Four takeaways from California’s first gubernatorial debate since Kamala Harris said she wasn’t running
LAT, JULIA WICK/SEEMA MEHTA: "In a darkened airport hotel ballroom room, a bevy of California Democrats sought to distinguish themselves from the crowded field running for governor in 2026.
It was not an easy task, given that the lineup of current and former elected officials sharing the stage at the Sunday morning forum agreed on almost all the issues, with any differences largely playing out in the margins."
Newsom stakes claim as U.S. climate leader. Some back home no longer buy it
Chronicle, RAHEEM HOSSEINI: "With California Gov. Gavin Newsom in New York to burnish his reputation as a green alternative to President Donald Trump, advocates back home were moaning an increasingly familiar tune: that the possible 2028 presidential contender had tarnished his progressive record and, in the case of climate change, bent a knee to the oil and gas industry that Trump has resurrected.
“He’s done a total 180,” said Ryan Schleeter, communications director at Santa Rosa-based think tank the Climate Center. “The governor doesn’t see taking on the oil and gas industry as a political win in the same way he did a few years ago, and I think a lot of that has to do with Trump putting him on the back foot.”"
What a government shutdown will mean for Californians, from Social Security to national parks
CALMatters, RACHEL BECKER/KRISTEN HWANG/ALEJANDRO LAZO/CAYLA MIHALOVICH/JEANNE KUANG: "John Lauretig remembers the filthy bathrooms, the overflowing trash cans and the community of people who rallied to clean up Joshua Tree National Park the last time the U.S. Government shut down.
For more than a month from December 2018 through January 2019, thousands of National Park Service employees were furloughed nationwide — but the Trump administration kept many national parks open."
Sen. Alex Padilla visits San Diego immigration court: ‘This should not be a trap’
CALMatters, DEBORAH BRENNAN: "When Sen. Alex Padilla attended an immigration hearing at the federal courthouse in San Diego Wednesday, there were no confrontations with federal officials and no public arrests of people attending immigration check-ins.
Instead, the visit revealed the confusion involved in legal proceedings conducted in multiple languages, over virtual platforms, amid a federal campaign of mass deportations."
Why California voters are increasingly launching recall campaigns — and winning
Chronicle, NAMI SUMIDA: "In the past few years, San Francisco voters have removed three school board members, District Attorney Chesa Boudin and now District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio.
These recalls echo a broader statewide trend. Recall efforts have increased over the last decade, and more of them are succeeding. In 2024, 13 of the 15 recalls of local or state officials that reached the ballot succeeded — the highest number and success rate of recalls over the previous 10 years."
Newsom to decide on renter protections tied to Social Security changes under Trump
CALMatters, RYAN SABALOW: "With the Trump administration again threatening mass firings of federal employees, Gov. Gavin Newsom must soon decide whether California landlords must accept Social Security benefit delays as an excuse not to evict tenants who fall behind on rent.
Earlier this month, the California Legislature passed Culver City Democratic Assemblymember Isaac Bryan’s Assembly Bill 246. The measure would give tenants legal protections in eviction proceedings if their Social Security benefits are “terminated, delayed, or reduced due to no fault of the tenant” and the federal problems caused them to miss rent."
Immigrants decry conditions at former prison, ICE’s largest detention center in California
LAT, RACHEL URANGA: "Men sleep in locked cells every night on bunk beds with thin cotton blankets. They walk in straight lines with hands behind their back to the razor wire-enclosed “yard.” Guards carrying handcuffs pat them down. There are head counts, lockdowns and “segregation” units.
California’s newest and largest immigration detention center looks, sounds and feels a lot like a prison. Some say it’s worse."
After Michigan church shooting, Mayor Bass calls for more police near houses of worship
LAT, JACLYN COSGROVE: "Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced Sunday that Los Angeles police will increase patrols around houses of worship after a deadly shooting earlier in the day during services at a Michigan church.
Five people were killed, including the shooter, and authorities say it is possible there are more."
How California families are already bracing for looming Medicaid cuts
LAT, TYRONE BEASON: "Ever since Elijah Maldonado was born at just 29 months, he has needed specialty treatments that his family could afford only with publicly funded healthcare.
Diagnosed with cerebral palsy as an infant, he spent his first three months at a public hospital where the family lives in Orange County."
Bay Area could see sudden downpours Monday as unstable storm system passes
Chronicle, GREG PORTER: "The Bay Area will be caught on the edge of a dynamic early season storm system Monday, bringing a mix of dry stretches, spotty showers and even a slim chance of thunderstorms. Forecast confidence remains low, not unusual for September, but the setup could wring out brief downpours in unexpected places.
A deep low-pressure system sitting off the Pacific Northwest is driving Monday’s weather, spinning a cold front toward California that will press into the North Coast by the afternoon. That front will deliver a solid dose of early season rain, anywhere from 1 to 2 inches from Point Arena north to the Oregon line, with even higher totals in the Siskiyous. A second system is expected to develop behind it by midweek, setting up a similar, unsettled environment that could get an extra boost of moisture from the remnants of a former typhoon."
Hollywood writers were already struggling. Now they fear censorship
LAT, STACY PERMAN: "In Hollywood, something shifted in the six days between the time that Walt Disney Co. dropped “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” “indefinitely,” following Kimmel’s comments about the suspect in the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and the late-night comedian’s return.
For many, Kimmel’s rebound appears to be a win for free speech and a testament to the power of boycotts against powerful corporate interests. However, for other writers, particularly comedy scribes, who view the events that transpired in the darkest, most McCarthy-esque terms, the fight over comedy may have just begun."
These are the 50 richest California cities — and why some didn’t make the list
Chronicle, JESSICA ROY: "I’m used to hearing back from a handful of readers when I publish a story. I love getting those emails, and I try to write back as often as I can. But when I published our list of California’s richest suburbs, my inbox overflowed, all asking variations of the same question:
Where’s Atherton? Where’s Portola Valley? Los Altos Hills? Hillsborough? Belvedere? Woodside? Piedmont? Tiburon?"
This is one of the fastest growing regions of the Bay Area. Is the boom sustainable?
Chronicle, SARAH RAVANI/NAMI SUMIDA: "In the quarter century since David Haubert moved to Dublin with his family, he’s seen an incredible transformation in the Tri-Valley region.
When he left Cleveland with his wife and three daughters to take a job at Nestle’s in San Ramon, the region was a sleepy cluster of East Bay cities with decent but not amazing schools and aging infrastructure."
California’s EV carpool era is coming to an end. Will it unleash traffic chaos?
Chronicle, RACHEL SWAN: "In a memorable episode of the HBO series “Curb Your Own Enthusiasm,” comedian Larry David hires a sex worker to ride shotgun in his Toyota Prius, from the courthouse in downtown Los Angeles to Dodger Stadium.
The gimmick is expensive. Escort “Monena” charges $750, plus a baseball ticket, for her time. But viewers familiar with L.A. traffic called David a genius. With a passenger in tow, he could access the fast-moving carpool lane, bypassing a miserable jam on Highway 110 to make the game."
A PG&E plan to replace natural gas pipes could block bike path on Yolo Causeway
Sac Bee, ISHANI DESAI: "A Pacific Gas and Electric Co. project to replace two natural gas pipelines could block access for months to a walkway on the Yolo Causeway used daily by hundreds of cyclists and pedestrians.
Twelve-inch and 16-inch conduits are buried underneath a levee at Prospect Slough — a wetland in West Sacramento on the Yolo Bypass — and they pump natural gas to Sacramento and its surrounding communities. The utility proposed placing equipment along the bike path and deems installing new pipes as “important for the long-term safety and reliability for our customers,” PG&E spokesperson Paul Moreno wrote in an email."
Why the Chronicle is launching a new beat focusing on the East Bay’s I-680 corridor
Chronicle, SARAH RAVANI: "The Chronicle is introducing a new beat Monday focusing on the fast-growing Interstate 680 corridor of the East Bay, which includes the Tri-Valley region, one of the most dynamic parts of the Bay Area.
The decision to focus on this area comes amid its transformation from a sleepy, semirural outpost to a bustling corridor that Silicon Valley workers increasingly call home, sparking massive demographic shifts and tensions over development and increased traffic."
