CALMatters, ALEJANDRO LAZO: "Big Oil faces mounting lawsuits as extreme weather worsens, with California leading efforts to make fossil fuel giants pay billions of dollars for the climate damage they have long denied.
Across the country, states, cities, tribes and environmental groups have filed dozens of lawsuits against oil companies alleging that they misled the public about the dangers of their products. These cases share a core argument: Oil companies knew fossil fuels were driving climate change and lied about it."
California’s fast food council after one year: A few meetings, three staff members hired
CALMatters, JEANNE KUANG: "The nine-member fast food council, composed of business owners, workers and union representatives, recently decided to consider a cost-of-living adjustment to the $20 fast food minimum wage that went into effect last April. At its yet-unscheduled next meeting, it plans to discuss raising that requirement by 3.5% or last year’s rate of inflation, whichever is lower.
But it won’t do much more than that. After two marathon meetings in January and February in which a smaller group of the council members listened to hours of comments from workers and their allies, and restaurant owners and their allies, the council chair put the raise on the next agenda for discussion only — not a vote."
Special Episode: CA vs. Donald Trump – Panel 1, Health Care
Capitol Weekly, STAFF: "This Special Episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast was recorded live at Capitol Weekly’s conference The Resistance: California vs. Donald Trump, which was held in Sacramento on Wednesday, February 26, 2025
This is PANEL 1 – HEALTH CARE
Panelists: Beth Malinowksi, SEIU California; Devon Mathis, California Assembly (Ret.); Amanda McAllister-Wallner, Health Access California; Dr. Richard Pan, California Senate (Ret.)"
The Micheli Minute for March 3, 2025
Capitol Weekly, STAFF: "Lobbyist and author Chris Micheli offers a quick look at what’s coming up this week in Sacramento."
A looming threat could bankrupt California counties — and it’s not fires or Trump
The Chronicle, SOPHIA BOLLAG: "A wave of sexual assault lawsuits threatens to bankrupt Los Angeles County and severely imperil its ability to recover from the January wildfires, lawyers for the nation’s largest county told the California Supreme Court in a filing last week.
Los Angeles County is the biggest public entity sounding an alarm over the crush of child sexual assault lawsuits precipitated by a landmark state law that dramatically expanded the pool of victims who could file claims. But it’s not alone. It joins a chorus of school districts and counties that say the lawsuits threaten their ability to provide for the students and residents they serve. Lawyers for Ventura County said it threatens the “financial viability” of every county and public school district in California. A state agency that advises schools said it could force some districts into receivership."
A 2018 law aimed to ‘Trump-proof’ California on immigration. What has it accomplished?
LAT, ANDREA CASTILLO: "Two days after Donald Trump won the 2016 election, California state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León canceled a flight to Germany and called his executive staff for a meeting.
They began to dissect the myriad ways Trump could “seriously hurt Californians” through policies and actions on the environment, freedom of choice and immigration."
Contamination fears drive push to remake state cannabis agency
LAT, PAIGE ST. JOHN: "Criticism that California is failing to fully address contamination in its weed crop has prompted a push for the governor and lawmakers to step in and remove that authority from the state agency in charge.
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors last week asked the governor and Legislature to shift responsibility for pesticides in cannabis products from the Department of Cannabis Control to the state Department of Pesticide Regulation, which regulates pesticides on food crops. It requested that accreditation of cannabis testing labs be moved to the State Water Resources Control Board, which already certifies private labs to test food, water, soil and hazardous waste. And it asked that the state add 24 pesticides to the list of 66 chemicals for which cannabis products must now be screened prior to sale."
Exclusive: Portrait of ex-S.F. official was ‘beautiful gift’ from nonprofit seeking contract
The Chronicle, MICHAEL BARBA/ST. JOHN BARNED-SMITH: "San Francisco Human Rights Commission Executive Director Sheryl Davis cracked a smile last winter as the head of a nonprofit group presented her with a gift: a large and vibrant portrait of herself that his organization commissioned from a local artist.
“You have done so much for this city, so much for this organization with our partnership,” Randal Seriguchi, executive director of Urban Ed Academy, told Davis on stage at the nonprofit’s annual gala. “We had to thank you.”"
California made a big bet on producing its own insulin. There’s no ‘date certain’ for delivery
CALMatters, KRISTEN HWANG: "Two years ago, California made a bold announcement that it would manufacture a state-branded, low-cost insulin. Drug manufacturers, insurers, economists and diabetics took notice. It had the potential to disrupt the market, bring down drug costs and save patients’ lives.
Gov. Gavin Newsom promised a “2024 delivery” for the insulin."
Napping more as you get older? Here’s why that may not be a good thing
The Chronicle, CATHERINE HO: "With the start of daylight saving time coming up next Sunday, it’s the time of year that many people are bracing for — perhaps dreading — losing an hour of sleep. Many may cope by trying to take a nap that day to make up for the lost hour.
Older adults may take particular interest, as research suggests this demographic takes regular daytime naps more frequently than young and middle-aged adults. Sleep scientists say this is likely due to a number of reasons, including physical and cognitive changes, more free time during the day in retirement, and medications that can interfere with nighttime sleep."
What led to this UC’s ‘remarkable’ 45% jump in applications? One last-minute maneuver
The Chronicle, NANETTTE ASIMOV: "A curious thing happened at UC Merced this year.
Freshman applications to this reliable safety school of the University of California — which typically creep up by about 1,500 every year — surged by 16,000, a startling increase that UC reported a couple of weeks ago."
In Altadena, a fight to save the trees that survived the fire
LAT, COLLEEN SHALBY: "The oak trees saved the blue house on East Calaveras Street. Seriina Covarrubias was sure of it.
When she had returned after the Eaton fire, much of the Altadena neighborhood was in ruins. Homes and the nearby shops on North Fair Oaks had been destroyed. Her garage and her prized garden were demolished. Her house had been filled with smoke — but it survived, and so did the two massive oaks that sheltered it. She considered it a small miracle."
Palisades could rebuild with more affordable housing. But many in the wealthy area oppose the idea
LAT, LIAM DILLON: "On the ashes of his family’s Shell gas station along Pacific Palisades’ main commercial corridor, Justin Kohanoff envisions one of the grandest apartment buildings in the neighborhood’s history. A Cape Cod style white-brick facade with awnings and a metal roof. Eight stories tall. And as many as 100 apartments, including some reserved for low-income residents.
It was always in Kohanoff’s long-term plans to redevelop the Sunset Boulevard gas station lot into housing. After the Palisades fire ripped through the community in January, long term became now."
S.F.’s parking garages are as empty as they’ve ever been. Here’s why it’s bad for the city
The Chronicle, RACHEL SWAN/EMMA STIEFEL: "The Fifth and Mission Street parking garage, a concrete behemoth across the street from Bloomingdale’s that routinely sits half empty, has become an unlikely barometer of a new era in downtown San Francisco.
Sure, it’s hard to imagine a more mundane or utilitarian piece of architecture than a parking garage. But this one has a story to tell."