California Republicans vote for Gulf of America name. Democrats are a gulf apart
Sac Bee, DAVID LIGHTMAN: "All nine of California’s Republicans voted Thursday to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. All of the state’s Democrats voted no.
The House voted for the renaming by a 211 to 206 majority."
Most Californians favor proving citizenship to vote, poll finds
LAT, KEVIN RECTOR: "While California voters are sharply divided along partisan lines when it comes to election integrity and voter fraud, they broadly support a politically-charged proposal from President Trump and other Republicans to require first-time voters to provide government-issued identification proving their citizenship in order to register, according to a new poll.
A majority of voters in both parties back the proof of citizenship requirement for registering, according to a new poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by The Times. Most Californians also supported requiring a government ID every time a voter casts a ballot, though by a slimmer majority and despite most Democrats opposing the idea."
Trump floats cutting China tariffs to 80% ahead of meeting as he looks to deescalate trade war
AP, SEUNG MIN KIM/JOSH BOAK: "President Donald Trump on Friday floated cutting tariffs on China from 145% to 80% ahead of a weekend meeting among top U.S. and Chinese trade officials as he looks to deescalate the trade war between the world's two largest economies.
Top U.S. officials are set to meet with a high-level Chinese delegation in Switzerland in the first major talks between the nations since Trump sparked a trade war with stiff tariffs on imports."
Whether it’s his plan or not, Trump’s policies so far closely align with Project 2025
LAT, KEVIN RECTOR: "In his Project 2025 chapter on trade, economist Peter Navarro called on the next U.S. president to bring about a domestic manufacturing “renaissance” by adopting reciprocal tariffs against trading partners and taking a particularly hard line on China.
Promptly after being elected, President Trump appointed Navarro as his senior counselor for trade and manufacturing. Within months, he announced sweeping new tariffs largely in line with Navarro’s suggestions."
Will Californians’ taxes go down with Trump tax cuts? It could come down to one thing
The Chronicle, JESSICA ROY: "Republican lawmakers are debating a tax policy that could have major implications for Californians.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, enacted during the first Trump administration, imposed a limit on how much of your state and local taxes could be deducted from your federal taxable income. The limit, referred to colloquially as the “SALT cap,” was set at $10,000."
Trump’s pick for surgeon general quit medical residency due to stress, former department chair says
LAT, JENNY JARVIE: "President Trump’s choice of Dr. Casey Means, a Los Angeles holistic medicine doctor and wellness influencer, as his nominee for surgeon general appears to mark another attempt to defy establishment medicine and longstanding federal policy.
Trump portrayed Means — a 37-year-old Stanford medical school graduate and author who describes herself on LinkedIn as a “former surgeon turned metabolic health evangelist” — in his announcement as fully in sync with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s mission to “Make America Healthy Again.”"
Migrant children languish in custody for months because of new federal rules, lawsuit says
LAT, RACHEL URANGA: "Two advocacy groups are suing the Trump administration to halt the use of new rules they say have kept migrant children in federal custody and separated from their families for months as the children’s mental health deteriorates.
The National Center for Youth Law and Democracy Forward filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of a Los Angeles-based immigrant advocacy group along with two siblings in California foster care, a teenager who gave birth while being detained and other children who crossed the Southern border without a legal custodian and have been in federal programs for prolonged periods."
Affordable housing another Trump ruse (OP-ED)
Capitol Weekly, DON AMADOR/LINDA CASTRO: "There’s been news coverage lately about potential large-scale selloffs of national public lands (in other words, lands managed by the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Land Management (BLM)). Some of that news has been about Congress proposing selloffs, especially near cities and national parks, to help pay for trillions of dollars in tax cuts. We’ve also seen news that relates to a recent comment from Jon Raby, acting Director of the BLM, to Bloomberg News, stating that they’re considering selloffs of national public lands within 10 miles of any city or town with a population of 5,000 or more to build “affordable” housing.
We believe that the Trump administration is using affordable housing to confuse and distract us from what they and Congress are proposing to do: selling off large swaths of our national public lands, thereby taking away our freedom to access the places we love to visit and recreate on. Those disposal, or selloff, plans could very well include our beloved camping spots, favorite off-roading places, cherished camping spots, special fishing holes, places where we go to “get away from it all,” and so much more."
More Californians now get therapy via a video screen or phone than through in-person sessions
KFFHN, PHILLIP REESE: "More Californians are talking to their therapists through a video screen or by phone than in person, marking a profound shift in how mental healthcare is delivered as record-setting numbers seek help.
While patients and providers say teletherapy is effective and easier to get than in-person services, experts in the field noted that teletherapy often requires a skilled mental health practitioner trained to pick up subtle communication cues."
Gas stoves nearly double children’s cancer risk, Stanford study finds
The Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI: "A new study from Stanford University found that children living in homes with frequent gas stove use and poor ventilation face nearly twice the lifetime cancer risk from benzene exposure compared to adults.
The study, published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, is the first to evaluate cancer risks from benzene generated during gas stove combustion and to estimate leukemia cases attributable to these emissions."
California promised to boost mental health in schools. Why one key program is behind schedule
CALMatters, ANA B. IBARRA: "California made a huge one-time investment in youth mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic as rates of depression, anxiety and eating disorders surged among children and teens. One piece of the state’s plan included a way to keep money flowing for schools that wanted to expand mental health services for students.
It involved allowing K-12 schools and colleges to charge Medi-Cal and private health insurance for behavioral health care provided on campus, a change that would allow them to provide more services and hire additional mental health staff."
More, but not enough, Californians accessing free money for college, career
EdSource, LASHERICA THORNTON: "The doors of the Golden 1 Credit Union remained ajar on April 5 as elementary-aged kids played games or had their faces painted outside while families inside circled the display tables featuring material from the bank and CalKIDS.
The event was to encourage families to open a youth education savings account as well as learn about and claim at least $500 in free scholarship money already sitting in a state-funded account."
Getting California’s millions of kids to access free money relies on community partnerships
EdSource, LASHERICA THORNTON: "When Stephanie Martinez Anaya was a senior at Hamilton High in Anza in 2023, her college success coach told her about scholarship money for college or career training.
The money — between $500 and $1,500 automatically deposited and waiting in an interest-bearing savings account — is from the California Kids Investment and Development Savings program (CalKIDS), a state initiative for eligible low-income students and English learners enrolled in the public school system."
Floods exposed weaknesses in California prisons’ emergency plans. They still aren’t ready
CALMatters, CAYLA MIHALOVICH: "In 2023, amid record-breaking rain and snow, two prisons in the southern San Joaquin Valley faced a serious risk of flooding. But neither prison, California State Prison, Corcoran or the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility, had a robust evacuation plan on hand and ready for the looming disaster.
Instead, the prisons developed a joint plan to transfer roughly 8,000 incarcerated people to other state prisons within 11 to 14 days — or longer. Wheelchair-bound individuals, the plan stated, would take six days to evacuate. And department buses intended to shuttle people to safety could take up to a day to arrive."
California State Parks website contractor adds illegal junk fees, lawsuit claims
Sac Bee, WILLIAM MELHADO: "Even those seeking peace in the great outdoors can’t seem to escape an annoying facet of today’s online world: surprise junk fees.
That’s the argument of several California residents who filed a federal class action lawsuit Thursday against a government contractor, alleging the company has been illegally tacking on last-minute reservation fees in the online check-out process — a violation of the state’s 2024 Honest Pricing Law."
Applications for Sacramento region jobs rise as state, federal workers see turmoil
Sac Bee, ISHANI DESAI: "California’s return to office orders landed right as state worker Alexandria Tufo established her roots in Chico.
Tufo loved her community and wanted to start a family there. She said she carefully picked an environmental scientist position two years ago which allowed remote work and was reassured by hiring managers “there’s no plans for that to ever change.” But Cabinet Secretary Ann Patterson in April 2024 ordered employees to return to the office at least two days a week. Just before this announcement, Tufo bought a house and learned she was pregnant."
California wine executives plead guilty to $360,000 bribery scheme
The Chronicle, ESTHER MOBLEY: "Two California wine executives pleaded guilty to bribing a powerful alcohol distributor and a retailer to promote their products in exchange for approximately $360,000 in gift cards, luxury watches, golf trips and baseball tickets.
Prosecutors in February charged Matthew Adler of Walnut Creek and Bryan Barnes of Hermosa Beach (Los Angeles County) with commercial bribery, saying that Adler had given money and gifts to employees of a wine distributor and that Barnes had given gift cards to an employee of a wine retailer in exchange for favoring their company’s products."
3D printed houses? Shipping-container ADUs? In L.A.’s fire zones, new forms of construction take root
LAT, SAM LUBELL: "The fundamental way most homes are built in America — the labor-intensive process of constructing conventional wood framing on site — hasn’t changed much for more than a century, even though more industrial methods and technologies have long held the potential to be faster, cheaper or more reliable. In Sweden, for instance, 90% of single-family homes are prefabricated — entire buildings, or large portions, constructed in a factory for efficiency and then assembled quickly on site, said Ryan E. Smith, director of the School of Architecture at the University of Arizona and founding partner at Mod X, a prefab construction consultancy. Meanwhile, prefab construction represented just 3% of single-family homes in the U.S. in 2023, according to the National Assn. of Homebuilders.
But the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires, said Smith and others, could be a tipping point. The region needs to rebuild more than 16,000 buildings — not to mention thousands of temporary structures for people to live in before then — in a market already weighed down by bureaucratic hurdles, limited labor and high materials costs. What was once considered “alternative” or “unconventional” may become standard, whether we’re ready or not. About 200 of an estimated 2,000 homes destroyed in the 2023 Maui wildfires have already been rebuilt using prefabrication, said Tom Hardiman, executive director of the Modular Building Institute, a nonprofit trade association."
S.F. Mayor Lurie unveils first big haul of private funds to address homelessness
The Chronicle, MAGGIE ANGST: "Mayor Daniel Lurie has raised $37.5 million from wealthy donors to address San Francisco’s homelessness and behavioral health crises, making good on one of his early pledges to supplement taxpayer funds by tapping private dollars to clean up streets and get more people into treatment and housing.
Money generated by the public-private partnership, which is named the Breaking the Cycle Fund, will be used to acquire, build and open new interim shelter and treatment beds and to enhance supportive services to help people address addiction and mental health challenges, Lurie said Thursday."
Frustrated S.F. residents say city efforts to address open-air drug markets are ‘ineffective’
The Chronicle, MAGGIE ANGST: "San Francisco’s drug market crackdowns continue to push people from block to block while residents say officials fall short on promises to clean up the city and get more people off of the streets.
At the direction of Mayor Daniel Lurie, the police have tried to disrupt the city’s most popular drug markets. But that enforcement has dispersed drug activity to different parts of the city, frustrating residents and forcing outreach workers to adapt their practices."
Entire BART rail system shut down by computer glitch, thousands stranded
LAT, GRACE TOOHEY/RONG-GONG LIN II: "Commuters found themselves stranded at train stations across the Bay Area after a computer issue knocked out service Friday morning to the region’s train system.
The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) has been completely out of service since before 4:30 a.m. Friday, according to an alert from BART."
READ MORE -- BART shutdown: Latest updates, traffic impacts as limited service set to resume -- The Chronicle, STAFF
CHP’s latest weapon against speeding? SUVs you won’t see coming
The Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI: "The California Highway Patrol announced Thursday the deployment of 100 new low-profile patrol vehicles aimed at curbing what it calls “video game-styled” driving.
The agency’s newly unveiled fleet of Dodge Durangos is designed to blend into traffic while giving officers a stealth advantage in spotting dangerous drivers — those weaving through lanes, speeding at over 100 mph, or engaging in road rage."
What are the busiest streets in Sacramento County? Some have freeway-level traffic
Sac Bee, ARIANE LANGE: "Arden Arcade, Fair Oaks and Carmichael have some of the most traveled roads in unincorporated Sacramento County, records in Sacramento County’s Open Data Portal show — and freeway-level traffic on surface streets concentrates around designated highways.
Watt Avenue at the American River Bridge, which spans from Arden Arcade to the city of Sacramento’s College/Glen neighborhood, had the highest vehicle counts. On March 3, 2023 — a Friday — the county clocked 94,946 passing through in a 24-hour period. The bridge is just north of the Highway 50 ramps and is the conduit between other major thoroughfares like Fair Oaks Boulevard and Folsom Boulevard."
Sacramento may raise parking rates again. Here are the proposed fees
Sac Bee, MATHEW MIRANDA: "Sacramento’s plan to address its multimillion dollar budget deficit will come at a cost to drivers yet again.
Several fee increases were unveiled last week as part of the proposed spending plan to address the city’s $44 million deficit. Among the recommendations were raising rates at parking meters, garages and establishing fees for permits currently free to residential car owners. All proposed increases need City Council approval and would take effect July 1."
Pope Leo XIV celebrates first Mass as pope, says his election is a cross and a blessing
LAT, NICOLE WINFIELD: "Pope Leo XIV, history’s first North American pope, said Friday that his election was both a cross and a blessing as he celebrated his first Mass in the Sistine Chapel.
Leo spoke off-the-cuff in English to the cardinals who elected him to lead the Catholic Church and follow in Pope Francis’ social justice-minded footsteps. He acknowledged the great responsibility they had placed on him before delivering a brief but dense homily on the need to joyfully spread Christianity in a world that often mocks it."
Former Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter dies at 85
LAT, DAVID G. SAVAGE: "Retired Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter, the shy and frugal small-town New Englander who was touted as a conservative but surprised his Republican backers and nearly everyone else by becoming a staunch liberal on the high court, has died, the court said in a statement Friday. He was 85.
Souter stepped down in 2009 after nearly two decades on the court where he cast key votes to uphold laws on campaign finance, environmental protection, civil rights and church-state separation. He also played a crucial role in upholding a woman’s right to choose abortion in 1992."
