California politicians ask MLB to support bid to keep A's in Oakland
The Chronicle, JOE GAROFOLI, MATT KAWAHARA: "Two top California politicians called on Major League Baseball on Wednesday to support Oakland’s efforts to keep the Oakland Athletics in the Bay Area, with one questioning whether the league is being duplicitous by “actively seeking to subsidize the relocation” of the club to Las Vegas.
Sen. Alex Padilla and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) both publicly asked the league’s leadership to stand behind the city."
DeSantis defends flying migrants to California
AP, JONATHAN J. COOPER: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday defended his state’s decision to fly migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border to California, arguing that the state had essentially invited the migrants with its welcoming policies toward immigrants.
DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, spoke at a meeting with sheriffs near Arizona’s border with Mexico, pledging to get control of the border and taking a hard line on a signature issue for former President Trump, a rival for the 2024 nomination."
Gavin Newsom digs in on Florida migrant flights, maintaining that crimes were committed
Sac Bee, MAGGIE ANGST: "Gov. Gavin Newsom isn’t buying the narrative from Florida officials that 36 migrants from Latin America were flown to Sacramento voluntarily. Instead, California’s Democratic governor is doubling down on his pursuit of criminal charges against those responsible.
After days of staying quiet, Florida Gov. Ron Desantis’ office on Tuesday confirmed it had arranged the flights. In a statement, his administration defended the move, saying that “Florida’s voluntary relocation is precisely that — voluntary.”"
Biden, DeSantis to visit Northern California June 19 in political cosmic collision
BANG*Mercury News, JOHN WOOLFOLK: "It almost surely wasn’t planned this way. But President Joe Biden and one of his top potential Republican rivals for re-election next year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, will both descend upon Northern California June 19.
The White House, which announced Tuesday that the president will visit an undisclosed Bay Area location, said nothing more about his planned trip to the Golden State through June 21, saying only that additional details will follow."
IRS gave most Californians an October tax deadline. It’s now telling some to pay this month
The Chronicle, KATHLEEN PENDER: "In the wake of deadly winter storms, the Internal Revenue Service gave virtually all Californians until Oct. 16 to file their 2022 tax returns and pay any amount due — but many who already filed their 2022 federal tax returns with a sum owed are now getting notices saying they must pay the outstanding balance by late June or face penalties.
Deborah Hill of Oakland filed her return with the IRS on April 16 but hasn’t yet paid the balance. On Monday, she received a CP14 notice from the IRS for the taxes owed and a due date of June 26."
Limited workforce may hinder California’s infrastructure upgrade
Capitol Weekly, BRIAN JOSEPH: "After decades of neglect, California’s infrastructure is poised for an upgrade.
Thanks in part to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed by President Biden in November 2021, the Golden State is set to receive more than $100 billion in federal and state infrastructure funds over the next several years."
Why Fresno? This California downtown has a $250 million earmark in Gavin Newsom’s budget
CALMatters, NICOLE FOY: "In his May budget revise, Gov. Gavin Newsom pitched spending $250 million on infrastructure and transportation improvements in downtown Fresno.
The money will fund much of the city’s decade-long plans to revitalize its decaying water and sewer systems and improve amenities such as parking and sidewalks, to ultimately attract residential development."
Los Angeles County D.A.’s office quits Twitter amid flood of anti-LGBTQ+ comments
LA Times, JAMES QUEALLY: "The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said this week it would no longer post to Twitter after website moderators ignored requests to delete a torrent of bigoted and hateful comments left under a post about employees attending the West Hollywood Pride parade.
The office’s account tweeted a picture of about two dozen employees holding gay pride flags after they marched in the annual parade Sunday. Both Joseph Iniguez, George Gascón’s chief of staff who is gay, and director of communications Tiffiny Blacknell, were shown in the image."
‘Hidden’ no more: Coastal Commission OKs new public path to Malibu beach
LA Times, HAYLEY SMITH: "The June gloom hung heavy along the empty shore of Escondido Beach last week, where not a soul was in sight save for a lone surfer skimming the distant waves.
The sandy stretch has long been a haven for intrepid Malibu beachgoers, sandwiched as it is between Geoffrey’s Restaurant to the east and Paradise Cove to the west, with no other entry points nearby."
Are New York City's orange skies as bad as the Bay Area in 2020? Here's how they compare
The Chronicle, JACK LEE: "Wildfire smoke is blanketing the East Coast this week, turning the sky in places like New York City an otherworldly shade of orange and forcing millions to stay inside to avoid breathing hazardous air.
For Bay Area residents, this may feel like deja vu: Skies were similarly tinged due to wildfires in the summer of 2020. But by comparison, the air quality then was even worse — and more prolonged — than what New Yorkers have experienced so far."
Number of new California teacher credentials declines after seven years of increases
EdSource, DIANA LAMBERT: "Just when California’s teacher shortage seemed to be easing, it got worse. A seven-year increase in the number of new teacher credentials issued by the state ended last year with a 16% decline, exacerbating the state’s ongoing teacher shortage.
There were 16,491 new teaching credentials issued in California in 2021-22, the most recent fiscal year data available. The previous year, the state bestowed 19,659 such credentials, according to “Teacher Supply in California“, an annual report to the state Legislature compiled by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing."
Schiff denounces brawl at California school over Pride Month resolution: ‘We will not go back’
The Hill, BROOKE MIGDON: "Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Wednesday condemned a protest that turned violent outside a school board meeting in Glendale, Calif., an area in the district he represents.
Schiff denounced the protests - just the latest in a number of recent attacks against the LGBTQ community over Pride Month celebrations - as "horrific.""
Death of Bay Area woman after botched butt injection highlights illegal surgery risks
The Chronicle, CATHERINE HO: "On April 19, Christina Ashten Gourkani, a 34-year-old social media influencer from San Jose known for her resemblance to Kim Kardashian, met a woman at a Burlingame hotel room to receive buttock-enhancing injections.
Gourkani, who had undergone cosmetic procedures before, quickly fell ill and was rushed to a hospital, San Mateo County prosecutors say, and died the next morning after suffering from an infection and a pulmonary embolism."
Chevron admits it took down public art project that criticized the oil giant
The Chronicle, MICHAEL CABANATUAN: "The mystery of who removed the colorful wooden slats of a Richmond public art project criticizing Chevron has been solved.
It was Chevron, a spokesman for the oil company admitted on Wednesday."
Renters dominate California — but they are struggling to survive
LA Times, TERRY CASTLEMAN: "Evelyn Arceo holds down a full-time job as a baker at Universal Studios Hollywood, earning $19 an hour. But even when she gets a few hours of overtime at the theme park, the single mother of four can barely afford the rent of her one-bedroom apartment in Panorama City.
On her salary, buying a home is out of the question."
This rainbow-hued Bay Area landmark needs an update. Change may be coming
The Chronicle, PETER HARTLAUB: "Rarely in human history have a few gallons of paint meant so much to so many people.
More than 50 years ago a maverick Caltrans official and San Rafael resident drove through the Waldo Tunnel — as drab as its name — for the umpteenth time and saw potential that others missed. He arranged for crews to paint a rainbow over the two arches of the northbound entrance, and in 1970 a Bay Area landmark was born."
Sacramento Trump operative testifies to Florida grand jury in Mar-a-Lago document probe
Sac Bee, ANDREW SHEELER: "The federal investigation into former Republican President Donald Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents has pulled in a familiar face to the Sacramento area: California Republican operative and former Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich.
Budowich testified before a federal grand jury in Miami on Wednesday, according to the Miami Herald. He tweeted about it afterward."
