Secret in-flight recording sparks rage over possible wildfire insurance ‘bailout’
The Chronicle, SOPHIA BOLLAG, JOE GAROFOLI: "A conversation with a lobbyist secretly recorded on an airplane is shedding light on discussions of possible wildfire insurance legislation that consumer advocates are worried will be pushed through the Legislature in the final two weeks of the session.
“We are trying to jam a bill in the last three weeks,” longtime insurance industry lobbyist Michael Gunning says on the recording, which was taken on a Southwest flight from Los Angeles to Sacramento. He went on to explain that major insurance companies, including Farmers, State Farm and Allstate, have been reducing their footprint in the state."
New permanent water conservation rules are coming to California — see how your city will be affected
BANG*Mercury News, PAUL ROGERS: "Dozens of California cities could be required to impose permanent water conservation measures starting in about a year — and keep them in place even when the state is not in a drought — under proposed new rules from state water regulators.
The landmark rules are required by two laws that former Gov. Jerry Brown signed in 2018 after a severe five-year drought. Environmentalists and some water districts support them, saying they are critical as the state grapples with climate change and more severe droughts. But some water agencies have been strongly opposed, saying Sacramento is beginning a new era of micro-managing how local communities use water."
Trustees for Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s late husband’s estate question role of daughter in lawsuit
The Chronicle, SHIRA STEIN: "The trustees of the estate of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s late husband questioned her capabilities, the involvement of her daughter in her legal affairs and her request for nearly $170,000 to pay her medical bills in a new court filing Wednesday.
The latest filing, a response to a July lawsuit filed by Feinstein’s daughter Katherine Feinstein on the senator’s behalf, addresses the claim that Feinstein has been unable to access any of her late husband’s assets to pay for her “significant medical expenses” following a serious bout of shingles."
‘My mind is just blown.’ California allows more gas storage at Aliso Canyon leak site
LA Times, SAMMY ROTH: "State officials voted Thursday to let Southern California Gas Co. store far more fuel at the Aliso Canyon gas storage field, eight years after a record-breaking leak spewed more than 100,000 metric tons of planet-warming methane into the atmosphere and prompted thousands of San Fernando Valley residents to evacuate their homes for months.
The 5-0 vote by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s appointees on the California Public Utilities Commission angered many residents of Porter Ranch and other neighborhoods near Aliso Canyon, who see the gas field as a continued threat to their health and have called on Newsom to live up to his long-standing pledge to shut it down. The vote also frustrated climate change activists who have urged state officials to do more to help families replace gas appliances with electric heat pumps and induction stoves."
Bay Area weather: Here's when the smoky air is expected to clear
The Chronicle, ANTHONY EDWARDS: "After a hot and smoky Wednesday, relief is expected for the Bay Area by Thursday evening.
An approaching area of low pressure will begin to push out the heat and lower daily highs 5-10 degrees compared with Wednesday. The afternoon and evening sea breeze will bring in cleaner ocean air, sweeping out the smoke and replacing it with clouds. Friday’s temperatures will be even cooler, with 60s at the coast and 70s inland."
California’s COVID comeback intensifies, but officials say there’s no cause for alarm
LA Times, RONG-GONG LIN II, LUKE MONEY: "Outbreak investigations. Disrupted work schedules. Canceled vacations. Wearing masks.
Sound familiar?"
Research finds California's funding overhaul worked as designed for those getting the most money
EdSource, JOHN FENSTERWALD: "AUC Berkeley labor economist this week offered a California answer to the persistent question of whether more money matters for K-12 education.
Rucker Johnson, who researched the state’s decade-old school finance overhaul known as the Local Control Funding Formula, concluded it does matter, especially for the highest needs students targeted for help by the equity-based funding."
No high school calculus, chemistry, physics class? Caltech has a new admission work-around
LA Times, TERESA WATANABE: "Kimberly Miranda is the brainy daughter of Guatemalan immigrants and the first in her family to attend college. But she almost didn’t make it to the California Institute of Technology.
Her Redwood City school didn’t offer algebra in eighth grade, which threw her off the progression of high school math classes leading to calculus — a long-standing Caltech admission requirement. Miranda managed to double up on math courses in sophomore year to reach calculus as a senior, but not all students have the wherewithal — or support — to take that path."
First renderings show what tech billionaires are planning for their dream Bay Area city
The Chronicle, JK DINEEN: "The Silicon Valley billionaire-backed plan to build a 21st century utopian city on agricultural land on the edge of the Bay Area has a name and a website featuring the first renderings of what the Solano County dreamland might look like.
The initiative’s name — California Forever — was unveiled on Thursday afternoon after a two week period in which the group’s acquisition of 55,000 acres in southeast Solano County has come under fire from politicians, farmers and environmentalists."
Exclusive: S.F. AI firm leasing entire former Slack HQ in major boost to downtown
The Chronicle, ROLAND LI: "Fast-growing artificial intelligence company Anthropic has agreed to lease the entire former Slack headquarters building in San Francisco, said two people familiar with the deal who weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
The 230,000-square-foot sublease from Slack would be one of the largest local deals of the pandemic and the strongest sign yet that the AI boom is lifting the city’s beleaguered downtown office market and economy. The deal at 500 Howard St. in Transbay is close to being finalized and may just need approval from building owner Heitman, one person said."
Who goes to Burning Man? Increasingly, it’s rich, well-educated people
The Chronicle, CHRISTIAN LEONARD: "Who are the Burning Man attendees camping out in the Nevada desert for a week to meet friends, create art and, if they want, howl at the moon? Data collected by the festival organizers gives a pretty good idea.
During and after each festival, whose first iteration was held in San Francisco in 1986, organizers survey attendees to collect demographic information. The recently released findings from the 2022 event shows members of the ephemeral Black Rock City — a town Burning Man organizers build and demolish every festival — are increasingly wealthy and well-educated. About 75,000 people attended the 2022 event, according to an organizer, down from 79,000 in 2019."
San Jose mayor wants Meta, Snapchat and TikTok to shut down sideshow content
BANG*Mercury News, GABRIEL GRESCHLER: "Seeking to clamp down on sideshows’ wreaking havoc in San Jose, Mayor Matt Mahan is asking social media companies to shut down videos showcasing the raucous street gatherings that often attract hundreds or thousands to events and result in a deluge of widely shared videos.
The request is raising a mountain of practical and legal questions from content moderation experts who contend that reining in the videos could be exceedingly difficult for companies to do effectively or ethically."
Sacramento police possess 300+ untested rape kits but didn’t report it to state, audit says
Sac Bee, THERESA CLIFT: "The Sacramento Police Department is in possession more than 300 untested rape kits, and has not told California’s Department of Justice — a violation of state law, according to a new city audit.
The Police Department does not know how many untested kits it has in its possession because, according to the audit, it has not counted them. As part of an investigation, the auditor estimated the department likely has about 340 untested kits collected prior to 2016."
Deadly beating of shopkeeper in this quiet S.F. neighborhood sparks demands for more help
The Chronicle, RACHEL SWAN: "The deadly beating of a shopkeeper in San Francisco’s Richmond District last week has intensified calls for more police patrols, including from a progressive city supervisor who faces mounting pressure from constituents.
Jolted by a spike in robberies along the neighborhood’s dense retail corridors, Richmond merchants and residents are the latest group to lean on a city supervisor to address safety and quality-of-life issues. Their counterparts in the Mission, Tenderloin and Castro have also loudly voiced discontent."
Candlelight vigil for slain S.F. storekeeper draws huge ‘sad, angry’ crowd, demands for safety
The Chronicle, MEGAN FAN MUNCE: "It was quiet Thursday night as residents of San Francisco’s Richmond District trickled out of their homes and gathered in front of Richmond Market, where a beloved shopkeeper was attacked last week.
At first, the only sounds were the sobs of the family of Yohannes Tewolde, who died Tuesday at the age of 60 after being beaten with a baseball bat during an attempted theft."
