John Burton, powerful liberal who shaped California politics for decades, dies
LA Times, DAN MORAIN: "John L. Burton, the proudly liberal and pro-labor lawmaker who shaped California politics and policy over six decades on topics as varied as welfare, foster care, auto emissions, guns and foie gras, has died. He was 92.
With his brother, Rep. Phillip Burton, and college buddy, former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, Burton was integral to the organization that dominated Democratic politics in San Francisco and the state starting in the 1960s."
READ MORE -- John Burton, political giant who shaped California’s left, dies at 92 -- SacBee, LIA RUSSELL; ‘Legendary liberal lion’: Longtime legislator John Burton mourned as major force for California Dems -- The Chronicle, LAURA WAXMANN
California Republicans energized by their opposition to Newsom’s redistricting special election
LA Times, SEEMA MEHTA and JULIA WICK: "Members of the California GOP — often a fractious horde — were energized and united by their opposition to Proposition 50, the ballot measure crafted by Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democratic leaders to redraw the state’s congressional districts to counter gerrymandering efforts in GOP-led states. Newsom accused Republicans of trying to “rig” the 2026 election at Trump’s behest to keep control of Congress.
Voters will decide its fate in a Nov. 4 special election and receive mail ballots roughly four weeks prior."
READ MORE -- Newsom or not? California GOP split on centering him in redistricting campaign -- CALMatters, ALKEXEI KOSEFF
Allegations of mismanagement, overspending in California fire cleanups raised in whistleblower trial
LAT, KEVIN RECTOR: "Exposing years-old concerns about California’s resilience to wildfires, a government whistleblower and other witnesses in a recent state trial alleged that cleanup operations after some of the largest fires in state history were plagued by mismanagement and overspending — and that toxic contamination was at times left behind in local communities.
Steven Larson, a former state debris operations manager in the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, failed to convince a jury that he was wrongly fired by the agency for flagging those and other issues to his supervisors. After a three-week trial in Sacramento, the jury found Larson was retaliated against, but also that the agency had other, legitimate reasons for dismissing him from his post, according to court records."
READ MORE -- California FAIR Plan continues denying smoke damage claims despite court loss and regulatory action -- LAT, LAURENCE DARMIENTO
How California legislators got more than $820,000 in travel in 2024
CALMatters, JEREMIA KIMELMAN: "Pick any day in 2024 and it’s more likely than not that a California state lawmaker was on a trip sponsored by corporations or nonprofits, many of whom frequently have business before the state.
Last year, those interest groups spent more than $820,000 to take dozens of legislators on both domestic and international trips, according to financial disclosure reports filed by elected officials in March of this year. The total is less than the $1.1 million spent on similar trips the year before."
See what gifts, trips your state representatives disclosed in 2024
CALMatters, JEREMIA KIMELMAN: "In 2024, interest groups gave nearly $250,000 worth of gifts to California legislators and spent more than $820,000 taking them on trips across the world, according to annual financial transparency reports filed in March. That’s less than they gave in 2023 when lawmakers received $330,000 in gifts and more than $1.1 million on sponsored travel.
Using the reports, CalMatters created a tool that allows anybody to explore the assets, gifts, and travel disclosed by state lawmakers. Enter your address in the tool below to see what your representatives reported."
‘Absolutely destroy democracy’: Prop. 50 upends California Republican convention
SacBee, NICOLE NIXON: "The theme for their fall convention was “going on the offense” but Proposition 50 has forced California Republicans to throw up multiple emergency defensive fronts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections and threatens to further erode the party’s meager electoral success in the state.
The convention was originally supposed to be a celebration for Republicans basking in President Donald Trump’s return to office and flipping two legislative seats last year. Instead it became a war room for slapdash organizing to defeat Prop. 50 in November and protect the nine members of California’s Republican congressional delegation."
California counties enter panic mode as Trump-led spending cuts loom
The Chronicle, SARA DINATALE: "Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia doesn’t see a way around the most vulnerable residents in his community soon facing longer wait times for food assistance and medical care under President Donald Trump’s budget cuts.
The county now spends about $7 million each year to manage and administer food stamps. Those costs could hit $40 million by 2027 based on program changes under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, according to county estimates. Trump signed the bill into law on July 4. The far-reaching legislation made the largest cuts to basic-needs programs in the country’s history in order to fund tax cuts that predominantly benefit wealthy Americans."
The Micheli Minute for September 8, 2025
Capitol Weekly, STAFF: "Lobbyist and McGeorge law professor Chris Micheli offers a quick look at what’s coming up this week under the Capitol Dome."
Santa Monica poised to declare fiscal emergency; payouts to sex abuse victims cited
LA Times, DAKOTA SMITH: "Santa Monica city leaders are being asked to declare a fiscal emergency due to the city’s ongoing budget crisis, according to a city agenda. A staff report for Tuesday’s City Council agenda cites several challenges, including legal payouts related to a notorious alleged sexual abuser who worked for the city.
The city has paid out more than $229 million in settlements relating to sexual abuse by Eric Uller, a former Santa Monica police dispatcher. The city faces additional abuse claims from over 180 claimants, according to the report."
How long will California’s COVID surge continue? 5 things to know
LAT, RONG-GONG LIN II: "The coronavirus has muscled its way back into headlines in recent weeks amid a summer wave of the illness and growing difficulties in getting the vaccine, as well as efforts by the Trump administration that could make getting inoculated harder for some people.
The summer increase is decidedly smaller than what California and the U.S. saw during the pandemic years. Still, it has sidelined many who came down with COVID-19 and has some health officials concerned."
Trump is attacking California’s elite colleges. How will it impact college admissions?
The Chronicle, NANETTE ASIMOV: "College application season is here, as high school seniors up and down the state mull over essay topics and consider how best to answer the University of California’s all-important “personal insight questions.” But this year, a new concern is reshaping the rite of passage for many of them: President Donald Trump’s blunt force strikes on campus culture, research opportunities and finances at many universities.
“Honestly, before this year, I was thinking about out-of-state colleges, mostly historically Black colleges and universities. But the whole presidency and stuff has made me want to stay in California,” said Mia Surratt, 16, a senior at Berkeley High. “I feel like people are more blatant about their racism. I’m feeling more safe where I’ve been.”"
‘Something can be done about this’: New plan aims to stop sex abuse in California schools
CALMatters, MATT DRANGE: "A beloved teacher arrested for soliciting a minor. A coach convicted of sexual abuse. A school district hit with a multi-million-dollar jury verdict for failing to protect students.
The steady drumbeat of stories in recent years about educator sexual abuse in K-12 school districts across California shows the scope of misconduct is much wider than previously known. Yet the stories only hint at how common sexual harassment and grooming behavior has become in schools, with the best available data from the U.S. Education Department suggesting that 1 in 10 children is targeted for grooming at some point in their K-12 education."
State bill to provide safe parking for homeless community college students is in jeopardy
LA Times, DAKOTA SMITH: "A state bill that could have established overnight parking programs for homeless students enrolled in California community colleges looks unlikely to pass in the legislative session ending Friday.
The bill by Assemblymember Corey A. Jackson (D-Perris), Assembly Bill 90, was held “under submission” by the Senate Appropriations Committee last month, meaning it didn’t advance to the Senate floor."
California leaders warn schools: English learner rights remain despite Trump rollback
EdSource, ZAIDEE STAVELY: "Schools are still required under federal and state law to help students who don’t speak English to both learn the language and understand the content of their classes.
That’s the message California education leaders and advocates are sending to schools after the Trump administration rescinded guidelines about how schools should teach English learners."
Can a teacher or daycare worker legally spank my child? What CA law says
SacBee, ANGELA RODRIGUEZ: "When playtime turns into pushing and tantrums, teachers and daycare staff often have to step in and use disciplinary action.
In California, the line between correction and punishment is clearly drawn by law."
Temps fall across California; no relief from the cold for the Bay Area
LAT, SONJA SHARP: "It might still be iced-coffee weather in Los Angeles, but much of coastal California could see thick fog, chilly breezes and even scattered showers this week as temperatures fall across the state beginning Monday night.
Angelenos may breathe a sigh of relief as the mercury dips after successive late summer heat waves. But Bay Area residents could be disappointed by the incoming sweater weather, after shivering through their coldest summer in decades."
September rain in the Bay Area? Here’s where showers could fall
The Chronicle, GREG PORTER: "September isn’t known for rain in California, but the atmosphere has other plans this week. A slow-moving upper-level low will first bring showers to Northern California on Monday before drifting southward and giving the Bay Area a few shots of measurable rainfall both Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Monday, a weak surface low guided by the upper-level trough will slide toward the California-Oregon border. Its associated cold front will bring widespread light rain showers to Northern California, with upward of a tenth to a quarter-inch of rain across parts of Humboldt, Shasta and Mendocino counties. That same cold front will slowly approach the Bay Area on Monday evening, kick-starting a few scattered showers mainly focused in the North Bay."
Trump tariffs have ‘real impacts’ on CA wineries. Will they raise prices?
SacBee, HANNAH POUKISH: "With tariffs fueling uncertainty in the wine industry, winemakers across California are scrambling to figure out how to pay for abrupt increases in costs.
“It’s just a challenge, because obviously the grapes are all grown here in California and processed here and made in California, but everything around it is not,” said Joel Peterson, the executive director of the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance."
California is full of untouched public land. Good luck reaching it
The Chronicle, EMMA STIEFEL: "In rural Napa County, about 2 hours north of San Francisco, a 700-acre plot of hilly scrubland near Atlas Peak is open to the public for hunting, hiking and camping.
But the public has no legal way of getting there — unless they manage to secure permission from one of several private landowners who own an adjacent property."
CA must act fast on Trump’s affordable housing silver lining
Capitol Weekly, RAY PEARL/CHIONE FLEGAL: "There is no shortage of things for Californians to be concerned about in the federal reconciliation legislation passed by Congress this summer. The bill included some of the largest cuts to the safety net in history—and will result in millions of Californians losing their healthcare and critical aid to keep food on the table.
Tucked away in this mammoth legislation, however, is a small silver lining: A historic boost to federal housing tax credits that can help double California’s affordable housing production—and offset some of the pain this legislation will cause."
Another California county is losing its only hospital after feds refuse to step in
CALMatters, ANA B. IBARRA: "Absent a Hail Mary, Glenn County’s only hospital is set to close its doors in October.
Tucked between two national forests, the rural county is home to 28,000 people. Without a local emergency room, they’ll instead have to travel at least 40 minutes to a neighboring county for critical care. One hundred and fifty health workers will lose their jobs; they’re already resigning to seek work elsewhere."
Exclusive: Unfinished S.F. development was left as a gaping hole. Is a skyscraper next?
The Chronicle, LAURA WAXMANN: "When construction on San Francisco’s Oceanwide Center started at the end of 2016, the project was supposed to produce two iconic towers with office space, condos and a high-end hotel that would reshape the city’s skyline, and boost its relations with China, in just four years.
But the luxury complex at First and Mission never even reached street level before the work was halted because of financial woes. Nearly a decade later, Oceanwide Center remains a virtual hole in the ground across from Salesforce Tower — a “gaping wound in the soul of the Financial District,” as one city planner put it — and a lasting symbol of how the pandemic cratered the city’s development plans."
A Six-Story Apartment Building Is Tearing This Small California Town Apart
Wall Street Journal, JIM CARLTON: "Many people in this bucolic Marin County town agree on one thing: A proposed six-story apartment tower would be an eyesore.
Even one of the council members who allowed the project to proceed said she dislikes it but is bound by state mandates requiring cities to accelerate building in housing-starved California."
S.F. Mayor Lurie wants to raise taxes to save Muni. Here’s how much property owners already pay
The Chronicle, DANIELLE ECHEVERRIA: "San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie on Tuesday proposed a parcel tax as a way to help shore up SFMTA’s looming financial hole. That’s on top of hundreds in parcel taxes homeowners already pay.
Though most San Francisco residents are not homeowners and would not be directly impacted, the tax would add to a list of measures that property owners fund each year to support various city entities."
