California’s largest reservoir fills for a second year in a row
The Chronicle's JACK LEE: "Shasta Lake, the largest reservoir in California, is virtually full for the second year in a row, following months of steady storms.
NASA satellite images show how much conditions have changed at Shasta Lake from about two years ago, when the reservoir was at just 39% of total capacity."
California justices appear likely to uphold Prop. 22, keeping gig worker law in place
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "In a case with potentially major economic consequences, the California Supreme Court left little doubt Tuesday that it plans to uphold Proposition 22, a ballot initiative pushed by ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft and delivery services Doordash and Instacart that reclassified their 1.4 million drivers as contractors rather than employees.
Prop. 22, approved by 59% of the state’s voters in 2020, was opposed by labor groups because contractors lack many of the rights of employees, including minimum wages, overtime, sick leave, payment for work expenses and the right to organize a union. But their legal argument — that the initiative violates the state Constitution by denying workers’ compensation benefits to the drivers for workplace injuries — drew no sign of support from the justices."
Ward Connerly, The Father of Proposition 209
Capitol Weekly's STAFF: "Ward Connerly was born into the Jim Crow South, Louisiana in 1939, where he was a second class citizen because of the color of his skin. Raised by a grandmother, after his mother died when he was four, Connerly made his way to California and became one of the state’s most consequential figures at the end of the 20th Century.
As a University of California regent who was appointed by Gov. Pete Wilson, Connerly promoted Proposition 209 of 1996, an initiative to end the practice of considering race in college admissions and government contracting and hiring."
Bakersfield legislator Vince Fong wins special election to replace Kevin McCarthy in Congress
LAT's LAURA J. NELSON: "In the race to replace former Rep. Kevin McCarthy in Congress, San Joaquin Valley voters Tuesday chose Vince Fong, a Republican state assemblyman who was endorsed by McCarthy and Donald Trump.
The Associated Press called California’s 20th Congressional District special election for Fong at 8:17 p.m. Fong bested fellow Republican Mike Boudreaux, the Tulare County sheriff."
Leading S.F. mayoral candidates share vision for the city in first town hall
The Chronicle's JD MORRIS: "The five leading candidates in the San Francisco mayor’s race appeared in a joint town hall Tuesday night and made their best cases for why they should win the November election.
Mayor London Breed, along with challengers Daniel Lurie, Ahsha Safaí, Aaron Peskin and Mark Farrell, answered a series of questions — one at a time — from the president of the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, a progressive political group in the city that plans to make an endorsement in the race next month. It was the first time all five major candidates publicly answered political questions about their campaigns at the same event."
California could soon license Arizona abortion doctors unable to practice in their own state
Sacramento Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "Arizona abortion providers may soon be able to render their services in California.
California Senate lawmakers voted on party lines for SB 233, a bill from Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, that is intended to allow Arizona doctors to practice medicine in the Golden State until Arizona’s repeal of a Civil War-era law that bans all abortions goes into effect later this fall."
A day with no COVID deaths? It finally happened in California
BANG*Mercury News's HARRIET BLAIR ROWAN: "It was a regular Tuesday in spring, sunny and warm, and a little foggy at the coast. But as April 2, 2024 came to a close, a silent victory emerged: The day had passed without a single Californian dying from COVID.
Over the next several weeks, as death certificates were filed and processed, it would become the first day without an official COVID death since March 18, 2020, the day before Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a statewide stay-at-home order."
Are ‘deaths of despair’ really more common for white Americans? A UCLA report says no
LAT's TYRONE BEASON: "Nakeya Fields has seen how the stresses that come with being Black — racial injustice, financial strain, social isolation — can leave people feeling hopeless and push some into substance abuse.
It’s one of the reasons the Pasadena social worker started offering “therapeutic play” gatherings for Black mothers like herself and children."
UC seeks injunction to halt strike as academic workers threaten to expand walkouts
LAT's HOWARD BLUME, JAWEED KALEEM: "University of California officials are seeking a court order to end immediately a strike by academic workers that is underway at UC Santa Cruz and could spread to others campuses in the system.
The request for injunctive relief was filed Tuesday afternoon with the California Public Employment Relations Board, which oversees labor-management interaction for public employees in the state."
READ MORE -- Divestment from Israel roils universities. Would it work? Some are dubious -- LAT's JENNY JARVIE
Scorching schoolyards: California groups want more trees, less asphalt at schools
CALMatters's ALEJANDRA REYES-VELARDE: "Schoolyards are hot and getting hotter, but only a tiny fraction of California’s grade school students can play in the shade.
Researchers and advocates are pushing the state to allocate money for green schoolyards, which can include trees, grass or gardens in place of the flat asphalt or rubber play surfaces at most schools."
50-story condo tower proposed in S.F. is dead. This is what will replace it
The Chronicle's JK DINEEN: "The developer behind the fantastical 50-story skyscraper proposed for San Francisco’s Ocean Beach has withdrawn the application and instead is in contract to sell the property in the Sunset District to a nonprofit that plans to build a much shorter affordable project.
On Tuesday, Raelynn Hickey, chief executive officer of CH Planning, the group that had proposed the 589-foot highrise at 2700 Sloat Blvd., submitted a letter to the Planning Department requesting that the project be withdrawn."
YIMBY group hits wealthy Peninsula city with lawsuit over housing plan
BANG*Mercury News's KATE TALERICO: "To demonstrate it is serious about building new housing, the city of San Mateo must show state regulators a list of places where new development could be built in the next eight years.
The city’s list includes several sites along El Camino Real, as well as the popular Bridgepointe Shopping Center."
Caltrans adding toll roads to Tahoe on I-80. Does project undermine climate goals?
The Chronicle's RACHEL SWAN: "When Caltrans engineers wanted to ease bottlenecks on a stretch of Interstate 80 in Yolo County — one that feeds commuters from UC Davis to the state Capitol, links Bay Area drivers to Tahoe and threads through a fragile wetland — they had a simple solution: broaden the highway.
Environmentalists balked, viewing the Yolo 80 Corridor Improvements project as a retreat from California’s ambitious climate goals. Many predicted that by adding two lanes to the interstate, Caltrans would lure commuters out of Capitol Corridor trains and into cars. But the California Transportation Commission voted unanimously last week to secure $105 million in state funds for the first phase of the project, all but ensuring construction will break ground."
You’ll have to wait longer to ditch your Clipper card to ride BART or Muni
The Chronicle's RICARDO CANO: "Being able to pay for BART or Muni fares with your debit or credit card instead of a Clipper card is going to take longer to become reality.
The launch of the upgraded Clipper system, which was scheduled for this summer, has been paused indefinitely, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the region’s transportation agency."