John Bolton arrives at court to surrender to authorities on charges in classified information case
LAT, ERIC TUCKER/ALANNA DURKIN RICHER: "John Bolton arrived at a federal courthouse Friday to surrender to authorities and make his first court appearance on charges accusing the former Trump administration national security adviser of storing top secret records at home and sharing with relatives diary-like notes that contained classified information.
The 18-count federal indictment Thursday also suggests classified information was exposed when operatives believed to be linked to the Iranian government hacked Bolton’s email account and gained access to sensitive material he had shared. A Bolton representative told the FBI in 2021 that his emails had been hacked, prosecutors say, but did not reveal that Bolton had shared classified information through the account or that the hackers had possession of government secrets."
California made it through another summer without a Flex Alert. Thank batteries, experts say
LAT, HAYLEY SMITH: "For decades, rolling blackouts and urgent calls for energy conservation were part of life in California — a reluctant summer ritual almost as reliable as the heat waves that drove them. But the state has undergone a quiet shift in recent years, and the California Independent System Operator hasn’t issued a single one of those emergency pleas, known as Flex Alerts, since 2022.
Experts and officials say the Golden State has reached a turning point, reflecting years of investment in making its electrical grid stronger, cleaner and more dependable. Much of that is new battery energy storage, which captures and stores electricity for later use."
Newsom signed a data-collection law that reversed one he backed a year ago. What changed?
CALMatters, PHOEBE HUSS: "A law that allowed the sharing of limitless amounts of personal data across the state to find people eligible for CalFresh was rescinded this week.
On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 593 by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, a Democrat from Oakland, that forbids state and local departments from sharing sensitive personal data to increase food stamp enrollment."
Some stats on 2025 gubernatorial bill actions
Capitol Weekly, CHRIS MICHELI: "On the last day for bill actions (October 13), California Governor Gavin Newsom finished reviewing the 917 bills that were sent to his Desk during the 2025 Legislative Session, including 913 regular session bills and 4 special session bills. That figure was in the middle in terms of the number of bills he has received during his seven years in office.
Of those 917 bills, he signed 794 and vetoed 123, for a veto rate of 13.4% The average veto rate over the past decade has been 15%, so this year’s rate is slightly below that average."
Nearly 100 stolen Prop 50 election ballots found at California homeless camp
Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI: "Nearly 100 stolen election ballots were discovered this week at a Northern California homeless encampment, prompting an investigation by local law enforcement and election officials.
Deputies from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said they were clearing an encampment near Elder Creek Road and Mayhew Road in Sacramento when they found dozens of unopened ballots scattered among piles of mail."
This California mayor resigned after a shocking confession. But records show her troubles started years ago
Chronicle, ST. JOHN BARNED-SMITH: "Years before admitting to embezzling money from the church where she worked as a bookkeeper, former South Lake Tahoe Mayor Tamara Wallace was sued by an insurance company for “theft of funds” of more than $100,000, according to records reviewed by the Chronicle.
While the records aren’t specific about why she was sued, they indicate that she agreed to repay money the insurance company had paid out after discovering the theft, and then failed to repay the money — prompting a second lawsuit from the company as it attempted to recover the money it was owed."
Inadequate recordkeeping is not just a bureaucratic failure (OP-ED)
Capitol Weekly, ANNIE K. LAMAR: "This week in Chicago, immigration officers stopped 60-year-old Rueben Antonio Cruz, a Salvadoran man with heart problems, and fined him for not carrying his immigration papers. This demand for paper proof on a city sidewalk is a part of a larger crisis in immigration recordkeeping. While immigrants are being punished for missing documents, federal agencies routinely lose, redact, or withhold theirs.
While we often focus on the threat of being located, detained, and physically disappeared, a different kind of disappearance is becoming increasingly common: being digitally erased and rendered untraceable by the very systems meant to manage immigration."
Do protests like No Kings still matter? Here’s what experts say
Chronicle, JOE GAROFOLI: "Twice recently during Bay Area speaking gigs, I’ve been asked a version of the same question: What good does it do to go to marches and protests like Saturday’s No Kings day of action?
Their questions reflect a collective frustration that virtually nothing can slow the pace of President Donald Trump’s autocratic actions. Congressional Democrats remain powerless, and leaders of media, academia and tech seem eager to appease him. What good will marching in the streets do?"
California to launch ‘historic’ reparations office as advocates regroup from 5 Newsom vetoes
CALMatters, CAYLA MIHALOVICH/WENDY FRY: "Lawmakers and advocates are regrouping to determine how they will move forward in the effort to ensure reparative justice for Black Californians after Gov. Gavin Newsom this week signed — and vetoed — a slate of reparations measures.
Among the key bills signed into law was one to create the Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery, which will create a structure for reparations. San Diego Democratic Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson authored the legislation, which establishes the bureau under California’s Civil Rights Department and will include a division of genealogy, education and outreach, and legal affairs."
Salesforce told ICE it could help speed up hiring of immigration officers
Chronicle, ALDO TOLEDO: "If it wasn’t already clear that Marc Benioff has moved closer to President Donald Trump — after echoing his calls to send troops into San Francisco — the Salesforce CEO now wants his company to help power the president’s mass deportation campaign.
Screenshots of internal documents and communications obtained by the New York Times show how Benioff pitched ICE on rapidly hiring 10,000 new agents and enhancing deportation operations using Salesforce AI tech."
‘They smashed into me’: Activist says video shows ICE rammed his truck. Agents claim the opposite
LAT, RUBEN VIVES: "Video that appears to show federal immigration agents using their vehicle to ram the truck of an immigrant rights activist has sparked controversy and public outrage in the city of Oxnard, an agricultural town that has been the frequent target of immigration raids.
At the center of the controversy is a claim by federal agents that the activist was the aggressor, ramming into their vehicle."
California to start selling $11 insulin pens in January
Sac Bee, LIA RUSSELL: "California will start selling state-branded insulin pens in January, cementing a 2023 promise Gov. Gavin Newsom made to tap the state’s financial resources and create its own generic drugs.
Starting Jan. 1, CalRx, the state’s generic drug label, will sell insulin pens for roughly $11 apiece or $55 for a pack of five, Newsom told reporters Thursday."
CalMatters shined a light on struggling birthing centers. Newsom just signed a law to help them
CALMatters, KRISTEN HWANG: "Women in California today have fewer places to give birth than they did a decade ago. Legislation signed this week by Gov. Gavin Newsom aims to create more options for them by making it easier for birth centers to operate outside of hospitals.
The “Freedom to Birth Act” by Assemblymember Mia Bonta, a Democrat from Oakland, streamlines burdensome licensure requirements that have prevented birth centers from receiving state approval. Without licensure, birth centers frequently can’t contract with health insurers or Medi-Cal. That leaves patients who can’t pay cash unable to use midwives or birth centers."
USC declines Trump administration’s conservative agenda compact
EdSource, VANI SANGANERIA: "USC rejected the Trump administration’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” which would have shifted the university to the right, according to an announcement on Thursday.
“We are concerned that even though the Compact would be voluntary, tying research benefits to it would, over time, undermine the same values of free inquiry and academic excellence that the Compact seeks to promote,” said USC Interim President Beong-Soo Kim in a letter to U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon."
READ MORE -- USC rejects Trump education compact aimed at shifting the university to the right -- LAT, DANIEL MILLER/JAWEED KALEEM
Cal State workers are getting a one-time bonus, paid for by a $144 million loan due next year
CALMatters, MIKHAIL ZINSHTEYN: "The California State University system will seek a state loan of $144 million that it’ll have a year to repay at no interest, even though current projections show the system will have to add to its deficit to repay the debt.
Cal State’s chief financial officer says the loan will be used to offer one-year bonuses to faculty and staff. While salaries vary widely across the system, the extra $144 million is roughly a 3% increase in the total pay for Cal State’s workers, including executives. State law says the loan needs to be repaid by next July."
Making applying to college a lot easier
Capitol Weekly, ACSAH LEMMA: "What if we just erase that gap between high school and higher education? What if we made applying to university as easy as transitioning from ninth to tenth grade?
Those were questions asked by freshman Senator Christopher Cabaldon (D-West Sacramento) and the inspiration for Senate Bill 640."
California Northstate University clears $426K tax default on old Arco Arena site
Sac Bee, GRAHAM WOMACK: "California Northstate University paid $426,341.30 on Wednesday to Sacramento County to clear a property tax default over the former Sleep Train Arena site.
The payment was made at 12:02 p.m. Wednesday, according to a clerk at the public counter for the Sacramento County Tax Collector. This payment came about 1 hour and 45 minutes after The Sacramento Bee emailed CNU President and CEO Alvin Cheung for comment about the tax default. The email followed a voicemail left Monday."
This preschool serves kids with traumatic backgrounds. Here’s what researchers learned from them
CALMatters, ADRIANA HELDIZ/ADAM ASHTON: "Almost 20 years ago a San Diego nonprofit created a preschool to focus on the “little guys” — children who experience domestic violence and other serious traumatic events before kindergarten.
Today, Mi Escuelita is still going strong and it’s something of a model in showing other schools how to address childhood trauma."
How to get help if you know a California child who experienced serious trauma
CALMatters, ADRIANA HJELDIZ/ADAM ASHTON: "Sometimes, parents just know their child needs special attention.
That’s especially true for parents of children who’ve experienced serious traumatic events, such as domestic violence."
Bay Area could have its last warm weekend of the year. Here’s what to expect
Chronicle, ANTHONY EDWARDS: "Above normal temperatures are returning to the Bay Area just in time for the weekend. With another stormy pattern looking increasingly likely in late October, there’s a chance this could be the region’s warmest weekend until next spring.
Nearly every Bay Area city has endured a nine-day stretch of below-normal temperatures, but that should end Friday as a high-pressure system moves over Northern California. The mercury should reach the 70s in San Francisco and Oakland under sunny skies and only light winds."
With Yosemite gates unstaffed, tourists delight in a free park despite shutdown concerns
Chronicle, LUCY HODGMAN: "As uncertainty swirled around Yosemite National Park’s ability to safely operate during the ongoing government shutdown, Northern California native Shannon Schiess made her first trip to the park in two decades.
A bare-bones staff has kept Yosemite running since the federal government went dark on Oct. 1. Former National Park Service officials have urged a closure of all 433 of the agency’s sites until the government reopens, citing safety concerns and the threat of wilderness destruction. Those warnings have largely gone unheeded — President Donald Trump’s administration hasn’t wavered from its commitment to keep the parks open."
Sacramento approves long awaited river trail project in Pocket and Greenhaven
SacBee, MATHEW MIRANDA: "On Tuesday afternoon, the Sacramento City Council unanimously approved a plan to construct four miles of a paved trail between Garcia Bend and Zacharias Parks. The plan will also build access ramps at North Point Way, Audubon Circle and Country River Way, which are intended for residents living in the interiors of the neighborhoods.
The city has envisioned developing a continuous Sacramento River Parkway, a multi-use trail spanning the west edge of the Pocket through Freeport, since 1975 when it adopted a master plan for the parkway. Tuesday’s approval will close the “largest outstanding gap” in the river trail, said Megan Johnson, a senior engineer for the Sacramento River Parkway project."
A tech firm tied to Mayor Lurie got a big city contract. Did it get ‘preferential treatment’?
Chronicle, JD MORRIS/MICHAEL BARBA: "As he seeks to fulfill one of his signature initiatives, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie is facing criticism over the highly unusual way his office awarded a lucrative contract to a tech company that has financial ties to the nonprofit he founded.
But Lurie and one of his top advisers, Ned Segal, are defending the process they followed to give OpenGov, a San Francisco government technology firm, a contract worth up to $5.9 million in the first year to overhaul the city’s notoriously complicated permitting system."
Jack in the Box selling Del Taco chain for $115 million to simplify business model
Times of SD, CHRIS JENNEWEIN: "Jack in the Box announced Thursday that it will sell its 550-restaurant Del Taco chain to Yadav Enterprises in a $115 million cash deal.
The San Diego-based fast-food company said the sale will strengthen its balance sheet and allow it to focus on its primary brand."
One S.F. neighborhood is seeing an economic boom. This map shows how bad things are in other areas
Chronicle, ROLAND LI/DANIELLE ECHEVERRIA: "San Francisco’s mood has brightened with downtown more regularly full of conventiongoers, retailers returning to Union Square and a new mayor who’s all too eager to remind people of the city’s vibe shift. But, while hope has returned, consumer activity has stalled out.
Retail spending in most of San Francisco remains significantly below pre-pandemic levels as population loss and remote work continue to drag on the economy, according to a Chronicle analysis."
Nine months after fires, residents continue to struggle with housing stability, finances
LAT, COLLEEN SHALBY: "A new report found that nine months after January’s fires, a significant number of residents in Altadena and Pacific Palisades remain displaced and continue to struggle with housing support amid ongoing battles with insurance.
Nearly 13,000 homes were lost or damaged in the Eaton and Palisades fires. The Department of Angels, a fire recovery program launched after the fires, surveyed more than 2,300 fire-impacted residents across L.A. County and found that 8 in 10 Altadena residents and 9 in 10 Pacific Palisades residents have not returned home. That includes homeowners and renters whose houses were destroyed and those whose homes are still standing but awaiting remediation and testing for toxins."
Citing fire risk, Malibu wants to arrest homeless people who refuse to stop camping illegally
LAT, ANDREW KHOURI: "On Monday morning, a homeless man sat in front of the county courthouse in Malibu, where he sleeps each night.
In front of him was a small, green propane tank affixed with a torch, which he said he uses to cook and form wood pipes for tobacco and cannabis."
‘Are you next?’ SFPD’s in-your-face hiring strategy is pissing off nearby police leaders
Chronicle, MEGAN CASSIDY: "As police departments across the Bay Area struggle to staff up, the San Francisco force is rolling out a bold new strategy that’s hit a raw nerve: poaching at the competition’s doorstep.
On Tuesday, a digital billboard truck touting SFPD’s high wages and benefits for lateral hires planted itself in front of the Fremont Police Department, an agency that has lost five officers to San Francisco in recent months — and whose remaining officers are working without a contract amid a bitter dispute with the city over pay."
