California becomes the first state to mandate gender-neutral bathrooms in schools by 2026
BANG*Mercury News, ELISSA MIOLENE: "Public schools across California will be required to have gender-neutral bathrooms by July 2026, adding another layer of protections for the state’s LGBTQ+ students.
Although some cities and school districts across the country have added gender-neutral bathrooms, the bill Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law on Saturday makes the Golden State the first to require it in schools statewide."
The State of the California GOP, with Mike Madrid (PODCAST)
Capitol Weekly, STAFF: "The California Republican Party Convention kicks off Friday in Anaheim with a luncheon featuring former president and current GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump. While Trump is likely to get the lion’s share of the attention, other prominent GOP candidates including Sen. Tim Scott, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy will also be on hand throughout the weekend.
California boasts over 5 million registered Republicans – more than any state other than Florida – but that is half the number of registered Democrats. No Republican has held statewide office in over a decade, and Democrats hold supermajorities in both houses. The state hasn’t supported a Republican for president since 1988. The convention comes at a time of deep stress within the state party, and the Dobbs decision and the events of January 6, 2021 have only exacerbated that stress."
Biden to visit Bay Area for technology consultation, campaign events
BANG*Mercury News, WILL MCCARTHY: "President Joe Biden is expected to travel to the Bay Area on Tuesday, landing at Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View prior to attending a campaign reception and other events over the course of a two-day visit.
Biden’s trip will feature a meeting with the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, a 30-member group featuring professors, scientists, CEOs and tech experts. The group exists to advise the president on policy matters where an “understanding of science, technology and innovation is key.”
After hot labor summer, will Gavin Newsom sign bill giving unemployment benefits to striking workers?
CALMatters, FELICIA MELLO: "The weekend. The eight-hour workday. Paid family leave. Those fruits of labor victories are part of everyday life in California. Now the state’s hot labor summer may have helped inspire another precedent-setting measure, if Gov. Gavin Newsom signs a bill on his desk that would allow striking workers to receive unemployment benefits.
How many workers would get help, and can the state afford to pay each of them as much as the $450 maximum per week? The answers, researchers and advocates say, likely depend on whether California’s recent wave of labor activism continues, and what action lawmakers take to shore up the state’s debt-ridden unemployment insurance system."
California’s master plan for aging key to continued success
Capitol Weekly, SARITA A. MOHANTY: "It’s been four years since Governor Newsom signed the executive order for the Master Plan for Aging (MPA) to ensure that all Californians can age well.
The MPA sets five goals for the state to achieve by 2030 that address housing, health, equity and inclusion, caregiving, and financial security."
Newsom signs law limiting book censorship in schools
The Chronicle, JOE GAROFOLI: "Gov. Gavin Newsom made it harder to ban books in California schools when he signed legislation Monday that would fine districts for rejecting textbooks and library materials.
The legislation, AB1078, written by Assembly Member Corey Jackson, D-Perris (Riverside County), would also make it easier to appeal a school board’s book ban to county or state school administrators."
Educational rights for youth in the child welfare system
EdSource, BETTY MARQUEZ ROSALES: "More than 51,339 children and youth in California have an open case in the child welfare system, according to the most recent point-in-time count.
Many come under supervision of their county Department of Children and Family Services after a reported allegation of child neglect or maltreatment, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, exploitation or emotional abuse; for others, it happens when a parent voluntarily requests support, often due to a child’s behavioral challenges."
The writers’ strike deal is a big step, but roadblocks remain for Hollywood’s return to work
LA Times, WENDY LEE: "Hollywood breathed a collective sigh of relief Sunday night when the Writers Guild of America and the major studios announced a tentative deal for a new contract.
The nearly five-month strike — among the longest in the union’s history — secured what the guild described as significant wins for writers, but also had a devastating effect on the livelihoods of thousands of cast and crew who’ve been out of work for months."
READ MORE -- Writers’ strike: What happened, how it ended and its impact on Hollywood -- LA Times, STAFF
‘California Forever’ CEO defends controversial plan to build new Solano County city
The Chronicle, ROLAND LI: "The leader of the group hoping to build a new Bay Area city in Solano County revealed more details about the vision and potential financing for the controversial planned community in an interview on KQED on Monday.
Jan Sramek, founder and CEO of California Forever, defended the controversial, secretive effort to buy over 55,000 acres of land in hopes of creating a new urban center. More than $800 million in land purchases alarmed elected officials and residents, particularly due to their proximity to Travis Air Force Base."
Hotel workers strike at five Santa Monica properties after negotiations stall again
LA Times, SUHAUNA HUSSAIN: "Hotel workers at five Santa Monica properties walked off the job early Monday after negotiations stalled last week.
Unite Here Local 11 — which represents thousands of cooks, housekeepers, dishwashers, servers, bellmen and front desk agents in Los Angeles and Orange counties — has been urging hotels to agree to sweeping wage increases given how deeply the housing crisis affects workers. The union last month urged convention organizers and visitors to “stay away from strike-ready hotels” that haven’t signed new contracts with more than 15,000 workers at some 60 properties."
S.F. office vacancy hits staggering record, with 30 million square feet empty
The Chronicle, ROLAND LI: "San Francisco’s office market hit another grim milestone in the third quarter, with a record-high 33.9% vacancy rate — nearly 30 million square feet listed for lease or sublease — according to preliminary data from real estate brokerage CBRE.
Despite some growth from artificial intelligence companies, a net 1.9 million square feet of offices became vacant, pushing the vacancy rate up 2.3 percentage points from the second quarter. Roughly 150,000 workers could fit in all the empty space around the city, which has been pummeled by remote work. The cascading effects of workers not returning include lower tax revenue for the city, restaurants and retailers shuttering, and landlords losing buildings to foreclosure or fire sales."
Gavin Newsom sides with conservatives in urging Supreme Court to take up homeless encampments
The Chronicle, SOPHIA BOLLAG: "When Gov. Gavin Newsom filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday — urging the justices he often condemns publicly to take up a case on homeless encampments — it put him on the same side as conservatives he’s usually at odds with.
S.F. to ramp up clearing homeless encampments after new court guidance
The Chronicle, ST. JOHN BARNED-SMITH: "San Francisco will ramp up cleaning of homeless encampments following recent guidance from the Ninth Circuit of Appeals related to an ongoing lawsuit about how the city treats unhoused people on the streets, city officials said Monday.
The city has been mired in a debate about how to deal with its unhoused residents for more than a year. In September 2022, the Coalition on Homelessness filed a lawsuit accusing the city of violating state and federal laws — and its own policies and homeless individuals’ rights — by clearing homeless encampments and destroying residents’ belongings without offering them shelter."
Court orders Oakland to disclose records it withheld on police sex abuse scandal
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: "A state appeals court says Oakland must release records it has withheld about its investigation of police officers who had sex with a teenage abuse victim, and the suicide of one of those officers.
Oakland paid $989,000 in 2017 to settle a suit by the young woman, whose first name was Jasmine but who went by the alias of Celeste Guap. The daughter of an Oakland police dispatcher, she said 29 police officers and sheriff’s deputies in several Bay Area communities had sexual relations with her, some of them when she was still a minor."
California high-speed rail project scores $202 million federal grant. Here’s what it will pay for
The Chronicle, RICARDO CANO: "The federal government awarded California’s High-Speed Rail project a $202 million grant that will go toward finishing construction of the bullet train’s Central Valley segment from Merced to Bakersfield.
The grant announced by the U.S. Department of Transportation on Monday comes from President Biden’s 2021 infrastructure law that earmarked $108 billion for public transportation projects."
Caltrain expands service to South Santa Clara County as Gilroy commuting demand rises
BANG*Mercury News, LUIS MELECIO-ZAMBRANO: "Local transportation and elected officials gathered early Monday morning at the Gilroy Transit Center to celebrate the expansion from three to four weekday trains from San Jose to Gilroy. The expansion represents a shift to better transit access for residents of South Santa Clara County, officials said – the realization of a years-long effort to improve service for local commuters.
“While we’re not yet where we’d like to be, this fourth train is a significant, long-awaited step for our residents and others to better connect with the job growth of the wider Bay Area,” said Gilroy Mayor Marie Blankley at the event, noting that while Gilroy’s population has increased, its job growth has stagnated."
