Elon Musk turns against Trump, calls for impeachment as Tesla stock plunges
The Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI: "Elon Musk publicly signaled support for the impeachment of President Donald Trump on Thursday, deepening a dramatic split between the two men that sent Tesla’s stock tumbling 16% and stunned political and financial circles alike.
The CEO of Tesla and owner of X, formerly Twitter, amplified a post on his platform calling for Trump’s impeachment and replacement by JD Vance."
READ MORE -- ‘Have a nice day, DJT!’: Trump’s breakup with Musk devolves into a war of insults -- LAT, MICHAEL WILNER
Should polluters pay? California’s climate ‘superfund’ plan may have stalled
CALMatters, ALEJANDRO LAZO; "In the battle over how to pay for damage wrought by climate change, California lawmakers had an idea: Create a “superfund” that makes big polluters pay.
The Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act of 2025 would make the world’s largest sources of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels financially responsible for the damage caused by wildfires, droughts and other events exacerbated by the warming climate."
Recreational salmon fishing resumes in California this weekend for limited time
LAT, IAN JAMES: "After a two-year shutdown, fishing boats will fan out along the California coast angling for Chinook salmon this weekend as recreational fishing resumes under strict limits.
Coastal salmon fishing was banned in 2023 and 2024 in an effort to help the population recover after years of declines. While commercial fishing remains canceled for a third consecutive year, fishery regulators recently decided to allow a limited season for recreational fishing on certain dates and with strict quotas."
Capitol Briefs: Weed, wildfires, classic cars and Hollywood
Capitol Weekly, STAFF: "Aid for cannabis businesses: The Assembly approved AB 564, a bill from Assemblymember Matt Haney intended to take some financial pressure off of California’s legal cannabis operators.
“California’s plans to raise the cannabis excise tax rate to 19% will only increase the number of failed legal cannabis businesses,” the United Food and Commercial Workers Western States Council said in a statement about the bill’s passage. “As the leading cannabis union, UFCW sees how difficult it is for businesses that play by the rules. AB 564 freezes the cannabis excise tax at 15 percent and gives legal cannabis businesses a fighting chance to stay afloat in an industry that is contracting every day. Without this bill, the illicit cannabis industry will only flourish more and keep putting untested, untaxed and unregulated cannabis products into the hands of consumers.”"
California lawmakers join state workers in rejecting proposed salary freezes
SacBee/WILLIAM MELHADO: "In California’s behind-the-scenes budget process, it’s hard to know what legislative leaders and Gov. Gavin Newsom will agree to — until the dust settles.
But with just over a week to finalize the budget, or go without pay, lawmakers are weighing the options about which of the governor’s proposed cuts they’re willing to stomach. One option to help patch the $12 billion deficit would be to delay salary increases for public employees in the upcoming fiscal year. By negotiating pauses in pay raises with bargaining units, the administration hopes to save $767 million."
Three major California insurers accused of systematically underinsuring L.A. fire survivors in new lawsuits
The Chronicle, MEGAN FAN MUNCE/SUSIE NEILSON: "A pair of new lawsuits accuse three of California’s largest insurance companies of “systematically” underinsuring homeowners via flawed cost estimation software, leaving survivors of the Los Angeles wildfires unable to rebuild.
The suits, which followed a Chronicle investigation into the issue, were filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court against USAA as well as the Interinsurance Exchange of the Automobile Club and CSAA, the two AAA-affiliated home insurers for California. They allege the three companies knowingly insured homeowners for far less than the rebuild value of their homes through their use of computer programs they’d known for decades were faulty, making it difficult if not impossible for those homeowners to rebuild."
Lurie’s S.F. budget would impact jobs in these departments most
The Chronicle, NAMI SUMIDA: "San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has proposed shrinking the city’s unusually large government workforce by eliminating 1,400 city positions, a move aimed at reducing the city’s roughly $800 million two-year budget deficit. But despite the large number of proposed cuts, the immediate financial impact is modest, and overall employee compensation costs are still expected to grow next year.
That’s largely because many of the roles Lurie is targeting weren’t budgeted — meaning they existed only on paper, with no funding set aside for them. By eliminating 1,400 of these authorized but unfunded roles, Lurie would prevent departments from hiring to fill them in the future, potentially reducing the city’s long-term costs."
Rising Stars: Lea Park-Kim
Capitol Weekly, LEAH LENTZ: "Most mornings, before the sun can make its appearance, you’ll find Lea Park-Kim out on the water in West Sacramento rowing or coaching with the River City Rowing Club. It’s a practice that reflects her discipline and motivation to continually evolve. That same energy has propelled her to success as the communications director for Sen. Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks).
“I have worked with many really great PR professionals over the years, and she is one of the very best,” Niello said. “And her youth gives her a long runway to achieve truly great things.”"
Sacramento grand jury finds 97% of financial elder abuse cases not prosecuted
SacBee/ROSALIO AHUMADA: "A Sacramento County grand jury found that authorities are not doing enough to investigate and prosecute financial elder abuse of victims “being deprived of justice,” according to a report released this week.
From 2019 through 2024, the Sacramento County Adult Protective Services agency confirmed 3,987 cases of financial elder abuse that were then reported to law enforcement agencies in the county, according to the grand jury report released Tuesday."
State moves to suspend licenses of troubled L.A. nursing home companies
LAT, CORINNE PURTILL: 'The California Department of Public Health is moving to suspend the licenses of seven Southern California nursing facilities that have been repeatedly cited in recent years for contributing to patients’ deaths.
The state health department sent letters last month to seven companies in Los Angeles County that received at least two “AA” violations within the last two years, indicating a failure that contributed substantially to the death of a resident."
A safety net for struggling colleges is expiring. Why the Bay Area will be hit hardest
CALMatters, DESMOND MEAGLEY/LYLAH SCHMEDEL-PERMANNA: "This June, struggling California community colleges will stop getting yearly cost-of-living increases to their budgets. These increases have kept many districts afloat for the past six years while community colleges adjusted to a new funding method based on district performance rather than enrollment numbers alone.
Most districts are surpassing the system’s goals, while struggling districts have been making cuts to bridge their budget gaps. With yearly cost-of-living increases being eliminated, those struggling districts will need to make even more cuts."
UCSF professor sues, says firing over Gaza war comments violated free speech
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: "A physician and longtime medical school professor at UCSF says in a lawsuit that the university violated her freedom of speech by suspending her, then firing her after she posted comments during private, non-working hours denouncing Israel’s war on Gaza.
UCSF’s “harassment, investigation, and suspension” of Dr. Rupa Marya “were all actions taken in retaliation for her First Amendment-protected speech,” her lawyers said in a suit filed Wednesday in San Francisco federal court."
The 10 best easy hiking trails in the Bay Area, according to over 1 million reviews
The Chronicle, GREGORY THOMAS/JACK LEE/PETER HARTLAUB: "The great thing about the Bay Area’s diverse landscape and abundant open space is that you don’t have to go far for an awesome payoff.
Whether you’re hunting solitude among the redwoods, wide views of city skylines, a retreat into fog-draped hills or a long look across the mighty Pacific, it’s all here — and there’s a local trailhead that’ll get you there quickly."
