GOP budget plan would keep the government running but has no new California wildfire aid
Sac Bee, DAVID LIGHTMAN: "There’s no specific new disaster aid to help victims of the devastation from the Southern California wildfires in the budget bill Congress is considering this week.
Gov. Gavin Newsom is seeking $39.68 billion in emergency aid, and a UCLA Anderson analysis last week said total property and others losses could top that."
Trump doubles planned tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum to 50% as trade war intensifies
AP, JOSH BOAK: "President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will double his planned tariffs on steel and aluminum from 25% to 50% for Canada, escalating a trade war with the United States' northern neighbor.
Trump said on social media that the increase of the tariffs set to take effect on Wednesday is a response to the price increases that the provincial government of Ontario put on electricity sold to the United States."
DHS expedites process to award two Republican-linked firms part of its $200-million ad campaign
LAT, ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON: "The U.S. Department of Homeland Security skipped a fully competitive bidding process to give two Republican-linked firms the first part of a $200-million television ad campaign that lauds President Trump for his crackdown on illegal immigration.
The department told news outlets last month that it had undergone a “competitive procurement process” for the campaign. But in a document posted Friday on a federal database, the department said Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border constitutes “an unusual and compelling urgency,” a circumstance that allows federal agencies to bypass the usual competitive process."
How will Gavin Newsom’s return-to-office order affect California state telework stipends?
Sac Bee, WILLIAM MELHADO: "While there are still many questions lingering about how California will bring its workforce back to primarily in-person work in the coming months, the impact on state workers’ telework stipend is clearly defined.
After California directed its public employees to work from home to limit the spread of COVID-19, the state paid those public servants stipends beginning October 2021 to help cover expenses workers needed to do their jobs remotely, such as the internet."
Former Rep. Katie Porter announces run for California governor. ‘Fresh blood and new ideas’
Sac Bee, NICOLE NIXON: "Fresh out of Congress, Katie Porter announced a campaign for governor Tuesday, joining a litany of candidates to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom in an election that’s still 20 months away.
The Democrat, who served three terms in the House before launching a failed Senate bid, had previously teased a potential run for governor. She announced her campaign in a video posted to social media Tuesday morning."
READ MORE -- Former Rep. Katie Porter announces run for California governor -- LAT, SEEMA MEHTA; Katie Porter vows to stand up to Trump as she enters race for California governor -- CALMatters, ALEXEI KOSEFF
California lawmakers propose fixes for ‘insurance industry in shambles’
CALMatters, LEVI SUMAGAYSAY: "The fires that reduced Altadena, Pacific Palisades and other Los Angeles-area neighborhoods to rubble have also shined a harsh light on California’s raging insurance crisis.
Lawmakers have proposed a variety of bills to address the issues illuminated by the disaster, plus others that predate it. Some of the legislation would be the first of its kind in the nation."
Cal Fire rolls out new fire hazard maps for Central California. Up next: L.A.
LAT, NOAH HAGGERTY/SEAN GREENE: "The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection released new fire-hazard severity maps Monday that added thousands of acres within the purview of local fire departments across agricultural Central Valley counties that previously had zero acres zoned as such. The Central Coast’s Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties saw their fire-hazard acreages increase more than four- and fivefold, respectively.
In total, the agency added over 1.2 million acres into the zones, over 300,000 of which are in severity zones where many of the state’s fire safety regulations apply."
Fewer than 20% of L.A. residents give Mayor Bass high marks for fire response, poll shows
LAT, JULIA WICK: "Weeks after fires ravaged the region, many Angelenos were dissatisfied with Mayor Karen Bass’ leadership, a new poll has found.
A little over 40% of registered voters in the city said they thought Bass did a poor or very poor job in responding to the fires, while just 19% characterized her response as excellent or good, according to a new survey from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by The Times. A little more than 1 in 5 city residents thought she was doing a fair job and the remainder had no opinion."
California mountains brace for one of the snowiest storms of the season
The Chronicle, GREG PORTER: "Several feet of snow will fall across parts of the Sierra on Wednesday and Thursday in what will be one of the most powerful storm systems to impact California’s mountains so far this winter.
The midweek storm system won’t have an excessive amount of moisture and will qualify only as a weak atmospheric river event. However, an extremely favorable and efficient environment for snow generation will exist in the Sierra over a 36-hour period stretching from Wednesday morning through Thursday evening."
Can cell phone bans in CA schools be enforced?
Capitol Weekly, BRIAN JOSEPH: "In these divided times, limiting cell phone use in schools has emerged as an issue both Republicans and Democrats can get behind.
But while these policies enjoy bipartisan support, enacting them may prove challenging."
UCLA launches antisemitism effort as Trump says more pro-Palestinian activist arrests ahead
LAT, JAWEED KALEEM/DANIEL MILLER: "The Trump administration on Monday sent letters to 60 colleges and universities — 10 of them in California — warning of “potential enforcement” against them, days after canceling $400 million in federal funding to Columbia University and accusing it of ignoring antisemitism allegations.
“We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, antisemitic, anti-American activity,” Trump wrote in a social media post. “We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again.”"
Charts show acceptance rates at UC and Cal State for every major
The Chronicle, NAMI SUMIDA: "Admissions to the UCs and Cal States have grown increasingly competitive in recent years. Acceptance rates at UC Berkeley and UCLA, for instance, have dropped by about 10 percentage points over the past decade.
But getting in can be even more difficult for students applying to the most popular majors at UCs and CSUs, which are often computer science, nursing and engineering."
S.F. public school parents clash with district over use of coveted PTA funds
The Chronicle, JILL TUCKER: "San Francisco public school PTAs have for years raised money from families and the community to cover the costs of extra teachers, literacy coaches and recess specialists among other needs like paper and art supplies.
But despite a dire budget situation, the district is now restricting PTAs ability to pay for extra staff, infuriating parents who say those positions are vital."
The Chronicle, MAGGIE ANGST: "San Francisco has substantially more shelter beds and permanent housing for homeless people per capita than many other major jurisdictions across the country. Yet the city is struggling to meet the needs of its homeless residents both on the streets and in shelters.
When compared to other jurisdictions, San Francisco reportedly has the highest percentage of shelter guests with severe mental illness or addiction. But shelter operators say they don’t have enough funding or resources to support their high-needs clients or to address street conditions outside their buildings."
They wanted two street trees replanted. It turned into a years-long slog through S.F. bureaucracy
The Chronicle, ALDO TOLEDO: "Debra and Carlos Pinzon-Hamilton were ready to give up.
After two sprawling acacia trees in front of their home in San Francisco’s Richmond District were badly damaged by storms, the two attorneys thought it would be nice to replant them."
It started as a developer’s contrarian bet. Now, it could become S.F.'s next office tower
The Chronicle, J.K. DINEEN: "The next big tower on San Francisco’s skyline could be a 41-story skyscraper with hotel and office space that would anchor a block across from the Transamerica Pyramid. And it may rise a lot sooner than most people imagine.
Despite a 37% vacancy rate across the city’s office market, Related California executives say they are bullish on a proposed 544-foot-tall highrise at 530 Sansome St., a project that would include 360,000 square feet of office space, a five-star hotel and a new fire house for the city at 447 Battery St."
‘Surge’ of violence prompts crackdown in California prison system, officials say
LAT, MATTHEW ORMSETH: "Faced with seven homicides in the first nine weeks of the year, California prison authorities announced they have restricted inmate movement and revoked privileges such as visits and phone calls at high-security facilities across the state.
In a statement dated March 8, officials from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation cited a “surge” in violence directed at both inmates and staff as the reason for the crackdown at 11 prisons."
Bay Area Tesla owners are breaking up with Elon Musk and trading in their cars
The Chronicle, RACHEL SWAN: "When Dariush Zand sold his Tesla Model 3 early this month, he felt the same giddyness — and sense of unbounded liberation — that one associates with ending a toxic relationship.
“I got my Tesla in March of last year, before I knew Elon was crazy,” Zand said, quoting the bumper sticker that many Bay Area Tesla owners are now plastering on their vehicles, to distance themselves from the company’s chief executive, Elon Musk."