‘Game-changer’: UC Berkeley chemists develop powder to suck carbon dioxide from the air
The Chronicle's JULIE JOHNSON: "Carbon-drinking trees are so far the greatest warriors against the worst-case scenarios of a warming planet. But there simply aren’t enough of them.
A team of UC Berkeley chemists have developed a potential solution in the form of yellow crystalline powder, a half-pound of which can absorb as much carbon dioxide annually as a tree."
Most California Republicans in Congress won’t commit to certifying the 2024 presidential election
CALMatters's YUE STELLA YU, JENNA PETERSON: "In January 2021, seven of the 11 California Republicans in Congress refused to certify the 2020 presidential election results, boosting former President Donald Trump’s false claim that he lost in a rigged vote.
Now, as Trump attempts a return to the White House, only a third of California’s Republican U.S. representatives have pledged to certify the results this November."
Trump says he’ll undertake the ‘largest deportation’ in U.S. history. Can he do that?
LAT's ANDREA CASTILLO: "Former President Trump has promised that, if reelected, he will kick out millions of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.
Trump and his surrogates have offered sparse details for how he would carry out the “largest deportation operation in American history,” but have cemented the goal as a top priority. What is known: The strategy would rely on military troops, friendly state and local law enforcement, and wartime powers."
Joe Biden picks LA, San Diego judges for federal California court roles. Who are they?
Sacramento Bee's GILLIAN BRASSIL: "President Joe Biden intends to have a longtime Los Angeles judge and a San Diego magistrate judge fill federal California judicial vacancies, the White House said on Wednesday.
Biden will be nominating Judge Serena Murillo, who has spent the last nine years on the Los Angeles Superior Court, to a lifetime judicial role on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California."
What do polls, early voting data reveal about presidential race in Nevada, a key swing state?
Sacramento Bee's BRENDAN RASCIUS: "Nevada — land of Las Vegas and the Hoover Dam — is one of several swing states expected to decide the outcome of the presidential election.
With its six electoral votes, the Silver State could help propel Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump to victory."
Democrats in tight California House races back anti-crime measure opposed by Newsom
LAT's ANABEL SOSA: "Democrats running in California’s six fiercely competitive congressional districts, seats that may determine the balance of power in Washington, are aligning themselves with their Republican rivals in support of a tough-on-crime ballot measure that voters will decide in the November election.
That unity indicates the political vulnerability Democratic candidates may face over the issue of crime, particularly in tight races. Recent polls show broad voter support for the initiative, Proposition 36, which would impose stricter penalties for retail theft and crimes involving fentanyl."
The Republican who emptied the asylums
Capitol Weekly's DAN MORAIN: "Frank Lanterman won an assembly seat in 1950 with one goal: securing a steady water supply for his family’s land holdings and subdivisions in the Verdugo hills community of La Cañada outside Los Angeles, a task he completed in his first year in office.
In the years to come, his influence would expand far beyond his hometown and its parochial needs. He became one of the most consequential legislators of his time by leading the effort to transform how California cares for people with severe mental illness."
How we investigated California’s campaign finance watchdog
CALMatters's JEREMIA KIMELMAN, YUE STELLA YU: "A recent CalMatters analysis found that investigations by the Fair Political Practices Commission, California’s campaign watchdog, can take years, at times only resolved after the investigated politician has won an election or vacated office, leaving some voters in the dark as they fill out their ballots and vet a candidate’s character.
When we started reporting on this story, we began with a straightforward question: How long does it take for the commission to resolve cases? The answer was not easy to find."
Student who elicited ‘F— the police’ from L.A. council candidate works for Kevin de León
LAT's DAVID ZAHNISER, DAKOTA SMITH: "In a room full of students at Cal State L.A. last week, a young man told Los Angeles City Council candidate Ysabel Jurado that he supports the idea of abolishing the police and wanted to know where she stood on the issue.
Jurado’s reply, which included the phrase “F— the police, that’s how I see ‘em,” drew sharp criticism this week from parts of the Eastside, where she is seeking to unseat Councilmember Kevin de León."
Mayor Breed’s Dream Keeper Initiative is mired in scandal. But it must be saved, Black leaders say
The Chronicle's ST. JOHN BARNED-SMITH, MICHAEL BARBA: "Black community leaders in San Francisco have a message for City Hall: don’t defund the Dream Keeper Initiative.
Yes, Mayor London Breed’s signature effort has been tainted by scandal. But the program’s successes — helping Black families buy homes, entrepreneurs start businesses and job seekers get training — far outweigh those missteps, they say."
Former oil mogul invests $200,000 in PAC to sway voters against tax measures in Yolo County
Sacramento Bee's JENNAH PENDLETON: "A Woodland business owner has invested $200,000 in a PAC that is working to defeat local tax measures, including a bond for Woodland Joint Unified School District that would fund repairs and improvements for school facilities.
The Yolo County Business PAC has already spent $50,000 on web ads, mailers and text blasts opposing the school bond measure. Prior to the Woodland Joint Unified school board’s vote to place Measure P on the ballot, the PAC wrote in a letter to the district that it was prepared to spend $100,000 to defeat the measure."
Tool: Explore candidates and elected officials investigated for campaign law violations
CALMatters's JEREMIA KIMELMAN: "The Fair Political Practices Commission, California’s campaign and ethics watchdog agency, receives thousands of complaints each year and opens hundreds of investigations into elected officials from the local level up to the governor.
Is one of your local elected officials, or a candidate running for office in your area, currently under investigation by the agency? Or were they investigated previously and, if so, what was the outcome? Type in their name below to find out."
Narrow majority back state school construction bond in latest poll
EdSource's JOHN FENSTERWALD: "Advocates of a $10 billion school construction bond on the statewide ballot are heading into the final two weeks with the majority of voters behind them, according to a survey of California voters.
But with the defeat of a similar state bond initiative four years ago echoing in their heads, they have cause for worry whether the current slim margin of support will hold up."
Community college students far from a four-year university are less likely to transfer, study says
EdSource's AMY DIPIERRO: "Why is it harder for community college students studying far from four-year universities to transfer?
The answer to that question — which is at the heart of a new study previewed at a webinar last week — could influence state higher education officials’ thinking on proposals to expand bachelor’s degree offerings at community colleges."
Northern California in store for a big weather shift
The Chronicle's ANTHONY EDWARDS: "October began with a record-breaking heat wave in the Bay Area, but the weather has been fairly quiet in the weeks since. An unusually strong atmospheric blocking pattern across the continental U.S. has shunted Pacific storms toward British Columbia throughout October. As a result, October has been unusually dry and warm throughout much of the country, including California.
Mainly dry and warm weather is expected to continue across the West through at least Saturday, but changes are in the air for the final few days of the month. The atmospheric blocking pattern is predicted to shift east next week, opening the door for cooler, active weather across the West through at least Halloween."
Hemp grow stinks up California town of Sutter and irks residents. What can they do?
Sacramento Bee's JAKE GOODRICK: "From the west end of the unincorporated town of Sutter wafts a strong smell, familiar to many and scorned by some.
In recent weeks the odor from a nearby hemp grow, which smells just like marijuana, has subsumed parts of the small town that borders farm land surrounding the Sutter Buttes, and even lingered in the air outside of the town’s high school."
How inflation concerns could doom California’s proposition to increase minimum wage
CALMatters's JEANNE KUANG: "A year ago, a ballot measure to raise the statewide minimum wage to $18 seemed poised for an easy win in California, where costs have skyrocketed, affordability is a key concern and many of the state’s biggest cities already require businesses to pay close to that much.
But weeks before California decides on a measure that would do that, voter support appears to have fallen significantly amid heightened concerns about the economy that opponents are stressing, and a relatively quiet campaign in favor of Proposition 32."
L.A. waited so long it seemed like a fantasy. But it’s actually coming: A rail connection to LAX
LAT's COLLEEN SHALBY: "Gerardo Ramirez flew into Los Angeles from Mexico City on Thursday and was surprised to learn that he couldn’t easily access a rail line from the main airport of a major city — something he’s come to expect in his travels.
“I’ve been in many cities around the world, where public transportation is well connected,” said Ramirez, 24. “It’s my first time here in L.A., and I don’t know why I can’t find public transit to connect me to a train.”"
Bay Area bridge tolls could rise as high as $11.50 by 2030 under new proposal
The Chronicle's MICHAEL CABANATUAN: "Bay Area drivers who cross the Bay Bridge or any of the region’s six other state-owned toll bridges could be paying $8.50 by January 2026 — and as much as $11.50 by 2030.
The Bay Area Toll Authority proposed the new series of toll increases on Wednesday. The plan would not only increase the cost of crossing the transbay bridges but institute in 2027 a tiered tolling system in which drivers with Fastrak transponders would pay lower tolls than those with license plate based accounts and those who require mailed invoices."
Two Bay Area cities are testing new tech to detect the sound of sideshows as they happen
The Chronicle's MEGAN CASSIDY: "Two Bay Area cities are currently testing new technology intended to detect and alert police to sideshows, according to Flock Safety, the law-enforcement technology company behind San Francisco’s 400 new license plate reading cameras.
The new device uses AI technology to listen for specific types of tire screeches, differentiating between the noises made during a sideshow and, say, one about to ram into the car ahead of it, said Holly Beilin, a spokesperson for Flock Safety."
What should L.A. do about homelessness? Renters and homeowners answer differently, poll finds
LAT's LIAM DILLON: "Poll after poll shows that just about everyone in Los Angeles believes homelessness is one of the biggest problems facing the region.
But a key factor determining what Angelenos believe needs to be done about it is whether they’re homeowners, according to a new USC survey."
How a forgotten California border town became a hip hideaway — with hot springs and music
LAT's CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS: "The first two surprises, as you roll up Old Highway 80 into this dry and silent Sonoran Desert town, might be the steam and the music.
The steam rises from two pools at the recently reborn Jacumba Hot Springs Hotel. The music seeps from a bathhouse ruin where the hotel stages weekend performances."