California farmers depleted groundwater in this county. Now a state crackdown could rein them in
CALMatters's RACHEL BECKER: "For the first time in California history, state officials are poised to crack down on overpumping of groundwater in the agricultural heartland.
The State Water Resources Control Board on Tuesday will weigh whether to put Kings County groundwater agencies on probation for failing to rein in growers’ overdrafting of the underground water supply."
Ag groups spend millions on ads to discourage California farmworker unionizing. What to know
MATHEW MIRANDA and MELISSA MONTALVO, SacBee: "Major agriculture organizations have combined forces to spend millions on Spanish-language radio advertisements discouraging farmworkers from voting in union elections.
Radio ads promoting anti-union rhetoric on multiple popular radio stations across the state and Spanish-language digital media over the past nine months have attacked a 2023 California “card check law” aimed to make it easier for farmworkers to vote in union elections. In some cases, the ads platform misinformation, according to labor experts."
LAT's JEFFREY FLEISHMAN: "The adult film star. The betraying bagman. The brash billionaire. The plot reads like a “Sopranos” episode, a shadowy narrative of a nation’s sins and troubling divisions, its characters converging in a New York courtroom where, for the first time in history, a former president will stand before a jury in a criminal trial.
Donald Trump is giving the country another unruly moment to mark. There have been so many over the years — the Jan. 6 insurrection, the failed pandemic response — that they seem to blur into one another, an unending spectacle of a reality-TV-star-turned-politician in an age of lies and recriminations. The hush money trial scheduled to start Monday probably will not change the opinions of Trump’s followers or detractors. But it will further incite the 2024 campaign and test the resilience of a polarized democracy."
The Chronicle's ANTHONY EDWARDS: "A cold, wet Saturday was just part of another in a string of rainy Bay Area weekends this spring. San Francisco, Santa Rosa, Oakland and San Jose all picked up close to a half-inch of rain this weekend, with most of it coming Saturday. The Santa Cruz Mountains measured well over an inch of rain.
As April progresses, it will become more difficult to maintain the damp pattern. The jet stream, also known as the storm track, makes a northward migration during spring. April weather in the Bay Area is typically marked by the jet stream’s wobbling northward journey, with occasional rainfall interspersed with periods of sunshine and warmth."
DAVID LIGHTMAN, SacBee: "Thought you might get a bigger child tax credit when you filed your federal income taxes this year? And maybe a larger deduction for state and local taxes?
Forget it for now.
Many members of Congress this year were eager to make both changes. But the state and local tax deduction increase, or SALT, is dead — and the expanded child credit is stalled in the Senate."
This is the new magic number for retirement in California — and what it means for you
The Chronicle's KELLIE HWANG: "Americans’ “magic number” for retirement savings is at an all-time high — $1.46 million to retire comfortably, according to responses from Northwestern Mutual’s 2024 Planning & Progress Study.
Headlines on the new study caused “magic number” to trend on Google, but the rising figure may reveal more about “retirement anxiety than retirement planning,” according to an economist quoted by the Wall Street Journal."
Transgender rights vs. parent rights. California goes to court to settle school divide
LAT's HOWARD BLUME: "Supporters of a proposed November ballot initiative wanted the all-important title of their measure to reflect their beliefs, a name like “Protect Kids of California Act.” But Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta saw things differently when his office chose the name signature gatherers must use: “Restricts Rights of Transgender Youth.”
Among its provisions, the initiative in question — which has not yet qualified for the ballot — would require schools to notify parents if a child changed gender identification unofficially or in schools records, such as a roll sheet."
California housing crisis so bad once-modest towns now surprising ‘million-dollar cities’
LAT's TERRY CASTLEMAN: "When you think of towns with $1-million-plus homes, tony places such as Beverly Hills, San Marino, Newport Beach and Palos Verdes Estates might come to mind.
But as California housing values keep rising, some cities that until recently had reputations for working-class modesty are joining the list of communities with median home values more than $1 million."
San Francisco homes were the most likely to sell at a loss among all U.S. metro areas
The Chronicle's CHRISTIAN LEONARD: "More than one in six homeowners in San Francisco and San Mateo County sold their homes for a loss, according to recent sales numbers, yet another sign of the sluggish market in the region.
The share of homes that sold for a loss in the two counties, which Redfin defines as the San Francisco metro area, from December 2023 to February 2024, was about 18%, higher than the percentage in any of the 50 most populous United States metro areas, according to real estate brokerage site Redfin. Nationally, just 4.3% of homes sold for a loss during that period."
Parts of S.F. saw an 80% decrease in sales. This map shows where
The Chronicle's ROLNAD LI, EMMA STIEFELL: "San Francisco’s sales tax revenue, a key measure of economic activity, fell across most of the city in 2023, a sign of an overall slowdown and continued pain in the downtown area.
Revenue declined in 33 of 39 neighborhoods tracked by the city compared to 2022, adjusted for inflation, and only five neighborhoods are above 2019 levels."
Why tortillas sold in California may be forced to add a new ingredient
CALMatters's ANA B. IBARRA: "Corn chips, tortillas, tamales and pupusas — while all delicious may be missing a key vitamin for women of reproductive age.
Folic acid has long been used to prevent serious birth defects and help babies develop. Medical and public health experts advise daily consumption during pregnancy, but also in the months before becoming pregnant. This B vitamin is so important the federal government requires folic acid in certain foods such as enriched breads and cereals."
Bureau of Prisons to close East Bay women’s prison where inmates have been subjected to sex abuse
AP's MICHAEL R. SISAK and MICHAEL BALSAMO: "The federal Bureau of Prisons said Monday it is planning to close a women’s prison in California known as the “rape club” despite attempts to reform the troubled facility after an Associated Press investigation exposed rampant staff-on-inmate sexual abuse.
Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters said in a statement to the AP that the agency had “taken unprecedented steps and provided a tremendous amount of resources to address culture, recruitment and retention, aging infrastructure – and most critical – employee misconduct.”"
You might be surprised by how much illegal weed is seized in California
SCNG*OC Register's KURT SNIBBE: "It’s been 8 years since California voters approved recreational cannabis, and sales began 6 years ago. Many buyers and sellers have played by the rules, but the illegal growth and sale of the plant continue to undermine those obeying the laws.
Since its establishment in 1983, California’s Campaign Against Marijuana Planting has involved more than 110 law enforcement agencies, making it one of the largest such task forces in the U.S. But things changed in the past couple years. Another new effort was organized by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2022 and is called the Unified Cannabis Enforcement Task Force. The campaign seized more than $312 million in unlicensed cannabis during its first full year."
First data on South Bay’s new turbo roundabout are in — with surprising results. Is it really safer?
BANG*Mercury News's LUIS MELECIO-ZAMBRANO: "When drivers first crossed this particular roadway in San Benito County last February, they encountered an intersection never before seen in California — a multi-lane “turbo roundabout” shaped like a cartoon hurricane.
And, while the turbo roundabout has a history of making intersections safer throughout Europe, here the Scandinavian rotary has led to confusion among some drivers who have been seen entering the intersection backward, hopping over lane dividers, and cutting through yield signs."
Accusing a pop superstar of sex trafficking: What R. Kelly case tells us about Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
LAT's RICHARD WINTON: "Disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly was once worth hundreds of millions of dollars but is now serving what amounts to a life sentence in federal prison.
After decades of sex abuse allegations and an acquittal on child pornography charges, a documentary series titled “Surviving R. Kelly” finally gave his accusers a voice and helped bring down the singer. Within six months of its airing, Kelly was facing federal prosecution in New York."
Feral peacocks in Sacramento? Turkeys aren’t the only big birds strutting around
JACQUELINE PINEDO, SacBee: "You’ve likely seen wild turkeys roaming Sacramento parks, roosting in trees or strutting through crosswalks. But what about feral peacocks?
Yeah, they’re here too. With their vibrant colors and iridescent fans of feathers, the exotic birds have been spotted in the Sacramento area for years, inspiring social media chatter whenever they pop up."
