California environmentalists reach deal on sweeping anti-plastic waste bill
The Chronicle, DUSTIN GARDINER: “Environmentalists say they have reached a deal on major legislation to reduce the amount of plastic that Californians use once and toss in the trash — a compromise that could keep an anti-plastic waste initiative off the November ballot.
The deal signifies a major breakthrough after bills targeting pollution from single-use plastics have repeatedly died at the state Capitol in recent years because of heavy opposition from industry groups.
Under the deal, environmental groups would potentially pull their ballot measure if the Legislature approves the bill before a June 30 deadline to remove initiatives from the fall ballot. The deal is the culmination of months of negotiations between environmentalists, legislators and some business groups.”
Governor Gavin Newsom joins Donald Trump’s Truth Social to call out ‘Republican lies’
GILLIAN BRASSIL and LINDSEY HOLDEN, SacBee: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom has joined former President Donald Trump’s social media application, Truth Social.
Newsom, a Democrat, wrote that he was “Going to be on there calling out Republican lies” on his personal Twitter account on Thursday.
“This could get...interesting,” he added."
California lawmaker raises minimum age on bill for child vaccines without parental consent
LINDSAY HOLDEN, SacBee: "A California bill allowing minors to get vaccines without parents’ consent would apply only to teens 15 and older after a state senator amended the measure to raise the minimum age.
Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, opted to change the age threshold for Senate Bill 866 from 12 to 15 after receiving feedback from other lawmakers, he said.
SB 866 would allow minors to receive all vaccines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) without parental sign-off. Existing law allows children and teens 12 and older to get vaccines for the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and Hepatitis B — both sexually transmitted diseases — without seeking permission from parents.
The Supreme Court limited California’s worker protection law. Will Legislature respond?
OWEN TUCKER-SMITH, SacBee: "The U.S. Supreme Court limited the reach of California’s cornerstone employee-protection law on Wednesday – but action by the state Legislature could soften the blow.
The court ruled 8-1 that the Private Attorneys General Act, or PAGA, which allows employees to sue their employers on behalf of the state, is superceded by a federal law that requires such private disputes to be settled through arbitration.
California workers often utilize PAGA to win wage-theft cases, and labor advocates call the court’s decision a serious blow."
Gavin Newsom's drought strategy is a major departure from Jerry Brown’s mandatory water cuts. It's not working
The Chronicle, DUSTIN GARDINER: “If Gov. Jerry Brown’s drought strategy was defined by the “we’re-all-in-this-together” mantra of collective sacrifice, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approach has been guided by the more individualistic notion of “it’s not one size fits all.”
Newsom, despite the state facing a third year of exceptional drought conditions, has refused to follow in Brown’s footsteps by mandating that all residents cut their water use.
The governor has instead repeatedly called on Californians to voluntarily conserve, and has allowed the state’s 436 local water agencies to create their own plans to prepare for impending water shortages.”
For the first time, an all-Black orchestra will play the Hollywood Bowl
LA Times, PAMELA CHELIN: “A few years ago, musician Ric’key Pageot was driving down Highland Avenue in the late afternoon when the Hollywood Bowl marquee caught his eye. The blocky, black letters were advertising a performance of “Afro-American Symphony” by William Grant Still. In 1936, Still made history as the first Black composer to conduct a major American orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, playing his own music at the Hollywood Bowl.
Pageot, an accomplished pianist, keyboardist and accordionist who has toured with the likes of Diana Ross, Cher and Madonna, had never heard of Still — and was intrigued to listen to his symphony. “When I got home, I researched him,” he says, “and that was my first discovery of classical music written by a Black composer.”
As Pageot explored Still’s oeuvre, he was struck by his compositions; they were unlike anything he had ever heard in classical music. “The storytelling in the harmonies, and the melodies are noticeably different. It’s definitely rooted in blues and jazz while still keeping it classical, but his harmonies and melodies are so lush that it’s just a different feeling that’s almost indescribable,” Pageot says. “You can hear the Black story behind the music. You can hear the African language in it, and to have that performed by a traditional symphony orchestra is a juxtaposition I wasn’t used to hearing before.””
Here’s why we don’t have a final count yet in L.A.’s election
LA Times, DAKOTA SMITH: “Although it might seem like it’s taking a long time to count the ballots from Los Angeles County’s primary election 10 days ago, officials say the process is moving along on schedule, with a final tally likely by July 1.
So far, more than 1.2 million ballots have been counted and publicly released countywide, with another vote total update scheduled for Friday.
Officials say 80% of the ballots counted so far were either mailed in or dropped off at voting centers or drop boxes — many of them in the final days of the voting period that concluded June 7.”
Clinton, others eulogize Norman Mineta, former cabinet member and San Jose mayor who was interned in Japanese camp as boy
The Chroniocle, ANNIE VAINSHTEIN: “Former San Jose Mayor and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta made his final return to his hometown — and the city he changed indelibly — for his memorial service on Thursday.
Hundreds attended the service at the San Jose Civic Auditorium to hear remembrances of the late Bay Area native who was forcibly taken to an internment camp with his family as a child but broke through glass ceilings at every step of his storied political career. Mineta’s ashes were flown in for the memorial.
To South Bay residents, Mineta is perhaps best known for becoming the first person of color to serve on the San Jose City Council in 1967, and his following post as the first Asian-American to become mayor of a major U.S. city.”
Memorial service set for Vic Fazio
Capitol Weekly, STAFF: “The public is invited to attend a “Celebration of Life” for former California Congressman Vic Fazio, who died of cancer on March 16 at the age of 79. The event will take place on Friday, June 17, from 11:00am to 1:30pm at the UC Davis Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.
Fazio, a Democrat, represented the Sacramento area for 10 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, beginning in 1978. He rose to become Democratic Caucus chairman, and led the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for four years.
Fazio became a party leader known for taking on “thankless tasks,” as the Washington Post once put it. These included dealing with controversial Congressional pay raise and ethics issues. He was widely viewed as a contender for the House speakership.”
Former Oakland Council Member Ignacio De La Fuente joins crowded race for mayor
The Chronicle, SARAH RAVANI: “A long-time former Oakland councilman and two-time mayoral candidate announced Thursday that he plans to run again to be the city’s next mayor, vowing to “tackle the most critical issues plaguing” the city: crime and homelessness
Ignacio De La Fuente, who represented District Five, which includes the Fruitvale, from 1992 to 2013, said in a statement on Facebook he is running for mayor because Oakland is in “deep trouble” due to crime, the proliferation of homeless encampments and lack of basic city services.
De La Fuente was a powerful force on the City Council during his run and served as council president for 10 years. He ran for mayor twice, but lost in 1998 to former Gov. Jerry Brown and in 2006, to Ronald Dellums.”
Advocates for community schools support more funding but call for fixes to program
EdSource, ALI TADAYON: “Supporters of the community schools movement want lawmakers to invest more in the state’s seven-year initiative to bring critical services to thousands of schools in low-income areas, but they say “flaws” in the program’s launch should be addressed in the next round of funding.
United Ways of California, along with other community school advocates, said districts that lacked staffing struggled to meet the tight deadline for the first round of grants and may also have a hard time meeting the fall deadline for the next round. Advocates said some districts weren’t getting enough information and guidance on how to operate community schools and that the qualifications may have been too rigid in the first round — not taking into account the special circumstances of some rural districts.
Still, the advocates fully support Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to add $1.5 billion from the 2022-23 budget to expand the program. It launched with $3 billion from the current year’s budget approved last year.”
How big is California’s historic budget, visualized
CALMatters, ERICA YEE/JEREMIA KIMELMAN/JOHN OSBORN D'AGOSTINO: “$300 billion.
That’s the price tag of the budget for the coming year, which the California Legislature approved this week. The surplus alone has reached a record-high $97 billion. And while the budget process is not final — legislative leaders will now have to negotiate with Gov. Gavin Newsom on the finer details of that budget — that staggering number can be difficult to put into perspective.
Comparing that number to other, more tangible, things provides a better grasp of scale.”
Lowell admissions saga: S.F. school board appears split on whether to extend lottery admissions
The Chronicle, JILL TUCKER: “Less than a week before a final vote, the San Francisco school board appeared split on whether to restore merit-based admissions to Lowell High School for the fall of 2023 after discussing options during a public meeting Thursday.
A final vote is scheduled for Wednesday.
During a four-hour meeting, the board heard from dozens of parents, alumni and students on whether to extend the lottery-based process that has been in place for this year’s ninth grade class and those entering the academically elite school in the fall.”
State’s juvenile prison workers score $50,000 bonuses
CALMatters, BYRHONDA LYONS: “Gov. Gavin Newsom and six labor unions have struck a deal to give up to $50,000 in bonuses to keep juvenile prison workers on the job, as first reported by CalMatters in March.
Between now and next year, California taxpayers will pay about $54.5 million for the incentive payments, according to estimates by the Department of Finance.
The contracts represent one of the largest retention bonuses the state has ever offered to employees.”
Inside the MAGA world scramble to produce findings suggesting the 2020 election was stolen
LA Times, SARAH D WIRE: “Days after the 2020 presidential election, before all votes were counted and Joseph R. Biden was declared the winner, cyber experts and analysts piled into suites at the Trump Hotel in Washington and other hotel rooms in the area.
The plan was urgent: Crowdsource evidence of electoral fraud to secure a Trump victory with the assistance of his legal team and White House staff.
Weeks later, former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn urged leaders of the effort to move to a more remote location, an isolated South Carolina plantation owned by conservative attorney L. Lin Wood. There, they planned weeks of lawsuits, attempts to access voting machines and ways to convince lawmakers to reject key state election results, driven by a frantic mission whose goal was to keep then-President Trump in office after an election he lost.”
Trump knew asking Pence to overturn election was illegal, Jan. 6 committee says
LA Times, SARAH D WIRE: “President Trump knew that asking Vice President Mike Pence to unilaterally overturn the 2020 presidential election was illegal but pressured him to do it anyway, the House committee investigating Jan. 6, 2021, argued at its Thursday hearing, where it also made the case that Trump put Pence’s life in danger during the Capitol insurrection.
The committee outlined a multiweek effort by then-President Trump and California attorney John Eastman that included private meetings and tweets aimed at pressuring Pence to help keep Trump in office. Eastman’s theory was that Pence could either reject electoral votes outright or suspend the proceedings and declare a 10-day recess during which state legislatures would be ordered to reexamine election results.
Neither approach is allowed under the Constitution’s 12th Amendment or the Electoral Count Act of 1887, witnesses testified at the hearing.”
Endless shelling and dead soldiers: A vicious artillery war spreads in Ukraine
LA Times, NABIH BULOS: “The first shell was the worst, mostly because it came as a surprise. But then the soldiers thought it was OK to get up, dust themselves off. That’s when the second one landed, and it was the worst. The third one is when they understood they were being hunted and somehow that shelling was now the worst.
Their commander, a breezily confident 31-year-old named Levan, gathered his squad and waited for the bang of outgoing artillery. He made a dash around the corner to the next block, taking cover beneath the trees before sprinting in body armor across a square to an abandoned, brutalist-style apartment building. The Russian barrage was relentless, shells chasing Levan and his men almost to the door.
This is the conflict in Ukraine now: a pitiless artillery war, the kind perhaps not seen since the days of endless trenches and gouged terrain that marked World War I. Less strategy than slugfest, both sides lob barrage and counter-barrage over a see-sawing front line and hope to still be standing when they pulverize the other side into either submission, or at least a crushing withdrawal.”
This type of second mortgage is becoming popular in the Bay Area amid surging interest rates
The Chronicle, KATHLEEN PENDER: “When Sean and Kate Sitter needed money last year to update their home in San Jose, they took out a new loan for more than the balance on their existing loan, paid off the old loan and used the extra money for home improvements. This is known as a cash-out refinance.
Since then, mortgage rates have shot up by about 3 percentage points. So when the couple needed more money this year to do more renovations on their home and a second one in Carmel, there was no way they were going to touch that mortgage, which is fixed at 2.875% for 30 years. Instead, they did what more homeowners wanting to borrow against their home equity have been doing: They got a variable-rate home equity line of credit, which is one type of second mortgage secured by equity in a home.
Commonly known as HELOCs, they let you borrow up to a certain dollar amount, but rather than taking it all in a lump sum, you can borrow just what you need and make payments only on your outstanding balance.”
