Supreme Court ruling could jeopardize California’s environmental rules
LAT's TONY BRISCOE: "A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling will probably pave the way for more legal challenges — and potential setbacks — for California’s groundbreaking clean air rules and myriad other federal environmental protections.
In a 6-3 decision last week, the Supreme Court overturned the so-called Chevron doctrine, a long-standing legal precedent that instructed U.S. courts to rely on federal agencies to interpret ambiguous laws. By invalidating the legal doctrine, the nation’s highest court has effectively stripped power from federal administrative agencies, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and handed more authority to U.S. courts to independently decide whether newly enacted rules are consistent with federal law."
Gavin Newsom drops Prop. 47 initiative days after announcing it. He’s leaving to back Joe Biden
LINDSEY HOLDEN and NICOLE NIXON, SacBee: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom is pulling the plug on a drug and theft ballot measure that he and top Democrats negotiated over the weekend to thwart a district attorney-led effort to change Proposition 47.
Newsom’s office confirmed the move late Tuesday, just after he announced plans to head to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday for a meeting with President Joe Biden and other Democratic governors."
READ MORE -- Newsom pulls anti-crime ballot measure, capping Democrats’ chaotic response to Prop. 47 reform -- LAT's LAUREL ROSENHALL; Gavin Newsom drops effort to place competing Prop 47 measure on November ballot -- Chronicle's SOPHIA BOLLAG
Gavin Newsom will travel to White House to ‘stand with’ Biden during Dem governors meeting
Chronicle's SOPHIA BOLLAG: "Gov. Gavin Newsom will travel to the White House on Wednesday to “stand with” President Joe Biden during a meeting with Democratic governors, a Newsom spokesman said.
Newsom’s travel plans mean he will leave California as the state weathers a scorching heat wave and lawmakers are racing to place last-minute measures on the November ballot."
California burns as heat wave spreads across Western U.S.
LAT's GRACE TOOHEY, JIREH DENG, JAMES RAINEY: "As California braces for a dangerous, prolonged heat wave that’s expected to last through next week, firefighters across the state are battling several new wildfires, some serious enough to force evacuations.
The most dangerous fire was burning in Oroville, where crews on Wednesday were fighting the Thompson fire under an excessive-heat warning, with temperatures forecast to reach up to 109 degrees and wind gusts up to 30 mph."
Evacuations ordered in El Dorado County after flames erupted at home and spread, officials say
ISHANI DESAI, SacBee: "A fire that ignited Tuesday at an El Dorado County home spread into vegetation, prompting evacuation orders, authorities said.
Flames charred about 50 acres near Oak Hill Road, off of Moccasin Trail as of 6:05 p.m., according to Cal Fire. The fire, in a rural area west of Somerset and south of Diamond Springs, was growing at a moderate rate of spread, Cal Fire’s Amador-El Dorado unit said on social media.
Cal Fire said the blaze had not been contained as of 4:40 p.m. as the county’s evacuation website showed a spot fire broke out. The cause is under investigation."
Records fall as Bay Area heat wave arrives in full force, may last longer than expected
RICK HURD, Mercury News: "As temperatures cranked up Tuesday – well past 100 degrees in parts of the Bay Area, tying or breaking five heat records from as long ago as 1970 – the National Weather Service delivered news that hardly offered any relief.
“Nothing is pushing this high pressure,” NWS meteorologist Nicole Sarment said. “It’s just staying stagnant and showing no signs of breaking down anytime soon. So this is going to be going on a while, maybe longer than we thought.”
California community’s future at risk in fight over declining groundwater, residents say
LAT's IAN JAMES: "A lunch of pozole, chips and homemade salsa awaited a group of residents — including ranchers, farmers and owners of stores and restaurants — who gathered at folding tables in a community center to discuss a subject they are deeply concerned about: their declining groundwater.
The meeting in late June offered a chance for people to share their fears not only with neighbors, but with three visiting state legislators and a high-ranking water official from Sacramento."
California insurance commissioner says a decade of action needed to address crisis
Chronicle's MEGAN FAN MUNCE: "In a Tuesday town hall, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara acknowledged the fear of many California homeowners — that easing the insurance crisis will take much more work, and potentially years, to fully tackle.
“We face a tough question: Can consumers actually get insurance they need? And today the answer, unfortunately, generally is no,” Lara said. “We need to take action to expand insurance availability, really over the next 10 years.”"
Is the heat making me sick? Health risks and tips as California faces dangerous temperatures
BRIANA TAYLOR, SacBee: "Dr. Arthur Jey, emergency department physician at Sutter Medical Center for Sacramento, answered these questions and more on Tuesday morning in a question-and-answer session organized by Gary Zavoral, Sutter Health media relations program manager.
People suffering heat stroke may have blurry vision or “start sweating profusely, way more than even makes sense,” Jey said.
“Towards the end of a heat stroke, they’re going to stop sweating and that’s a really big deal.” Other symptoms include dizziness, nausea, a change in personality and significant headaches, he added."
To save spotted owls, US officials plan to kill hundreds of thousands of another owl species
AP's MATTHEW BROWN: "To save the imperiled spotted owl from potential extinction, U.S. wildlife officials are embracing a contentious plan to deploy trained shooters into dense West Coast forests to kill almost a half-million barred owls that are crowding out their smaller cousins.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service strategy released Wednesday is meant to prop up declining spotted owl populations in Oregon, Washington state and California. The Associated Press obtained details in advance."
‘Nothing will be protected’ — why California environmentalists oppose a ‘green’ energy bill
RYAN SABALOW, CalMatters: "Power companies, racing to meet the state’s ambitious clean-energy goals, are asking lawmakers for some relief from California’s signature environmental protection law so they can upgrade their transmission lines, including at state parks.
The bill’s author, Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, said to tackle climate change, power companies need to be able to connect solar fields and wind turbines to an upgraded energy grid faster and without as many bureaucratic hurdles."
California county to pay nearly $15 million to family of pregnant woman who died in jail, and limited federal oversight
JEFF McDONALD, Mercury News: "Weeks before it was scheduled to go before a federal jury, San Diego County has agreed to a strikingly expensive end to a long-running lawsuit that stemmed from a chilling jail death nearly five years ago.
The county and one of its private healthcare contractors will pay $15 million to the family of Elisa Serna, a 24-year-old pregnant woman who died in the Las Colinas jail after a sheriff’s deputy and medical worker watched her collapse in her cell and left her alone to die."
California’s Death Valley may tie daily record of 129F on Sunday
BRIAN K. SULLIVAN, Bloomberg-Mercury News: "Furnace Creek, California, home of the visitor center at Death Valley National Park, will reach 122F (50C) on Wednesday, and temperatures will climb even further as the week goes on, according to Jenn Varian, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
Saturday is expected to hit 127F and Sunday 129F, which would tie a record for the date. The all-time high in Death Valley is 134F set on July 10, 1913."
Temperatures have hit 130F twice, once on July 9, 2021 and August 16, 2020, according to weather service records."
Supreme Court decision reining in federal agencies sends shockwaves through health care industry
Chronicle's STEPHANIE ARMOUR: "A landmark Supreme Court decision that reins in federal agencies’ authority is expected to hold dramatic consequences for the nation’s health care system, calling into question government rules on anything from consumer protections for patients to drug safety to nursing home care.
The June 28 decision overturns a 1984 precedent that said courts should give deference to federal agencies in legal challenges over their regulatory or scientific decisions. Instead of giving priority to agencies, courts will now exercise their own independent judgment about what Congress intended when drafting a particular law."
UCSF sets deal with California AG to allow $100 million takeover of community hospitals
Chronicle's CATHERINE HO: "UCSF must continue charity care, adhere to price growth caps and invest hundreds of millions of dollars into St. Mary’s Medical Center and Saint Francis Memorial Hospital, the two struggling San Francisco hospitals it is acquiring for $100 million, under a settlement reached with the California attorney general.
The settlement, announced Tuesday, resolves a complaint brought by the AG that sought to halt the deal over concerns it could harm people’s access to medical services that are currently available at St. Mary’s and Saint Francis — including emergency and psychiatric care — and quash competition and create a monopoly for in-patient hospital services in San Francisco."
Effort to recall two Bay Area school board members leading in initial results
Chronicle's ERIN ALLDAY: "Two school board members facing recall over a perceived Pride flag ban in their tiny East Bay district are losing their efforts to remain on the board, according to early results released Tuesday night by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.
Ryan Jergensen, president of the Sunol Glen School board of trustees, was losing his recall with 53.8% voting in favor. His colleague Linda Hurley was losing with 52.75% in favor of recall. The county had counted 473 ballots as of 9 p.m. Final results could be available in a day or two, but they won’t be confirmed until after the long Fourth of July weekend."
LAUSD shelves its hyped AI chatbot to help students after collapse of firm that made it
LAT's HOWARD BLUME: "A much vaunted AI chatbot — custom designed to help students thrive academically and parents navigate the complexities of Los Angeles public schools — has been turned off after the company that created it furloughed “the vast majority” of its staff.
The school district said it dropped its dealings with AllHere, the company that created “Ed,” the sun-shaped chatbot, after “we were notified of their financial collapse.” AllHere did not respond to an inquiry this week from The Times and the level of its operation is unclear."
Two of S.F.’s biggest hotels reportedly lose $1 billion in value after owner exits
Chronicle's ROLAND LI: "Two of San Francisco's biggest hotels, Hilton Union Square and Parc 55, have lost $1 billion in value as the city’s critical tourism sector continues a slow recovery, according to a new report.
The two hotels were valued at $553.8 million by Kroll Bond Rating Agency, down from $1.56 billion in 2016, according to real estate data firm Trepp."
