The cost to inform California voters? $118,000 a page for official guide
CALMatters's SAMEEA KAMAL: "What’s the cost of democracy in California?
If we calculate that based just on the pages informing the state’s 22 million voters about Proposition 1 in the official March voter guide, about $8 million."
California could boot thousands of immigrants from program that aids the elderly and disabled
LAT's EMILY ALPERT REYES: "In Bell Gardens, Raquel Martinez said she has relied for nearly three years on a program that pays an assistant to help her make it safely to her frequent appointments at the MLK Medical Campus.
Martinez, 65, is blind and has cancer. If she did not have the help of her support worker, Martinez said, she would struggle to navigate the elevators and find the right office. Her assistant also helps her with groceries and other daily tasks such as housekeeping, she said, tending to her 21 hours a week."
Delta pumps likely killed over half a million fish in two decades. This year was extra deadly
Sacramento Bee's ARI PLACHTA: "Just east of the San Francisco Bay, a steel bucket holding 90 gallons of water is strained to rescue precious cargo. The metal roars as it spins, dispelling more and more water, to reveal, finally, a wriggling pair of juvenile Chinook salmon.
These young, 2-inch long fish were drawn into danger by giant pumps that push water south to millions of Californians and farms. Saving them from likely peril has been the core purpose since 1968 of the John E. Skinner Delta Fish Protective Facility."
California climate programs would lose billions in Newsom’s budget
CALMatters's ALEJANDRO LAZO: "Democratic lawmakers and environmental advocates are urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to support a bond measure to help pay for billions of dollars in climate programs endangered by the state’s record deficit and deepening budget cuts.
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The lobbying comes as an array of key climate programs — including efforts to combat rising seas and help low-income Californians buy electric cars — face significant cuts and delays as California seeks to close a $56 billion deficit over the next two fiscal years."
Anita Hill-led Hollywood Commission wants to change how workers report sexual harassment
LAT's SAMANTHA MASUNAGA: "In the wake of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape trial, a survey of nearly 10,000 workers by the Anita Hill-led Hollywood Commission revealed a sobering result: Few people believed perpetrators would ever be held accountable.
The vast majority, however, were interested in new tools to document incidents and access resources and helplines."
Capitol Briefs: Storming toward the crossover deadline
Capitol Weekly's STAFF: "Note: Friday is the deadline for bills to get out of their house of origin, so this week lawmakers are addressing hundreds of bills in short order. Here is just a sampling of some of those measures. We’ll be updating this story all week.
Senate public safety package headed to the Assembly: Senate pro tem Mike McGuire (D-North Coast) announced that his colleagues have approved all 15 bills in the Senate’s public safety package, sending them to the Assembly for consideration. McGuire reiterated that none of them make significant changes to Proposition 47. He said they were hopeful of getting them to the governor’s desk within the next few weeks, but noted that he and others will continue to talk with proponents of a ballot measure that would make substantive changes to the law."
The single largest cut in Gavin Newsom’s new budget hits California health care providers
CALMatters's KRISTEN HWANG: "The single largest cut in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest budget proposal threatens to undo a multi-billion dollar deal he made with health care industry leaders last year to shore up the state’s expansive public insurance program with a new tax.
Newsom wants to take $6.7 billion that had been earmarked for increased Medi-Cal payments to health care providers and instead use it to help plug the ballooning state deficit. Providers last year agreed to be taxed to generate that money with the stipulation that it be invested in Medi-Cal, the state’s insurance program for lower-income households."
Newsom prioritizes electric school buses over preschool for children with disabilities
EdSource's ZAIDEEN STAVELY: "Gov. Gavin Newsom invested millions into expanding preschool for children with disabilities. Now, he’s proposing to scale it back, to invest more in electric school buses.
The move is causing an uproar among leaders of county offices of education and school districts, and advocates for early education and special education."
UCLA Chancellor Gene Block to tell Congress ‘we should have been prepared to immediately remove the encampment’
LAT's JAWEED KALEEM, ANDREA CASTILLO: "UCLA Chancellor Gene Block plans to tell a Republican-led House committee Thursday that “with the benefit of hindsight” the university should have acted to “immediately remove” a campus pro-Palestinian encampment “if and when the safety of our community was put at risk,” according to his opening statement obtained by The Times.
Block — who has led UCLA amid months of tense protests over the Israel-Hamas war that culminated in a violent mob attack last month on the encampment — faces questioning from members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce about increasing campus antisemitism."
‘There is a war happening’: Eric Trump rallies for California school board president facing recall
The Chronicle's ERIN ALLDAY: "Eric Trump took the stage at a line-dancing club Wednesday night to the stomps of cowboy boots and chants of “USA,” as the headlining act of a fundraiser to support far-right candidates in three Southern California school districts.
The event was held by the Inland Empire Family PAC, which was put together by an Inland Empire pastor to elect a platform of conservative candidates to school boards in Temecula, Murrieta and Lake Elsinore, all in Riverside County. In the 2022 elections, five of its seven candidates won, though one of them now faces a recall and was a focus of Wednesday’s Temecula rally."
‘A really scary feeling’: Private security firm accused of using force against UCLA protesters
LAT's CONNOR SHEETS: "When authorities launched the first of many flashbang-style devices early on the morning of May 2, it shattered the relative calm of UCLA’s pro-Palestinian encampment and drove a stream of protesters running toward makeshift barricades that blocked the exits.
Two students said they witnessed a student protester standing near Powell Library attempt to move a metal barrier to accommodate the people fleeing. Instead, he was met with force by members of Apex Security Group, according to the witnesses, who were interviewed together and requested anonymity in fear of retaliation by the university or law enforcement."
Exclusive: CEO of S.F.’s waterfront aquarium resigns amid concerns about lavish spending
The Chronicle's TARA DUGGAN, MICHAEL BARBA: "The head of the Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco resigned under pressure Wednesday after staffers at the financially troubled charity that runs the Pier 39 attraction raised concerns about him spending lavishly on travel and events, including a concert that he hosted in Dubai.
George Jacob stepped down from his post as the president and CEO of Bay.org after the board of the nonprofit asked him to resign, Jon B. Fisher, the board’s newly appointed chairman, said in an interview. Jacob’s resignation came as the Chronicle prepared to publish an investigation into turmoil inside the organization."
S.F. sued for millions by owner of shuttered Fisherman’s Wharf restaurants
The Chronicle's IDA MOJADAD: "The owner of two shuttered Fisherman’s Wharf restaurants is suing the city of San Francisco for millions in repair costs, while blaming the city for deteriorating neighborhood conditions that it says contributed to the closures.
The Port of San Francisco in September moved to evict Fishermen’s Grotto, at 2847 Taylor St., and Tarantino’s, at 206 Jefferson St., which officials said at the time collectively owed $1.4 million. Both restaurants stopped operating in 2020 and have since vacated the premises."
Homelessness in S.F.: These are the neighborhoods where tents and vehicles are rising
The Chronicle's MAGGIE ANGST: "Mayor London Breed and other San Francisco officials are touting significant drops in the number of unhoused people sleeping outside. But a Chronicle analysis of the data that included not just tents but also vehicles found that the reductions varied by neighborhood with a handful of areas seeing a jump.
Over the past year, San Francisco reported a 37% reduction in the number of tents and structures on sidewalks, parks and other public spaces, falling from 571 in April 2023 to 360 in April 2024, according to data collected quarterly by a collaboration of city agencies. Although the number of tents and structures set up across the city tends to fluctuate, last month’s total marked the lowest number that San Francisco had seen in five years, according to the Breed administration."
Newsom promised 1,200 tiny homes for homeless Californians. A year later, none have opened
CALMatters's MARISA KENDALL: "In March 2023, Gov. Gavin Newsom stood before a crowd in Sacramento’s Cal Expo event center and made a promise: He’d send 1,200 tiny homes to shelter homeless residents in the capital city and three other places throughout the state.
The move was part of Newsom’s push to improve the homelessness crisis by quickly moving people out of encampments and into more stable environments. But more than a year later, none of those tiny homes have welcomed a single resident. Only about 150 have even been purchased. "
Traveling for Memorial Day? Expect 3 million on the road and gas over $5 a gallon
LAT's KAREN GARCIA: "At least 2.9 million Southern California travelers are expected to hit the road this Memorial Day weekend despite higher prices at the pump.
Those traveling by car are a big part of the overall 3.5 million in the Southland who are expected to get away between Thursday and Monday — a record, according to a forecast by the Automobile Club of Southern California. The number of people driving to their destination is a 4.5% increase from last year."
