As CDC declines, California will join West Coast public health alliance
The Chronicle, CATHERINE HO: "In response to the federal government’s confusing and inconsistent COVID vaccine guidance, health officials in California, Oregon and Washington state will form their own regional health alliance to issue vaccine recommendations, the states said Wednesday.
The West Coast Health Alliance will provide unified recommendations to their residents on who should receive immunizations, and ensure the public gets credible information on vaccine safety and efficacy, according to a joint announcement from Gov. Gavin Newsom, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson."
State Legislature passes bills to restrict immigration enforcement at schools
EdSource, ZAIDEE STAVELY: "The California Legislature passed two bills on Tuesday that attempt to restrict immigration enforcement on school campuses and inform students and families of the presence of immigration officers on campuses.
Assembly Bill 49, if signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, will prohibit schools from allowing immigration enforcement officers to enter a school campus or question a student unless they have a judicial warrant or court order. It will also prohibit schools from sharing information about a student, family or employee with immigration officials, unless the officials present a judicial warrant or court order."
Kevin Kiley declines to vote on Epstein probe. Here’s his explanation
Sac Bee, DAVID LIGHTMAN:Rep. Kevin Kiley declined to vote yes or no on a House Republican plan expressing support for an ongoing House investigation of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s activities — a plan widely derided by Democrats and many conservatives as weak and meaningless.
While 208 of his Republican colleagues voted for the measure, Kiley, R-Roseville, was the only GOP lawmaker to vote “present,” which is neither a yes or no."
Newsom’s Plea to Redistricting Donors: We Need Money A.S.A.P.
NY Times, THEODORE SCHLEIFER, SHANE GOLDMACHER and LAUREL ROSENHALL: "Over the next two months, Democratic and Republican donors are expected to funnel as much as $200 million into a California ballot fight that could heavily shape which party wins control of the U.S. House next year.
It is an enormous amount of cash to raise in such a brief amount of time, but one that befits the stakes of the race."
Trump’s redistricting war spreads to Missouri and Maryland
Politico, BRAKKTON BOOKER: "The next battlefront in the President Donald Trump-led redistricting crusade gets underway Wednesday in Jefferson City, following Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe’s call for a special session to redraw the state’s congressional maps.
The irrefutable aim of the legislature is to boost Republican dominance by putting Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s Kansas City-area district in jeopardy. Trump has already signed off on the proposal, posting on his social media platform Truth Social that Missouri voters will have “the tremendous opportunity to elect an additional MAGA Republican in the 2026 Midterm Elections,” adding the governor’s new proposed map needs to be approved “AS IS.”
U.S., Mexico pledge deeper ties as Trump defends strike on alleged cartel boat
LAT, PATRICK J. MCDONNELL; CECILA SANCHEZ VIDAL: "U.S. and Mexican officials agreed Wednesday to bolster cooperation on joint security concerns, including drug smuggling, illegal migration and arms trafficking, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended President Trump’s controversial decision to order an attack on an alleged smuggling boat in the Caribbean Sea.
The top U.S. diplomat held his first meeting with President Claudia Sheinbaum a day after the dramatic Pentagon strike raised the specter of a unilateral U.S. military attack on suspected cartel targets in Mexico."
CA Assembly aide claims firing was retaliation for reporting bribery, harassment
Sac Bee, LIA RUSSELL: "A recently fired press secretary for Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas has accused the Hollister Democrat of retaliating against her for accusing another aide of sexual harassment and filing unethical conduct complaints against Rivas and his brother, political strategist Rick Rivas, according to a lawsuit obtained by The Sacramento Bee.
Cynthia Moreno was fired last month after investigators said she had repeatedly made inappropriate, sexually-charged comments to colleagues, according to an Aug. 8 letter from Assembly chief administrator Lia Lopez and a heavily redacted complaint released by the Legislature’s Workplace Conduct Unit."
The ghost of energy dereg haunts effort to tie CA grid to other states
Capitol Weekly, BRIAN JOSEPH: "A quarter century after the California energy crisis, some supporters of energy deregulation have taken to a new idea: turning over control of the state’s energy grid to a West Coast nonprofit.
The proposal is known as the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative. It calls for at least five states – Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington – to combine their utilities into a single, broad electricity market."
A smarter approach to AI starts in California (OP-ED)
Capitol Weekly, JENNIFER GRANHOLM: "From spotting wildfires before they spread to streamlining government services, artificial intelligence is already helping California tackle some of its toughest challenges. The pace of innovation here isn’t just exciting—it’s electrifying. And the potential to deliver real public good? Off the charts.
As a former governor and U.S. Energy Secretary, I’ve seen decades of game-changing technologies up close. But few rival the sheer scale and transformative power of AI. And nowhere is better equipped to lead this revolution—for good—than California."
Humanity is rapidly depleting water and much of the world is getting drier
LA Times, IAN JAMES and SEAN GREENE: "For more than two decades, satellites have tracked the total amounts of water held in glaciers, ice sheets, lakes, rivers, soil and the world’s vast natural reservoirs underground — aquifers. An extensive global analysis of that data now reveals fresh water is rapidly disappearing beneath much of humanity’s feet, and large swaths of the Earth are drying out.
Scientists are seeing “mega-drying” regions that are immense and expanding — one stretching from the western United States through Mexico to Central America, and another from Morocco to France, across the entire Middle East to northern China."
Changes are coming to your PG&E bill. Here’s what to expect
The Chronicle, JULIE JOHNSON: "Pacific Gas and Electric Co. electricity bills will drop by about $5 for average households this month as charges for wildfire safety upgrades and emergency response are removed.
PG&E estimated that average household bills would be about $293 for September. Bills will drop in October when electric customers will also get a credit of $58.23 on their October bills from California’s cap-and-trade program, which requires polluting companies like oil refineries to pay into a state fund that goes toward climate investments and offsets Californians’ high utility bills twice a year."
CalPERS board candidates talk divestment, cryptocurrency and private equity
Sac Bee, WILLIAM MELHADO: "Six candidates vying for one of two board seats on the country’s largest pension system outlined their visions for the California Public Employees’ Retirement System during the election’s only forum on Wednesday.
Six candidates vying for one of two board seats on the country’s largest pension system outlined their visions for the California Public Employees’ Retirement System during the election’s only forum on Wednesday."
This low-calorie ingredient could be contributing to cognitive decline, study finds
The Chronicle, JACK LEE: "Some sugar substitutes, like those in diet soda and ultraprocessed snacks, could have consequences for long-term brain health, according to a study published Wednesday in Neurology.
Scientists found the consumption of low- and no-calorie sweeteners was associated with faster cognitive decline. The new results are “at least a suggestion that this consumption is not (as) harmless as we think,” said study author Claudia Suemoto, a geriatrician at the University of São Paulo in Brazil. “Or a safer option to sugar, like we’ve thought before.”"
Republicans propose cutting $3.5B in grants serving low-income students
EdSource, VANI SANGANERIA: "Republicans in a House education subcommittee voted on Tuesday to advance a 2026 fiscal year federal budget bill that would slash $3.5 billion from Title I formula grants for schools serving low-income students, according to reporting by Education Week.
The vote follows a proposal by Republicans on Monday to cut 15%, or roughly $12 billion, from the U.S. Department of Education budget for the 2026 fiscal year, a figure close to President Donald Trump’s budget demands. The current House version of the bill would force the Department of Education to cut $938 million in Title I funds that Congress approved in March."
LAUSD settles suit to help students with pandemic learning setbacks — 5 years after disruption
LAT, HOWARD BLUME: "A hard-fought lawsuit to bring more live teaching and better technology to the Los Angeles school system at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic is ending — five years later — with an agreement to provide tutoring and other supports to an estimated 100,000 students.
The length of the litigation means that no student of high school age when the pandemic began will be able to benefit."
‘This town will rebuild’: California fire scorches historic Chinese Camp
The Chronicle, JILL TUCKER/CONNOR LETOURNEAU: "The storm that charged up the middle of California on Tuesday unleashed wave after wave of lightning strikes on the state’s Gold Country foothills, leaving behind at least 22 wildfires that raced through more than 13,700 acres prompting evacuations and devastating the historic Tuolumne County town of Chinese Camp.
The blazes, treated as a single, large wildfire called the TCU September Lightning Complex, ignited in multiple locations across Calaveras and Tuolumne counties Tuesday, with 15% containment as of Wednesday night, according to Cal Fire."
Grants worth $900K awarded to support clean energy projects, education in San Diego
Times of SD, CITY NEWS SERVICE: "A total of 14 local organizations received $914,000 in grants designed to incorporate clean energy in a range of projects.
San Diego Community Power, San Diego Foundation and Calpine Community Energy on Wednesday awarded the 2025 Community Clean Energy Grants at the site of one of the recipients, the Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans. The organization received $100,000 to transform the Refugee & Immigrant Cultural Hub into a “clean energy resilience hub.”"
This California highway is a lifeline, and deadly. Can it be fixed before it falls into the sea?
LAT, HAILEY BRANSON-POTTS: "In March 1972, Kurt Stremberg’s parents gave him a predawn ride from their house in northwest California to his friend’s home in the tiny town of Klamath, about 20 miles south of Crescent City on Highway 101.
Stremberg, then 24, and his buddy were going to hitch a ride on a log truck bound for San Francisco, catch a flight to Europe, and see the world."
Burning Man homicide victim identified as Russian national
Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI: "Authorities on Tuesday identified the man killed during Burning Man as Vadim Kruglov, a Russian national whose body was discovered Saturday night in a pool of blood at the Nevada desert festival.
“The victim has been positively identified as Vadim Kruglov of Russia. His family has been notified,” the Bureau of Land Management said in a statement."
