California tied with Louisiana for highest U.S. poverty rate, new report says
LA Times, SUHAUNA HUSSAIN: "California is staggeringly wealthy; home to major agricultural businesses and influential global tech companies, it boasts an economy larger than many nations. But the state also struggles with a persistent poverty crisis.
A new report released this week by the California Budget and Policy Center, a Sacramento-based think tank, found that 7 million California residents, or 17.7% of the population, lived in poverty last year."
Republicans could have an election edge even if California redraws House maps
SacBee, DAVID LIGHTMAN: "Republicans appear well-positioned to retain control of the House next year even if California voters redraw congressional maps that give Democrats a big advantage, new independent analyses find.
Californians will vote in November on Proposition 50, which would change the shape of current districts to make it difficult for five Republican incumbents to retain their seats."
Gov announces new CARB Chair; Lauren Sanchez to replace Liane Randolph
Capitol Weekly Staff: "Gov. Newsom announced that he has named Lauren Sanchez as the new Chair of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), replacing Liane Randolph who will retire on September 30.
Sanchez has been Gov. Newsom’s Senior Advisor for Climate since 2021. A Fulbright Scholar with a Master’s Degree from Yale, she was a climate adviser to the Biden administration, and formerly served as deputy secretary for Climate Policy and Intergovernmental Relations at the CalEPA."
Schwarzenegger decries polarization, criticizes Newsom’s gerrymandering effort
LA Times, SEEMA MEHTA: "Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke out forcefully Monday against the partisan effort to redraw California’s congressional districts that voters will decide in a November special election.
“They are trying to fight for democracy by getting rid of the democratic principles of California,” Schwarzenegger told hundreds of students at an event celebrating democracy at the University of Southern California. “It is insane to let that happen.”
S.F. Supervisor Joel Engardio’s recall election is Tuesday. Here’s how we got here
CHRONICLE, KO LYN CHEANG: "Voters in San Francisco’s District 4, encompassed by the city’s west side Sunset District, will take to the polls Tuesday to decide whether incumbent Supervisor Joel Engardio should be recalled from office.
Elected in 2022 after three unsuccessful bids for supervisor, the politically moderate Engardio campaigned on a pro-housing, pro-transit and tough-on-crime approach to tackling the city’s problems. He won the close race for District 4 after supporting the recall of then-District Attorney Chesa Boudin and three San Francisco school board members, which a majority of the westside backed."
Trump is firing S.F. judges with highest rates of granting asylum, new analysis finds
CHRONICLE, CHRISTIAN LEONARD: "The Trump administration is firing immigration judges around the country, often without warning or stated rationale. But data reviewed by the Chronicle suggests the result, at least locally, could be a bleaker outlook for immigrants seeking to avoid deportation.
By last Thursday, the administration had fired roughly one-third of the judges in San Francisco’s immigration court, which is among the country’s most favorable to people claiming refuge. Five of the seven dismissed judges had granted immigrants relief at even higher rates than their San Francisco colleagues."
Protesters rally outside Peter Thiel’s ‘Antichrist’ lecture in San Francisco
CHRONICLE, ALDO TOLEDO/LUCY HODGMAN: "Billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel is holding a lecture series in San Francisco this week about the Antichrist — and it galvanized dozens of demonstrators to gather on the steps of San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club in protest, some donning devilish costumes.
About 50 people were gathered outside the club’s Embarcadero office building, where Thiel is giving a four-part lecture on the Antichrist — the demonic false messiah that Christians believe will begin the Second Coming of Jesus Christ."
Robert Redford, Oscar winner and generational icon, dies at 89
LA Times, NARDINE SAAD: "Robert Redford, a generational icon who commanded the big screen as the star of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “The Way We Were” and won awards and lasting praise for directing films such as “Ordinary People,” has died at 89.
Long a critical force in the elevation of independent film-making through the Sundance Institute, Redford died Tuesday morning at his home in Utah, according to The New York Times."
Sacramento County sheriff submits CapRadio investigation to prosecutors
SAC BEE, ISHANI DESAI: "The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office submitted its investigation into Capital Public Radio’s former general manager for prosecutors to consider potential charges of embezzlement and grand theft.
A forensic examination last year found about $470,000 in expenses paid by the station but were not supported with either expense reports or receipts. These funds, some as far back as December 2017, were either paid to former General Manager Jun Reina or he purchased through a credit card, according to the forensic examination."
It’s not just UCLA. UC president warns of Trump push into all campuses and hospitals
LA Times, JAWEED KALEEM: "The University of California’s top leader warned Monday that the federal government’s $1.2-billion fine and sweeping proposals to remake UCLA are “minor in comparison” to what could hit the entirety of the nation’s premier university system of campuses, hospitals and clinics.
“As we consider the unprecedented action against UCLA, it is important to keep in mind that the federal government is also pursuing investigations and actions in various stages against all 10 UC campuses,” UC President James B. Milliken said in a Monday letter. “So, while we are first focused on the direct action involving UCLA, we must also consider the implications of expanded federal action.”
UCLA race and equity official sounded off after Charlie Kirk’s slaying. Now he’s on leave
LA Times, RUBEN VIVES: "A UCLA official with its Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Office has been placed on leave amid an investigation over remarks made on social media concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk, according to social media reports and university sources.
Johnathan Perkins, the director of race and equity, appeared to have published the remarks on BlueSky. The posts express satisfaction with as well as indifference to the killing of Kirk, a popular right-wing commentator and activist."
$23 Billion Scientific Research Program Proposed in California
Capitol Weekly, DAVE JENSEN: "California would see the creation of a $23 billion state research agency under legislation proposed late last week, a new enterprise that could threaten the existence of the state’s 20-year-old stem cell and gene therapy program.
The legislation would support research ranging from wildfire prevention to autism. It would be embedded within existing state departments and be more subject to the vagaries of gubernatorial control than the existing California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), which is more screened off."
Former students abused by longtime Rolling Hills High teacher awarded more than $13 million
LA Times, MATT HAMILTON: "Five women who said they were sexually assaulted by their high school teacher in the 1980s won a combined $13.6-million judgment Monday after a jury concluded that the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District failed to prevent the abuse.
The Torrance jury found that district administrators were negligent in allowing longtime Rolling Hills High School English teacher and baseball coach Garry Poe to groom and, ultimately, sexually abuse teenagers."
Thunderstorms, heat, fire weather and winds threaten SoCal as weather gets wild
LA Times, CLARA HARTER: "Southern California is in for a wild week of weather, with thunderstorms and toasty temperatures bringing both the chance of fire starts and sudden downpours, forecasters say.
Tuesday is expected to be the hottest day of the week, with warmer valley areas in L.A. County expected to reach the triple digits and temperatures in inland coastal areas ranging from the 80s to lower 90s, according to the National Weather Service. The hot weather will continue on Wednesday and coincide with a risk of thunderstorms that will persist through midday Friday."
S.F.’s hot weather continues. Here’s how Tuesday will be different
CHRONICLE, ANTHONY EDWARDS: "A day after hitting 80 degrees, San Francisco is expected to make a run at that mark again Tuesday, although the evolution of heat across the Bay Area will be different than Monday.
Thick fog prevailed over San Francisco Bay until 10 a.m. Monday, and, unusually, it burned off earlier at Ocean Beach than at Oracle Park. That’s not expected to be the case Tuesday, when a drier air mass over the region will result in a sunnier morning. With less extensive fog, temperatures will shoot up more rapidly, reaching the 80s in downtown San Francisco and Oakland as early as 11 a.m."
Tropical Storm Mario could stir up midweek showers in San Diego County
Times of San Diego, ELIZABETH IRELAND: "San Diego County is experiencing a warm start to the week before a tropical twist brings a midweek cooldown, according to the National Weather Service.
Moisture from Tropical Storm Mario is expected to be pulled into the region, raising the odds of showers and thunderstorms from Wednesday evening into Thursday morning, especially in the mountains and deserts."
Union reaches tentative agreement for 6,000 California grocery workers
SacBee, ANNA MERRILEES: "The United Food and Commercial Workers union reached a tentative agreement covering 6,000 workers at Raley’s and the grocery chain’s two brands, Bel Air and Nob Hill Foods.
The Roseville-based union chapter said Monday that it is finalizing voting times and locations. The offer includes $1,100 ratification bonuses for full-time workers and $750 for part-time employees. It would increase funding for the workers’ pension plan, raise wages for many, and boost Sunday premium pay for certain workers with 20 or more years of service."
Under state pressure, Marin County town will approve controversial 243-unit apartment complex
CHRONICLE, J.K. DINEEN: "A contentious, 243-unit apartment building proposed for the outskirts of downtown Fairfax is poised to become reality after the California Department of Housing and Community Development rejected the Marin County town’s argument that the project requires an environmental study and planning commission approval.
In a Sept. 8, letter to developer Mill Creek and its land use attorney Riley Hurd, Fairfax Planning and Building Services Director Jeffrey Beiswenger said the state agency, known as HCD, had rejected the city’s assertion that the project at 95 Broadway was ineligible for “ministerial,” or over the counter, approvals."
Bay Area’s historic Green Gables estate sells for $85 million after steep price cut
THE CHRONICLE, AIDIN VAZIRI: "One of Northern California’s most storied estates has finally found a buyer.
Green Gables, the 74-acre Woodside property long regarded as a crown jewel of Bay Area real estate, sold this month for $85 million — well below its original $135 million asking price in 2021, when the property went on the market for the first time."