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, attending a University of California and California State University campus yields a higher short-term return on investment than a non-California public university by $78,000 and $57,000, respectively."
READ MORE -- Is higher education worth the cost? New study says it depends on the school -- MOLLY GIBBS, BANG*Mercury News
UCLA may have to pay UC Berkeley $10 million of ‘Calimony’ a year
SUZANNE ESPINOSA SOLIS, Chronicle: "University of California President Michael Drake is recommending that UCLA pay UC Berkeley $10 million a year through the 2029-30 school year to help Cal shore up its athletic department in the wake of the collapse of the Pac-12 conference.
The “Calimony” payments — which will be considered by the UC Board of Regents at its meeting next week at UC Merced — follow UCLA’s divorce from the Pac-12 to join the Big Ten. The move accelerated the dissolution of the Pac-12 and UC Berkeley, along with Stanford, ultimately accepted an invitation to join the Atlantic Coast Conference."
How Sacramento State is becoming a statewide hub for Black student success
DARRELL SMITH, SacBee: 'Sacramento State will be the home of a new center for Black student success to develop programs across the 23-campus California State University system and in underserved communities throughout the state, officials announced Thursday.
An initial $1.3 million will fund the CSU Statewide Central Office for the Advancement of Black Excellence, part of $10 million to stand up initiatives to promote the success of Black students. It will build off a slate of recommendations laid out last June in the university system’s Black Student Success Report."
Fireworks, drones, Travis Scott hats: USC hosts alternative graduation event. Feelings are mixed
ANGIE ORELLANA HERNANDEZ, HAILEY BRANSON-POTTS, JAWEED KALEEM, LA Times: "No valedictorian speech. No celebrity speakers. No main-stage ceremony, and no massive graduate walk to “Pomp and Circumstance” before tens of thousands of guests.
Instead, USC’s graduating seniors — whose traditional main graduation ceremony was canceled — were thrown an alternative party Thursday night: a “Trojan Family Graduate Celebration” at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on the eve of smaller campus commencement ceremonies where diplomas were set to be awarded at individual school events."
READ MORE -- College commencements face disruption from pro-Palestinian protests -- MICHAEL BURKE, EdSource
How Huntington Beach’s library became a battleground in the book culture war
RYAN FONSECA, LA Times: "A passionate crowd spoke in support of the Huntington Beach Public Library at a five-hour City Council meeting this week. When the conservative-majority council voted to continue its exploration of privatizing the library, attendees shouted: “Shame!”
The conservative block, led by Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark, says they have a responsibility to find the cheapest way to run the library, and that includes considering the option of hiring an outside contractor to take over daily operations."
READ MORE -- Battle in Huntington Beach after transgender surfer barred from longboard competition -- HANNAH FRY, LA Times
Am I eligible for California unemployment benefits if I quit my job? See the requirements
ANGELA RODRIGUEZ, SacBee: "If you quit your job, the department requires that you must prove “good cause for quitting.” To determine if your are eligible for unemployment benefits, the (California Employment Development Department) said it will schedule two separate phone interviews with you and your previous employer after you file a claim.
“You must show that there was good cause for leaving, and that you made all reasonable attempts to keep your job,” the department website says. (Those incude)
Unsafe working conditions... Medical doctor’s advice...Requesting a leave of absence or transfer...Protecting yourself or your family from domestic violence."
Exclusive: S.F. nonprofits secure $100 million gift for affordable artist housing on Market Street
AIDIN VAZIRI, Chronicle: "Two San Francisco nonprofits are submitting plans to city officials on Friday to construct approximately 100 affordable housing units dedicated for artists at a prime Market Street location, thanks to a $100 million gift from an anonymous benefactor.
Artists Hub on Market and Mercy Housing of California are collaborating to redevelop the site at 1687 Market St., currently home to the McRoskey Mattress store, into a mixed-use building."
S.F. program gives homeless people free booze. Here’s why the city says it’s helpful
ST. JOHN BARNED-SMITH, MAGGIE ANGST, Chronicle: "For a small slice of San Francisco’s homeless population that struggles with severe alcohol addiction, nurses offer treatment not in a pill, but in a shot of vodka or a glass of beer.
It may sound counterintuitive, experts say, but it helps keep people off the streets and out of emergency rooms, jails — or the morgue."