California’s first big heat wave is on the way. Here’s a timeline of impacts
The Chronicle, GREG PORTER: "The first significant heat event of the season is ramping up across California, with temperatures expected to spike sharply across inland areas Friday and Saturday. While early forecasts predicted all-time May temperature records could fall, confidence in record-breaking heat has dropped a bit. What’s clear now is the timing and intensity of the heat, beginning with rapid warming Thursday, widespread triple-digit heat Friday, lingering high temps Saturday and a noticeable cooldown Sunday.
Here’s how it will unfold across the state:"
READ MORE -- California braces for record-breaking heat wave. How high could temperatures get? -- Sac Bee, ANGELA RODRIGUEZ
‘It’s pretty bleak’: A warming planet is poised to get even hotter, forecasters warn
LAT, CORINNE PURTILL: "As hot, dry and disastrous as the last few years have been, it appears that the chaos caused by a warming planet is just getting started.
Though the hottest year in nearly two centuries was recorded only last year, the world will probably shatter that record yet again by 2029, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization, the climate and weather arm of the United Nations."
Federal trade court blocks Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs under emergency powers law
LAT, LINDSAY WHITEHURST/JOSH BOAK: "A federal court on Wednesday blocked President Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs on imports under an emergency-powers law, swiftly throwing into doubt Trump’s signature set of economic policies that have rattled global financial markets, frustrated trade partners and raised broader fears about inflation intensifying and the economy slumping.
The ruling from a three-judge panel at the New York-based U.S. Court of International Trade came after several lawsuits arguing Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs exceeded his authority and left the country’s trade policy dependent on his whims."
Courthouse arrests ‘weaponize,’ ‘sabotage’ immigration process, advocates say
Sac Bee, STEPHEN HOBBS: "Immigration advocates had a firm message for federal authorities on Wednesday: Stop arresting people at the immigration court in downtown Sacramento.
“We refuse to allow the legal system to become weaponized against those whom it is supposed to serve,” Marcus Tang, executive director at the legal-aid organization California Immigration Project, said at a press conference outside the court. “Due process rights should not disappear across courthouse doors. Immigrants should not fear going to court.”"
‘I’m really scared’: Elderly and disabled Californians with more than $2,000 could lose Medi-Cal
CALMatters, KRISTEN HWANG: "Cynde Soto, a quadriplegic who requires around-the-clock care, has been on Medi-Cal for most of her life. Recently, she came into a modest inheritance, about $8,000, that has helped cover her daily expenses. But it also means that she would lose her state health insurance under a proposal from Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Newsom has proposed restoring a $2,000 limit on an individual’s assets — including savings accounts and property other than a home and a car — and $3,000 for couples to qualify for Medi-Cal. Anyone 65 and older or disabled who exceeds that limit would be ineligible. Newsom also is proposing a cap on how much home care Medi-Cal enrollees like Soto could receive."
With billions at stake, California joins suit to stop Trump cuts to university science research
LAT, HOWARD BLUME/DANIEL MILLER/JAWEED KALEEM: "California on Wednesday joined 15 other states filing suit against the National Science Foundation and its acting director, alleging the agency has illegally terminated millions of dollars in grants and imposed new fees that have ended or crippled research vital to health, the economy and the advancement of knowledge.
The Trump administration has defended its actions as both legal and necessary to align the NSF with the president’s priorities."
U.S. to ‘aggressively’ revoke Chinese student visas, Secretary of State Marco Rubio says
LAT, DANIEL MILLER/JAWEED KALEEM: "The U.S. is poised to “aggressively” revoke visas issued to an unspecified number of students from China, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday.
The action is expected to intensify the Trump administration’s clash with universities over their international students, a chaotic showdown that has upended campus life, threatened a major stream of university income during a time of deep federal funding cuts and spilled into courtrooms across the country."
Bay Area university agrees to sell campus to UC after Stanford deal falls through
The Chronicle, SAM WHITING: "In a quick pivot, Notre Dame de Namur University on the San Francisco Peninsula has agreed to sell its 46-acre campus and surrounding property to the investment arm of the University of California, officials said.
The private Catholic university will lease back its Belmont campus for up to five years under the deal, which was announced Tuesday — just months after a similar deal with Stanford University fell through."
The ugly battle between principals and teachers taking over Oakland schools
The Chronicle, JILL TUCKER: "Students had settled into their first class of the day when the president of the Oakland teachers union walked up to the entry gate at Fremont High School on March 17.
What school staff say happened next has sparked an ugly public spat pitting the district principals and their union against the teachers’ labor leaders, with administrators accusing the teachers union of harassment, physical threats and bullying."
Does a proposed effort to aid Yuba River fish clear a way for predators, too?
Sac Bee, JAKE GOODRICK: "People who know the lower Yuba River see its waters differently.
A conservationist may look for the salmon redds, noting the prevalence of eggs or lack thereof. Engineers see how the weather, snowpack and dam releases affect the river’s depth and flow. Farmers who irrigate from its diversion canals want water when they need it."
Quiet California town named one of the top ‘underrated’ destinations in U.S.
The Chronicle, MALIYA ELLIS: "Looking for a getaway on California’s coast? A new list says you should consider a lesser-known seaside spot: Cambria.
The quiet coastal community just south of Big Sur off Highway 1 was the only California destination to make the U.S. News and World Report’s list of the country’s 26 best underrated travel destinations this month."
L.A.’s mayor declared a homelessness emergency. Now, some at City Hall want to move past it
LAT, DAVID ZAHNISER: "It was the first and possibly the most dramatic act by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass after she took office: declaring a city emergency on homelessness.
That move, backed by the City Council, gave Bass the power to award no-bid contracts to nonprofit groups and to rent hotels and motels for interim homeless housing. It also allowed Bass to waive regulations limiting the size and scale of certain types of affordable housing."
Mayor Lurie wants to shake up how millions in S.F. homeless funding is spent
The Chronicle, MAGGIE ANGST: "Nearly seven years after San Francisco voters passed a tax on the city’s wealthiest companies to fund homeless services, Mayor Daniel Lurie is looking to shake up how the money is spent.
Under the measure passed in 2018, at least 50% of the funds raised must go toward permanent housing, at least 25% for mental health services, up to 15% for homelessness prevention and up to 10% for shelter and hygiene services."
How gentrification is killing the bus: California’s rising rents are pushing out commuters
CALMatters, BEN CHRISTOPHER: "The northern tip of the Vermont Square neighborhood in South Los Angeles gentrified in many of the usual ways over the last decade.
Median incomes shot up. The neighborhood’s share of Black residents declined. On the list of fastest growing home prices across the region, Vermont Square cracked the top ten. Along Western Avenue, new apartment buildings popped up as visible markers of change."
