Fight over school boards

Conservatives are waging a war for control over California school boards

EdSource, DIANA LAMBERT: “School board elections, once considered minor local down-ballot races by voters, have taken on new significance this year. Across California, conservative groups have leveraged parental angst, fueled by Covid-19 school closures, to recruit and train candidates to run for school boards.

The California Republican Party, which has struggled to win state seats in Democratic-dominated California for the last three decades, saw the wave of parent frustration as an opportunity to win school board seats. Once Covid-19 protocols loosened and mask mandates were eliminated, conservatives turned their energy to fighting educational policies on gender identity and racial equity.

The party started Parent Revolt, a program that recruits and trains candidates for school board seats. The program offers virtual and in-person training and connects candidates to training offered by other organizations.”

The mystifying lesson of the Los Angeles audio leak

LA Times, JUSTIN PHILIPS: "By now, many Californians know about the leaked audio that caught three high-profile Latino members of the Los Angeles City Council plotting to gerrymander a district to dilute the Black vote and crudely discussing Indigenous and Black people.

One of them went so far as to disparage a white colleague’s young Black son.

Most mystifying of all, the audio revealed these veteran Democrats, who are supposed to know better, engaging in the same bankrupt fallacy as far-right purveyors of replacement theory — that for one group to do well, another has to suffer."

Bass’ purported USC application shows she had scholarship before applying for social work degree

LA Times, MATT HAIMOTO: “For weeks, Rep. Karen Bass has faced intensifying questions over her free USC master’s degree in social work while in Congress.

The Times reported last month that Bass was awarded a scholarship to USC’s social work school without having directly applied and that the scholarship, valued at $95,000, had drawn her into a federal corruption case involving the school’s former dean, Marilyn Flynn.

Amid the controversy, Bass was pressed at a mayoral debate last week by one of the moderators, Seth Lemon, who asked, “To be clear, you formally applied — completed an application?””

The Chronicle, GERRY DIAZ: "Two thousand feet. That was the latest depth of the marine layer from weather instruments near Bodega Baasday, as weather models signal another round of deep fog and low clouds for the gaps and valleys surrounding San Francisco Bay on Thursday.

This summer-like pattern is also affecting Southern California, where the monsoon is still sending storms into the Mojave and L.A. area.

Both of these factors are trapped in place as a low-pressure system spins off the coast of California, with no signs of slowing down."

Major California earthquakes preceded 1-3 days by magnetic field changes, study says 

The Chronicle, KELLIE HWANG: "A new study found an increase in magnetic field energy near some earthquakes in California one to three days before they hit, a finding that its authors hope is a step toward accurately predicting when quakes will strike — a goal both elusive and steeped in controversy.

“This study provides important evidence that a physical change can be observed in the days before an earthquake,” said Dan Schneider, director of research and development at QuakeFinder.

The Palo Alto-based company, which aims to find a way to forecast major earthquakes, collaborated on the study with the Applied Science team at Mountain View-based Google Research."

California’s very warm September broke records. Here’s how 2022 compared to past years

The Chronicle, JACK LEE: “September 2022 was a month for the record books in California. A historic heat wave produced over a week of sweltering temperatures across the state, and even set a record for the Bay Area: 116 degrees, recorded in Fairfield and Livermore.

This stretch of stifling heat drove the average temperature state-wide to the second warmest California September over the past 128 years, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The minimum September temperature for the state was the warmest on record.”

As drought persists, crucial groundwater supplies dwindle

Capitol Weekly, LIAM GRAVVAT: “More than 60% of  California’s groundwater wells are operating at below-normal levels, endangering much of the Golden State’s population that relies on the precious resource.

Although relatively unknown to many Californians, who see water supply in terms of rivers, streams and reservoirs, groundwater is a hugely vital source that is largely invisible.

“[Groundwater] represents anywhere from 40 to 60 percent of our total water supply in the state. During dry years, it’s approaching 60-plus,” said Tim Godwin from California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR). “Upwards of, like, 85% of our populace relies on groundwater in some capacity or another.””

‘We’re not going to close the equity gaps’: Despite progress, California Community Colleges won’t reach Newsom’s aspirational goals

CALMatters, MIKHAIL ZINSHTEYN: “In 2017, barely a half-year into his tenure as chancellor of the country’s largest system of higher education, Eloy Ortiz Oakley threw down the gauntlet. Under his leadership, the California Community Colleges unveiled a series of unprecedented academic goals dubbed the Vision for Success.

If met, the achievements would catapult California’s moribund community college system to new heights, leading to thousands more students annually earning degrees, certificates and transferring to universities.

The deadline to meet most of those goals came and went last month.”

Recent cyberattacks highlight the vulnerability of California schools

CALMatters, JOE HONG: “If Los Angeles Unified, the state’s largest school district, can be hit with a ransomware attack, how prepared are California’s public schools for the increasing threat of cyberattacks?

It depends, according to experts working in the field of cybersecurity and information technology in the state’s public schools. Some districts might have a handful of cybersecurity professionals on staff, while others don’t have any. On top of that, there are currently no statewide guidelines for digital security at school districts.

“The vast majority of districts don’t have a single member dedicated to cybersecurity threats,” said Terry Loftus, assistant superintendent for the San Diego County Office of Education. “There’s no real set standard.””

Bay Area COVID cases level off with ‘a significant amount of virus circulating’

The Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI: "After a precipitous drop over the past two months, California’s COVID-19 trends have hit a plateau. The state reported an average of 3,336 cases a day as of Thursday, only a 5% decrease from the previous week’s numbers, according to health department data.

California is tracking about 8.3 daily cases per 100,000 residents, compared to 9 per 100,000 the week before. The statewide test-positive rate has also steadied after a sharp decline, inching down just one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.7%, as the number of COVID-19 diagnostic tests performed in the state reach record lows.

“The reported cases really no longer reflect the actual level of SARS-CoV-2 virus that’s circulating in our community — rather cases reflect the level of testing,” Dr. Sara Cody, health officer for Santa Clara County, told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, pointing to a large disparity between the number of reported cases and the concentration of virus detected through wastewater surveillance."

An ‘almost unheard of’ fall monsoon is driving wet weather in California

The Chronicle, GERRY DIAZ: "Two thousand feet. That was the latest depth of the marine layer from weather instruments near Bodega Baasday, as weather models signal another round of deep fog and low clouds for the gaps and valleys surrounding San Francisco Bay on Thursday.

This summer-like pattern is also affecting Southern California, where the monsoon is still sending storms into the Mojave and L.A. area.

Both of these factors are trapped in place as a low-pressure system spins off the coast of California, with no signs of slowing down."

Here’s why California Lyft and Uber gig workers are forming a union that can’t          bargain over a contract

The Chronicle, CHASE DIFELICIANTONI0: "On Wednesday, dozens of delivery and ride-hail gig workers marched on Uber’s Mission Bay headquarters, holding pro-union signs and chanting for change.

But unlike past gig worker protests over working conditions or the seemingly unending debate over their status as contractors or employees, this was different.

They were announcing a new union made up of, for now, contract workers called the California Gig Workers Union."

For undocumented students, job opportunities are scarce. This state program could help.

CALMatters, CARMEN GONZALEZ: “Natalia Angeles always knew she was going to college despite being undocumented, so giving up the chance to attend a four-year university straight out of high school was not easy. But when the acceptance came from the University of California at Riverside, she quickly realized that without being able to work legally, she couldn’t afford to attend. 

“I didn’t know what resources to look for when it came to helping me with school and stuff,” said Angeles. “And then when I noticed that UC Riverside was not the perfect fit for me financially, I decided to just do community college.”

Angeles attended East Los Angeles College, then eventually transferred to Long Beach State. A local nonprofit helped Angeles, a skilled photographer, find work taking portraits for $45 each. She uses the money to cover her out-of-pocket costs,  but is unsure of how she will earn money to pay for school in the future.”

Los Angeles is running out of time to solve water crisis. Are leaders willing to act?

LA Times, HAYLEY SMITH: “On a clear afternoon recently, Mayor Eric Garcetti looked down at the Hollywood Reservoir from 1,200 feet in the air.

“It’s as low as I can ever remember it being,” Garcetti said of the reservoir from the back seat of a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power helicopter. “You can see the bathtub ring.”

The aerial survey of L.A.'s water infrastructure came at a critical moment. Over the last decade, the city has made significant investments in its future, including major projects to expand its ability to capture, store and recycle water. But now, on the eve of an election, much of the work remains unfinished — with target dates for some major water projects set as far as 2050.”

Consumer inflation rose 8.2% over the last 12 months, keeping pressure on households

AP, CHRISTOPHER RUGABER: “Inflation in the United States accelerated in September, with the cost of housing and other necessities intensifying pressure on households, wiping out pay gains that many have received and ensuring that the Federal Reserve will keep raising interest rates aggressively.

Consumer prices rose 8.2% in September compared with a year earlier, the government said Thursday. On a month-to-month basis, prices increased 0.4% from August to September after having ticked up 0.1% from July to August.

Yet excluding the volatile categories of food and energy, so-called core inflation jumped last month — a sign that the Fed’s five rate hikes this year have so far done little to cool inflation pressures. Core inflation climbed 0.6% from August to September and 6.6% over the past 12 months. The yearly core figure is the biggest increase in 40 years. Core prices typically provide a clearer picture of underlying price trends.”

In Western swing, Biden looks to make Democrats’ case without making waves

LA Times, ELI STOKOLS: “Less than four weeks before the midterm elections that will decide control of Congress, President Biden is scheduled to hit the campaign trail in Los Angeles on Thursday, where his lone public appearance will be alongside mayoral candidate Karen Bass.

Biden’s four-day Western swing, which began in Colorado’s high country Wednesday, is as noteworthy for where he isn’t going as for where he is. The trip, built around a high-dollar fundraiser for Democratic House candidates in Los Angeles on Thursday night, will not include travel to Arizona or Nevada, two Western states with closely contested Senate races that may tip the balance of power in Washington.

Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, the only vulnerable Democratic senator appearing with Biden during this rare trip out West, welcomed Biden to his state Wednesday largely because the president was taking action that the lawmaker had been pushing for. At an event high in the Rocky Mountains, Biden created his first new national monument at Camp Hale, a World War II-era training camp now protected from development by oil and gas companies.”