Anger builds over sweeping change in the way most Californians will pay for electricity
LAT's MELODY PETERSEN: "With little debate two years ago, state lawmakers passed a complex energy bill that enabled a sweeping change in how most Californians are billed for electricity.
The legislation was what Pacific Gas & Electric had asked for from the state public utilities commission three months before: a transformation of electric rates so that households would pay a fixed charge each month in exchange for lower rates for each kilowatt hour they used."
California wine is in serious trouble
The Chronicle's ESTHER MOBLEY: "Megan Bell felt certain that her winery was going bankrupt.
When she released a new batch of wines in August, only three of her 19 distributors agreed to buy any. She was running $65,000 over budget on opening a tasting room in Santa Cruz. And she owed $80,000 to grape growers."
California has a unique opportunity to advance online safety for kids (OP-ED)
Capitol Weekly's STEPHEN BALKAM: "California is the premier state to watch for regulating kids’ online safety. From its robust data privacy law to the contentious Age Appropriate Design Code (AADC), the state presents a wealth of opportunities to get kids’ online safety right. However, crucial First Amendment concerns have blocked the implementation of the AADC, and critical questions remain on the best path forward to keep kids safe online.
Notably, California has one of the country’s strongest data privacy laws for consumers. The Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) gave California the highest grade in the country (B+) for its consumer-friendly privacy law. The California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) gives consumers the right to know what information is collected about them, the right to delete that information, and the right to opt out of the selling of their information. California also recently introduced amendments to the CCPA that would include additional privacy protections for children."
‘Age before beauty’? California bill seeks to ban sales of anti-aging cosmetic products to children
BANG*Mercury News's STEPHANIE LAM: "As a 14-year-old interested in skin care, Emily Chan thought dabbing her face with her mom’s fancy anti-aging products would help nourish her skin.
What she didn’t know was that the creams contained ingredients such as retinol and hyaluronic acid. Both can improve the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles by increasing skin cell production, but they also can cause irritation that results in redness and itchiness, especially on young skin."
California abortion rate rises to highest level in a decade. What experts say
Sacramento Bee's PHILLIP REESE: "California’s abortion rate rose last year to its highest level in a decade as state legislation made it easier to get an abortion and thousands of people from states with abortion bans sought medical care here, new data show.
California health care professionals provided about 178,400 legal abortions in 2023, up by about 24,000, or 16%, from 2020, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit organization that advocates for access to reproductive care."
Berkeley superintendent faces GOP-led grilling over antisemitism claims
The Chronicle's SHIRA STEIN: "House lawmakers will grill the superintendent of Berkeley Unified about allegations of pervasive antisemitism in its K-12 schools, the latest in a series of GOP-led sessions probing liberal academic institutions.
Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel will address the House Education & the Workforce subcommittee on early childhood, elementary and secondary education on Wednesday. The chancellor of New York City Public Schools, the president of Montgomery County Board of Education (Maryland) and an American Civil Liberties Union attorney are also set to testify."
S.F. schools face ‘high’ risk of running out of cash, alarming new report says
The Chronicle's JILL TUCKER: "San Francisco no longer has full control over its schools, with state officials giving fiscal appointees veto power over spending last week after new deficit projections showed the district could run out of cash to pay the bills in just over a year.
State education leaders have been keeping tabs on San Francisco Unified School District for a few years, hoping district officials would pull out of the fiscal tailspin, but their watchful concern has turned to active angst."
Thousands rally over expected school cuts, a rebuke to LAUSD’s pledge to protect workers
LAT's HOWARD BLUME: "In a massive and raucous street rally Tuesday during the Los Angeles Board of Education meeting, school union leaders spoke out against expected budget cuts that are already affecting decisions at individual schools, where administrators are making plans that will likely cut employee hours or student programs.
As crowds cheered, angry union leaders lashed out against called Supt. Alberto Carvalho, saying he is reneging on a pledge to protect jobs and employee benefits."
Inside L.A.’s greatest family feud: Warring brothers. Blood betrayal. Billions at stake
LAT's NOAH GOLDBERG: "Four brothers gathered in silence in the Los Angeles courtroom to hear the jury’s verdict. The decision came after 20 years of legal maneuvering by the brothers — bitter decades filled with accusations of fraud, intimidation and betrayal.
At issue was whether two of the brothers had struck an oral agreement nearly 30 years ago. Such a contract would determine ownership of vast real estate holdings worth billions, one of the highest stakes ever seen in a Los Angeles civil courtroom. One brother swore the contract existed; another denied it ever happened."
California’s wealthiest farm family plans mega-warehouse complex that would reshape Kern economy
LAT's REBECCA PLEVIN: "California’s wealthiest farming family is proposing an expansion of industrial warehousing in Kern County that would fundamentally reshape the economy in the southern San Joaquin Valley.
Outside of Kern, Stewart and Lynda Resnick, the billionaire owners of the Wonderful Co., are better known for pomegranates and pistachios. But for more than a decade, they have also owned a master-planned industrial park in the city of Shafter, northwest of Bakersfield, that is home to distribution centers for Fortune 500 companies like Target, Amazon and Walmart."
Most young adults, renters considering leaving L.A. due to high housing costs, poll finds
LAT's LIAM DILLON: "A majority of Los Angeles voters are considering abandoning the city because housing is too expensive, according to a new poll.
The finding follows years of dissatisfaction with crushing housing costs and is threatening the city’s future as young adults and renters are the most likely to contemplate leaving."
A Bay Area bond could ‘unlock’ 41,000 affordable housing units. Here’s where they’d be built
The Chronicle's JK DINEEN: "The $20 billion housing bond likely headed to Bay Area ballots in November could create an unprecedented cascade of affordable construction projects that would “unlock” a pipeline of nearly 41,000 units across the nine-county region.
A new report from the affordable housing financing group Enterprise Community Partners and the Bay Area Housing Financing Authority, known as BAHFA, found that there are 443 projects totaling 40,896 units that are somewhere in the process of being approved or financed."
San Jose’s latest plans to fight homelessness: sanctioned encampments, bus tickets out of town
BANG*Mercury News's ETHAN VARIAN: "San Jose officials are proposing to spend $120 million over the next fiscal year to combat homelessness — about 2% of the city’s expected $5.3 billion budget.
In addition to funding ongoing efforts such as building more tiny home shelters and providing outreach services, the money could help launch entirely new programs — from managed tent encampments to bus tickets to reunite homeless people with loved ones — in hopes of bringing many of the city’s estimated 4,400 unsheltered residents off the streets."
These Bay Area cities are the worst in the nation for drivers
The Chronicle's AIDIN VAZIRI: "Oakland claims the undesirable title of the worst city in the nation for drivers, with San Francisco close behind at No. 3, a new report finds.
Forbes Advisor recently published the results of a study evaluating driving conditions across 47 densely populated cities. The analysis, which scrutinized 15 metrics spanning four key categories — driving experience, safety, cost of car ownership and access to maintenance services — sought to pinpoint the most challenging cities to have a car."
Sacramento City Council wants to fix dangerous roads — is it in the city’s budget amid deficit?
Sacramento Bee's ARIANE LANGE: "The Sacramento City Council’s Budget and Audit Committee asked city staff for more information about prioritizing safe streets in the 2024-25 budget, while acknowledging Tuesday that a budget deficit may prevent the council from allocating $10 million to fix dangerous roads.
The city sees a disproportionate number of deaths on its streets, and research has shown that the vast majority of these deaths are preventable with improvements to infrastructure."
