A solar eclipse is happening today in California. How to get the best view
LAT's HANNAH FRY: "Millions of people across the United States will collectively look up at the sky Monday — wearing the necessary protective glasses, one hopes — to witness a rare total solar eclipse.
And although California won’t experience the phenomenon of totality, there’s still plenty to see."
READ MORE -- Don’t look at the sun; feast your eyes on these 5 things during today’s eclipse -- BANG*Mercury News's NOLLYANNE DE LA CRUZ
California water agencies broke own rules, possibly killing thousands of endangered fish
Sacramento Bee's ARI PLACHTA: "Pumping plants in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta severely harmed or killed almost double the legal amount of Chinook salmon and Steelhead trout in recent months, dealing yet another blow to the struggling endangered species.
An estimated 3,030 winter-run Chinook and 2,919 Steelhead were caught by water pumps that capture supplies for farms and cities from the delta between December and March, according to state and federal water agencies."
Trump says abortion should be left to states, declines to endorse national ban
LAT's JILL COLVIN: "Former President Trump said he believes abortion should be left to the states in a video released Monday morning outlining his position after months of mixed messages and speculation.
“Many people have asked me what my position is on abortion and abortion rights,” Trump said in the video posted on his Truth Social site. “My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both. And whatever they decide must be the law of the land — in this case, the law of the state.”"
Court rules against Newsom, says CPUC president must disclose meetings calendar
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "Over Gov. Gavin Newsom’s objections, a state appeals court ruled Friday that a watchdog group was entitled to learn when Newsom’s senior energy adviser met with utility companies in the year before the governor appointed her as president of the California Public Utilities Commission.
The San Francisco-based Energy and Policy Institute filed suit seeking calendars of meetings between Alice Reynolds and representatives of major utilities and labor unions during 2021, before she took office as Newsom’s appo"
Aaron Peskin kicks off S.F. mayoral campaign, seeks ‘mature discussion about our future’
The Chronicle'SUSIE NEILSON: "Aaron Peskin, the progressive, polarizing president of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, kicked off his mayoral campaign Saturday morning in Portsmouth Square, the heart of Chinatown and the gathering place of a key voter bloc in his district.
“I believe San Francisco deserves a mature discussion about our future, not a shouting match,” Peskin said to well over 500 supporters as a loud protest with about 30 people took place outside the square."
Californians will elect a trailblazer in this district. Will it be a GOP Latina or an LGBTQ Democrat?
CALMatters's DEBORAH BRENNAN: "Soon after the March primary, state Senate candidate Lisa Middleton pitched her vision for Inland Empire transportation to the Pass Democratic Club in Beaumont.
“We’ve not built the roadways we need to serve the growing population,” she said, referring to chronic congestion on Interstate 10."
The Micheli Minute, April 8, 2024
Capitol Weekly's RICH EHISEN: "Lobbyist and McGeorge law professor Chris Micheli offers a quick look at what’s coming up this week under the Capitol Dome."
From film sets to farms, visa changes for foreign workers could burden some California businesses
LAT's ANDREA CASTILLO/DON LEE: "When his entertainment industry clients want to hire foreign actors for a film shoot, Los Angeles immigration attorney Ally Bolour has to time the visa filings carefully, to secure their entry close to the production start date while meeting the tight schedules of performers. Often, there’s little wiggle room.
Now, Bolour’s clients not only must pay more for visa filings but also face a potentially longer wait. Bolour usually applies under expedited “premium processing.” That fee went up 12% to $2,805 while the new turnaround time was lengthened from two to three weeks."
They work 80 hours a week for low pay. Now, California’s early-career doctors are joining unions
CALMatters's KRISTEN HWANG: "In some California hospitals, early-career doctors make as little as $16 per hour working 80-hour weeks. It’s training, known as residency, that every board-certified doctor must complete.
The grueling schedules for little pay have been contentious in medicine for decades, and they’re increasingly driving medical residents to form unions. The national accrediting agency for residency programs limits the average work week to 80 hours."
Community outrage leads to changes in Fresno Unified superintendent search
EdSource's LASHERICA THORNTON: "At a special meeting Wednesday, the Fresno Unified School District board bowed to community pressure and postponed already scheduled interviews of district employees vying for the superintendent job.
The seven-person board was set to interview internal candidates during a closed session — an initial step in the process to select the next superintendent for the state’s third-largest district — before deciding whether to expand the search to candidates beyond the school district."
Will the Oakland A’s help the city of Sacramento’s looming budget deficit?
Sacramento Bee's THERESA CLIFT: "The city of Sacramento’s looming deficit in the coming years could see some relief when a major league baseball team starts playing across the river.
During a news conference Thursday, hours after the A’s announced they’d temporarily play in West Sacramento’s minor league baseball stadium, Mayor Darrell Steinberg said the economic impact for his city will be “huge.”"
Map reveals ZIP codes where California’s largest home insurer will drop policies
The Chronicle's MEGAN FAN MUNCE: "Starting this summer, 30,000 California policyholders will be told they are being dropped by California’s largest home insurer — State Farm. It’s a move one insurance broker says is unprecedented in recent decades, as turmoil in California’s insurance industry continues.
The decision affects homeowners policies, rental insurance and other property insurance. The company will not inform affected customers until July, but recent filings with the California Department of Insurance show where these nonrenewals will be concentrated. State Farm accounts for 8.7% of all home insurance policies in California, according to the latest data, which is from 2022."
California’s largest ‘builder’s remedy’ housing project could be coming to Wine Country
The Chronicle's J.K. DINEEN: "A prominent Sonoma County family that has been a force in philanthropy and politics for decades is proposing California’s biggest “builder’s remedy” project, a 1,464-unit affordable housing development that would create a new neighborhood on a flat vacant parcel near the Charles M. Schulz Sonoma Airport.
The Gallaher Companies, which has developed 6,500 units of housing and 62 senior and assisted care facilities, has filed an application for a 40-acre community targeting local workers who are priced out of Sonoma County’s housing market, according to Cindy Gallaher, co-founder of the company with her husband Bill."
California has moved to decertify more than 200 police officers. In some cases, the reasons why are secret
The Chronicle's SOPHIA BOLLAG: "California officials are working to decertify potentially thousands of police officers accused of serious misconduct under a new state law, but in some cases basic details of the alleged misconduct is secret.
Experts say that undermines the law’s intent to hold police accountable."
