The Chronicle, JOE GAROFOLI: "The three California House Democrats running for Senate don’t just agree on most of the issues they’ve faced in Washington, now they agree on something else: Their Republican rival Steve Garvey is an empty suit.
Reps. Barbara Lee, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff, described the former Los Angeles Dodger first baseman — who has never sought elective office — as “patronizing,” “minor league” and devoid of specifics during the first debate between the top four candidates Monday in Los Angeles."
BANG*Mercury News, JOHN WOOLFOLK: "The top four candidates competing for California’s open U.S. Senate seat debated for the first time Monday night and gave voters their first look at how the contenders handled themselves against their rivals on a range of hot topics before ballots go out next month for the March 5 primary election.
Moderators Elex Michaelson, a Fox 11 News co-anchor and host of political talk show “The Issue Is,” and Melanie Mason, senior California political reporter for POLITICO, grilled the contenders on hot topics — the economy, the border, crime, abortion, Israel and Gaza, candidate and former President Donald Trump."
LA Times, MARK Z. BARABAK: "When you agree 90% or more of the time with your political opponents, how do you differentiate yourself?
That was the challenge facing three Democrats who took the stage for the first statewide televised debate of California’s highly competitive, vastly expensive U.S. Senate contest."
Capitol Weekly, STAFF: "We are joined today by communications expert Nathan Click of Click Strategies. Click serves as a political advisor to Gov. Gavin Newsom and led communications efforts in the Governor’s successful campaign against the Recall; he is also active in ballot campaigns. He has previously served as the governor’s Communications Director, worked on Sen. Hirono’s staff in DC and on then-Attorney General Kamala Harris’ campaign for US Senate.
With last week’s announcement that journalist Bob Salladay would be replacing Anthony York as Gov. Newsom’s Communications Director, we thought it was a great time to ask Click about what the job is like- and about the difference between the Comms Director and Press Secretary. Click is working for US Rep. Katie Porter in her run for US Senate, and shared his thoughts on that race, the effect of the early primary, and weighed in on Initiatives that are likely to be on November’s ballot, including a repeal of Prop. 8."
LA Times, ANDREA CASTILLO: "Across the border from Hereford, Canada, past the American flag-studded welcome sign to Canaan, Vt., and down Route 114 is the Beecher Falls Border Patrol Station, less than a mile from the New Hampshire state line.
It’s near here that a group of migrants entered the U.S. last September before making their way into New Hampshire, where they were arrested by federal agents in one of just two publicly known smuggling incidents connected to the state over the last two years."
Capitol Weekly, BRIAN JOSEPH: "With January designated as National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, Capitol Weekly is examining a little-understood plague on our society – sex trafficking. Over the course of a few stories this month, we’ll explore the nuances of this horrific crime, its cultural influences and possible reform options. Today, we’ll start by examining the discourse over one of last year’s most controversial bills, SB 14, authored by Republican Sen. Shannon Grove.
For the first time in more than two decades, the new year added a new crime to California’s three-strikes law with the January 1, 2024 implementation of Sen. Shannon Grove’s SB 14."
CALMatters, KRISTEN HWANG, NIGEL DUARA: "The cost of imprisoning one person in California has increased by more than 90% in the past decade, reaching a record-breaking $132,860 annually, according to state finance documents.
That’s nearly twice as expensive as the annual undergraduate tuition — $66,640 — at the University of Southern California, the most costly private university in the state."
CALMatters, LEVI SUMAGAYSAY: "The fire-insurance premium for Bill King’s home has risen 145% since 2017 — from $399 to $979 — under the California FAIR Plan, the state’s last option for homeowners seeking fire insurance.
Add that to the increase in his auto-insurance premium, and King, who lives in Running Springs in the San Bernardino Mountains, is worried."
Sacramento Bee, ARI PLACHTA: "Many of the public electric vehicle chargers alongside California roads were built to atone for past wrongs. Electrify America, a subsidiary of Volkswagen, was born in the ashes of the company’s 2015 emissions cheating scandal known as ‘Dieselgate.’
More than 1,000 chargers later, the California Air Resources Board is slated to rubber stamp the final chunk of an $800 million settlement with VW. It’s part of a wider $2 billion agreement the company made to promote electric vehicles nationwide."
A weak area of high pressure will build into California and provide a temporary break from the wet pattern. Patchy morning fog is possible due to the recent rain, especially in the valleys of the North, East and South Bay. But by the afternoon, the high-pressure system is expected to strengthen and push out the fog and clouds."
READ MORE -- Rain soaks L.A. but shocks San Diego as deluge leads to hundreds of rescues amid flooding -- LA Times, GRACE TOOHEY, HAYLEY SMITH, ANDREW J. CAMPA
CSU and faculty reach surprise tentative agreement, ending massive strike after one day
LA Times, DEBBIE TRUONG, GABRIEL SAN ROMAN, HOWARD BLUME: "The union representing California State University faculty reached a tentative agreement with the university system late Monday, putting an end to a planned five-day strike after one day.
Today, he’d be lucky to get $1 million for it."
Car crashes are suddenly soaring on this Bay Area highway
The Chronicle, MICHAEL CABANATUAN: "With its winding curves, steep grades and heavy traffic, Highway 17 across the Santa Cruz Mountains is no stranger to traffic collisions. But when it rains, as it has Sunday and Monday, the number of crashes climbs.
By early afternoon Saturday, traffic reports indicated 10 collisions had taken place in various locations of Highway 17, which connects the San Jose area and Santa Cruz and is heavily traveled by beachgoers and commuters alike."
