Newsom to announce California lawsuit against Trump’s tariffs
LAT, TARYN LUNA: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday is expected to announce a lawsuit contesting President Trump’s executive authority to enact international tariffs without congressional approval.
The governor’s office said the legal action will argue that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which Trump cited to impose tariffs, does not grant him the ability to unilaterally adopt tariffs on goods imported into the U.S."
California is suing to block Trump's tariffs
The Chronicle, SOPHIA BOLLAG: "California will seek to stop President Donald Trump from enacting tariffs through a lawsuit Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta will file in federal court Wednesday morning.
The lawsuit will challenge Trump’s ability to impose import taxes known as tariffs without congressional approval."
Commercial salmon season is shut down — again. Will California’s iconic fish ever recover?
CALMatters, ALASTAIR BLAND: "Facing the continued collapse of Chinook salmon, officials today shut down California’s commercial salmon fishing season for an unprecedented third year in a row.
Under the decision by an interstate fisheries agency, recreational salmon fishing will be allowed in California for only brief windows of time this spring. This will be the first year that any sportfishing of Chinook has been allowed since 2022."
Defying courts in deportation case, Trump risks a tipping point, experts say
LAT, KEVIN RECTOR/MICHAEL WILNER: "It was just the latest example of President Trump, still in the infancy of his second term, appearing to plow through direct orders from a U.S. court. But it was the sharpest moment yet of a federal judge losing patience.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis had asked what the administration had done, if anything, to follow a ruling from the highest court in the land, and reached a stark conclusion."
Trump wants to end the federal tax on Social Security benefits. Is that possible?
Sac Bee, DAVID LIGHTMAN: "Middle- and upper-income taxpayers who receive Social Security are getting their annual jolt as they file their federal income taxes — a huge percentage of their benefits are being taxed.
Generally, if an individual’s income tops $34,000 or a joint return’s income is more than $44,000 under the federal formula for such calculations, up to 85% of their benefits can be subject to taxation."
Why did it take Bernie Sanders and AOC to rally California liberals?
The Chronicle, JOE GAROFOLI: "Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — two native New Yorkers and Democratic Socialists — did something Tuesday that no California Democrats likely could: turn out 26,000 people for a rally on a Tuesday night in a Republican House district and chart a way forward for an enfeebled and directionless Democratic Party.
And they were rapturously greeted by an audience of working-class folks starved for someone who could speak for them."
Mayor Karen Bass’ unfavorable ratings spiked following fires, survey shows
LAT, NOAH GOLDBERG: "Mayor Karen Bass is significantly less popular than she was a year ago, likely because of her handling of January’s devastating fires, according to a new survey of Los Angeles residents.
The survey by the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs found that Bass’ unfavorable ratings had shot up by 17 percentage points compared with a year ago."
Oakland Special Election Results April 2025
The Chronicle, STAFF: "Oakland’s special election on April 15 is headlined by a mayoral race to finish out the term of former Mayor Sheng Thao, who was recalled by voters in November. The two leading candidates are former Rep. Barbara Lee and former City Council Member Loren Taylor. Though Taylor has a lead in early results, it is likely to be a very close race.
Voters passed a ballot measure to raise the city’s sales tax rate in order to help reduce its nearly $90 million budget deficit."
Special election for Oakland mayor too close to call, but Loren Taylor takes slim early lead
LAT, HANNAH WILEY: "Former City Councilmember Loren Taylor took a very slim lead in early results in Oakland’s special mayoral election on Tuesday against former Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee in a race prompted by a series of recent scandals that culminated in the recall of the city’s mayor in November.
The race to lead the Northern California city remained too close to call late Tuesday night. But Taylor’s strong early showing is the latest plot twist in a race that many expected Lee, a progressive icon who spent nearly 30 years representing the East Bay in Congress, to easily win after she declared her candidacy in January."
Sacramento seeks public input on new city manager. Here’s how to get involved
Sac Bee, MATHEW MIRANDA: "Sacramentans hoping to weigh in on the city manager search will have six opportunities in the next two weeks.
CPS HR Consulting, the firm hired for the recruitment, will host four in-person and two virtual town halls from April 19 to 26. These events are among the few avenues for public participation in the months-long effort to fill the top position in Sacramento’s city’s government."
How labor killed a bill to let California wildfire victims sue Big Oil for climate change
CALMatters, RYAN SABALOW: "Oil companies had their hackles up this year after Sen. Scott Wiener introduced a controversial bill that would allow victims of wildfires and other climate disasters to sue them for causing climate change.
Facing potentially billions of dollars in losses, Big Oil had a lot to lose."
The Chronicle, EMILIE MUNSON/LEILA DARWICHE: "For a week after her surgery, 26-year-old Emily Abney-Acosta’s abdomen swelled. It was so tender that a tight shirt was too much pressure. She couldn’t stand up straight from the pain or lift her young children.
In September 2018, she rushed to an emergency department in Frisco, Texas. She was evaluated and assured her incision would eventually heal, she said."
UC and CSU funding essential to California’s economic future (OP-ED)
Capitol Weekly, DICK ACKERMAN/MEL LEVINE: "For decades, California’s public university system has been the envy of much of the world – a powerhouse of research, innovation and economic opportunity.
Today, however, the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) face deep budget cuts that could severely compromise their abilities to expand student access to higher education and enhance California’s prosperity."
More high schoolers are taking college classes — but no surprise which students benefit most
CALMatters, DELILAH BRUMER: "Students tap on their keyboards as a professor lectures at the front of the room. It looks like any other college course, except that it’s taking place at a high school. This year, more than 150,000 California teens are earning college credit in dual enrollment courses.
Dual enrollment offers high schoolers the chance to attend community college, typically for free, often without having to leave their campuses. By helping students tackle the college academic experience, the programs increase the likelihood that students attend college after graduating high school."
No compromise on literacy bill as hearing deadline looms
EdSource, JOHN FENSTERWALD: "Last April, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas pulled a bill on early literacy instruction and asked proponents and adversaries to reach a compromise on legislation for improving the reading skills of California students, which overall are dismal.
That hasn’t happened. After several broad discussions yielding little, the three main opponents — the California Teachers Association, the California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE), and Californians Together — released statements within the past month opposing the latest version of the legislation."
Here’s how bad S.F.’s return-to-office is compared to the rest of the U.S.
The Chronicle, DANIELLE ECHEVERRIA: "Despite high profile return-to-office mandates, San Francisco workers are still behind the rest of the country when it comes to return-to-office, according to two companies who track return-to-office data.
Both the location tracking company Placer.ai and the security firm Kastle found that office attendance in San Francisco remains the lowest compared to several other major cities, despite some gains over the last two years."
Raise prices? Remove dishes? Tariffs rattle Bay Area Chinese restaurants
The Chronicle, ELENA KADVANY: "San Francisco tea specialist Roy Fong was traveling in China for the spring tea harvest, usually an ebullient time of year, when he learned that President Donald Trump would impose staggering tariffs on Chinese imports, which now amount to a minimum 145% tax on most goods.
It’s devastating news for Fong, whose business Imperial Tea Court sells specialty Chinese tea online and at a Ferry Building teahouse. Some of his most popular teas are produced only in China; there are no alternatives, he said."
Activists warn Police Commission about ICE access to LAPD data on immigrants
LAT, LIBOR JANY: "Activists rallied outside LAPD headquarters on Tuesday to denounce department policies that allow information sharing with federal agencies, a concern amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
In a letter to the LAPD’s civilian Police Commission, several watchdog groups said public assurances by city officials that L.A. won’t cooperate in deportations ring hollow."
The Bay Area has more billionaires than New York City and everywhere else, new data shows
The Chronicle, NORA MISHANEC: "New York City may top the latest list of the world’s wealthiest regions, but the San Francisco Bay Area is rapidly outpacing it in one ultra-niche category: the number of billionaires.
The Bay Area is now home to 82 billionaires and saw a 98% increase in millionaires over the past decade, according to a newly released report from Henley & Partners, a London investment firm that helps wealthy people buy residence permits and citizenship by investing in foreign countries."
Amid questions about his resume, leader of new Los Angeles housing agency plans to depart
LAT, LIAM DILLON: "A new Los Angeles County public entity soon will collect an estimated $400 million annually in taxpayer money to fund low-income housing developments across the county.
Ryan Johnson, interim chief executive of the Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency, is tasked with spending those dollars to finally make a dent in the region’s unrelenting homelessness crisis."
A ‘calamity waiting to unfold’: Altadena residents with standing homes fear long-term health effects
LAT, NOAH HAGGERTY: "On Jan. 7, two residents on opposite sides of Altadena — Francois Tissot, a Caltech professor who studies the geology of ancient Earth and our solar system, living in the east side of town; and Jane Potelle, an environmental advocate living in the west side — fled the intensifying red glow of the devastating Eaton fire.
The inferno devoured home after home, unleashing what experts estimate to be tons of dangerous metals and compounds, from lead to asbestos to the carcinogen benzene. Carried through the vicious winds, the toxins embedded deep into the soil, seeped into the blood of first responders, and leaked into structures in the area that hadn’t burned down."
Berkeley hills residents must clear vegetation near homes under newly approved rule
The Chronicle, JULIE JOHNSON: "Hundreds of Berkeley hills households will soon have to follow strict landscaping rules after city officials passed new wildfire safety regulations meant to slow a worst-case-scenario blaze burning into town.
In a unanimous vote on Tuesday, Berkeley council members agreed to require a five-foot buffer around homes, wood decks and outbuildings in designated areas. Called an ember-resistant zone, or zone zero, it’s an area where fire experts have said flying embers could ignite and quickly spread fire to structures."