Sen. Bernie Sanders endorses 2 California ballot measures, including rent control expansion
LAT's BENJAMIN ORESKES: "Sen. Bernie Sanders, who remains popular in California after winning the state’s 2020 Democratic presidential primary, on Wednesday announced he is throwing his support behind two ballot measures related to rent control and restrictions on oil drilling.
“Landlords should not be allowed to raise rents to whatever they want, whenever they want. Big Oil should not be allowed to make record profits while drilling near neighborhoods, daycare centers, and schools and endangering people’s health. In California and across the country, all of our people deserve a safe and decent place to live,” Sanders said."
Berkeley is poised to let homeowners sell their ADUs as condos to address housing shortage
The Chronicle's CHRISTIAN LEONARD: "Berkeley residents could start selling their accessory dwelling units as condominiums within the next year, as the City Council becomes one of the first in California to embrace such a change.
Assembly Bill 1033, a law authored by Assembly Member Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, took effect at the beginning of this year and allows cities to let residents sell ADUs as condos separate from their primary home. On Tuesday, the Berkeley City Council directed city staff to draft an ordinance authorizing the sales, pointing to the need to make homeownership more accessible in one of the Bay Area’s most expensive markets."
Man arrested during the Sacramento City Council meeting. Here’s what happened
Sacramento Be's THERESA CLIFT: "A man who routinely makes antisemitic, racist and sexist remarks during Sacramento City Council meetings was arrested Tuesday.
Ryan Messano, who’s been speaking at the meetings for more than a year, attended the meeting Tuesday and turned in a speaker slip to the city clerk. After the council heard public comments on an item about fee increases, the clerk said there were no more public comments. Messano then stood in his chair and yelled that he had submitted a slip."
Storm-driven tax delays worsened California’s deficit. Newsom wants control over deadlines
Over a million Californians insured with AAA will see rates rise, some substantially
The Chronicle's MEGAN FAN MUNCE: "Over a million California policyholders insured through AAA are seeing their home insurance rates rise — sometimes by substantial amounts.
over the Israel-Hamas war, including a violent mob attack on a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA."
Police clear UC Irvine camp, make arrests after protesters occupy science building
LAT's STAFF: "Scores of police confronted a group of pro-Palestinian protesters at UC Irvine who briefly occupied and barricaded a university building Wednesday, making numerous arrests as they slowly herded protesters off the site and dismantled their encampment.
The total of those taken into police custody hadn’t been released by authorities as of Wednesday night, although some activists put the number at over 40. Despite the presence of as many as 200 officers in riot gear, the scene at UCI was calmer than some of the confrontations that have occurred on college campuses across the country in recent weeks — with objects hurled at officers, “less-lethal” rounds fired by police and injuries among protesters."
READ MORE -- Pro-Palestinian activists take over building near Berkeley’s People’s Park -- The Chronicle's JORDAN PARKER, ELI ROSENBERG
LAT's JAWEED KALEEM: "The president of Sonoma State University was placed on leave Wednesday, a day after he released a controversial campuswide message on the Israel-Hamas war that said the university would pursue “divestment strategies” and endorsed an academic boycott of Israeli universities.
California State University Chancellor Mildred García announced the decision in a statement posted to the CSU website, saying that Sonoma State President Mike Lee was taken off the job for his “insubordination” in making the statement without “appropriate approvals.”"
This anesthesiologist is L.A. County’s highest paid employee. He works 94 hours a week
LAT's REBECCA ELLIS: "The joke around the hospital is that Dr. Sebo Amirkhanian Namagerdy does not leave Rancho Los Amigos, a premier rehabilitation facility run by Los Angeles County.
His Mercedes is always in the parking lot. A former nurse found him to be such a permanent fixture at the Downey hospital that she compared him to “a piece of the material.” Doctors at other county-run facilities have heard of the guy who’s the “one-man-show” of his intensive care unit."
Exclusive: Is another wealthy, high profile tenant moving into this ritzy S.F. neighborhood?
The Chronicle's LARA WAXMANN: "A San Francisco neighborhood that has morphed into a magnet for investment from the ultra wealthy just landed a new, high-profile tenant, according to real estate market participants tracking deals in the area.
Multiple individuals have confirmed to the Chronicle that a near century-old, brick and timber office building in Jackson Square sold on Monday for roughly $9 million."
Video: Richmond police officer repeatedly strikes Black man as he films an arrest
The Chronicle's SUSIE NEILSON: "A Richmond police officer repeatedly struck and then handcuffed a man as he filmed an arrest from a public sidewalk this month, videos obtained by the Chronicle show.
Kwesi Guss, 44, was standing outside Joe’s Market in Richmond on May 5 when he heard police sirens approaching. A driver who had led Richmond police on a high-speed chase stopped outside the store, and he and his passenger exited the car with their hands raised. Guss, who has filmed police activities in the past, took out his iPhone and hit record, “as citizens generally do,” he said in an interview with the Chronicle."