How hungry is California? Millions struggle to eat well in an abundant state
CALMatters, RYA JETHA, JEANNE KUANG, JEREMIA KIMELMAN: "California is full of food, yet scarred with hunger.
Despite the state producing nearly half the country’s fruits and vegetables, one in five Californians are food insecure, meaning they have limited or uncertain access to adequate food. Food insecurity does not necessarily cause hunger, but hunger is a possible outcome."
Just what the doctor ordered: In California, a prescription could pay for your fresh fruits and veggies
CALMatters, RYA JETHA: "Every other Friday, the Stockton Emergency Food Bank hosts two live cooking classes — one in English and one in Spanish. Last week, Brenda Munoz made a classic tuna melt with an orange, romaine and dandelion salad.
“Dandelion is completely edible,” said Munoz, holding the small leaves from the flower. “They’re really high in vitamin A and folate.”"
Who should be reporting digital political ads, campaigns or social media companies?
Capitol Weekly, BRIAN JOSEPH: "For years now, the California Clean Money Campaign has been fighting to limit the influence of money in California politics, particularly in burgeoning arena of digital campaign advertising.
In 2018, for example, it successfully sponsored Assembly Bill 2188, by then-Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, D-San Mateo, to require social media platforms to maintain downloaded records of campaign ads. Four years later, it also sponsored the successful Senate Bill 1360, by Sen. Tom Umberg, D-Orange, to require digital political ads to reveal their top funder."
A court found a ban on butterfly knives unconstitutional. Are switchblades next?
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: "A federal appeals court’s ruling against Hawaii’s ban on “butterfly knives,” whose blade can be quickly unfolded into a weapon, could fuel a challenge to California’s prohibition on most switchblade knives, which can be activated at the flick of a switch.
Both cases are rooted in the Supreme Court’s June 2022 ruling that declared a right to carry firearms in public, which has led federal courts to strike down numerous state and federal gun control laws. Monday’s decision by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was the first to apply the ruling to knives, but it won’t be the last."
A strike vote, ‘Strike School’ and pickets: Bargaining heats up for state worker unions
Sac Bee, MAYA MILLER: "The “hot labor summer” is heating up for workers bargaining with the state of California.
A union representing some of the highest-paid state employees authorized a strike last week. The largest public employee union in California government received an offer from the state that was 80% lower than their initial ask, prompting outrage and cries for labor actions. And yet more workers are growing impatient with the often slow pace of negotiations."
L.A. County supervisors propose $25 minimum wage for hotel, theme park workers
LA Times, JACLYN COSGROVE: "The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will soon consider a proposal requiring hotel and theme park workers in unincorporated areas to be paid at least $25 an hour, rising to $30 an hour by 2028, when the Summer Olympics will be held in Los Angeles.
Chair Janice Hahn, who proposed the motion at Tuesday’s board meeting, said too many employers are paying their workers low wages, which exacerbates poverty, homelessness and housing insecurity."
‘More work for less money’: Protests at LAX, City Hall as thousands walk off the job
LA Times, RACHEL URANGA, REBECCA ELLIS, MILLA SURJADI, AKIYA DILLON: "Thousands of Los Angeles city workers hit the picket lines Tuesday for a massive one-day strike after union leaders accused the city of unfair labor practices, which Mayor Karen Bass and other officials denied.
At City Hall, hundreds of mechanics, gardners, trash haulers and other city workers — many in uniform — gathered at the steps blowing sound makers, clanking cow bells and chanting. At Los Angeles International Airport, which employs at least 1,000 union members, dozens of mechanics and custodians were marching before dawn. By 7:30 a.m., the crowd had grown to about 100."
On a day of disruptions, L.A.’s elected and labor leaders promise more talks
LA Times, DAVID ZAHNISER, RACHEL URANGA, REBECCA EYLLIS, AKIYA DILLON, MILLA SURJADI: "Trash went uncollected. Dozens of swimming pools were shuttered. Cargo ships at the Port of Los Angeles remained miles offshore. And traffic officers missed their shifts, sparing inattentive motorists the sting of a parking citation.
Workers with Service Employees International Union Local 721, which represents more than 7,000 city employees, walked off the job Tuesday, interrupting or halting an array of government operations in a boisterous demand for respect."
S.F. Supervisor Walton retaliated against cadet over City Hall security check incident, city finds
The Chronicle, JD MORRIS: "San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton violated city policy by retaliating against a sheriff’s cadet who said Walton verbally harassed him while using a racial slur at a City Hall security checkpoint last summer, the city’s human resources director recently concluded.
The cadet, Emare Butler, had accused Walton of publicly berating him after Butler asked the supervisor to remove his belt before going through a metal detector on June 24, 2022. According to a sheriff’s memo describing the incident, Walton allegedly said, “it is N-words like you that looks like me that is always the problem” and referred to security protocols as “N-word shit” several times. Both Walton and Butler are Black."
California regulators seek replacement of tire chemical linked to fish kills
BANG*Mercury News, WILL HOUSTON: "State regulators are requiring tire manufacturers to seek alternatives to a chemical preservative linked to fish kills in the Pacific Northwest and detected in California waters.
Under the new rule by the California Department of Toxic Substances that takes effect in October, manufacturers will need to evaluate replacements for the preservative known as 6PPD. The preservative is used to prevent tires from cracking and crumbling."
‘Severe’ marine heat wave arriving in California from Pacific Northwest
The Chronicle, TARA DUGGAN: "A marine heat wave that has spiked sea surface temperatures off the Oregon and Washington coast is moving into California waters. If it continues south, there is a chance it could raEDe ise temperatures along the chilly Bay Area coast within weeks, according to federal oceanographers.
The intense heat wave, which had lingered offshore since May, hit the Oregon and Washington coast recently, raising temperatures 7 to 9 degrees above normal, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration announced Friday. Since then, it has moved into Northern California about as far south as Eureka in Humboldt County and is getting closer to Mendocino County."
EG.5 emerges as top COVID virus variant in California. Here’s what to know
The Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI: "Amid a summer rise of COVID-19 cases across California, a new strain of the coronavirus is rapidly gaining prominence both here and across the U.S.
According to estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the subvariant known as EG.5 accounted for the largest share of genomic samples nationwide in the past week, including those in the state."
In record UC admissions year, one campus saw a 39% increase in admitted applicants
The Chronicle, NANETTE ASIMOV: "UC Berkeley admitted its smallest class of freshmen in three years this fall, even as the number of California residents invited to enroll grew by hundreds of students.
The numbers are included in the University of California’s latest admissions report for 2023, released Tuesday. Those admitted have known of their good fortune since spring."
UC admits record number of California first-year students for fall 2023, led by Latinos
LA Times, TERESA WATANABE: "The University of California admitted a record number of California applicants for fall 2023 — led by Latinos, who were part of the largest class of underrepresented students ever — as campuses received more funding to increase coveted seats, according to preliminary data released Tuesday.
Overall, UC admitted 88,285 Californian first-year applicants, an increase of 3.5% over last year, with gains posted at most of the nine undergraduate campuses. Admission rates inched up systemwide, to nearly 67%, and at nearly all campuses. UC Santa Cruz opened its doors most widely, accepting 10,000 more first-year students for this year over last year, a whopping 44.5% increase."
Appeals court upholds parcel taxes based on square footage with a ceiling
EdSource, JOHN FENSTERWALD: "In a precedent-setting case, a California appeals court last week upheld the ability of a school district to base a parcel tax on a building’s area with a ceiling on how much a property owner would have to pay.
The unanimous decision by three judges on the 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco follows 15 years of litigation over various iterations of Alameda Unified’s effort to design a parcel tax tied to a property’s square footage instead of a flat amount. The decision gives school districts and community colleges more latitude to design a parcel tax, which is one of the few ways that they can annually supplement state funding for education. Instead of being restricted to charging a parcel tax by a uniform amount per property, regardless of whether the property includes a $200,000 cottage or a $10 million mansion, districts will have the option to charge by square footage with a cap on the amount."
Making borrowing easier: Amendment to state constitution could unlock billions of dollars for California housing
CALMatters, BEN CHRISTOPHER: "Last November, 59% of voters in Berkeley wanted to give the city permission to borrow $650 million to fund affordable housing.
Two years earlier, 58% of San Diego voters supported a $900 million housing bond."
Affordable housing is critical to solving homelessness (OP-ED)
Capitol Weekly, KRYSTAL COLES: "Living unhoused is isolating, terrifying, and takes years off your life. I know this because I’ve lived it.
Today, I have the opportunity to help lift people out of housing insecurity through the Homekey Program, established by Governor Newsom to help solve California’s homelessness crisis by bringing affordable housing to the market quickly. I’m incredibly proud of this work, but I’m increasingly worried that our progress is being undermined by the state’s neglect of workers like me, which has led to turnover, vacancies, and stalled work."
Lawsuit: Tesla faked driving range for cars, created special unit to squelch complaints
BANG*Mercury News, ETHAN BARON: "Right after James Porter received his new Tesla compact SUV — bought in large part for its advertised 303-mile range — he charged it up and hit the road to visit family. Less than 100 miles later, he arrived with a charge of only 40%, according to a lawsuit accusing the electric-vehicle maker of inflating driving-range estimates and dodging owners’ complaints.
Porter of Pccetaluma paid $72,000 for his Model Y after test driving one in Vallejo, and received it in June 2022, according to the lawsuit. At no time during the testing or purchasing process was he told that “the advertised range did not account for normal driving conditions or that it was exaggerated,” the lawsuit claims."
Record numbers of people have died in California jails. Now lawmakers could crack down
CALMatters, NIGEL DUARA: "Eighteen people died in the San Diego County jail system in 2021, the most in-custody deaths ever recorded there. Local officials expressed consternation. State representatives demanded answers. Calls for change rang out.
The next year, another 18 people died in custody. San Diego County jails, which house an average of 3,800 people per day, are among the state’s deadliest."
Sacramento County may spend almost $1 billion on new annex at the downtown jail. Here’s why
Sac Bee. ARIANE LANGE: "The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors will decide Tuesday afternoon whether to authorize a $654 million mental health annex at the downtown jail and reimburse itself for expenditures of up to nearly $1 billion for the project.
In December, county leaders voted to approve the jail mental health annex at a projected cost of $450 million."
Cal Fire to probe tragic missteps in aerial firefighting ‘ballet’
SCNG, BRIAN ROKOS: "While Cal Fire is assisting the National Transportation Safety Board with its investigation into the collision of two helicopters Sunday above Cabazon that killed three people, officials at the state firefighting agency also want to learn for themselves what protocols may have been violated.
The Bell 407 spotter helicopter took off for the 20-mile trip to the Broadway fic e from Hemet-Ryan Air Attack Base at 6:34 p.m., circling briefly while en route, followed by the Sikorsky S-64 “Skycrane” three minutes later. The helicopters, under contract to Cal Fire, collided over the fire at 6:45; the Bell crew died in the crash while the Skycrane landed safely with two aboard."
‘I don’t buy that’: Questions arise over San Jose fire department’s Pink Poodle investigation
BANG*Mercury News, GABRIEL GRESCHLER, AUSTIN TURNER: "A day after the release of an internal probe into a San Jose fire crew’s infamous visit to the Pink Poodle strip club, experts in personnel investigations and the city’s former mayor are questioning the honesty of the employees involved in the incident — most of whom were not disciplined for behavior that appears to violate fire department policies.
While the investigation finally revealed the purported reasoning behind the visit to the Pink Poodle — Fire Captain William Tognozzi claimed he was picking up a flash drive with images of his colleagues taken by a photographer who also worked at the strip club — it also indicated that firefighters never came clean about a subsequent visit to a second adult entertainment establishment."
Former California mayor arrested on DUI charge after calling officers ‘pigs,’ police say
Sac Bee, ROSALIO AHUMADA: "The former mayor of a small Northern California city faces a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence after he reportedly parked his vehicle on the front lawn of the town’s police station last week and verbally abused officers.
Frank Crawford, the former Marysville mayor, was taken into custody Friday at the Marysville Police Department on Sixth Street. Crawford was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs, said Marysville police Lt. Adam Barber."
