California’s largest ‘land-back’ deal returns 47,000 acres to tribe
The Chronicle, KURTIS ALEXANDER: "Blue Creek once stood as a hub in the Indigenous world. And it will again.
Spilling from the Siskiyou Mountains in California’s far north, the tributary of the Klamath River inhabits a hardy landscape of elk and bear, redwood forest and even-to-this-day plentiful salmon. The Yurok people historically lived, gathered and worshiped there.
Last week, in what appears to be the largest “land back” deal in state history, the Yurok Tribe completed acquisition of 47,000 acres around the Blue Creek watershed, finalizing the return of this vast ancestral stretch to Native American oversight. The property was conveyed in phases by Portland-based Western Rivers Conservancy."
Candidates for California governor face off about affordability, high cost of living in first bipartisan clash
LAT, SEEMA MEHTA: "In a largely courteous gathering of a half dozen of California’s top gubernatorial candidates, four Democrats and two Republicans agreed that despite the state boasting one of the world’s largest economies, too many of its residents are suffering because of the affordability crisis in the state.
Their strategies on how to improve the state’s economy, however, largely embraced the divergent views of their respective political parties as they discussed housing costs, high-speed rail, tariffs, climate change and homelessness on Wednesday evening at the first bipartisan event in the 2026 governor race to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom."
Were cuts in rooftop solar payments legal? California Supreme Court hears arguments
CALMatters, MALENA CAROLLO: "The California Supreme Court heard arguments today in a case that could be pivotal to the spread of rooftop solar panels in California.
Environmental and consumer advocacy groups are seeking to reverse a 2022 decision by state regulators to slash by around 75% the rates paid to compensate customers with solar installations for the excess energy they generate. The move, intended to shield non-solar customers from unfair cost burdens, sent solar hookups plummeting."
Special Episode: California Insurance Crisis – The Los Angeles Fires
Capitol Weekly, STAFF: "This Special Episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast was recorded live at the California Insurance Crisis, which was held in Sacramento on Wednesday, May 14, 2025
This is Panel 2: The Los Angeles Fires, featuring Sonoma County Supervisor James Gore; Steve Hawks, Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety; Kelsey Szamet, Eaton Fire Survivors Network; Nancy Wallace, UC Berkeley
Moderated by journalist Dan Morain"
State lawmakers considering policy changes after L.A. wildfires
LAT, SANDRA MCDONALD: "Nearly six months after a firestorm ravaged communities across Los Angeles, California lawmakers are crafting legislation to try to protect the state insurance program for high-risk homes from financial collapse.
A bill, AB 226, sponsored by Assemblymembers Lisa Calderon (D-Whittier) and David A. Alvarez (D-San Diego), would make the state’s insurer of last resort, the FAIR Plan, eligible for loans and bonds from the state-backed California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank to avoid running out of money after a disaster."
California Democrats push to block ICE from schools, hospitals and shelters
CALMatters, JEANNE KUANG:"Hospitals. Schools. Shelters.
Those are some of the places that California lawmakers want to shield from immigration arrests and raids. They advanced a package of bills this week as President Donald Trump’s administration continues its ramped-up deportation campaign around the country."
Supreme Court makes it easier to claim 'reverse discrimination' in employment, in a case from Ohio
AP, MARK SHERMAN: "A unanimous Supreme Court made it easier Thursday to bring lawsuits over so-called reverse discrimination, siding with an Ohio woman who claims she didn’t get a job and then was demoted because she is straight.
The justices’ decision affects lawsuits in 20 states and the District of Columbia where, until now, courts had set a higher bar when members of a majority group, including those who are white and heterosexual, sue for discrimination under federal law."
Trump announces travel ban and restrictions on 19 countries set to go into effect Monday
AP, CHRIS MEGERIAN/FARNOUSH AMIRI: "President Donald Trump on Wednesday resurrected a hallmark policy of his first term, announcing that citizens of 12 countries would be banned from visiting the United States and those from seven others would face restrictions.
The ban takes effect Monday at 12:01 a.m., a cushion that may avoid the chaos that unfolded at airports nationwide when a similar measure took effect with virtually no notice in 2017. Trump, who signaled plans for a new ban upon taking office in January, appears to be on firmer ground this time after the Supreme Court sided with him."
S.F. supervisor seeks to subpoena ex-leaders of collapsed parks nonprofit
The Chronicle, MICHAEL BARBA: "A city supervisor is seeking to subpoena the former leaders of the collapsed San Francisco Parks Alliance, compelling them to testify about the demise of a prominent and politically connected nonprofit that is the subject of multiple investigations.
Supervisor Shamann Walton plans to subpoena the Parks Alliance’s last CEO, Robert Ogilvie, and his predecessor, Drew Becher, as well as its former treasurer Rick Hutchinson."
California investments must include immigrant children (OP-ED)
Capitol Weekly, SABRINA CERVANTES/MARIA ELENA DURAZO: "California has always led the way in protecting vulnerable communities. We pride ourselves on being inclusive, compassionate, and proactive in policies that make a real difference. But today, we face a moment of reckoning – one that threatens to leave some of the most vulnerable among us behind: unaccompanied immigrant children.
In recent weeks, we learned of a devastating decision by the federal government to terminate funding for legal representation, court assistance, and interpretation for unaccompanied children in active deportation proceedings. This move will strip tens of thousands of children across the nation of critical legal protections – including over 4,000 in California. This includes hundreds of children who arrive in San Diego and communities near our southern border every year alone. As individuals who have long worked alongside advocates and legal service providers, we can attest to how devastating these cuts are – and how they place innocent children at grave risk of deportation, exploitation, and trauma."
We must sustain funding for Californians with developmental disabilities (OP-ED)
Capitol Weekly, AMY WETLING/TRACY MENSCH: "As states, organizations, and individuals across the nation continue to brace for potentially devastating cuts to Medicaid programs from the federal level, it remains vital that the California State Budget preserve funding that supports critical and necessary services for more than 450,000 Californians with developmental disabilities.
As the only developmental disabilities entitlement in the Country, it has been embedded in California’s fabric for more than 50 years that we have a sustained commitment to support our community of individuals with developmental disabilities through The Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act. Supporting people with developmental disabilities and their families has been a pillar of California’s responsibility, in good financial times and in bad."
California bill would allow slavery legacy to be factor in college admissions
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: "Affirmative action for racial minorities seeking admission to college has been barred by California's voters and, more broadly, by the U.S. Supreme Court. But legislation approved by the state Assembly seeks to find a way around those restrictions by allowing the schools to give preference to descendants of slavery in the United States.
“This bill is not about race. It’s about relationship to a legacy of harm,” Assembly Member Isaac Bryan, D-Los Angeles, said Wednesday, a day after his bill, AB7, won Assembly passage on a party-line vote of 54-17. It now heads to the state Senate, and Bryan said he was optimistic that the measure would become law."
‘Forecast risk’: How Trump’s cuts to weather experts could imperil California
LAT, MICHAEL WILNER: "When a fire erupts in California, it is a lab across the country, at the University of Maryland, that works together with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to determine where the smoke is going. Those unsung scientists help warn the people downwind of dangerous air quality levels.
About a half-hour drive away, NOAA’s Satellite Operations Facility provides the bulk of the work used to forecast atmospheric rivers that are crucial — and sometimes threatening — to communities across the state."
Fort fire growing in Grapevine triggers evacuation warnings near Interstate 5
LAT, JOSEPH SERNA: "A fire that broke out on the west side of Interstate 5 in the Grapevine has triggered evacuation warnings in Kern County.
The Fort fire began just before 11:30 p.m. Wednesday in Lebec and had grown to more than 100 acres by Thursday morning as commuters began their morning journey through the Tejon Pass."
‘Unfortunately, Altadena is for sale’: Developers are buying up burned lot
LAT, JACK FLEMMING: "In the wake of the devastating Eaton fire that tore through Altadena in January, hundreds of signs sprouted up in the ash-laden yards of burned-down homes: “Altadena Not for Sale.”
The slogan signified a resistance toward outside investors looking to buy up the droves of suddenly buildable lots. But as the summer real estate market kicks into gear, not only is Altadena for sale — it seems to be flying off the shelves."
California is failing to provide a vital safeguard against wrongful convictions
CALMatters, ANAT RUBIN: "A CalMatters investigation has found that poor people accused of crimes, who account for at least 80% of criminal defendants, are routinely convicted in California without anyone investigating the charges against them.
Close to half of California’s 58 counties do not employ any full-time public defense investigators. Among the remaining counties, defendants’ access to investigators fluctuates wildly, but it’s almost always inadequate."
Glendale jail is holding ICE detainees, an outlier in California, as immigration arrests rise
LAT, RACHEL URANGA/MELISSA GOMEZ: "Immigrants detained by federal agents in Southern California are being housed at the Glendale City Jail, making the Los Angeles suburb one of the few, if not the only, known jurisdiction in the “sanctuary” state to sidestep rules prohibiting local law enforcement from assisting in federal immigration enforcement.
It’s unclear how many detainees are being held at the 96-bed facility, but The Times confirmed at least two individuals were placed there over the last week by immigration officials. The facility is one of the busiest jails in the state and is staffed by the Glendale Police Department."
Alameda County’s jail health care provider to pay millions to settle lawsuit over in-custody death
The Chronicle, DAVID HERNANDEZ: "Wellpath, the company that provides health care services at Santa Rita Jail, will pay $2.3 million to settle a lawsuit that claimed its staff failed to provide adequate care to a man with schizophrenia who languished for days and died in his cell at the East Bay lockup.
The lawsuit, filed in 2022 on behalf Maurice Monk’s two children, claimed sheriff's deputies and Wellpath medical staff tossed food and medication into Monk's cell as he lay face down on his bed, unresponsive, for three days before a group of them walked into his cell and discovered he was dead on Nov 15, 2021."
California court says holding phone for maps while driving is illegal
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: "California law prohibits “operating” a mobile phone while driving. And that makes it illegal for a driver to hold a cellphone in order to look at a map, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday.
In a 2016 law intended to strengthen previous restrictions, “the Legislature intended to prohibit all handheld functions of wireless telephones while driving” and “to encourage drivers to keep their eyes on the road,” said the 6th District Court of Appeal."
Can Elon Musk get Tesla back on track? Here are four road bumps
LAT, CAROLINE PETROW-COHEN: "After a tumultuous months-long period by President Trump’s side, Elon Musk is turning his attention back to his companies, including the stumbling electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc.
Musk announced on X last week that his time as a special government employee was over."
High-speed rail was supposed to signal S.F.’s downtown renaissance. Now it feels like a mirage
The Chronicle, RACHEL SWAN: "When Gavin Newsom served as mayor of San Francisco, he imagined the city not only as a Paris of the West, but as the terminus of an epic rail line that stretched from Anaheim to South of Market.
“We’re going to be building ... something that is arguably a generation overdue,” Newsom said during the 2010 groundbreaking ceremony for what’s now the Salesforce Transit Center, where trains were supposed to glide into a busy concourse on the subterranean level."
S.F. Mayor Lurie wants to end free parking in Golden Gate Park
The Chronicle, RACHEL SWAN: "Anyone who’s unfurled a picnic blanket in Golden Gate Park has probably witnessed the line of cars packing its curbs, taking advantage of free parking.
That privilege could soon end. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has introduced budget legislation to make visitors pay to stow their cars, probably at a rate of $3 an hour, though the cost would fluctuate according to demand."
