These Silicon Valley power players are backing Trump. Here’s how their political giving has evolved
The Chronicle's LYDIA SIDHOM: "Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, founders of the noted Bay Area venture capital company Andreessen Horowitz, announced last month on their company’s podcast that they would support former President Donald Trump’s campaign to be reelected to the White House. And the billionaires would do it with a lot of money.
“I’m going to have a lot of friends who are probably pissed off at me for saying anything nice about president Trump,” said Andreessen on the podcast episode of “The Ben & Marc Show” where he endorsed Trump."
Why Silicon Valley wants to kill this AI bill
CALMatters's KHARI JOHNSON: "Though lawmakers and advocates proposed dozens of bills to regulate artificial intelligence in California this year, none have attracted more disdain from big tech companies, startup founders, and investors than the Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act.
In letters to lawmakers, Meta said the legislation, Senate Bill 1047, will “deter AI innovation in California at a time where we should be promoting it,” while Google claimed the bill will make “California one of the world’s least favorable jurisdictions for AI development and deployment.” A letter signed by more than 130 startup founders and incubator Y Combinator goes even further, claiming that “vague language” could “kill California tech.”"
The Micheli Minute for August 12, 2024
Capitol Weekly's STAFF: "Lobbyist and McGeorge law professor Chris Micheli offers a quick look at what’s coming up this week under the Capitol Dome."
What exactly is Prop. 47? And how could California voters change it this year?
LAT's ANABEL SOSA: "California voters face a decision about how the state should punish people who are repeatedly convicted of stealing, or of crimes involving the deadly drug fentanyl. Proposition 36 on the November ballot asks voters to change certain parts of Proposition 47, an initiative passed in 2014 that turned some nonviolent felonies into misdemeanors.
Here’s what you need to know about how this year’s measure, if passed, would change the law Californians approved a decade ago."
L.A. city attorney is searching through employee emails, creating a climate of fear, staffer alleges
LAT's DAVID ZAHNISER: "Los Angeles City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto has been reviewing the emails of her employees without their knowledge, contributing to a climate of fear within the office, an employee has alleged.
In a document recently filed with the city, Sean C. Tyler said he saw Feldstein Soto order a supervisor to look through the emails of Michelle McGinnis, then the head of the office’s criminal branch. Tyler, an administrative coordinator, also believes that Feldstein Soto searched his own email account."
Park Fire containment remains stable, cooler weather ahead may help, Cal Fire says
Sacramento Bee's MEGAN VAZ: "The Park Fire’s containment lines are holding stable aside from a handful of small spot fires, Cal Fire said in a Sunday morning status update.
As of 7 a.m. Sunday, firefighters have been able to contain 37% of the Park Fire, California’s largest wildfire in 2024 and the fourth largest wildfire in state history. Officials expect conditions to improve this week as humidity increases and a cooling trend moves in, which would put temperatures at or below seasonal norms."
Bay Area weather: Breezy and cooler conditions expected this week
The Chronicle's ANTHONY EDWARDS: "An extended period of cooler-than-normal weather will return to Northern California this week for the first time in months.
The high-pressure system that has plagued the West Coast with record-breaking heat since early June will nudge eastward this week, over Texas, Colorado and New Mexico. This will open the door for cool winds to push off the Pacific Ocean and into California."
How this became California’s worst summer COVID wave in years. ‘Came out of the blue’
LAT's RONG-GONG LIN II: "California’s strongest summer COVID wave in years is still surging, and an unusual midsummer mutation may be partly to blame.
There are a number of possible culprits behind the worst summer infection spike since 2022, experts say. A series of punishing heat waves and smoke from devastating wildfires have kept many Californians indoors, where the disease can more easily spread. Most adults are also well removed from their last brush with the coronavirus, or their last vaccine dose — meaning they’re more vulnerable to infection."
New laws impacting education go into effect as the school year begins
EdSource's DIANA LAMBERT, ZAIDEE STAVELY, EMMA GALLEGOS, MALLIKA SESHADRI, AMY DIPIERRO: "California students, including those in elementary school, will have better access to mental health care, free menstrual products and information about climate change this school year. The expansion of transitional kindergarten also means there will be more 4-year-old students on elementary school campuses.
These and other new pieces of education legislation will go into effect this school year, including a bill that bans schools from suspending students for willful defiance and another that offers college students more transparency around the cost of their courses and the materials they will need to purchase for them."
LAUSD’s first day of school brings pricey electric buses, acai bowls and major challenges
LAT's HOWARD BLUME, VERONICA ROSEBOROUGH: "For students and parents, the first day of school is a crush of new schedules, new teachers and new things to learn — along with a modicum of excitement. For the Los Angeles Unified School District, it’s about taking on renewed challenges
Supt. Alberto Carvalho, entering the third full school year of his administration, is confronting lagging student achievement, declining enrollment, school safety worries, absenteeism and budget constraints."
Between Placer County neighborhoods, residents see ‘night and day’ difference in power bills
Sacramento Bee's ELISE FISHER: "For residents serviced by Pacific Gas and Electric, utility costs have gotten particularly pricey — so much so that some Placer County residents and prospectives recommend steering clear of the company.
A unique split exists between Roseville Electric Utilities, which services all of the city, and the area that surrounds Roseville, all covered by PG&E. Neighbors may end up with wildly different electric rates, sometimes unexpectedly."
One type of S.F. parking citation jumped 62% in recent ‘intensive’ crackdown. Here’s the data
The Chronicle's DANIELLE ECHEVERRIA: "San Franciscans used to parking their cars in driveways that spill into sidewalks likely got a rude awakening in the past three months: Parking control officers increased their enforcement against blocked sidewalks by 62% as part of “intensive” neighborhood-based enforcement that began in May, according to a Chronicle analysis.
Earlier this year, Mayor London Breed and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency announced that the agency would increase parking enforcement throughout the city as part of an effort to improve traffic safety."
‘We gotta be somewhere’: Homeless Californians react to Newsom’s crackdown
CALMatters's MARISA KENDALL: "Gov. Gavin Newsom’s message on homelessness in recent weeks has been clear: The state will no longer tolerate encampments, and cities shouldn’t either.
Californians who live on the streets, as well as the outreach workers who support them, say they’re already feeling the difference. Places where someone used to be able to pitch a tent and sleep in peace have suddenly become inhospitable. Police seem to be clearing camps more often and more aggressively, and are less likely to give advance notice before they come in with bulldozers and trash compactors, according to anecdotal reports in some cities. Even in cities where officials said publicly nothing would change, unhoused people and activists say it’s become harder to be homeless."