The Top 100: Sixteen Years, Seventeen Lists
Capitol Weekly, STAFF: "Hello everyone and welcome to the 17th edition of the Capitol Weekly Top 100.
Unlike the heroine of Janis Ian’s classic song about the cruelties life can visit upon us at such a tender age, I’m looking at the seventeenth edition of this list with a sense of optimism."
READ MORE -- The Top 100 Hall of Fame 2025 -- Capitol Weekly, STAFF
Will your congressional district shift left or right in Newsom’s proposed map?
LAT, HAILEY WANG/VANESSA MARTINEZ/SANDHYA KAMBHAMPATI: "Gov. Gavin Newsom spearheaded a bold overhaul of California’s congressional map, a move that could dramatically shift the state’s political landscape.
A Times analysis of recent election results found the redistricting effort, which will go to voters on Nov. 4 as Proposition 50, could turn 41 Democratic-leaning congressional districts into 47. Democrats currently hold 215 seats in the House, while Republicans control 220. If California voters approve the new map, the shift could be enough to threaten the GOP’s narrow majority."
Newsom has touted AI’s lofty potential. Now he’s using it to post a stream of Trump memes
The Chronicle, SOPHIA BOLLAG: "On a sunny day earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom stood shoulder-to-shoulder with tech leaders at Google’s San Francisco campus overlooking the Bay Bridge and touted the transformative powers of artificial intelligence.
AI, Newsom said, is key to California’s economy and has the potential to advance humankind."
On U.S. direction under Trump, Californians split sharply along partisan lines, poll finds
LAT, KEVIN RECTOR: "California voters are heavily divided along partisan lines when it comes to President Trump, with large majorities of Democrats and unaffiliated voters disapproving of him and believing the country is headed in the wrong direction under his leadership, and many Republicans feeling the opposite, according to a new poll conducted for The Times.
The findings are remarkably consistent with past polling on the Republican president in the nation’s most populous blue state, said Mark DiCamillo, director of the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies Poll."
Joel Engardio recall: Internet drama is shaping the political fight in S.F.’s Sunset
The Chronicle, J.D. MORRIS: "A blunt message arrived last week in the inboxes of an elite group of San Francisco Democrats who were contemplating whether to wade into a political storm consuming the Sunset District.
Forrest Liu, an Asian American community activist, emailed a video urging leaders of the city’s Democratic Party not to come out against the Sept. 16 recall election for embattled Supervisor Joel Engardio."
Three bills would protect California workers from AI management, but will costs stand in the way? (UPDATED)
CALMatters, KHARI JOHNSON: "Committees in both houses of the California Legislature will decide this week whether more than half a dozen bills that seek to protect people from AI will move on to final votes.
One closely watched bill before the Assembly appropriations committee, Senate Bill 7, would require employers to give workers 30 days notice before they use AI to make decisions related to employment such as compensation, hiring, firing, or promotions. It would also give workers the right to appeal decisions made by AI and prevent employers from making predictions about a worker related to their immigration status, ancestral history, health or psychological state."
AB 466 will punish stores for helping customers save money (OP-ED)
Capitol Weekly, RACHEL MICHELIN: "California family budgets are stretched thin by record-high cost of living. Survey after survey confirms cost of living and affordability are the top concerns for California voters. In fact, the 2024 election was, at its core, a referendum on kitchen table issues.
Lawmakers must heed the message being delivered loud and clear by California voters and reject Assembly Bill 446 (Ward) – misguided legislation that would eliminate the discounts and loyalty reward programs that millions of California consumers rely on each year to save thousands of dollars and make ends meet. From neighborhood grocers to restaurants, hotels to airlines, hardware stores, gyms and gas stations, businesses of every size use loyalty programs and discounts to serve their valued customers and save them money. These programs aren’t perks—they’re lifelines."
Supervisors vote to allow San Diego County to tap into financial reserves
Times of San Diego, BROOKE BINKOWSKI: "The San Diego County Board of Supervisors has voted 3-2 to change policies aimed at allowing the county to tap into its financial reserves to offset cuts.
Terra Lawson-Remer, Monica Montgomery Steppe and Paloma Aguirre on Tuesday voted in favor of the policy change, while their colleagues Joel Anderson and Jim Desmond were opposed. It will require a second reading before any formal approval, according to county rules."
Why COVID keeps roaring back every summer, even as pandemic fades from public view
LAT, RONG-GONG LIN II: "By many measures, the coronavirus is a thing of the past.
Masks have been stored away. Social distancing is just a vague memory. Interest in vaccines is waning. COVID, for many, feels like an inevitable annoyance, like the flu."
READ MORE -- COVID cases surge in California as Stratus variant spreads -- The Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI
California expands TK, but thousands of 4-year-olds remain unenrolled
EdSource, KAREN D'SOUZA/ZAIDEE STAVELY: "The number of students enrolled in TK has grown each year, but it is still far less than the number of eligible 4-year-olds.
With the rollout of TK, California has increased the percentage of 4-year-olds enrolled in publicly funded preschool programs, which also include state-subsidized preschool, Head Start programs and vouchers for low-income children to use in any child care program. According to the Learning Policy Institute, 55% of all 4-year-olds were enrolled in one of these options in 2023-24, up from 37% in 2019-20. The majority of these children were in TK."
Inside transitional kindergarten: Where play, curiosity and early learning meet
EdSource, KAREN D'SOUZA: "When Krystyna Kalishevskyi emigrated from Ukraine with her family last year, she had experienced more trauma and fear than a 4-year-old can cope with. Going to school in California was a big challenge because the little girl spoke scant English and often communicated with hand gestures.
Now her parents say she is joyful and confident, as well as fluent in English. Her father chalks up that transformation to her year in TK at Hawthorne Elementary School in the San Luis Coastal Unified School District. She made fast friends, learned new words, and began to blossom."
Clean electricity from the Earth: Bidders show interest in geothermal in the California desert
LAT, HAYLEY SMITH: "For the first time in nearly a decade, federal officials on Tuesday auctioned off leases for new geothermal energy projects in California — and all 13 parcels offered received bids.
Dozens of buyers participated in the Bureau of Land Management‘s online sale of 10-year leases on 23,000 acres in Imperial, Lassen and Modoc counties. Geothermal is a growing source of energy that can produce clean electricity 24 hours a day, unlike wind and solar power."
Employees are back, bosses say. In California? Not so much
LAT, ROGER VINCENT: "Even as bosses across the country report a jump in the number of people returning to the office, attendance in California remains less than half of what it used to be.
A recent survey shows that managers’ push to get workers back in the office is bearing fruit, but executives would still like to see people at their desks more often. A different dataset demonstrates that much of the lag is due to California."
ChatGPT maker touts how AI benefits Californians amid safety concerns
LAT, QUEENIE WONG: "OpenAI, the maker of popular chatbot ChatGPT, outlined how artificial intelligence is creating jobs and making Californians more productive as the tech company faced heightened safety concerns this week.
In a report released Wednesday, the San Francisco tech company said ChatGPT has 9 million weekly active users in California, more than in any other state. ChatGPT has a total of 700 million active weekly users."
Sexual harassment case against billionaire California winery owner dismissed
The Chronicle, ESTHER MOBLEY: "A judge has dismissed two lawsuits against a billionaire California winery owner that alleged sexual harassment and wrongful termination, among other claims.
Madison Busby and Bryce Mullins, a married couple, had in April filed separate lawsuits against their former employer Hansjorg Wyss, owner of Halter Ranch winery in Paso Robles. Earlier this month, both cases were dismissed in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court."
Surgical robot maker to lay off up to 331 in Silicon Valley
The Chronicle, ROLAND LI: "Medical robot manufacturer Intuitive Surgical could lay off up to 331 workers at its Sunnyvale headquarters complex, according to a state filing last week.
The Santa Clara-based company is cutting jobs by the end of October at 1050 Kifer Road, next to its main headquarters building at 1020 Kifer Road. Intuitive cited stopping operations for graveyard and weekend shifts in one of its production divisions as the reason for the layoffs."
This Bay Area city passed one of the region’s harshest anti-camping laws. Has it worked?
The Chronicle, SARAH RAVANI: "Nearly six months after Fremont passed one of the harshest anti-camping ordinances in the Bay Area, little has changed.
Despite outcry from homeless people and advocates, the City Council voted in February to prohibit people from camping and storing personal belongings on all public property. Violators now face a fine of up to $1,000 and six months in jail."
Homeless people sue San Diego over alleged ‘inhumane conditions’ at Safe Sleeping sites
Times of San Diego, CNS: "Eight people who have been living at San Diego’s safe sleeping camp sites for the homeless allege in a new lawsuit that they face “inaccessible and inhumane conditions” at the sites.
The camps, they say in a complaint filed Monday, lack adequate food, fail to provide proper shelter from the elements and are uninhabitable for people with disabilities."
Will the Norco prison return to its glory days as a luxurious hotel?
CALMatters, DEBORAH BRENNAN: "Before it became a prison, the California Correctional Facility in Norco was a luxury hotel, sanitorium and Navy hospital.
When it closes next year, Norco city leaders hope to restore it as an upscale resort again. But that plan faces complications that range from renovating the Art Deco architecture and remediating asbestos, to concerns about layoffs of correctional staff."
Massive Home Depot crime ring pulled off more than 600 SoCal thefts, D.A. says
LAT, CLARA HARTER: "For years, a sophisticated retail crime ring plundered Home Depots across Southern California, pulling off more than 600 thefts and netting an estimated $10 million worth of merchandise without consequences — until now, authorities said.
On Tuesday, the Ventura County district attorney’s office announced the filing of a 48-count criminal complaint against nine alleged key players in what Home Depot says is the largest targeted theft ring in the business’ history."
Pacific Beach residents say meters exacerbate parking problems
Times of San Diego, DAVE SCHWAB: "The city recently announced that parking meter hours will be extended by at least two hours, including Sundays, within commercial areas and in community parking districts like the one in Pacific Beach.
PB’s parking district was initiated as a year-long pilot study, hoping to raise revenues to pursue community projects such as the Beach Bug shuttle, which ultimately proved unsustainable."
A $280 EBay find or a priceless link to JFK? One man’s 25-year hunt for the truth
LAT, DANIEL MILLER: "Bill Anderson was close to 70 when he first spotted the clock.
It looked like a ship’s wheel, a kitschy bit of decor you might see at a nautically themed bar. But he was drawn to it because of its maker. Timepieces from Chelsea Clock Co. were renowned for their design and precision. The company’s clocks could once be found on Navy battleships during World War II, and adorned mantels, walls and desks at the White House for presidents ranging from Dwight Eisenhower to Joe Biden."
