S.F. teachers strike is over as school district and union reach tentative agreement
CHRONICLE, JILL TUCKER: "The San Francisco teachers strike is over.
Union and district officials agreed to a $183 million deal early Friday, increasing educators salaries and health care benefits in a two-year contract that required compromise from each side and could mean imminent pink slips and additional budget cuts in the upcoming year."
California Republican Kevin Kiley bucks Trump on tariffs as he weighs reelection
CALMATTERS, MAYA C. MILLER: "California’s Rep. Kevin Kiley of Roseville was among a handful of House Republicans this week to go on the record opposing President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada.
He also notably defied House Republican leadership by voting against a procedural motion that would have suppressed any votes on Trump’s emergency tariffs until August."
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass directed Palisades fire damage control, email shows
LAT, ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN: "A day after federal prosecutors announced that the catastrophic Palisades fire was caused by the rekindling of a smaller arson fire days earlier, Los Angeles city officials were in damage control mode.
The ultimate authority on how to handle the deluge of media inquiries was Mayor Karen Bass, according to an internal email reviewed by The Times."
California launches civil rights probe into botched evacuations in historically Black Altadena
LAT, GRACE TOOHEY: "More than a year after the devastating Eaton fire — and following months of mounting pressure from survivors — California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has opened a civil rights investigation into the fire preparations and response, looking particularly at potential disparities in historically Black west Altadena.
“My office will be investigating whether there was race, age, or disability discrimination in the emergency response in west Altadena,” Bonta said Thursday. “Specifically, we’ll be looking at whether the systems and structures at play contributed to a delay in the county’s evacuation notice.”"
Q4 2025 spending on lobbying firms exceeded $91 million
CAPITOL WEEKLY: "Special interests paid lobbying firms more than $91 million to lobby state government in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to a Capitol Weekly analysis of lobbying firm reports.
As Capitol Weekly always notes in quarterly lobbying reports, that number doesn’t include all of the money spent on lobbying during the fourth quarter of the 2025-26 legislative cycle, as lobbying firm disclosure reports don’t include wages and expenses for in-house lobbyists."
CAPITOL WEEKLY, CHRIS MICHELI: "What should your lobby day participants know about California government before they embark on their lobby day at the State Capitol in Sacramento? This article sets forth those key items for them to get acquainted with regarding the Legislature and the legislative process.
Like the federal government, California has three branches of government: Legislative (comprised of the Senate and Assembly), executive (headed by the Governor and the other 8 constitutional offices), and judicial (headed by the Supreme Court). The three branches are set forth in Articles 4, 5, and 6 of the California Constitution."
Why Trump Accounts may be a tax headache waiting to happen — especially in California
CHRONICLE, KATHLEEN PENDER: "The new Trump Accounts for children have been billed as an easy way to grow savings from a young age, with significant tax benefits. But they also come with new tax complications, especially for people in California.
Trump Accounts are defined as a new type of Individual Retirement Account, with the unique feature that they can receive funds from sources other than just the account holder, such as the government, employers and nonprofits. That increases the wealth-building potential — but could lead to unexpected tax consequences."
Kristi Noem touts Trump’s border record as San Diego protesters disrupt her news conference
CALMATTERS, WENDY FRY: "Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made a high-profile visit to San Diego County Thursday, where she touted the Trump administration’s border policies as more than 100 protesters attempted to drown out her news conference.
Noem spoke in front of cardboard boxes marked “evidence” and plastic bags filled with pills that officials said were illicit drugs. She said the administration had seized 188,218 pounds of narcotics at the border and described meetings she had with parents who lost children to fentanyl overdoses."
READ MORE -- Trump immigration sweeps upended L.A.’s economy, with some businesses losing big -- LAT, SUHAUNA HUSSAIN
Cedars-Sinai didn’t act on four decades of complaints about gynecologist’s abuse, lawsuits allege
LAT, CORINNE PURTILL: "Her usual doctor wasn’t available, so the 21-year-old woman was scheduled with a different Cedars-Sinai Medical Center gynecologist whom she had never seen before: Dr. Barry J. Brock.
She was the day’s last patient, and Brock sent his nurse home as soon as she checked in. He led the woman to an examination room where he told her to undress completely, she later alleged in a lawsuit against him. She said he remained in the room and watched as she did, without offering a hospital gown or privacy covering."
SFUSD is in turmoil. Another Bay Area district faces a ‘far more serious’ crisis
CHRONICLE, JULIE JOHNSON: "Santa Rosa parent Yoni Hercules jumped and waved Wednesday at honking cars with a sign that read “District Math Stinks,” a dig at the cascading financial problems shuttering two of her daughters’ schools at the end of the year. Inside the high school auditorium behind her, school leaders were about to make even more monumental cuts.
Last year, Santa Rosa school leaders cut 100 positions, closed four schools and planned for two more campuses to shutter this coming June. But the district remained in financial distress, and a state official last month told the district its cash problems were the worst in the state."
Number of the week: Students speaking Chinese languages at home
EDSOURCE, YUXUAN XIE: "Feb. 17 marks the start of the 2026 Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival. In 1858, San Francisco established California’s first public school for Chinese immigrant children. Here’s a snapshot of key data about California students who speak a Chinese language at home, attend a Chinese-language immersion school or students from China who attend California public universities. Happy New Year! (新春快乐,马年大吉!)"
Natomas teachers vote to authorize strike for first time in district history
SACBEE, JENNAH PENDLETON: "Natomas Unified School District teachers voted overwhelmingly to approve a strike if the district does not meet their demands at the bargaining table.
After a year of unsuccessful negotiations, 95% of Natomas Teachers Association members voted Tuesday night to authorize a work stoppage. If the union ultimately decides to strike it would be the first in the history of the district."
Clovis police to charge parents who allegedly aided student ICE protest
EDSOURCE, STAFF: "The Clovis Police Department intends to charge parents who allegedly helped organize a student anti-ICE walkout from classes this week with misdemeanor crimes, the Fresno Bee reported.
The likely charge would be contributing to the delinquency of a minor, which can result in a year in jail and a $1,000 fine, a police spokesman told the newspaper."
‘Coldest storm of the season’ to hit California. Here’s when to expect showers
SACBEE, ANGELA RODRIGUEZ: "After several days of thunderstorms that brought snow, rain and strong winds, California is expected to see a brief stretch of sunshine.
However, the calm weather won’t last long."
READ MORE -- California’s coldest storm of the season to hit holiday weekend. Here’s when travel turns risky -- CHRONICLE, GREG PORTER
For the first time in the Sierra, scientists snap a GPS collar on one of the nation’s rarest mammals
LAT, CLARA HARTER: "The Sierra Nevada red fox is one of the nation’s rarest and most critically threatened mammals with fewer than 50 believed to remain. And now, for the first time, a specimen has been successfully fitted with a GPS collar and released back into the wild, marking a major victory for conservation efforts to protect it.
The species’ existence in the Sierra Nevada was confirmed only in 2010 when a motion camera north of Yosemite National Park captured a photo of the elusive vulpine and its white-tipped tail. Researchers previously believed the fox was wiped out from the region in the 1920s."
California mountain lions are now considered ‘threatened.’ But only in certain regions
CALMATTERS, RACHEL BECKER: "Just weeks after a mountain lion wandered into San Francisco, state officials voted to permanently protect populations of the charismatic predators that prowl the coastal mountains between the Bay Area and the Mexican border.
Mountain lions are one of the last big predators keeping ecosystems in balance. They feed on deer and other animals, leave scavengers, raptors and other wildlife the remains, and help maintain equilibrium among plants, prey and predator."
Why Mattel now has a problem with Barbie
LAT, IRIS KWOK: "Barbie manufacturer Mattel took a hit this week after its superstar doll failed to deliver.
The El Segundo company behind many of the world’s most iconic toys was walloped in the stock market — its shares plunged 25% Wednesday — after it announced that holiday-season sales were weak and that it expects another slow year."
Factory-built housing hasn’t taken off in California yet, but this year might be different
CALMATTERS, BEN CHRISTOPHER: "As the first home rolled off the factory floor in Kalamazoo, Michigan — “like a boxcar with picture windows,” according to a journalist on the scene — the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development proclaimed it “the coming of a real revolution in housing.”
For decades engineers, architects, futurists, industrialists, investors and politicians have been pining for a better, faster and cheaper way to build homes. Now, amid a national housing shortage, the question felt as pressing as ever: What if construction could harness the speed, efficiency, quality control and cost-savings of the assembly line? What if, rather than building homes on-site from the ground up, they were cranked out of factories, one unit after another, shipped to where they were needed and dropped into place? What if the United States could mass-produce its way out of a housing crisis?"
‘It’s time’: California leaders unveil biggest crackdown on drunk drivers in decades
CALMATTERS, ROBERT LEWIS/LAUREN HEPLER: "It’s been more than four decades yet Rhonda Campbell’s voice still quavered as she stood before a row of television cameras recalling the day in 1981 when a repeat drunk driver killed her 12-year-old sister. She remembers her father crying as he told her what happened, still hears her mother’s scream when the coffin lid closed.
“For our family, 45 years means 45 years of missed birthdays, missed holidays and that empty chair at our table for every holiday gathering. Grief does not fade, it just becomes part of who you are,” Campbell, victim services manager for Mothers Against Drunk Driving California, said on Thursday at a press conference."