A failure to communicate: California government cuts back press access
CALMatters, ALEXEI KOSEFF: "Like so much else about California, its state government is large: A $300 billion budget. More than 230 departments and agencies. More than 234,000 employees.
Keeping the public apprised of everything that’s happening in that massive bureaucracy requires its own small army of communications staff, who craft messages, write press releases and answer questions from journalists covering everything from the governor to welfare programs, prisons to water policy.
Lately, however, the information isn’t flowing as freely — raising transparency concerns among the press corps that acts as a watchdog for Californians."
Gov. Newsom wanted California to cut ties with Walgreens. Then federal law got in the way
The Chronicle, SAMANTHA YOUNG: "Gov. Gavin Newsom declared last month that California was “done” doing business with Walgreens after the pharmacy chain said it would not distribute an abortion pill in 21 states where Republicans threatened legal action. Since then, Kaiser Health News has learned that the Democratic governor must compromise on his hard-line tweet.
California is legally bound to continue doing business with Walgreens through the state’s massive Medicaid program, health law experts said. And according to a public records request, the state paid Walgreens $1.5 billion last year.
Newsom’s administration confirmed it will “continue to comply” with federal law by paying Walgreens through Medi-Cal, which provides health coverage to roughly 15 million residents with low incomes and disabilities. Were California to stop covering Medi-Cal prescriptions filled at Walgreens stores, legal scholars warned, the state would run afoul of federal law, which allows patients to get their medications at any approved pharmacy."
‘I would do it all over again’: How S.F.’s Scott Wiener became the politician the far right loves to hate
The Chronicle, DUSTIN GARDINER: "Of the thousands of threatening and hate-filled messages that state Sen. Scott Wiener has received over the last three years, one stands out as the most visceral.
“I’ll come cut your head off and deliver it to your mom if you even consider continuing with introducing your ‘bill.’ Got It?” read the Instagram direct message from an anonymous user, which his office recently shared with The Chronicle.
The graphic message isn’t uncommon among the threats Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco, receives these days. But it marked a disturbing turning point in his public life: when he became a target of the far-right media ecosystem and online extremists on a nationwide scale."
San Mateo mayor’s vote-buying scheme allegations hold no water, DA says
BANG*Mercury News, ALDO TOLEDO: "District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe announced Thursday his office found no evidence to support San Mateo Mayor Amourence Lee’s allegations that there was an attempt to corrupt the voting process during the city’s mayoral transition crisis in December.
The District Attorney’s office completed its investigation, conducted at the request of San Mateo City Attorney Prasanna Rasiah, into allegations related to votes occurring in December 2022 on the San Mateo City Council to select a mayor and fill an empty council seat, according to a press release.
The controversy left the city without a ceremonial head of the City Council for over a week and put front and center the city’s political divisions, pitting neighbor against neighbor and leading to hours-long meetings as two pro-housing council members pleaded with their slow-growth counterparts to stop throwing a wrench into the mayoral selection process."
Rep. Doug LaMalfa makes anti-transgender statement while addressing Chico school board
Sac Bee, ANDREW SHEELER: "Northern California Congressman Doug LaMalfa waded Wednesday into the debate over whether schools should be required to disclose to parents that their child is transgender.
LaMalfa, a six-term Republican, spoke during public comment Wednesday at a meeting of the Chico Unified School District Special Board of Education. The district is defending a lawsuit from a parent who contends the district helped her child secretly transition their gender identity.
“These are minors who are making lifetime, life-changing decisions,” LaMalfa said."
Clarence Thomas and Bohemian Grove: Inside the secretive California retreat making headlines
The Chronicle, MICHAEL CABANATUAN: "Bohemian Grove, the rustic Bay Area men-only retreat for the rich and powerful, is back in the news with a report in ProPublica on Thursday that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas secretly accepted luxury trips around the world from a Republican donor. The trips included a visit to the Bohemian Grove.
Here’s what you need to know about the secluded gathering spot — sometimes called a campground — in rural Sonoma County."
Los Angeles Times reported about Justice Thomas’ gifts 20 years ago. After that he stopped disclosing them
LA Times, DAVID G. SAVAGE: "It was 2004 when the Los Angeles Times disclosed that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas had accepted expensive gifts and private plane trips paid for by Harlan Crow, a wealthy Texas real estate investor and a prominent Republican donor.
The gifts included a Bible that once belonged to abolitionist Frederick Douglass — a gift Thomas valued at $19,000 — and a bust of Abraham Lincoln valued at $15,000.
“I just knew he was a fan of Frederick Douglass, and I saw that item come available at an auction and I bought it for him,” Crow explained at the time."
Stormy Daniels is willing to testify if there’s a Trump trial: ‘I have nothing to hide’
LA Times, JONAH VALDEZ: "Stormy Daniels said this week that she would be willing to testify if called on if the criminal case against Donald Trump goes to trial.
Appearing on a Thursday episode of the Fox Nation show “Piers Morgan Uncensored,” the adult film actor said the idea of testifying is “daunting,” but added that she’d “look forward to it.”
“You know what I mean? Because I have nothing to hide,” she told Morgan. “I’m the only one that has been telling the truth. And, you know, you can’t shame me even more.”"
US would bar full ban on trans athletes but allow exceptions
AP, COLLIN BINKLEY: "Schools and colleges across the U.S. would be forbidden from enacting outright bans on transgender athletes under a proposal released Thursday by the Biden administration, but teams could create some limits in certain cases — for example, to ensure fairness.
The proposed rule sends a political counterpunch toward a wave of Republican-led states that have sought to ban trans athletes from competing in school sports that align with their gender identities. If finalized, the proposal would become enshrined as a provision of Title IX, the landmark gender-equity legislation enacted in 1972.
It must undergo a lengthy approval process, however, and it’s almost certain to face challenges. While opponents sharply criticized the proposal, some advocates for transgender athletes were concerned that it did not go far enough."
Biden administration announces $343 million for tribal water resources, Colorado River conservation
The Hill, SHARON UDASIN: "The Biden administration announced on Thursday that it would be investing $343 million in enhancing tribal water resources and boosting conservation efforts across the Colorado River Basin.
More than two-thirds of that total - $233 million - will be heading to the Gila River Indian Community for water conservation projects, which will help ensure the stability and sustainability of the Colorado River for water users across the basin, according to the Interior Department.
The funds come from a $15.4 billion allocation from the bipartisan infrastructure law and Inflation Reduction Act, which serves to bolster the West's resilience to drought, a White House Fact Sheet stated."
California’s race against time to build power lines
LA Times, SAMMY ROTH: "Want to live in a world where heat waves stop getting hotter, wildfires stop getting bigger, water shortages stop getting more severe and storms stop getting more destructive?
Then you should probably cozy up to electric power lines.
Solar panels and wind turbines take up a lot of the oxygen in conversations about clean energy solutions. But for solar and wind to supply ever-larger amounts of electricity — and replace the coal, oil and natural gas cooking the planet — the United States will need a lot more transmission lines, to carry renewable electricity from the nation’s sunniest, windiest places to the big cities that suck up huge amounts of power."
Watch the rebirth of California’s ‘phantom’ Tulare Lake in striking before-and-after images
LA Times, TERRY CASTLEMAN: "A once-mighty body of water is rising again in Central California.
Tulare Lake was once the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River and was last full in 1878. It was mostly drained in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as its tributaries were dammed and diverted for agriculture.
In recent weeks, after relentless storms, once-depleted rivers are roaring from the Sierra Nevada into the valley, spilling from canals and broken levees into fields as the phantom lake reemerges."
The Bay Area may be on the verge of a superbloom. Here's where to find wildflowers
The Chronicle, JESSICA FLORES: "As epic rainstorms gradually give way to brighter spring weather, wildflowers have started to bloom at several parks across the Bay Area and California.
Wildflower season in the state usually begins at the end of February and can last until early May, depending on weather conditions and location. Peak wildflower season in the Bay Area typically starts in late April, according to the nonprofit Visit California, and persists through mid-June."
Here’s when the next round of showers will arrive in the Bay Area
The Chronicle, GERRY DIAZ: "A low-pressure system that’s been gradually deepening off the coast of California over the past few days is set to come ashore Thursday afternoon, ushering in another chance for rain across parts of the Bay Area. This system isn’t expected to bring anywhere near the levels of ferocity seen in many of the March storms, but the historic wet season isn’t over yet.
This upcoming low-pressure system will raise some concerns of flooding in the Central Valley as well as isolated landslides, with the first round of showers on tap starting Thursday evening."
Without other pandemic precautions, hospital mask rules didn’t stop COVID spread, study finds
LA Times, MELISSA HEALY: "In a world moving on from the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals and medical offices have been the last bastions of mandatory masking. But new research finds that in communities where pandemic precautions have been largely abandoned, mask mandates in healthcare settings do little to prevent coronavirus infections among patients.
The findings, presented on Thursday at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases in Copenhagen, suggest that hospitals, nursing homes and clinics could adopt “mask optional” policies without putting their patients at increased risk.
The study’s findings come almost a year after most European governments decided to let the virus spread unimpeded among their highly vaccinated populations. But with some of the last masking requirements now being dismantled in the United States, many here continue to debate the wisdom of declaring an end to the public health emergency."
Hospital closures, cuts in services loom for some communities. How the state may step in to help.
CALMatters, ANA B. IBARRA: "Five months after declaring a fiscal emergency and predicting that they’d run out of funds by early this year, officials at San Benito County’s only hospital said they have secured enough cash to get through the summer. At least for now, residents there won’t lose their local hospital.
But a short-term infusion of cash only buys Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital a little time. The end goal, hospital administrators say, is to find a buyer that will take over and not only keep the hospital solvent but, ideally, expand services in the area.
Hazel Hawkins, in Hollister, is one of a handful of hospitals statewide facing financial troubles. While some of these hospitals have encountered financial difficulties in the past, the closure of Madera Community Hospital, which shut down completely at the start of this year and filed for bankruptcy in March, has prompted a new cry for help. Now a group of legislators are brainstorming ways to support struggling hospitals and keep them from shutting down or cutting services."
Slain Cash App creator Bob Lee ‘had no enemies’ and lived large, friends say
The Chronicle, JILL TUCKER, NORA MISHANEC, MATTHIAS GAFNI: "It was not uncommon for Bay Area tech leader Bob Lee to be among the last to leave a party or a bar, often extending the festivities into after-parties, in one case watching Dennis Rodman pole-dance at the NBA Hall of Fame player’s birthday party.
“Crazy Bob loved life, he loved people, he loved partying, he loved technical challenges, and he truly enjoyed helping other people,” said his friend Cameron Purdy. “He was the real deal, and he earned his name many times over.”"
IRS vows to audit more wealthy folks, provide better service
AP: "The IRS released details Thursday on how it plans to use an infusion of $80 billion for improved operations, pledging to invest in new technology, hire more customer service representatives and expand its ability to audit high-wealth taxpayers.
While some Republicans have suggested without evidence that the money from the Democrats’ landmark climate change and health care bill would help create a mob of armed auditors to harass middle-class taxpayers, new IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel said it will not include spending for new agents with guns.
The agency’s newly released strategic operating plan lays out the specifics of how the IRS will allocate the $80 billion, through fiscal year 2031, that was approved in that legislation."
What stands between you and a four-day week
CALMatters, GRACE GEDYE: "It’s Thursday evening. You pack up your things at work and hit the road. Maybe you’re thinking about a lunch plan you’ve got with a friend or a show you plan to binge. But you’re not thinking about clocking in tomorrow: You’ve got a three-day weekend.
All your weekends, in fact, are three-day weekends.
It’s a utopian vision for some. The standard work week in the U.S. has been stuck at 40 hours for almost a century, even as workers have become dramatically more productive.
Evidence from pilot programs suggests that shifting to 32-hour weeks without reducing pay is better for workers and doesn’t hurt revenues. Companies that try it largely stick with it."
L.A. sues journalist, activist group to claw back photos of undercover officers
LA Times, KEVIN RECTOR, LIBOR JANY, RICHARD WINTON: "In a move immediately denounced as legally meritless by 1st Amendment and media rights experts, the city of Los Angeles has sued a local journalist and an activist group over the online publication of undercover LAPD officers’ pictures — images the city had itself provided.
Attorneys for the city claim the release of the images in response to a public records request and related litigation by Knock LA journalist Ben Camacho was “inadvertent” and posed a safety risk to the officers. Camacho subsequently provided the images to the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, which published them online.
“The City seeks the return of these inadvertently produced photos to protect the lives and work of these undercover officers,” the city’s attorneys wrote."
Family of man fatally shot by San Bernardino County deputies files $20-million claim
LA Times, SALVADOR HERNANDEZ: "Tony Garza was once a star high school wrestler in Yucca Valley, but later in life, his family said, he didn’t know how to grapple with his mental health issues.
Garza suffered from paranoia, according to relatives, and on Feb. 5, 2021, they tried to help Garza, calling San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies to perform a welfare check on him. Garza wound up following the deputies in his truck, looking for their license plates, according to his family’s attorney.
Deputies arrested Garza on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after he allegedly drove toward them."
Ex-S.F. fire commissioner hospitalized after attack in Marina
The Chronicle, NORA MISHANEC, MICHAEL CABANATUAN, J.D. MORRIS: "A former San Francisco fire commissioner was brutally attacked with a crowbar in the Marina on Wednesday evening, sending him to the hospital, according to Joe Alioto Veronese, a prominent lawyer and former candidate for district attorney.
Alioto Veronese said his friend Don Carmignani was leaving his mother’s house on Magnolia Street between Buchanan and Laguna streets in the Marina District when he was approached by three men Carmignani said were homeless and lived in the neighborhood.
“They hit him with a metal pole to the head,” Alioto Veronese, who did not witness the attack, said in an interview Thursday evening, citing Carmignani’s account. “He is a big guy. They slashed his face with a knife and continued to hit him with a pole.”"
Redwood City police warn of possibly armed catalytic converter thieves
BANG*Mercury News, AUSTIN TURNER: "One of three suspects who stole as many as eight catalytic converters in an overnight spree last month may have been armed with an AK47-style assault rifle, according to authorities.
Private security video from a resident captured three suspects wearing hooded sweatshirts during the March 21 rash of thefts. According to police, the suspect vehicle was a dark-colored 2010 or later model Audi with stock, five-spoke colored wheels. Authorities did not release a complete description of the suspects.
Redwood City police issued a public safety announcement Thursday urging residents to call 911 if they witness an in-progress catalytic converter theft, rather than inserting themselves into a potentially dangerous situation."
Biden review of chaotic Afghan withdrawal blames Trump
AP, ZEKE MILLER, NOMAAN MERCHANT: "President Biden’s administration on Thursday laid the blame on his predecessor, President Trump, for the deadly and chaotic 2021 withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan that brought about some of the darkest moments of Biden’s presidency.
The White House publicly released a 12-page summary of the results of the “hotwash” of U.S. policies around the ending of the nation’s longest war, taking little responsibility for its own actions and asserting that Biden was “severely constrained” by Trump’s decisions.
It does acknowledge that the evacuation of Americans and allies from Afghanistan should have started sooner, but blames the delays on the Afghan government and military, and on U.S. military and intelligence community assessments."
