Critics say lawmakers watered down California’s lemon car law after secret lobbyist negotiations
CALMatters's RYAN SABALOW: "Californians for the past 54 years have relied on the state’s “lemon law” to fight back against car makers that sell them defective vehicles.
Now, critics say Californians’ ability to recoup their money after buying a clunker could become more difficult, due to a hastily passed bill that lobbyists representing U.S. auto manufacturers and powerful attorneys groups drafted in secret."
Governor signs California plastic bag bill into law
LAT's SUSANNE RUST: "On Sunday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law that will close a legal loophole that has allowed for an increase in California’s plastic bag waste, despite a 2014 law that was designed to ban the environmental blight.
“Plastic bags create pollution in our environment and break into microplastics that contaminate our drinking water and threaten our health,” said Jenn Engstrom, state director of CALPIRG, a consumer advocacy group. “Californians voted to ban plastic grocery bags in our state almost a decade ago, but the law clearly needed a redo. With the governor’s signature, California has finally banned plastic bags in grocery checkout lanes once and for all.”"
Does California’s law cracking down on election ‘deepfakes’ run afoul of the First Amendment?
Sacramento Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "A new law requiring campaigns to disclose if a political ad is AI-generated, also called a “deepfake,” drew criticism from a free speech group, which alleges California lawmakers threatened satire, parody, and other First Amendment-protected speech with the legislation.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 2839 last week in an effort to crack down on deceptive political content. The governor initially signaled support for the legislation after social media company X owner Elon Musk reposted a video that included what appeared to be a fake voiceover of Vice President Kamala Harris.""
Californians would love for Kamala Harris to steal this Trump idea (COLUMN)
LAT's GEORGE SKELTON: "Kamala Harris already has stolen one idea from Donald Trump. Now she should pilfer another, helping middle-class families in California and other high-tax states.
Forget pride of authorship. If an idea is good politics — maybe even good policy — latch onto it. This is election season. Be open-minded and recognize that even a campaign opponent — even the contemptible Trump — can occasionally be onto something worthwhile."
Trump says unlikely he will run again in 2028 if he loses
UPI's MARK MORAN, ALLEN CONE: "Former President Donald Trump said he probably won’t run again if he loses this year’s election.
“No, I think that that will be, that will be it. I don’t see that at all,” Trump told Sharyl Attkisson, the host of “Full Measure” news TV program."
Take a look at the candidates campaigning for a spot on the Sunnyvale City Council
BANG*Mercury News's STEPHANIE LAM: "With a trio of incumbents finishing out their first term on the Sunnyvale City Council, several candidates are vying for their spots as the city looks ahead to dealing with controversial housing developments, improving transportation and public safety services.
Incumbent Alysa Cisneros is competing against former Vice Mayor Jim Davis for the District 2 seat, while Councilmember Russ Melton of District 4 will run for mayor against incumbent Larry Klein. Councilmember Omar Din of District 6 is running for a seat on the California State Assembly in November."
The Micheli Minute for September 23rd
Capitol Weekly's STAFF: "Lobbyist and author Chris Micheli offers a quick look at what’s coming up this week in Sacramento."
Imperiled Delta Smelt gain 3,400 acres of habitat in largest ever tidal restoration project
Sacramento Bee's ARI PLACHTA: "With a dramatic scoop of an excavator, water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta surged onto a 3,400-acre stretch of land this week for the the first time in a century.
This ceremonial levee breach at Lookout Slough, north of Rio Vista, on Wednesday was attended by nearly 200 spectators who cheered the completion of the largest tidal habitat restoration project in the Delta region."
Wildfires can release more energy than an atomic bomb. No wonder they look apocalyptic
LAT's NED KLEINER: "The first full weekend of September, with the Line fire 20,000 acres in size and only 3% contained, a resident of San Bernardino County described the sky as looking “exactly like a nuclear warhead had been set off.”
On a basic level, this makes sense: By that point, the Line fire had already released more energy into the atmosphere than a dozen atomic bombs. And just as nuclear blasts produce a distinctive mushroom cloud, uncontrolled wildfires can be powerful enough to generate their own weather."
Palos Verdes landslide keeps getting worse. Residents’ anger boils
LAT's GRACE TOOHEY, KAREN GARCIA: "Tom Keefer can only describe the last few weeks in their Rancho Palos Verdes neighborhood as a nightmare.
Cut off from vital utilities for more than a month while living on the active landslide whose limits have yet to be determined, Keefer and his wife have seen their lives upended by the escalating emergency in ways they never could have foreseen."
Berkeley mayoral candidates discuss student concerns in ASUC forum
Daily Californian's AYAH ALI AHMAD: "Sophie Hahn, Kate Harrison and Adena Ishii — three candidates for Berkeley mayor — participated in a forum focusing on important city and campus issues to a student audience in the ASUC Senate Chambers last Thursday.
The event, hosted by the ASUC's External Affairs Vice President, lasted an hour and a half and included a series of prepared questions, followed by a spontaneous Q&A session with students’ questions."
Q&A: A conversation with free-range parenting pioneer Lenore Skenazy
EdSource's KAREN D'SOUZA: "Lenore Skenazy was once reviled as the worst mom in America for letting her 9-year-old son Izzy take the subway by himself. He got hassled so often that he began carrying a printout of the transit rules stating anybody over 8 could ride alone.
The newspaper columnist turned author has since become a champion of the “free-range kids” parenting style and helped spark a national movement, “Let Grow,” which encourages parents to gradually give their children the kind of small freedoms they were allowed as children, such as walking to school or to the park."
‘Everyone comes back’: This is the most ‘Californian’ city in the Bay Area
The Chronicle's CHRISTIAN LEONARD: "People like Steve Lipary who grow up in Martinez often can’t wait to leave. But they always come back, he said — and they usually never want to leave again.
Born in Richmond and raised in Martinez, the 36,000-person seat of Contra Costa County just south of the Carquinez Strait, Lipary left for college, where he made money buying and selling collectable baseball cards."
Nonprofits seek to get more women into construction trades
CALMatters's FIONA KELLIHER: "Jessica Alvarez Castañeda was sick of low-paying jobs. For years, the 39-year-old mother of four had been “breaking her back for almost nothing” as a cashier, nursing assistant, babysitter, house cleaner and cook.
She was familiar with the skilled trades, which include careers such as carpentry, roofing and painting, because her three brothers worked as pipefitters."
First the Oakland A’s, then the Nuts? Modesto dreads possible defection of its beloved ball club
The Chronicle's CONNOR LETOURNEAU: "Robert Kanbara high-fived Al the Almond, one of the three mascots for the Modesto Nuts minor league baseball team, before taking in the postseason scene at John Thurman Field.
A young girl grabbed her father’s hand as she skipped toward the bounce house. Three friends found their seats behind home plate, chatting excitedly about how many future big-leaguers they might be watching. A long line formed in front of a food cart offering loaded nachos served in souvenir Nuts helmets."
1,500 striking S.F. workers call on major Union Square hotels to ‘do the right thing’
The Chronicle's ALDO TOLEDO: "About 1,500 San Francisco hotel workers walked off their jobs Sunday to protest what they say are painful workloads and inadequate wages for the cost of living and health care in the Bay Area.
Organized by Unite Here Local 2, the strike comes after months of contract negotiations with the Grand Hyatt San Francisco Union Square, Hilton San Francisco Union Square and Westin St. Francis as well as a three-day strike over the Labor Day weekend."
The Chronicle's SOLEIL HO: "It smells like diesel and rubber in south Stockton’s Boggs Tract neighborhood.
With the San Joaquin River to the north and crisscrossing freeways to the south, this section of Stockton is a de facto island — and a dumping ground for things other communities don’t want. Pockets of homes exist alongside freight truck lots, railroad tracks and cement and tire manufacturers. Tent encampments line the freeway on-ramp and the air teems with pollutants."
Mortgage rates are close to the ‘magic number.’ Will it matter for California’s market?
The Chronicle's JESSICA ROY: "Mortgage rates have made a noticeable decline from peaks in the high-7% range last fall, and the housing market is abuzz in the wake of this week’s Federal Reserve benchmark rate cut.
Are buyers and sellers ready for a little magic?"
Bay Area sheriff files complaint against county executive, alleging ‘abuse of power’ and ‘collusion’
The Chronicle's ANNIE VAINSHTEIN: "San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus announced in an impromptu press conference Sunday evening that she had filed a formal complaint against County Executive Officer Mike Callagy, calling for an investigation into what she called an abuse of power, inappropriate conduct and collusion.
In a letter sent to Board of Supervisors President Warren Slocum, Corpus wrote that her authority as sheriff had been gravely undermined by Callagy, whom she accused of making agreements with labor unions representing the office’s deputy sheriffs and attempting to block her controversial decision to fire an assistant sheriff."