‘It’s going to get ugly’: L.A. immigrants fear the worst as Supreme Court allows raids to resume
LAT, BRITTNY MEJIA/RACHEL URANGA/RUBEN VIVES: "In a county where one in three residents are immigrants, a sense of anger and dread erupted Monday as noncitizens and their families realized the immigration raids that rocked their lives this summer could become a never-ending nightmare.
Monday’s Supreme Court order gave the green light to what critics called “indiscriminate” immigration stops that led to thousands of arrests and set off days of protests in the Los Angeles area. The federal government now says it will continue in earnest."
READ MORE -- Supreme Court allows immigration agents to resume ‘roving patrols’ in LA, siding with Trump -- CALMatters, WENDY FRY/SERGIO OLMOS; Chinese immigrants were once banned from this Northern California county. Except one -- LAT, HAILEY BRANSON-POTTS
Will California extend cap and trade? Legislative negotiations go down to the wire
CALMatters, MAYA C. MILLER: "California lawmakers are scrambling to finalize a last-minute deal that would extend the state’s landmark greenhouse gas reduction program – known as cap and trade – through 2045.
At the center of this year’s reauthorization fight are a number of controversial concessions that former Gov. Jerry Brown gave to various industries – including oil and gas – when the Legislature last renewed the program in 2017. Those include giveaways that allow fossil fuel companies and others to emit greenhouse gases free of charge, as well as permission for some market participants to purchase questionably effective carbon offsets to meet emissions targets."
California dam removal plan blasted by Trump administration
The Chronicle, KURTIS ALEXANDER: "U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins took to social media over the weekend to raise concern about dam removal on California’s Eel River, even suggesting that the Trump administration may intervene to stop or revise the project.
Rollins, on X, cited the loss of water for cities and farms that would come with plans to remove two dams in Mendocino and Lake counties while also invoking well-worn Republican criticism about California “putting fish over people.” She specifically called out Gov. Gavin Newsom for allowing the proposal to advance, though the governor has no direct say over the matter."
Firefighters guard California sequoias as wildfire threatens ancient trees
Washington Post, VIVIAN HO: "California’s beloved giant sequoia trees — the largest trees in the world that can live for thousands of years — are being threatened by the 54,900-acre Garnet Fire that entered the McKinley Grove in the Sierra National Forest on Monday. And firefighters are going to great lengths to protect the towering trees — from running a 24-hour sprinkler to deploying parachuting firefighters that have been specially trained to scale the trees to extinguish treetop fires sparked by drifting embers.
Crews had prepared “well in advance” for the worst-case scenario with the Garnet Fire, which has been burning through the Sierra National Forest since Aug. 24, the U.S. Forest Service said. It added that firefighters had “remained in place to defend the grove until it was unsafe to do so.”
Is Trump’s troop buildup in U.S. cities a declaration of war — or something else?
LAT, JENNY JARVIE: "Over the weekend, President Trump shared a doctored AI image of himself as Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore, the crazed cavalry commander in the 1979 Vietnam War film, “Apocalypse Now,” crouched in a black Stetson hat in front of a flaming Chicago skyline abuzz with black helicopters.
“‘I love the smell of deportations in the morning,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.”"
The unlikely superstars of California's gerrymander campaign
Politico, JEREMY B. WHITE: "Bitterly divided on the virtues of gerrymandering, the champions and foes of California’s snap redistricting bid can agree on one thing: This is coming from Democrats who control the state. Whether voters love or loathe that fact could swing the outcome.
The Proposition 50 campaign has put California’s most powerful and prominent elected officials front and center, featuring Gov. Gavin Newsom and Sen. Alex Padilla in its opening advertising salvo and having former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi join them as the official signatories of the Yes ballot argument. Additional prominent Democrats are likely to appear in future spots; former President Barack Obama has embraced it."
Democrats pin their hopes on the courts in uphill redistricting fight
Politico, ANDREW HOWARD and LIZ CRAMPTON: "Outgunned in the national redistricting war, Democrats are launching a multipronged legal battle to try and prevent GOP gains ahead of next year’s midterms.
It stands to be a grueling, lengthy and costly process for Democrats to counter President Donald Trump’s effort to draw new congressional maps that boost Republicans as they look to grow their slim majority next year. But with limited options to redraw maps in blue states outside Gov. Gavin Newsom’s effort in California, the courtroom presents the party’s best hope of countering Trump’s aggressive strategy."
Mayor Bass endorses Antonio Villaraigosa for governor
LAT, SEEMA MEHTA: "Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass plans to endorse Antonio Villaraigosa, a longtime compatriot and the city’s former mayor, in the 2026 governor’s race on Tuesday.
“Antonio and I have known and worked together our entire adult life,” Bass said in a statement. “I have seen up close the impact he has made not just for our city but for our entire state. Our country is at a crossroads and it’s vital that our state have a leader who will lead California into the future.”"
Another longtime Bay Area House member is getting an intraparty challenge
The Chronicle, JOE GAROFOLI: "Eric Jones, a former venture capitalist who lives in Napa, announced Tuesday that he will challenge a fellow Democrat, Rep. Mike Thompson, 74, who has represented the North Bay in Congress since 1999.
It is another example of a younger, well-funded Bay Area Democrat taking on an entrenched candidate as the Democratic Party grapples with how to win back voters, some of which is rooted in how party leaders have mishandled conversations about its aging leaders. Many Democrats kept mum while former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein and former President Joe Biden held onto their seats after showing signs of mental and physical decline."
(Opinons) Experts Expound: "Who’s next in and out of the governor’s race?"
Capitol Weekly Staff: "The 2026 California gubernatorial race is as unsettled as ever. Who is the most likely to jump in next? Conversely, who is the most likely to drop out?
“She’s not going to do it this time around, but Assemblymember Buffy Wicks would make one hell of a Governor.”
“Obviously Padilla is The Unnamed Bigfoot. I’d say Thurmond is first out.”
"...“The only new entrants that would probably matter at this point would be Padilla and Caruso. With respect to dropouts, hard to see how Thurmond hangs in, polling at 1%.”
Moving toward the future, an AI assistant is helping California collect taxes
SacBee, WILLIAM MELHADO: "Throughout the year, Thor Dunn’s call center gets 42,000 calls from taxpayers. But during peak tax filing months, his call volume spikes by over 50%. The deluge of questions about California’s tax system forces Dunn, the call center’s chief, to reassign agents three months of the year, taking them away from other work collecting revenue for California.
With a new virtual assistant that uses artificial intelligence to answer Californian’s tax questions, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration hopes to eliminate the need to shift workers and speed up the call center’s work."
Fewer jobs, AI threats and rising health care costs. A tough role for SAG-AFTRA’s new leader
LAT, WENDY LEE: "As the loyal hobbit Samwise Gamgee in “The Lord of the Rings” he faced down Sauron and his forces of evil, carrying his friend Frodo up Mt. Doom. In “Rudy,” he overcame huge odds to play football at the University of Notre Dame, becoming the ultimate symbol of the underdog athlete.
But Sean Astin may soon face his toughest role yet. Astin is hoping to succeed Fran Drescher as the new president of Hollywood’s powerful performers union, SAG-AFTRA. His opponent is Chuck Slavin, a New England local board member, background actor and performer in independent movies."
Public school is a right. Should child care be considered one too?
LAT, JENNY GOLD: "Since the pandemic, the cry for more affordable, accessible child care has grown ever louder. The annual cost to put a child in day care can be more than college tuition or even a mortgage payment for American families. Many advocates have called on the United States to fund a robust federal child-care system similar those in most other developed countries.
The problem is that advocates have been framing the issue all wrong, researcher Elliot Haspel argues in his new book, “Raising A Nation.” Haspel, a senior fellow at Capita, a family policy think tank, says the popular economic argument — that child care is needed for parents to go to work, feed their families and contribute to the economy — doesn’t carry the moral heft to convince enough voters of its importance."
These colleges are welcoming pets in dorms to reduce students’ stress and anxiety
LAT, CHEYANNE MUMPHREY: "Crossing paths with dogs, cats and other animals is part of campus life for students at Eckerd College, a liberal arts school in Florida that allows pets to live in dormitories.
Sophie Nocera, an Eckerd senior, said she probably knows the names of pets better than her fellow students."
California college coach accused of sex trafficking minor found in Sacramento
SacBee, ROSALIO AHUMADA: "Kern County prosecutors on Monday formally filed criminal charges against a basketball coach at California State University, Bakersfield who is accused of sex trafficking a minor found in Sacramento.
Kevin Sanford Mays Jr., 32, faces felony charges of pandering a minor older than 16, pimping, drug possession while armed with a loaded gun, possession of an assault rifle, possession of a short-barreled shotgun and possessing methamphetamine for sale, Kern Superior Court records show."
California has a new rule for homes sold in wildfire-prone areas
The Chronicle, CHRISTIAN LEONARD: "Californians selling a home in a wildfire-prone area must now tell buyers what they’ve done to protect their property from blazes.
The new rule, which went into effect this summer and was first reported by Bloomberg, also requires those sellers to provide buyers a list of “low-cost” measures they can take to mitigate their wildfire risk. The requirement applies only to homes built before 2010, a couple of years after the state implemented its wildfire building code."
Can S.F. Mayor Daniel Lurie's ‘family zoning’ plan survive political backlash?
The Chronicle, J.D. MORRIS/J.K. DINEEN: "As his sweeping plan to allow 36,000 new homes in San Francisco advances, Mayor Daniel Lurie faces a difficult question: Can he usher in a seismic shift in local land-use rules without triggering massive political backlash?
The answer won’t be known for months, but an inflection point will arrive Thursday, when the Planning Commission takes up what Lurie calls his “family zoning” plan. It’s a far-reaching proposal that seeks to expand the city’s housing supply by allowing taller residential buildings from Fisherman’s Wharf to the west edges of the Richmond and Sunset districts."
Sacramento school boardmember claims homeowner’s exemption on house outside trustee area
SacBee, JENNIFER PENDLETON: "A Sacramento-area school district board member claims a homeowner’s exemption on a home outside of his trustee area, according to documents obtained by the Sacramento Bee.
San Juan Unified School District Trustee Nick Bloise ran for the Area 4 seat on the board in fall 2024, claiming victory against two other candidates. On his 410 Form establishing his campaign committee filed in June 2024, Bloise wrote that he lived in an apartment at 4490 Mary Lynn Lane in Carmichael."
California sues Los Angeles County over ‘inhumane’ conditions in its jail system
CALMatters, CAYLA MIHALOVICH: "Citing “inhumane conditions” and a “shocking rate of deaths,” Attorney General Rob Bonta on Monday announced that the state is suing Los Angeles County over conditions in its jail system.
“We can’t wait any longer,” Bonta said at a press conference. “We need comprehensive reform and we need it now.”"
Man dies after being rescued from Costco gas tank, Sacramento firefighters say
SacBee, ISHANI DESAI: "A man died Monday at a hospital after he fainted inside an underground Costco gas tank near Cal Expo in Sacramento and had to be rescued by firefighters.
The Sacramento Fire Department was called about 10:45 a.m. Monday to the Costco at 1600 Exposition Parkway for a special rescue, requiring the response of teams specialized in both hazmat response and recovering a victim, said Capt. Justin Sylvia, a spokesperson for the department."
A clash at an S.F. stop sign triggered a social media crusade and dueling lawsuits
The Chronicle, RACHEL SWAN: "What began as rather ordinary sniping between a driver and pedestrian, on a Slow Street in San Francisco, has exploded in dueling lawsuits.
On one side: a venture capitalist accused of running his Tesla past a stop sign and then knocking the phone out of the hand of a pedestrian who began recording him. On the other: the pedestrian, an illustrator whose cartoons have appeared in the New Yorker, whose scolding of the driver turned into a crusade on social media."