‘Zero progress’: Western states at impasse in talks on Colorado River water shortages
LAT's IAN JAMES: "Seven Western states that depend on the Colorado River are ending the year at an impasse in negotiations over the writing of new rules for dealing with chronic water shortages.
Representatives of California and other states who attended an annual Colorado River conference in Las Vegas last week said they remain deadlocked in their talks on long-term plans for reducing water use to prevent the river’s reservoirs from reaching critically low levels."
Live updates: Franklin fire in Malibu erupts near Pepperdine University
LAT's STAFF: "A ferocious wildfire was spreading rapidly early Tuesday in Malibu, spurring evacuations along the coast while nearby Pepperdine University issued a campus-wide shelter-in-place order and firefighters struggled to battle the flames."
Raging Franklin Fire in Malibu forces thousands to evacuate, prompts shelter-in-place at Pepperdine
LAT's DOMINIC FRACASSA: "A fast-moving and dangerous wildfire was torching portions of Malibu Tuesday, prompting the evacuation of thousands of people near the coast and forcing a shelter-in-place order at Pepperdine University.
Fueled by powerful Santa Ana winds, the blaze threatened multiple structures in and around Malibu, but the extent of the damage as of Tuesday morning was not immediately clear."
Will Kamala Harris run for California governor in 2026? The question is already swirling
LAT's JULIA WICK: "As California politicos look ahead to 2025, the biggest question looming is whether Vice President Kamala Harris — a native daughter, battered just weeks ago by presidential election defeat — will enter the 2026 California governor’s race.
Harris has yet to give any public indication on her thoughts and those close to her suggest the governorship is not immediately top of mind. But if Harris does ultimately run — and that’s a massive if — her entrée would seismically reshape the already crowded race for California’s highest office."
Did Trump gain ground in Sacramento and California? See vote share from 2020 to 2024
Sacramento Bee's PHILLIP REESE, NICOLE NIXON: "Kamala Harris soundly defeated Donald Trump in the Sacramento region and across California, but President-elect Donald Trump’s share of the vote grew in most places from 2020 to 2024—particularly in areas with a high proportion of Latino, Black or Asian residents, according to a Bee analysis of final election returns.
California election officials have spent weeks tabulating absentee votes and contacting some voters with questions. All four counties in the Sacramento region recently finished their counts. Most counties statewide are either done or almost done, with totals unlikely to change much."
It’s hard to admit you voted for Trump in ‘the Mexican Beverly Hills’
LAT's RACHEL URANGA: "A surge of migrants at the border. President Biden’s debate performance. High interest rates. Phillip can tick off the reasons he voted for President-elect Donald Trump.
But that doesn’t mean the first-generation Mexican American is a full-throated Republican. And he sure doesn’t want his neighbors knowing how he voted."
Can Donald Trump actually end birthright citizenship? Legal experts weigh in
Sacramento Bee's BRENDAN RASCIUS: "President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to end birthright citizenship during his second term.
Could he actually do it? In a Dec. 8 interview with NBC News, Trump reiterated his plans to do away with birthright citizenship on his first day in office, which is six weeks away."
Trump taps culture warrior and S.F. attorney Harmeet Dhillon to lead Office of Civil Rights
The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI, BOB EGELKO: "A second resident of liberal San Francisco is lined up for a spot in President-elect Donald Trump’s administration. Trump nominated San Francisco attorney Harmeet Dhillon, a top official with the California Republican Party and someone who has represented him in election law cases, to be assistant attorney general for civil rights in the U.S. Department of Justice. Trump previously nominated Pacific Heights venture capitalist David Sacks to be his cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence czar, an advisory role that does not require Senate confirmation.
“Throughout her career, Harmeet has stood up consistently to protect our cherished Civil Liberties, including taking on Big Tech for censoring our Free Speech, representing Christians who were prevented from praying together during COVID, and suing corporations who use woke policies to discriminate against their workers. Harmeet is one of the top Election lawyers in the Country, fighting to ensure that all, and ONLY, legal votes are counted,” Trump wrote on social media Monday."
Special Episode: Health Care in CA, Panel 3 – Impact of Budget Cuts (PODCAST)
Capitol Weekly's STAFF: "This Special Episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast was recorded live at Capitol Weekly’s conference HEALTH CARE IN CALIFORNIA, which was held in Sacramento on Thursday, October 3, 2024"
A day without Mexicans in Mammoth? Locals mull how to get a message to Trump
LAT's JACK DOLAN: "If all the service workers born in Mexico stayed home from their jobs for just one day in this thriving resort town perched high in California’s Sierra Nevada, the humming tourist economy would probably faceplant harder than a first-time skier on an icy expert slope.
Most of the restaurants would have no staff, residents say. Hotels and Airbnbs would suffer the same fate. Construction projects across this posh skiing destination would come to a grinding halt."
Gambling companies spent big to defeat three California lawmakers. ‘We want to be respected’
CALMatters, RYAN SABALOW: "California’s card rooms lost a costly legislative fight this year as they sought to kill a bill that would allow their competitors, tribal casinos, to sue them.
But that didn’t stop the gambling halls from punishing a handful of lawmakers for their votes after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the gambling bill into law."
‘Person of interest’ arrested in UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting has ties to Stanford
The Chronicle's MEGAN CASSIDY: "The 26-year-old man taken into custody in connection with the fatal New York City shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has ties to San Francisco and Stanford University, according to New York City police officials and his social media accounts.
Luigi Mangione was arrested on firearms offenses in Pennsylvania after a McDonald’s employee spotted the man eating at a local restaurant, police officials said in a Monday news conference that included New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Police identified Mangione as a “strong person of interest” in the Dec. 4 slaying of Thompson."
California official comes out of retirement to lead troubled mental health commission
KFF Health News, MOLLY CASTLE WORK: "Veteran California public servant Will Lightbourne has stepped in as interim executive director of the state’s mental health commission after its previous executive director resigned following conflict of interest allegations.
Lightbourne served as head of the state’s Department of Social Services for seven years before retiring in 2018 and had already returned to service once, as interim head of the Department of Health Care Services at the height of the covid-19 pandemic. On Nov. 4, he was tapped to lead the state’s Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission after executive director Toby Ewing announced he would step down."
A critical time for CA’s master plan for developmental services
AMY WESTLING in Capitol Weekly: "As the next Master Plan for Developmental Services Committee meeting convenes on December 11, it’s a critical time to remind policymakers, the administration, key agencies, and stakeholders of the importance of developing and implementing the Master Plan in a way that prioritizes meeting the unique needs of 450,000 Californians with developmental disabilities.
The Master Plan for Developmental Services process was created to leverage historic investments made by the Newsom Administration and the legislature. It aims to achieve equitable access to the Lanterman Act’s entitlement to services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families, and looks to ensure that individuals and their families:"
California banned bilingual education for almost 20 years. It still hasn’t recovered
CALMatters, TARA GARCIA MATHEWSON: "In 1953, Bárbara Flores entered kindergarten at Washington Elementary School in Madera, California, a small city in the Central Valley surrounded by farm fields. Her mother and grandmother had talked it up: You’re going to learn a lot. You’re going to like it. She believed them. A little girl who would one day become a teacher, Flores was excited.
But only until she got there."
At Beverly Hills High, Trump victory celebrations ignite simmering racial tensions
LAT's NOAH GOLDBERG: "A high ranking administrator in the Beverly Hills Unified School District had an urgent, confidential message for the school board.
It was Oct. 27, just over a week before the presidential election, and tensions at Beverly Hills High School between Persian Jewish students and Black students were quickly escalating, wrote Laura Collins-Williams, an assistant superintendent for student services in the district. The school year had already seen a flurry of confrontations and fights and a even video that circulated of a student uttering a racial slur, she wrote."
Polluted communities hold their breath as companies struggle with California’s diesel truck ban
CALMatters, ALEJANDRA REYES-VELARDE: "Standing in his front yard in Wilmington, Jose Ulloa can’t get a sentence out without coughing. Heavy-duty trucks, headed to and from the Port of Los Angeles, pass in front of his home all day, their engines roaring and their exhaust spewing into the air.
Ulloa, who was diagnosed with asthma a few years ago, suffers frequent breathing problems and was hospitalized after one attack. The truck traffic is likely a trigger, since health officials say diesel exhaust is known to cause asthma attacks and other respiratory problems, including lung cancer."
These S.F. residents haven’t received a water bill in 2 years. Even the city doesn’t know how much they owe (OP-ED)
The Chronicle's EMILY HOEVEN: "Imagine you owe someone a lot of money, but you don’t know exactly how much or when you’ll have to pay it.
Then imagine that your debtor also doesn’t know how much money you owe or when they’ll even send you the bill."
Interim head of Alameda County DA Office just made first big moves after recall of his former boss
The Chronicle's DAVID HERNANDEZ: "Royl Roberts, former Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price’s second-in-command who now serves as the head of the office in the wake of Price’s recall, named three seasoned supervisors to oversee prosecutions in his first substantial move since taking the helm of the agency.
Roberts selected Jimmie Wilson, Catherine Kobal and Jim Meehan to serve as chiefs of prosecutions."
Sacramento County’s overtime spending doubled since 2018 to $63 million. Why the increase?
Sacramento Bee's SHARON BERNSTEIN, PHILLIP REESE: "Staffing shortages and around-the-clock obligations for its law enforcement officers, social workers and other employees have led Sacramento County to nearly double its spending on overtime pay since 2018, an analysis by The Sacramento Bee shows.
The spending continues a yearslong trend locally and among other California municipalities that increasingly rely on overtime to meet staffing needs, providing many employees with additional income, but also leading to strains on some employees and their families."
S.F. to restrict parking in 2025 — but exactly how many spots will be affected?
The Chronicle's ALDO TOLEDO, SRIHARSHA DEVULAPALLI: "A new state law taking effect in January has San Francisco drivers anxious that parking in the city is about to get much harder — but it’s been difficult to predict just how messy it will get.
The new state daylighting law, which traffic safety advocates say could save lives, will require a 20-foot buffer between parked vehicles and crosswalks — both marked and unmarked."
Jay-Z pulled into Combs sex scandal after weeks of ugly backstage legal maneuvering
LAT's HANNAH FRY, RICHARD WINTON: "The public naming of Jay-Z as the mysterious celebrity accused in an anonymous civil lawsuit of raping a 13-year-old girl with Sean “Diddy” Combs came after weeks of behind-the-scenes battling between the star’s lawyer and the Texas attorney representing the woman.
Since Combs was charged by federal prosecutors in a salacious sex trafficking probe, numerous civil lawsuits have been filed from people claiming they were victimized by the entertainer. There have also been suggestions that other big names will be swept into the scandal."
