“Most people my age just kind of scribble.” Signatures were a sticking point for young California voters this year
LAT's LAURA J. NELSON: "More than a month after voting by mail in the presidential election, South Los Angeles resident Taylor Johnson learned that his vote had not been counted because election workers had taken issue with the way he signed his name on the ballot envelope.
The elections office told Johnson that his ballot signature didn’t match another signature they had on file. Johnson wasn’t sure which signature that was, but he knew it would have looked different: After printing his name for years, he perfected his cursive signature only a few months ago."
California is growing again: Golden State’s population rebounds to near pre-pandemic level
LAT's JENNY JARVIE: "After several years of decline, California’s population grew by almost a quarter of a million residents in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, a rebound that brings the Golden State almost back to its pre-pandemic numbers.
The numbers are not all rosy. California experienced a slower growth rate than the country as a whole, particularly large states in the fast-growing South. It also experienced the nation’s largest domestic migration loss."
Biden gives life in prison to 37 of 40 federal death row inmates so Trump can’t have them executed
LAT's WILL WEISSERT, DARLENE SUPERVILLE: "President Biden announced on Monday that he is commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump, an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment, takes office.
The move spares the lives of people convicted in killings, including the slayings of police and military officers, people on federal land and those involved in deadly bank robberies or drug deals, as well as the killings of guards or prisoners in federal facilities."
The Micheli Minute for December 23, 2024
Capitol Weekly's STAFF: "Lobbyist and author Chris Micheli offers a quick look at what’s coming up this week in Sacramento."
Senate passes bill that could give thousands in California bigger Social Security benefits
Sacramento Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN: "Hundreds of thousands of Californians could get additional benefits from Social Security under legislation passed by the Senate last week.
Among those who could get help are teachers, firefighters, state, county, city and district employees. They’re people who paid into the Social Security system when working in qualifying jobs, but because of federal laws had benefits cut because they also worked in government jobs."
How S.F.’s city attorney is preparing to fight against Trump’s policies
The Chronicle's J.D. MORRIS: "Sixteen years into his political career, City Attorney David Chiu is about to face what could be his greatest test yet: defending San Francisco against legal broadsides from President-elect Donald Trump.
Chiu, 54, is expected to play a prominent role in a courtroom campaign to push back on Trump if he targets liberal cities such as San Francisco, possibly by trying to withhold federal funds over sanctuary policies he opposes as he seeks to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants."
L.A. city officials use disappearing Google Chats. The city attorney is investigating
LAT's TONY BARBOZA, DAKOTA SMITH: "The Los Angeles city attorney’s office is conducting an internal review of city employees’ use of Google Chat messages that are automatically deleted after 24 hours.
The investigation was the result of an agreement between the city and a community group, the Crane Boulevard Safety Coalition, which found out about the disappearing messages in the course of litigation involving the construction of a home in Mount Washington."
California bans schools from forcing teachers to ‘out’ LGBTQ students
CALMatters's CAROLYN JONES: "Amid a flurry of recent school board policies aimed at the rights of transgender students, California passed a new law in July that prevents schools from requiring staff to notify parents if a student identifies as LGBTQ.
The new law, AB 1955, came in response to a handful of school boards adopting policies that require teachers and other school staff to notify parents if a student identifies as a gender other than what’s on their school records."
SMUD’s plan for 500,000 Sacramento County solar panels is taking heat from environmentalists
Sacramento Bee's ARI PLACHTA: "On a cloudy November day in eastern Sacramento County, flocks of black birds swirled over a slow moving creek, catching bugs in the air and resting on 100-foot valley oak trees.
The landscape of rolling hills known as Barton Ranch is also the future site of Coyote Creek Agrovoltaic Ranch — one of the largest planned solar projects in California."
LAUSD settles lawsuit over federal money it unlawfully denied to Archdiocese schools
EdSource's JOHN FENSTERWALD: "Los Angeles Unified has settled a 3-year-old lawsuit with the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles over how much federal Title I funding low-income students within the archdiocese are entitled to receive. The district agreed to pay the $3 million it improperly withheld from archdiocese schools and to comply with federal regulations requiring transparency and consultation with the archdiocese it had repeatedly violated.
The agreement covered 2018-19 and 2019-20, when Los Angeles Unified (LAUSD) first changed the method of determining student eligibility for Title I and cut funding by more than 90%, from $9.5 million for the eligible 13,000 students in the archdiocese to $757,000."
Christmas week washout: Storms to soak Bay Area, sweep Sierra
The Chrojnicle's GREG PORTER: "On Monday, a storm brewing over the open ocean will rapidly intensify as it races toward the Pacific Northwest. As is typical with these systems, a trailing cold front will sweep through the Bay Area, bringing heavy rain, gusty winds and dangerous waves.
Rain will move in from the west early Tuesday, with light to moderate showers likely by dawn. Most of us will wake up to steady rainfall, but by late morning, the rain will have largely cleared the region."
Six years after the Camp Fire, Paradise is rebuilding. Is the town insurable?
The Chronicle's MEGAN FAN MUNCE: "As he watched the smoke of the Park Fire billow over the ridge into Paradise this past summer, Camp Fire survivor Gary Ledbetter felt a sense of déjà vu. He could recall standing in that same spot, six years earlier, when the shifting winds blew California’s deadliest and most destructive wildfire right into his backyard.
Back then, he fled just as the flames reached his roof. This time, he searched his soul, turned on the sprinklers outside his new home and went back inside."
Are you eligible to get up to $1,400 from the IRS? Here’s how to find out
Sacramento Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN: "The Internal Revenue Service could have a holiday present for you — as much as a $1,400 special payment.
About 1 million taxpayers around the country will find the money in their accounts or the mail by the end of next month, thanks to a new finding regarding taxpayers who had not claimed a COVID-era tax credit."
‘Politics is bad for business.’ Why Disney’s Bob Iger is trying to avoid hot buttons
LAT's MEG JAMES: "Bob Iger wants out of the culture wars.
Walt Disney Co. and its chief executive have made a sharp pivot since doubling down on diversity and inclusion efforts in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis four and a half years ago. At the time, Disney’s top executives, including then-Chairman Iger, vowed in a message to employees: “We intend to keep the conversation going ... for as long as it takes to bring about real change.”"
New law could help tenants facing eviction stay in their homes
CALMatters's FELICIA MELLO: "Tenant advocates suffered a big defeat this fall when California voters decided against expanding cities’ ability to limit rent increases. But a state law set to take effect Jan. 1 will give renters facing eviction a little more breathing room.
The law doubles the time tenants have to respond after receiving an eviction notice from five business days to ten. Lawyers who work with renters say that what may seem like a minor procedural change could make a big difference in allowing people to stay in their homes."
S.F. says this retiree owes nearly $8,000 for water. His story raises serious questions (OP-ED)
The Chronicle's EMILY HOEVEN: "For many years, Michael Lerner’s monthly water bill rarely surpassed $60. A 73-year-old retired arts consultant and longtime San Francisco resident, Lerner took pains to conserve. He not only replaced all the plants in his Bernal Heights backyard with drought-resistant succulents in 2021, he kept a bucket in the shower to collect excess water to care for them.
Then, in May 2023, things got weird."
This downtown S.F. property was supposed to be a co-living tower. Now it’s a nonprofit’s home
The Chronicle's LAURA WAXMANN: "South of downtown’s shiny office towers and blocks away from the Moscone convention center and surrounding hotels, a two-story, 1940s-era office building and adjacent parking lot that front a narrow South of Market alleyway were expected to be redeveloped as a 16-story “co-living” tower.
But, when the city’s red hot real estate market went cold during the pandemic and funding for new construction dried up, the communal living project by Starcity died on the vine, like so many others. By 2022, the once high-flying startup lost 457 Minna St. to foreclosure."
One S.F. department held up his permit for a year. Then came the $3,000 late fee
The Chronicle's DANIELLE ECHEVERRIA: "When Jeff Cobb and his husband bought their home in San Francisco’s Glen Park neighborhood in 2021, there was just one change that they thought would make it perfect: adding a garage.
Before they purchased the property, Cobb double-checked and confirmed that the addition was structurally possible. But he was still apprehensive about one thing: a Japanese maple tree, in a planter built into the front of the house, stood exactly where he would need to add a driveway into the garage."
Cops lie to suspects during interrogations. Should detectives stick to the truth?
LAT's ANITA CHABRIA, JESSICA GARRISON: "Thomas Perez Jr. was hours into an interrogation by police about his missing father when they dropped some devastating news: A body had been found.
Thomas Perez Sr., they told his son, was dead."
This foundation tries to get young Californians into transportation jobs
CALMatters's ZAYNA SYED: "UC Berkeley professor Susan Shaheen has sent over a dozen students to the Education Symposium, a two-day conference that exposes college juniors and seniors in California to careers in transportation.
During the event, students learn about the transportation industry, get matched with a mentor, meet with practitioners in the field and participate in a competition. At the end, they’re eligible to apply for three Education Symposium scholarships to enter the industry."
‘Downgraded for a dog’: Delta passenger says he lost first-class seat to service animal
The Chronicle's AIDIN VAZIRI: "A Delta Air Lines passenger says he was forced to give up his first-class seat for a service dog on a recent flight, sparking a heated debate on social media.
The incident unfolded Saturday when the traveler, who had been upgraded to first class, said he was informed 15 minutes before boarding that his seat was no longer available."
