California businesses are reeling from Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs
LAT, ANDREA CHANG/SANDRA MCDONALD: "Tariffs haven’t yet hit the supply chain at Anawalt in Malibu, but the hardware store and lumber seller is bracing for steep price hikes in the coming weeks.
The majority of the lumber that the store sells comes from Canada and nearly all of its steel products are made in China, general manager Rieff Anawalt said. Those countries, along with Mexico, have been targeted in sweeping tariffs imposed by President Trump during his second term, sparking a global trade war that intensified this week."
Schumer to support GOP funding bill, unwilling to risk government shutdown as deadline nears
LAT, LISA MASCARO/MARY CLARE JALONICK: "Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer relented Thursday rather than risk a government shutdown, announcing he’s ready to start the process of considering a Republican-led government funding bill that has fiercely divided Democrats under pressure to impose limits on the Trump administration.
Schumer told Democrats privately during a spirited closed-door lunch and then made public remarks ahead of voting Friday, which will be hours before the midnight deadline to keep government running. The New York senator said that as bad as the GOP bill is, a shutdown would be worse, giving President Trump and billionaire Elon Musk “carte blanche” as they tear through the government."
CA 120: Gavin’s podcast – Presidential run or empire building?
Capitol Weekly, PAUL MITCHELL: "In last week’s article we reviewed polling on Governor Newsom’s announcement that he would be hosting a new podcast. The eponymously named “This is Gavin Newsom Podcast” was intended to be a vehicle for the CA Governor to have conversations with “people I disagree with, as well as those I look up to.”
Well, so far it seems he has been focusing on the former with his first guest shocking progressives as he invited right wing provocateur Charlie Kirk for a softball interview in which he praised or agreed with Kirk nearly 125 times, including saying he “appreciates” Kirk or his ideas a whopping 52 times."
Scott Wiener rolls out another plan to build housing at transit hubs — with a more surgical approach
The Chronicle, RACHEL SWAN: "State Sen. Scott Wiener is rolling out a new bill to construct housing near transit hubs — a vision he’s long promoted to combat sprawl and lure people out of their cars.
In the past, such proposals have drawn controversy. But Wiener is determined to keep trying."
With L.A.’s mayor facing a recall threat, her supporters go after billionaires
LAT, DAVID ZAHNISER: "For more than two months, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has faced lacerating criticism over her handling of the Palisades fire — her absence from the country when it erupted, her wobbly public appearances once she returned, even her failure to preserve her text messages.
In recent days, pro-Bass forces have been pushing back hard, arguing that she is under attack from “wealthy oligarchs,” including real estate developer Rick Caruso and Nicole Shanahan, who is helping to bankroll a campaign to recall her."
Special Episode: CA vs. Donald Trump – Panel 2, Climate and the Environment (PODCAST)
Capitol Weekly, STAFF: "This Special Episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast was recorded live at Capitol Weekly’s conference The Resistance: California vs. Donald Trump, which was held in Sacramento on Wednesday, February 26, 2025
This is PANEL 2 – CLIMATE AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Panelists: Kip Lipper, Chief Policy Advisor on Energy and Environment to the Senate pro Tem; Catherine Reheis-Boyd, Western States Petroleum Association; Victoria Rome, Natural Resources Defense Council"
Shielding immigrants may be at the top of public safety issues in Sacramento this year
LAT, ANABEL SOSA: "The Democratic-led Legislature’s efforts to shield immigrants from the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation efforts, and attacks on so-called sanctuary states, promise to be among the most contentious issues during a session expected to focus heavily on public safety.
Along with immigration, efforts to implement the tough-on-crime ballot measure approved by voters in November, Proposition 36, and funding its drug treatment component are expected to create the biggest rifts among Democratic and Republican lawmakers, while efforts to combat human trafficking may be among the concerns that both political parties could find common ground."
California is borrowing billions to pay for Medi-Cal. Is immigrant coverage at risk?
CALMatters, ANA B. IBARRA/KRISTEN HWANG: "The California health care program that covers almost 15 million people is costing more money than Gov. Gavin Newsom projected, creating a new budget problem in a lean year.
Now his administration is borrowing $3.4 billion from the state’s general fund to cover the unexpected cost increase. It’s unclear when the administration plans to restore the money."
Education Department guts the agency that delivers the ‘Nation’s Report Card’
EdSource, STAFF: "Amid the chaos of the Department of Education’s mass layoffs, some may have missed the near decimation of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the small statistical agency that generates the “Nation’s Report Card,” ABC News reported.
Since the 1860s, the NCES has collected and analyzed data on education across the country, which has been used by policymakers and the public to measure academic success via the National Assessment of Education Progress, or NAEP, often dubbed the “Nation’s Report Card,” the gold standard for tracking math and reading scores."
Thousands of California educators issued pink slips again this year
EdSource, DIANA LAMBERT: "California school districts are again turning to layoffs to shore up budgets shrunk by declining enrollment, expiring federal Covid relief funds and a leveling off of state funding. So far, more than 2,300 school employees have received preliminary layoff notices, and the number is expected to grow.
More than 2,000 of the pink slips have gone to credentialed school staff — primarily teachers, school nurses and librarians, according to the California Teachers Association, which represents 300,000 school employees."
California’s snowpack is lagging behind average. Here’s why
The Chronicle, JACK LEE/VIVIEN NGO: "Snow piled up in the Sierra Nevada this week, with 1 to 2 feet falling at Tahoe ski resorts Wednesday.
The cold storm system notably differed from earlier storms this season."
Bay Area will have a dry weekend before the rain returns. Here’s what to expect
The Chronicle, GREG PORTER: "The storm system that soaked California with widespread rain and buried the Sierra in snow is now charging east, bringing severe weather to the southeast and critical fire weather conditions to Texas and Oklahoma. But active weather in California and the Bay Area isn’t over just yet. While weekend conditions will be relatively calm locally, expect a switch back to rain toward the end of the week.
Friday starts wet but ends dry in the Bay Area, with steady morning rain tapering to scattered showers and some sunshine to break through the clouds in the afternoon. The best stretch of weather over the weekend will occur from Saturday morning through Sunday afternoon as a weak but effective area of high pressure builds over the region."
California is holding $14 billion in unclaimed property. Here’s how to get your share
Sac Bee, KENDRICK MARSHALL: "The California State Controller’s Office manages around $14 billion in unclaimed property, and some of the money could belong to you.
Across the nation, one in seven people has unclaimed property, according to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators."
This demographic is buying far fewer homes in S.F.
The Chronicle, CHRISTIAN LEONARD: "The share of San Francisco homebuyers under the age of 35 is plummeting, with the vast majority of sales in the city made by older residents.
The under-35 age group made up an average of about 28% of recent San Francisco homebuyers from 2021 to 2023, among those who had bought their home within the prior two years. That’s a drop from its recent peak average of 39% from 2019 to 2021, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. Census Bureau."
California’s biggest NIMBY city? Look no further than this wealthy Bay Area enclave
The Chronicle, EMILY HOEVEN: "California is packed with NIMBY local governments that will do seemingly anything to avoid building new housing.
Woodside famously declared itself a mountain lion sanctuary to avoid duplexes. La Cañada Flintridge flirted with bankrupting itself to fight its first multifamily housing project in more than a decade."
Is Sacramento meeting the need for housing development? See a map of new rental units
Sac Bee, THERESA CLIFT: "Sacramento is experiencing a “drastic crisis” in the housing market, according to a September 2024 Sacramento County news release.
The city was projected to need to build 45,580 housing units between 2021 and 2029, including 37% that are affordable to low-income households, according to a 2021 city report based on methodology from the Sacramento Area Council of Governments. This averages to the addition of 5,581 units per year during that timeframe."
