The Chronicle's KURTIS ALEXANDER: "Construction crews tore away the final pieces of the Klamath River dams that were targeted for removal on Wednesday as Native Americans, environmentalists and fishermen cheered the beginning of a new chapter for the river.
The dam demolition, along the remote California-Oregon border, opens up fish passage along the 250-mile waterway for the first time since construction of the Klamath Hydroelectric Project started more than a century ago."
New promise, awkward moments: 5 takeaways from Harris and Walz’s first interview
LAT's NOAH BIERMAN: "Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, on Thursday gave their first sit-down interview since President Biden withdrew from his reelection campaign July 21.
The interview with Dana Bash of CNN was recorded Thursday afternoon in Georgia and broadcast the same evening. Here are some takeaways:"
Kamala Harris kept repeating one key phrase in CNN interview. Will voters buy it?
The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI: "Until Thursday night, Kamala Harris has aced every test she’s faced since replacing Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee.
Eliminated rivals and united the party behind her? Check. Raised a record amount of money? Big time. Chosen a running mate who complements her and energizes voters? Uh-huh. Pulled even with or ahead of Donald Trump in battleground states? Pretty much. Only one test remained untaken: coherently explain your policy positions — and how they’ve changed — in a sitdown interview with a widely respected journalist."
Capitol Briefs: To the governor!
Capitol Weekly's STAFF: "Entertainment zones: The Senate unanimously endorsed SB 969, a bill authored by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) that would allow local governments to create “entertainment zones” in downtown areas as a means to revitalize them after the pandemic. Restaurants and bars located in these zones would be allowed to serve alcoholic beverages “to-go,” creating opportunities for businesses to increase foot traffic. The idea is similar to those successfully implemented in states such as Michigan, Ohio and Virginia. If signed, the law will go into effect at the beginning of 2025.
Increased penalties for corporate crimes: The Assembly gave final approval to AB 2432, a bill authored by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino) that increases financial penalties on corporations convicted of breaking the law. The measure would also provide permanent funding for programs that serve crime victims, including those affected by domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. Mirroring the federal act passed by Congress in 1984, AB 2432 aims to fill the funding gap created by declining resources from the federal program. California service programs this year were short about $200 million from prior funding levels."
CALMatters's ALEJANDRO LAZO, JULIE CART, ALEJANDRA REYES-VELARDE: "The Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom have significantly scaled back their eleventh-hour plans to reduce Californians’ electric bills and fast-track renewable energy projects.
Many experts said the proposed measures now amount to a political gesture or, at best, a small first step toward solving the problems, rather than nuts-and-bolts, comprehensive steps that would give Californians financial relief or speed up solar and wind projects."
Los Angeles unveils reparations report on Black residents’ experiences since 1925
LAT's JASMINE MENDEZ: "Researchers at Cal State Northridge this week unveiled the first city-sponsored report on potential reparations to Black residents for the discriminatory harms they faced over the last 100 years.
Documenting Black Angelenos’ struggles from 1925 until today, “An Examination of African American Experiences in Los Angeles” is a 400-page report created by the Reparations Advisory Commission of the city’s Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department in collaboration with the university."
GM’s sneak attack on California’s auto lemon law
Capitol Weekly's ROSEMARY SHAHAN: "It wasn’t long ago that General Motors (GM) led a coalition of automotive companies to support the Trump administration’s assault on California’s right to set its own emission standards. Now, GM is at it again, this time targeting California’s auto lemon law, widely regarded as the best in the nation. GM’s attack on this crucial consumer protection is being executed through an underhanded “gut-and-amend” process at the end of the legislative session, which undermines democratic principles.
GM’s bill, AB 1755, was drafted in secret, without any input from nonprofit consumer and auto safety organizations, other auto manufacturers, car dealers, or even the bill’s authors. The only exception was the Consumer Attorneys of California, a group largely indifferent to the lemon law. On August 20, the contents of a bill on child custody that had already passed the Assembly were suddenly stripped out, and GM’s anti-consumer language was inserted."
Will a Vietnamese American candidate help Democrats win a congressional seat in Little Saigon?
LAT's LAURA J. NELSON: "At a solemn reunion in Orange County, dozens of elderly Vietnamese Americans gathered recently to reconnect with others once held at Suối Máu, a camp where dissidents and American allies were imprisoned after the fall of Saigon.
In the sea of gray hair and faded army uniforms, one younger face stood out: 43-year-old Derek Tran, a Democrat running for Congress."
California’s legal weed system is broken, while Michigan’s is thriving. What gives?
LAT's CONNOR SHEETS: "In this small town in the rural palm of Michigan’s mitt-shaped peninsula, a 250,000-square-foot warehouse produces 300,000 cannabis vape cartridges per month.
Wide doors lead off long hallways into brightly lighted grow rooms with rows of fragrant weed plants at all stages of development. Workers in hairnets bag cannabis gummies while Green Day blasts in the background. A whirring machine fills, twists and trims more than a dozen joints per minute."
Sonoma loves its farms. Activists call them factories. Could a ballot measure upend this county?
The Chronicle's AVIVA BECHKY: "In dimly lit indoor aisles at Weber Family Farms in Petaluma, hundreds of thousands of white chickens live out their 90 weeks of life. They fly from perch to perch. They dust bathe in the bedding. They nip at water dispensers. They lay egg after egg.
And they never leave."
Health insurers hit with California’s largest-ever penalty over gender-affirming care denials
CALMatters's SHAANTH NANGUNERI: "Two major California health insurers were hit with the state’s largest-ever fines for illegally denying coverage for gender-affirming care in a case that will compel them to revise how they treat patients diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
The $850,000 combined penalties against Blue Cross of California Partnership Plan and its Anthem Blue Cross also require the insurers to hire a dedicated case manager for people with gender dysphoria. Over 150 individuals who were denied coverage for such procedures will see their cases reviewed, and most have already seen reversals, according to the decision."
AB 3129: A misguided bill that risks California’s oral health (OP-ED)
DR. TIMOTHY HERMAN in Capitol Weekly: "This week, the California Senate will vote on AB 3129, which would eliminate private equity funding for many healthcare providers — including dental practices — and require providers with over $25 million in revenue to receive the Attorney General’s approval before entering into mergers or acquisitions. As a dentist committed to improving access to high-quality oral healthcare, I am alarmed by the potential impact on patients across our state. The bill would severely restrict access to dental care for millions of Californians, eliminating many dental homes and curbing the industry’s ability to innovate and invest in state-of-the-art technology.
AB 3129 was intended to address costs associated with hospital mergers and acquisitions. As data has shown, consolidations have led to increased costs for patients. Yet, after a series of amendments, hospitals — the biggest cost drivers — have been carved out of AB 3129. Simply put, the bill arbitrarily picks winners and losers, exempting the wealthy hospitals it was meant to take on while adding burdensome regulations and scrutiny for emergency care, reproductive health, mental health, and dental care providers at the expense of patients."
Avian flu suspected at three California dairy farms in first for the state
The Chronicle's CATHERINE HO: "California agriculture officials are investigating the possibility that H5N1 avian flu has infected cattle in three Central Valley dairy herds, the state Department of Food and Agriculture said Thursday.
If the virus is confirmed, it would be the first cases of H5N1 in dairy cows in California. Thousands of birds in the state have been infected since the current strain began circulating in 2022, but the virus has yet to be detected in dairy cows here."
California lawmakers approve banning synthetic food dyes in schools. Will Newsom sign it?
Sacramento Bee's NICOLE NIXON: "Days in California schools are numbered for snacks like Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, some cereals, baked goods and other products that contain a number of synthetic food dyes.
State lawmakers on Thursday sent a bill to Gov. Gavin Newsom to ban schools, beginning in 2028, from distributing or selling products containing six common food dyes: red No. 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2 and Green 3."
Stanford creative writing layoff ‘scandal’ ignites backlash among authors and students
The Chronicle's NANETTE ASIMOV: "Stanford University’s announcement that 23 creative writing instructors will be pushed out of their jobs and replaced has set off a national backlash in the literary community and among students in the program.
“Why would senior faculty vote to fire their colleagues who are doing so much of the work of teaching?” celebrated author Joyce Carol Oates posted on social media, raising questions about whether Stanford’s decision was meant to save money or was inspired by rank sexism."
‘Liberated’ ethnic studies courses challenged amid allegations of antisemitism
EdSource's JOHN FENSTERWALD: "Santa Ana Unified staff members on a steering committee led by two school board members expressed antisemitic views while designing new ethnic studies courses, newly released legal documents reveal.
The comments have tainted the new courses, which were written out of public view, in violation of state law, according to the motion asking a state court to invalidate the courses."
California Labor Day weekend weather includes heat, fog, smoke and winds
The Chronicle's ANTHONY EDWARDS: "Meteorological fall officially begins Sunday, but California's summer heat will continue Labor Day weekend.
Tranquil weather throughout much of the state will make for smooth holiday travel, but a weather system Sunday into Monday will increase wind gusts across Northern California. A wildfire in the southern Sierra may continue to bring poor air quality to other popular recreational areas."
These are the best state parks in California, according to over 300,000 reviews
The Chronicle's STAFF: "Halfway along California’s 800-some-odd-mile coast, just south of Carmel-by-the-Sea, is where you’ll find the state park that visitors love most.
That’s Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, a protuberance of serrated bluffs and sandy pocket coves that juts into the Pacific like an otter’s outstretched paw."
Los Angeles to get $21.8 million in federal money to help shelter migrants
LAT's PALOMA ESQUIVEL: "The city of Los Angeles will get $21.8 million in federal funds to help house and provide support services to newly arrived migrants, including migrant children living on Skid Row, officials announced.
City officials, with support from the county, had applied for Federal Emergency Management Agency funds to shelter newly arrived migrants who have struggled to find housing after arriving in Los Angeles."
California finally begins to detail why it is booting some police officers out of the profession
The Chronicle's SOPHIA BOLLAG, DEMIAN BULWA: "One officer groped a sleeping woman while off duty. Another was accused of taking advantage of a domestic violence victim he met while on duty.
California has finally begun to release details about why some police officers have been permanently stripped of their powers under a landmark law passed three years ago in the wake of the murder of George Floyd."
Shakedown or ‘cheap spy novel’: What did L.A. investigators do for a Chinese millionaire?
LAT's MATTHEW ORMSETH, BRITTNY MEJIA, KERI BLAKINGER: "The job that Jing “Annie” Liu wanted done was not one for a lawyer.
The Chinese chemical magnate had spent seven years pursuing a man she once called her “most trusted secretary” across two continents."