California wildfires: Sonoma County crews expect to work overnight amid evacuations
The Chronicle's ANTHONY EDWARDS, NORA MISHANEC: "Fast-moving wildfires in California swept across increasingly dry landscapes this weekend, prompting evacuation orders in Sonoma County and burning at least 15,000 acres statewide.
Grasses that sprouted during spring rains are now drying out as summer heat descends, bringing heightened potential for fires and setting the stage for blazes to quickly spread."
Crews battle wildfires near Gorman and Sonoma: Buildings, thousands of acres burn
LAT's THOMAS CURWEN, LAURENCE DARMIENTO, PAUL PRINGLE: "A series of brush fires burned across Southern California and up and down the state Sunday, destroying structures and forcing evacuations in some locations, while engine crews braced for heavy winds overnight.
The largest blaze blackened nearly 15,000 acres in the Gorman area and remained just 2% contained late Sunday night, officials said. In Sonoma County, a fire scorched about 1,013 acres, tore though an unknown number of structures and prompted an evacuation order and warning in the Upper Dry Creek Valley, according to Cal Fire."
California’s Black legislators make case for reparations bills while launching statewide tour
CALMatters's DEBORAH BRENNAN: "Several members of California’s Legislative Black Caucus launched a statewide tour in San Diego Saturday to promote a slate of 14 reparations bills, including a measure that could change the state constitution to end forced prison labor.
That measure and several others designed to mitigate the effects of racism and slavery will face important legislative deadlines in the next two weeks."
The Micheli Minute for June 17, 2024
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Sure, California is a high tax state — but not when you’re buying beer and whiskey
Sacramento Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN: "California may be regarded as a high tax state — but not when you’re buying booze.
The state’s excise tax on beer ranked 30th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, a new study from Washington’s Tax Foundation says."
How California’s nonprofits got dragged into a fight between unions and local governments
CALMatters'S RYAN SABALOW: "California’s nonprofits have been dragged into a bitter legislative battle with some of the state’s most powerful labor organizations over local government contracts with non-union workers.
Democratic Assemblymember Liz Ortega took a shot at the chief executives of the nearly 190 nonprofits that wrote in to oppose her legislation, Assembly Bill 2557, that would add new disclosure requirements for private organizations — many of them nonprofits — that do work for local governments under contract."
Why don’t parental leave laws protect pregnant elected officials?
BANG*Mercury News's GRACE HASE: "Like many soon-to-be mothers, the cost of child care, the potential health risks and the impact on her career darted through Sunnyvale City Councilmember Alysa Cisneros’ mind when she considered having a second child.
But serving in public office, she felt an additional weight on her decision — the court of public opinion, and the potential sexism that she might face as a pregnant elected official."
A new threat to cannabis users: Smuggled Chinese pesticides
LAT's PAIGE ST. JOHN: "In coordinated raids in September, multiple California agencies stormed a network of illegal cannabis-growing warehouses across Oakland while state cannabis regulators singled out a salmon-colored warehouse complex surrounded by 7,000-volt security fencing.
The warehouse building — home to two licensed cannabis operations — was “highly-likely” the conduit that illegal growers used to ship their product into the legal market, a state agent told a judge. Inside the rooms, inspectors found 43,000 plants growing beneath high-intensity lights. None had the tracking tags required to be placed on legal plants."
Gavin Newsom and the Legislature are far apart on college spending as budget deadline nears
CALMatters's MIKHAIL ZINSHTEYN: "Within the next week and change, Democrats who control the Legislature and fellow Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom will need to reconcile their competing budget plans for higher education in California, with huge implications for student financial aid and the short-term fiscal health of the state’s public universities.
At issue is the 2024-25 state budget that begins July 1 and the multibillion-dollar projected deficits California faces. Lawmakers and the governor are in the final, secretive sprint of the annual process to craft the state government’s spending plan."
LAUSD, fed up with kids distracted by social media, to consider cellphone ban
LAT's HOWARD BLUME: "Los Angeles school officials on Tuesday — fed up with kids distracted by social media and concerned about abuses such as cyberbullying — are poised to join a growing number of school systems across the country that are banning the use of cellphones during the school day.
The hope is that a ban would lead to improved learning, less bullying, distraction and anxiety— and more meaningful communication with peers and adults."
Sacramento schools have low transitional kindergarten enrollment, data shows. Why?
Sacramento Bee's JENNAH PENDLETON, PHIL REESE: "Transitional kindergarten expansion has added thousands of students in Sacramento County but enrollment still lags behind other urban areas, new state data show. Local educators say that the numbers may not be telling the whole story.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation in 2021 setting aside about $2.7 billion to eventually make transitional kindergarten available to all 4-year-olds. The expansion started in earnest last school year, as 4-year-olds who turned 5 between September and April became eligible."
Most home listings in San Francisco have been on the market for over a month
The Chronicle's CHRISTIAN LEONARD: "It often feels as if homes in the Bay Area get snapped up almost immediately after they go on the market.
But the reality is a bit different. In May, 55% of homes for sale in the San Francisco-San Mateo county region were listed for a month or more without finding a buyer, according to a new report from real estate brokerage Redfin."
Carpeted floors and big promises: Photos of the very first BART car
The Chronicle's PETER HARTLAUB: "The premiere of BART’s first legacy car was filled with surprising luxury, Las Vegas showmanship and a few impossible-to-keep promises.
When the 70-foot-long car was revealed with grandeur on June 22, 1965 — an enormous tarp yanked off like a Siegfried and Roy magic trick — passengers asked why there was nothing to hold onto like in New York subway cars."
