Newsom vows to revive EV rebates if Trump kills federal tax credit
The Chronicle's NORA MISHANEC: "Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to revive the state’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program in the event President-elect Donald Trump kills off a federal tax credit for zero-emission vehicles, he announced Monday.
The program, which began in 2010 and ended last year, offered car buyers up to $7,500 to purchase or lease a new electric vehicle. It was a key part of the governor’s plan to phase out sales of new gas-powered passenger cars by 2035 to reduce climate-warming emissions that account for nearly 40% of the state’s greenhouse gas output."
READ MORE -- California to offer EV rebates if Trump kills $7,500 tax credit, Newsom says -- LAT's RUSS MITCHELL
Solar power glut boosts California electric bills. Other states reap the benefits
LAT's MELODY PETERSEN: "California is making so much solar energy that large commercial operators are increasingly forced to stop production, raising questions about the state’s costly plan to shift entirely to carbon-free sources of electricity.
In the last 12 months, California’s solar farms have curtailed production of more than 3 million megawatt hours of solar energy, either on the orders of the state’s grid operator or because prices had plummeted because of the glut, according to an analysis of data by The Times."
Is California’s battle against Trump a PR stunt? Here’s what Newsom’s ex-chief of staff says
Sac Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "Like other states with both Democratic governors and attorneys general, California is poised to play a major role in opposing President-elect Donald Trump’s conservative agenda when he takes office next year.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta have said that they intend to be ready. The governor has called for a special session of the California Legislature for the sole purpose of making sure the state Attorney General’s Office is adequately funded for the coming legal challenges."
McCarty holds on to lead in Sacramento mayoral race. When will results be final?
Sac Bee's THERESA CLIFT: "Assemblyman Kevin McCarty hung on to his lead in the race to become Sacramento’s next mayor Friday, but has not yet declared victory.
In the latest batch of results the county released around 4 p.m. Friday, McCarty had won 50.8% of the vote while Flojaune Cofer had 49% — the same percentages as Tuesday’s update."
Why did California ‘kill’ its booming hemp-derived THC industry?
LAT's CONNOR SHEETS: "A dark-haired man in a worn flannel coat walked into a Dino Mart convenience store on a busy street in North Hollywood one recent weekday afternoon. He perused the shelves before landing on a mini-fridge stocked with colorful cans near the chip aisle.
As he purchased a drink and walked back out of the shop, Esmeralda Reynoso, a supervising agent in charge with the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, looked on through the windshield of her unmarked sedan parked outside."
Asylum is a legal right. Will Trump respect it?
The Chronicle's RAHEEM HOSSEINI: "With President-elect Donald Trump expected to begin his illegal immigration crackdown immediately upon reentering the White House in January, legal aid organizations are preparing to defend a legal form of immigration affecting more than 1 million people: asylum.
Asylum denial rates soared and acceptance rates plummeted during Trump’s first presidency, as he attempted to barricade the border, rewrite eligibility rules and ban immigrants from the very countries where asylum-seekers were originating."
‘What’s going to happen to my kids’: California prepares to resist Trump deportations
CALMatters's WENDY FRY: "When he was 18, Chanthon Bun recalled, he was the lookout during a Los Angeles robbery in which no one was hurt. He sentenced to 50 years in state prison.
Incarcerated for 23 years, he was paroled in 2020 at the height of the COVID pandemic."
The Micheli Minute: A quick look at what's happening under the Capitol Dome.
Are California farmers on a collision course with Trump deportation plans?
LAT's JESSICA GARRISON, REBECCA PLEVIN: "A paradox has settled across California’s velvet green fields and orchards. California farmers, who are some of the most ardent supporters of Donald Trump, would seem to be on a collision course with one of the president-elect’s most important campaign promises.
Trump has promised to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants across the country, including, he has said in recent days, rounding up people and putting them in newly built detention camps."
Daniel Lurie wants private donors to fund his agenda. Will he tap his ultra-rich S.F. neighbors?
The Chronicle's MICHAEL BARBA, JD MORRIS: "At one of the highest points in Pacific Heights, uphill from a strip of mansions known as Billionaires’ Row, sits a nine-bedroom, five-bathroom house with a long front staircase and a steep roof. Views of San Francisco landmarks abound from the street.
This is the place Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie calls home."
Oakland released hundreds of documents related to the FBI’s probe. Here’s what they say
The Chronicle's MEGAN CASSIDY, SARAH RAVANI, RACHEL SWAN: "Oakland was deep in a homelessness crisis when a startup company approached City Hall to discuss a potentially bold — and for the company, quite lucrative — solution.
For $90 million, Evolutionary Homes could build 300 tiny homes out of shipping containers to serve as transitional housing around the city, company representatives told city officials in 2023. Yes, they conceded, this type and magnitude of public funding required for the project wasn’t readily available, but couldn’t the city change the rules to meet the moment?"
RFK Jr. was on the losing side of California vaccine fights. Now, Trump wants him in his cabinet
CALMatters's ANA B. IBARRA: "Five years ago, hundreds of people crowded the halls of the state Capitol protesting legislation that sought to tighten California’s vaccine rules. Outside, music blasted something about a revolution and people carried signs that read “Vaccine mandates violate bodily autonomy.”
From the sea of red-clad protesters emerged a familiar face idolized by the anti-vaccine activists: Robert F. Kennedy Jr."
Another atmospheric river to hit California this week. Here’s where rain, snow will be heaviest
The Chronicle's ANTHONY EDWARDS: "Northern California was blasted by a deadly, record-breaking atmospheric river storm last week, and another one is on the way for the Golden State this week.
Central California is bracing for a landfalling atmospheric river Monday morning, which will bring heavy rain and snow until Wednesday. The atmospheric river’s subtropical moisture plume is forecast to aim at San Luis Obispo, with Santa Cruz on the northern boundary and Santa Barbara on the southern end."
Groundwater pumping is causing land to sink at record rate in San Joaquin Valley
LAT's IAN JAMES: "For decades, a costly problem has been worsening beneath California’s San Joaquin Valley: the land has been sinking, driven by the chronic overpumping of groundwater.
As agricultural wells have drained water from aquifers, underground clay layers have compacted and the ground surface has been sinking as much as 1 foot per year in some areas."
Bird flu found in raw milk sold at Bay Area grocery stores
The Chronicle's NORA MISHANEC: "California agriculture officials confirmed Sunday that avian influenza, or bird flu, was detected in raw milk produced by a Fresno County facility that sells its products at dozens of Bay Area grocery stores.
Traces of the infectious virus were found in a sample of raw milk sold by Raw Farm LLC of Fresno County that Santa Clara County public health workers bought at an unidentified retail outlet, the California Department of Public Health said in a statement Sunday afternoon. The state’s Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory verified the positive test, officials said."
California Lottery ignores management’s harassment, bullying of employees, union says
Sac Bee's WILLIAM MELHADO: "Following years of requests that the California State Lottery investigate managers who harass, bully, and intimidate subordinates, union representatives told commissioners Thursday that the department continues to ignore longstanding management issues at several district offices.
“The HR department and some of these managers continue to slap lipstick on this same old pork chop,” said Paulina Vasquez, a lottery sales representative and union steward for SEIU Local 1000, which represents lottery employees. “Every time there’s a complaint, they quickly try to defend these bad managers.”"
Buyers are emerging for S.F.’s iconic Macy’s complex. Here’s what we know
The Chronicle's LAURA WAXMANN: "With the holiday season afoot, Macy’s iconic annual holiday display returned to the windows of its flagship store along Geary Street in Union Square last week to temporarily dispel concerns about its planned closure. Behind the scenes, the retailer’s bid to sell its massive 400,000-square-foot complex of connected buildings for redevelopment is gaining momentum — with retail, a hotel and housing mentioned as allowed uses for the property.
Eastdil Secured, the brokerage and investment bank hired earlier this year to market the property at 170 O’Farrell St. for sale, has received strong interest from a number of local developers, though the selection process has yet to be finalized, according to industry insiders. Eastdil declined to comment on its dealings with potential buyers. Macy’s also declined comment for this article."
Hollywood unions are facing an uphill battle against Trump, AI and the slowdown
LAT's CHRISTI CARRAS, STACY PERMAN: "Video game performers. Visual effects artists. Animation workers. Intimacy coordinators.
More than a year after overlapping strikes by Hollywood writers and actors that rattled the entertainment industry, many technicians and craftspeople who operate outside of the spotlight are pressing their own demands for a better deal."
Menendez brothers to make first court appearance in bid for freedom
LAT's RICHARD WINTON: "Brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez, who are serving life terms without parole for the shotgun killings of their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion, will make their first court appearance Monday in a bid for their release after more than 34 years behind bars.
The brothers will join the hearing in Van Nuys via video from the San Diego area prison where they are being held."
