California Votes: Proposition 50 – October 14, 2025
Capitol Weekly, STAFF: "Proposition 50 would require California to use new congressional district maps through 2030. Use of independent Citizens Redistricting Commission maps would resume in 2031
Governor Newsom and Democrats in the legislature argue that the “Election Rigging Response Act” is a temporary, emergency proposal to counter mid-decade partisan gerrymanders underway in Texas and other red states that are designed to benefit President Trump and the Republican Party. Republicans counter that California should not return to partisan redistricting in which the party in power controls the maps.
Proponents from each of the campaigns will offer their arguments in a debate moderated by Rich Ehisen of Capitol Weekly and Juliet Williams of CalMatters.
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California Votes: Proposition 50 will be held from Noon – 1:30 PM, Tuesday, October 14, 2025, at the UC Student and Policy Center in Sacramento –or, attend via ZOOM from anywhere."
READ MORE -- Billionaire Tom Steyer drops $12 million to support November redistricting ballot measure -- LAT, SEEMA MEHTA
Florida man ‘maliciously’ started Palisades fire, then tried to cover his tracks, authorities allege
LA Times/RICHARD WINTON, HANNAH FRY, CHRISTOPHER BUCHANAN, TONY BRISCOE and HAILEY BRANSON-POTTS: "The most destructive inferno in Los Angeles history, which charred a devastating path through Pacific Palisades and Malibu in early January, was a flare-up of a fire that an Uber driver had intentionally set days earlier, federal prosecutors alleged Wednesday.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, is accused of starting the initial fire on New Year’s Day that rekindled to become the Palisades fire days later. He was arrested Wednesday in Florida and charged with destruction of property by means of fire, which carries a minimum of five years in federal prison."
READ MORE -- A burned Bible and ChatGPT messages: Chilling details of the case against man charged with starting Palisades Fire -- Chronicle, JULIE JOHNSON/MATTHIAS GAFNI
CA governor candidate nearly walks out of interview. ‘Don’t want all this on camera’
SacBee/NICOLE NIXON: "Candidates for California governor criticized Democratic frontrunner Katie Porter after a clip showed the former Orange County congresswoman threatening to walk out of an interview with a news reporter. At least one other candidate is calling on the former congresswoman to drop out of the race.
In the sit-down interview, CBS California investigative reporter Julie Watts asked Porter:
“What do you say to the 40% of California voters — who you’ll need in order to win — who voted for Trump?”
“How would I need them in order to win, ma’am?” Porter responded before turning to someone off camera and laughing."
South Lake Tahoe city manager breaks silence on mayor, pro tem scandals
Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI: "The city manager of South Lake Tahoe sought to calm residents this week as the lakeside community grapples with simultaneous scandals involving both its mayor and mayor pro tem.
In a Facebook video posted Tuesday, City Manager Joe Irvin assured residents that city operations remain stable despite the turmoil."
After getting fired, California’s top cybersecurity official calls for change
CALMatters, KHARI JOHNSON: "California’s outgoing cybersecurity commander says the state is mismanaging its limited cybersecurity resources by letting unqualified officials set priorities.
In an exclusive interview with CalMatters, the commander, Edward Bómbita, said the agency should become independent."
Mayor Daniel Lurie revamped S.F.’s street crisis teams. Is it working?
Chronicle, JD MORRIS/MAGGIE ANGST: "Adrienne Bechelli was walking into San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood on a warm September morning when she encountered a man in a wheelchair who appeared to be nursing a broken leg.
Bechelli, a deputy director in City Hall’s emergency department, stopped to question the man, who was hunched over."
San Diego County has more military than anywhere in the state; the federal shutdown could hit hard
CALMatters, DEBORAH BRENNAN: "With the highest military population in California, San Diego County is bracing for missed paychecks and a run on local food banks during the federal shutdown, now in its second week.
Last week armed service members and federal employees were furloughed or notified that they’ll have to work without pay after Senate Democrats and Republicans faced off over healthcare spending and other issues."
Leaked list shows Trump administration considering $15 billion in additional clean energy cuts
LAT, HAYLEY SMITH: "Days after the Trump administration made headlines for canceling nearly $8 billion in clean energy projects across 16 blue states, the Department of Energy is considering terminating an additional 300 projects totaling more than $15.8 billion, according to a leaked list reviewed by The Times.
The list includes five of seven projects to develop clean hydrogen energy in the United States awarded under President Biden. Funding for the other two so-called “hydrogen hubs” was terminated last week, including California’s project, the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems, or ARCHES."
La Niña has returned. Here’s what it means for California weather
Chronicle, GREG PORTER: "La Niña conditions are official in the central Pacific, according to an update Thursday from the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center. The declaration upgrades the previous “watch” to a La Niña Advisory, the agency’s formal signal that the phenomenon has taken hold and is expected to persist into early 2026.
According to NOAA, average sea-surface temperatures in the central Pacific fell half a degree Celsius (0.9 Fahrenheit) last month, reaching the threshold for La Niña conditions. It’s the first time those conditions have been observed since March 2025."
Q&A: Health Access Exec. Dir. Amanda McAllister-Wallner
Capitol Weekly, RICH EHISEN: "This year we’ve seen two major legislative actions that will have an outsized impact on healthcare access here in California. The first was H.R. 1 in Congress, President Donald Trump’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill, that makes pretty drastic cuts to Medicaid and other social safety net programs. The other was the California budget, which has its own significant impacts on Med-Cal.
We sat down with Amanda McAllister-Wallner, Executive Director of Health Access California, a consumer advocacy coalition that advocates for more accessible, equitable, affordable, quality health care for all Californians. The interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity."
L.A. County considers declaring state of emergency to fight back against ICE raids
LAT, CLARA HARTER: "As the Trump administration continues its immigration crackdown in Southern California, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors is considering issuing a state of emergency to provide the board with more power to assist those affected by the deluge of detainments and deportations.
“This escalation [in raids] puts thousands of our neighbors in extreme peril, so I believe we need to act now,” said Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, asserting that the declaration is necessary “to give us every tool available to fight back.”"
Newsom signs first-in-nation law to ban ultraprocessed food in school lunches
CALMatters, KRISTEN HWANG: "California is the first state in the country to ban ultraprocessed foods from school meals, aiming to transform how children eat on campus by 2035.
In the cafeteria of Belvedere Middle School in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a measure that requires K-12 schools to phase out foods with potentially harmful ultraprocessed ingredients over the next 10 years. The requirements go above and beyond existing state and federal school nutrition standards for things like fat and calorie content in school meals."
Federal oversight is disappearing as multiple refineries explode. Who’s in charge now?
CALMatters, ALEJANDRO LAZO: "An explosion rattled windows across nearby neighborhoods. Orange columns of flame shot like blowtorches out of stacks and pipes, uncontrolled.
The incident that shook Chevron’s El Segundo refinery last week once would have prompted a federal investigation. Not anymore."
Thunderstorms, muggy weather ahead for Southern California thanks to Hurricane Priscilla
LAT, GRACE TOOHEY: "Southern California could see some unseasonable rain and thunderstorms this week thanks to a hurricane moving north along the Mexican coast, according to the National Weather Service.
From Thursday to Saturday, the region’s mountains, foothills and deserts could, again, see significant rainfall — this time because of Hurricane Priscilla, the National Weather Service warned. Last month, a similar pattern that pulled moisture north from Tropical Storm Mario triggered dangerous mudslides in the San Bernardino County mountains and flooding in the Inland Empire that killed one child."
Shoppers in California plan to splurge this holiday season — out of fear
LAT, NILESH CHRISTOPHER:Shoppers in California plan to splurge this coming holiday season, but not because they are confident about the future. They are worried about inflation and figure it’s better to buy now than pay more later.
At least that’s the takeaway from a new report from accounting firm KPMG that shows that consumers on the West Coast are more concerned about price rise and tariffs than those in any other region in the country. ""
More housing could be coming to California coast under new law signed by Newsom
SacBee/STEPHEN HOBBS: "A fresh round of criticism last year that the California Coastal Commission was an impediment to home building prompted state Sen. John Laird to push back. The Santa Cruz Democrat set out to introduce a bill that would show it is possible to build more affordable housing in the state’s coastal areas...
The result was Senate Bill 484, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law this week. It will require the commission to help identify areas in coastal communities to try and make it easier to build more affordable housing. The agency will then exempt projects in those zones from needing a coastal development permit, a generally required document for building near the Pacific Ocean."
Oakland police chief says he’ll resign in December, but he refuses to say whyg
Chronicle, DAVID HERNANDEZ/JESSICA FLORES: "After a year and a half on the job, Oakland Police Chief Floyd Mitchell — the department’s 10th leader in as many years — will resign at the end of the year.
Mitchell’s last day will be Dec. 5, city officials said. It was not clear why he decided to step down, and the chief declined a request for an interview."
She found an LAPD official’s AirTag. Her lawsuit claims it derailed her career
LAT, LIBOR JANY: "When she was called last year to testify against a top Los Angeles police official, Sgt. Jessica Bell assumed she would be asked about the AirTag.
Bell found the Apple tracking device under her friend’s car while on a weekend getaway in Palm Springs in 2023. The friend suspected her former domestic partner, Alfred “Al” Labrada, who was then an assistant chief in the Los Angeles Police Department, had secretly planted the AirTag to monitor her movements after they broke up. The women contacted San Bernardino County authorities, who opened an investigation."
Gavin Newsom greenlights a half-billion dollars for California’s sinking Hwy. 37
SacBee/ARIANE LANGE: "Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 697 into law Wednesday, allowing expedited construction on a projected $500 million project to widen part of Highway 37 as it continues to subside into Bay Area marshland.
The bill, authored by Assemblymember Lori Wilson, D-Suisun City, carves out exceptions to endangered species law so that construction on the roadway can have a larger window."
New California law means big changes for car buyers. Here’s how it will work
Chronicle, KATHLEEN PENDER: "Consumers who buy or lease a new or used car from a California dealer will have meaningful new protections — including a first-in-the-nation right to return a used car for a refund within three days of purchase and improved pricing transparency — under a bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom this week.
SB766, which takes effect Oct. 1, 2026, was patterned and named after a regulation adopted by the Federal Trade Commission early last year under President Biden. In January, a federal appeals court in Louisiana nullified that regulation before it took effect. The FTC under President Trump has not challenged that decision or moved to readopt the rule. The California act and federal rule shared the same name: Combating Auto Retail Scams or CARS."
