After declaring his bid for governor, Antonio Villaraigosa’s campaign cleared $1.5 million
Sacramento Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "In the week since former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced his second bid for governor (he lost to Gavin Newsom last time), the money came rolling in.
Villaraigosa’s campaign announced that it raised more than $1.5 million, a significant amount this early in the race."
‘I never called anybody’: Nancy Pelosi on role in Biden’s exit, advice for Kamala Harris
The Chronicle's DAVID HERNANDEZ: "Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that she was not “a leader of any pressure party” behind President Joe Biden’s exit from the presidential race.
“I had confidence that the president would make the proper choice for our county, whatever that would be, and I said that,” Pelosi said in an interview with Lesley Stahl on “CBS News Sunday Morning.”"
Hold the ‘blue wall,’ or light up the Sun Belt? Harris eyes path through U.S. battlegrounds
LAT's KEVIN RECTOR: "Vice President Kamala Harris’ late entry into the presidential race against former President Trump reset the political playing field in important ways, giving Democrats a promising boost in polling and a huge infusion of cash and volunteers. But it didn’t change everything.
In a nation of more than 330 million people, the 2024 election — just like the 2016 and 2020 elections before it — will almost certainly be decided by a relatively small number of voters in a handful of battleground states, political experts said."
The California Legislature returns this week. Here are 3 things you should know
Sacramento Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "California legislators will return to Sacramento this Monday after spending almost all of July on summer break.
Though they have wrapped up a difficult budget negotiation, lawmakers must still debate and vote on hundreds of bills before their work is done for the year."
A Sikh lawmaker wrote a bill to protect immigrant activists. Could a fight over caste derail it?
CALMatters's SHAANTH NANGUNERI: "A seemingly noncontroversial proposal to help California police identify and address instances of violence motivated by international politics is hitting a nerve among South Asian communities who believe they could be targeted by the bill.
The new opposition to a law enforcement training bill by California’s only Sikh state lawmaker is reviving the battle lines from a bill Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed last year that would have banned caste discrimination in the state."
As LGBTQ library material comes under fire, California may ban book bans
CALMatters's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "The presentation was unassuming, just a handful of picture books arrayed on the side of a bookcase — the ABCs of a Pride parade, biographies of the gay World War II codebreaker Alan Turing and 50 LGBTQ+ people who made history, the sex education manual “It’s Perfectly Normal,” a retelling of the Stonewall riot and “My Shadow Is Pink,” in which a young boy explores his gender identity.
But when Fresno County Supervisor Steve Brandau heard a complaint from a constituent that Clovis librarians had put together a graphic Pride Month display for the children’s section, he was concerned enough to check it out. It wasn’t the type of material that he thought should be available alongside books about skunks and pirates."
New bill bad for housing, climate and environmental justice (OP-ED)
Capitol Weekly's JEN GANATA & SHASHI HANUMAN: "California is grappling with three simultaneous crises: a shortage of affordable housing, land use decisions that subject vulnerable people and communities to dirty air and water, and rapid climate change that has led to record heat waves and dangerous wildfires. We count on our lawmakers to write and pass laws to combat these challenges. Unfortunately, AB 1893, authored by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks and sponsored by Attorney General Rob Bonta, will make them worse.
At a time when we need significantly more affordable housing, AB 1893 reduces housing affordability requirements. State law currently includes a policy hammer called the “builder’s remedy.” The builder’s remedy provides that if cities and counties have not adopted adequate housing plans, they must approve housing projects that include at least 20 percent of units affordable to people with low incomes—janitors, childcare providers, new teachers, restaurant workers—and exempts these developments from most local zoning. It ensures that California plans for enough housing for people at all income levels and thus meaningfully contributes to local affordable housing needs, recognizing that those needs are the most unmet across the state."
The Micheli Minute for August 5, 2024
Capitol Weekly's STAFF: "Lobbyist and McGeorge law professor Chris Micheli offers a quick look at what’s coming up this week under the Capitol Dome."
Dow drops 900 points, and Japanese stocks suffer worst crash since 1987 on U.S. economy worries
AP's STAN CHOE: "Nearly everything on Wall Street is tumbling Monday as fear about a slowing U.S. economy worsens and sets off another sell-off for financial markets around the world.
The S&P 500 was down by 3.1% in morning trading, coming off its worst week in more than three months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 956 points, or 2.4%, as of 10:10 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite slid 4%."
READ MORE -- Dow sinks 1,000 points in global market rout as worries deepen about U.S. slowdown -- AP's STAN CHOE
Northern California weather: Another hot week, but change on the horizon
The Chronicle's ANTHONY EDWARDS: "Summer heat will build back into California this week, with widespread triple-digit temperatures in the Sacramento Valley and 90s in the inland Bay Area.
No daily records are expected this week, but temperatures will continue to remain about 3 to 7 degrees above normal, adding to what has been the hottest summer on record in parts of the state."
S.F. weather could end up feeling like Southern California’s. Maps show possible climate scenarios
The Chronicle's JACK LEE, JANIE HASEMAN: "San Francisco’s climate is expected to radically change by the 2080s: New research finds it could resemble that of a small town in San Diego County, Jamul, where summer temperatures regularly reach the 80s and 90s.
Other California cities are also projected to face present-day conditions of distant locations. Sacramento could have weather more like Garnet, located just outside Palm Springs. Los Angeles is forecast to feel like the Inland Empire’s Rialto, located about 50 miles to the east."
Perseids 2024: How to see one of the year’s buzziest meteor showers in the Bay Area
The Chronicle's KELLIE HWANG: "One of the brightest annual meteor showers will peak next weekend, and it’s already causing a buzz in Southern California, with officials warning of a traffic surge to Joshua Tree National Park and its prime dark-sky vistas.
But those in the Bay Area who are willing to stay up late — or get up very early — are also in for a celestial treat, astronomers say."
This California COVID surge is stronger, longer-lasting than expected, surprising experts
LAT's RONG-GONG LIN II: "California’s summer COVID surge has proved to be particularly strong and enduring, surprising experts with its tenacity as it storms into a third month.
The strength of this summer’s COVID surge probably is largely related to the ever-more infectious subvariants that continue to emerge as the coronavirus evolves, said Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, regional chief of infectious disease at Kaiser Permanente Southern California. A dizzying number of related subvariants — collectively dubbed FLiRT — have emerged in recent months. One in particular, KP.3.1.1, has been picking up steam at a startling pace and has become the most common strain nationwide."
After half a century of grievances, veterans’ housing demands on West L.A. VA campus go to trial
LAT's DOUG SMITH: "After months of hearings, a federal judge last month ruled that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs discriminates against homeless veterans whose disability compensation makes them ineligible for housing being constructed on its West Los Angeles campus.
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter had earlier found that the VA has a fiduciary duty to use the 388-acre campus primarily for housing and healthcare for disabled veterans, casting doubt on the legality of leases that have turned over portions of it for sports facilities, oil drilling and two parking lots."
Why do college students choose summer school?
EdSource's EMILY HAMILL: "Summer school is often associated with students who fell behind in their schoolwork during the regular academic year, or who failed classes and need to retake them in order to graduate.
In fact, there are many college students in good academic standing who choose to take summer school classes for various reasons, like getting ahead in their degree plan, easing their workload during the academic year, keeping busy, and being able to take courses at their own pace and with greater flexibility."
Berkeley’s huge new student dorm is startling — and a case study for other Bay Area cities
The Chronicle's JOHN KING: "For those of you who assume that architecture and urban design are synonymous, I recommend a visit to the new Anchor House, a 772-bed college dorm in downtown Berkeley.
The 14-story residential block, with three stories of black brick at the bottom and two stories of dark black metal at the top, is a powerfully compelling structure that would look at home in New York’s SoHo among that neighborhood’s converted warehouses and factories. Instead, it faces the historic UC-Berkeley campus in a part of downtown where no building topped four stories until recently."
The Hollywood production collapse’s latest victim: Why the reality TV bubble finally burst
LAT's CHRISTI CARRAS: "When Hollywood writers went on strike in 2007 and 2008, unscripted TV production soared.
Scripted projects stalled during the work stoppage, and studios turned to reality TV — a cheaper, faster format that didn’t rely on writers — to fill the airwaves. Audiences began keeping up with the Kardashians and saying yes to the dress, and a new era of television was born."
Muni’s riders give S.F. transit service highest rating in years, with one noticeable caveat
The Chronicle's RICARDO CANO: "Muni has scored its highest rider satisfaction rating since San Francisco’s transportation agency began tracking polling in 2001.
According to Muni’s latest survey, 72% of respondents rated the city’s flagship transit operator as “good” or “excellent.” That percentage is up from surveys conducted in 2022 (66% satisfaction) and 2021 (57%). Muni’s satisfaction rating has historically hovered between the low 50s and 60s."
You can’t buy a Chinese EV in the United States. But they dominate in Southeast Asia
LAT's STEPHANIE YANG: "Late last year Chinese automaker BYD surpassed Tesla as the world’s biggest seller of electric vehicles.
But you won’t find its cars in the United States anytime soon. With the Chinese auto industry facing tariffs in the U.S. and the European Union, one of its most important markets is Southeast Asia."
