California’s big pension funds lost billions in stock market selloff. Can they recover in time?
CALMatters, ADAM ASHTON: "The investment chief who’s responsible for the retirement plans of 1 million California educators saw foreboding signs when he spoke to the state’s teachers’ pension board last month.
Scott Chan pointed to the torrent of executive orders and policy changes coming out of the new Trump administration and noted they “caused a tremendous amount of uncertainty in the marketplace” He warned of a recession, and a potential drop in stock markets of 20% or more."
Supreme Court upholds Trump’s war power to deport Venezuelan gang members
LAT, DAVID G. SAVAGE: "The Supreme Court ruled Monday the Trump administration may use a wartime law to deport alleged members of a foreign crime gang, but only if they are given the right to challenge the government’s claim.
By a 5-4 vote, the court set aside the orders of judges in Washington who said the Trump administration had overstepped its power.
Schiff’s first Senate bill proposes tax credit for hardening homes against fire, disasters
LAT, KEVIN RECTOR: "For his first bill in the U.S. Senate, Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) has joined a Republican colleague to propose a federal tax credit for certain homeowners who retrofit and harden their homes against wildfires and other natural disasters.
Schiff is introducing the measure alongside fellow freshman Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), a former U.S. Navy Seal and founder of the aerial firefighting company Bridger Aerospace."
AB 985 will help expand access to safe anesthesia care (OP-ED)
Capitol Weekly, CHRISTINA MENOR: "Anesthesiologists are known as the “guardians of the operating room” ensuring that every patient undergoing surgery receives the highest standard of care. But our role goes far beyond just administering anesthesia — we are responsible for diagnosing difficult cases and responding in real time to any complications that may arise. Patients trust us with their lives during their most vulnerable moments, and we take that responsibility seriously.
Commitment to the highest standard of quality care is our North Star, shaping every decision we make for our patients. We need policy changes that uphold safety and quality care as they work to address California’s anesthesia workforce challenges. Legislative proposals should never gamble with patient lives."
Who says it’s last call? Two lawmakers push drinking until 4am at California bars
CALMatters, YUE STELLA YU: "Enjoy closing down a California bar at 2 a.m.?
Hold my beer, say a pair of San Francisco Democrats."
California lawmakers urge Trump to spare state’s hydrogen energy project
LAT, HAYLEY SMITH: "A bipartisan group of California lawmakers is calling on the Trump administration to preserve $1.2 billion in federal funds for a hydrogen energy project to help wean the state off planet-warming fossil fuels.
The action follows reports in The Times and other news organizations that the administration is poised to defund nearly 300 Department of Energy projects across the country, including four of seven nascent “hydrogen hubs.”"
California lawmakers to propose legislation giving ride-hailing drivers right to unionize
LAT, SUHAUNA HUSSAIN: "California lawmakers are pursuing legislation that could give drivers for apps like Uber and Lyft the ability to form unions, while still being classified as independent contractors.
Assemblymembers Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) and Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park) plan to introduce Assembly Bill 1340, also titled the Transportation Network Company Drivers Labor Relations Act, on Tuesday."
Exclusive: State bar sends S.F. DA Jenkins to diversion program over ethics complaints
The Chronicle, MICHAEL BARBA: "The State Bar of California is preparing to close out a series of ethics complaints against San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins without reaching a formal decision on whether she did anything wrong, despite finding evidence that she improperly handled a defendant’s rap sheet.
Rather than continuing to investigate the allegations brought against Jenkins by supporters of her predecessor, Chesa Boudin, the state bar has decided that the best way to resolve their complaints is by requiring Jenkins to participate in a diversion program, according to letters that the watchdog agency sent to her accusers in recent weeks, which the Chronicle obtained."
Polling, polling, polling, with Paul Mitchell (PODCAST)
Capitol Weekly, STAFF: "California political data expert Paul Mitchell joins us to talk about his recent polls that explored public reaction to Governor Gavin Newsom’s This is Gavin Newsom podcast, and the results of the first Capitol Weekly Insiders Survey, which asked how and where the Capitol Community gets its news."
Capitulate or resist? Trump threats spur different responses, and alarm for democracy
LAT, KEVIN RECTOR: "Alarmed by President Trump’s unprecedented effort to punish law firms he doesn’t like, UC Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky emailed nearly 200 fellow law school deans across the country last month, asking them to join him in condemning the attacks.
“The government should not use its enormous power to exact retribution,” Chemerinsky wrote. “As legal educators we have a special responsibility to speak out against such reprisals against lawyers.”"
California hearing on State Farm rate hike request starts today — here’s what’s going on and how to watch
The Chronicle, MEGAN FAN MUNCE: "Starting Tuesday, state regulators, consumer advocates and representatives of State Farm General will meet in Oakland to make a final determination about whether the state’s largest insurer can implement a major rate hike on customers later this year.
Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara already granted State Farm initial approval to raise rates by 22% for homeowners, 15% for condo owners, 15% for renters and 38% for rental homes starting in June. But his approval was contingent on the company, California’s largest insurer by far, justifying such a price hike to an administrative law judge. The hearing could last up to three days, depending on how much testimony the judge deems necessary."
Fake student aid: California colleges detect more fraudsters stealing millions
CALMatters, ADAM ECHELMAN: "For years, scammers have targeted community colleges across the state, posing as students in order to steal money from scholarships or government financial aid.
Recent state reports suggest the problem getting worse, and college leaders say they’re worried that the Trump administration’s cuts to the U.S. Department of Education could hamper fraud prevention and investigations."
Massive $4B sexual abuse settlement sends ‘tremors’ through California schools
The Chronicle, SOPHIA BOLLAG: "An unprecedented $4 billion settlement over child sexual abuse claims that Los Angeles County announced Friday is sending shockwaves through California school districts facing similar claims.
The sheer amount of money, which lawyers think could be the largest local government settlement ever, could drive up the costs of future settlements and put school districts facing lawsuits over decades-old allegations of abuse in even more financial peril."
California signals possible defiance of Trump anti-DEI order that threatens school funding
LAT, HOWARD BLUME: "California education officials have signaled they could defy a Trump administration order intended to end all diversity, equity and inclusion programs — even as federal officials threaten to cut off billions of dollars per year in federal education funding.
The U.S. Department of Education on Thursday had given states 10 days to collect certifications from each school district confirming that all DEI efforts have ended — and warned that failure to comply puts federal funding at risk. The Trump administration argues that DEI programs are a form of race-based discrimination and violate civil rights laws."
These California colleges are a path to the top UCs. Here’s which ones have the highest acceptance rates
The Chronicle, NAMI SUMIDA: "Transferring into the University of California from a community college has long been an important and popular pathway into California's most competitive university system, with almost one out of every five UC students having transferred into the system from a California community college.
For the 2024 fall semester, nearly 35,000 students from California community colleges applied to transfer to a UC, and about three-quarters of them were admitted to at least one campus."
It’s the first U.S. nuclear plant to use AI. Why Diablo Canyon has California lawmakers worried
CALMatters, ALEX SHULTZ: "Diablo Canyon, California’s sole remaining nuclear power plant, has been left for dead on more than a few occasions over the last decade or so, and is currently slated to begin a lengthy decommissioning process in 2029. Despite its tenuous existence, the San Luis Obisbo power plant received some serious computing hardware at the end of last year: eight NVIDIA H100s, which are among the world’s mightiest graphical processors. Their purpose is to power a brand-new artificial intelligence tool designed for the nuclear energy industry.
Pacific Gas & Electric, which runs Diablo Canyon, announced a deal with artificial intelligence startup Atomic Canyon—a company also based in San Luis Obispo—around the same time, heralding it in a press release as “the first on-site generative AI deployment at a U.S. nuclear power plant.”"
Gray whales are dying off the Pacific Coast again, and scientists aren’t sure why.
LAT, SUSANNE RUST: "Gray whales are dying in large numbers, again.
At least 70 whales have perished since the start of the year in the shallow, protected lagoons of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula where the animals have congregated for eons to calf, nurse and breed, said Steven Swartz, a marine scientist who has studied gray whales since 1977. And only five mother-calf pairs were identified in Laguna San Ignacio, where most of the wintering whales tend to congregate, Swartz said."
Rain is finally out of the S.F. forecast. But is it done for good?
The Chronicle, ANTHONY EDWARDS: "From downpours one day to warm sunshine the next, April often marks a month of transition for Bay Area weather as winter storms wane to a summerlike pattern.
The transition from Sunday to Monday was a perfect example, as San Francisco warmed into the 60s under mostly sunny skies Sunday afternoon only for thick fog and rain to roll in less than 12 hours later."
Dow jumps 1,100 to recover a bit of its steep losses as some relief washes through financial markets
AP: "Some relief is flowing through financial markets worldwide Tuesday as stocks bounce to recover some of their historic losses since President Trump dramatically raised the stakes in his trade war last week.
The S&P 500 was up 3.2% in early trading, though it still remains 15% below its record set in February. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 1,143 points, or 3%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 3.6% higher."
Border Patrol said it targeted known criminals in Kern County. But it had no record on 77 of 78 arrestees
CALMatters, SERGIO OLMOS/WENDY FRY: "It was quiet on the border. A Border Patrol agent named James Lee was parked in the shade next to a 30-foot fence in Calexico. The windows of his SUV were rolled up, the engine making that noise when it’s idle for a long time while the air conditioning is running. “We haven’t had any crossing in the last few days,” Lee said.
At the height of illegal border crossings in 2023, Border Patrol encountered 3.2 million people. But now the southern border is desolate. Lee is one of around 1,000 agents in the El Centro sector, which has seen a 91% decrease in encounters compared to the same month last year. The decline in crossings that began during the Biden administration has accelerated in the first few months of the Trump administration. When we visited in late February, not a single person had been recorded trying to cross for more than half the week."
S.F. Police Department’s second-in-command, seen as possible future chief, to retire in May
The Chronicle, MEGAN CASSIDY: "The San Francisco Police Department’s second-in-command announced Monday that he plans to retire at the end of May, effectively putting to rest a widely held belief that he was a top contender to one day succeed current Chief Bill Scott.
Assistant Chief David Lazar, a fourth-generation San Franciscan who grew up in the Sunset and Richmond districts, is a 33-year veteran of the department. In a statement provided to the Chronicle on Monday, Lazar called being a San Francisco police officer “my life’s calling.”"
Tesla vandals are getting caught in the act by the cars’ cameras
The Chronicle, RACHEL SWAN: "A woman in a fleece jacket and sunglasses cased the Claremont Resort & Spa parking lot in Oakland, peering watchfully over her shoulder.
Holding a pair of walking sticks for balance, she made a loop around a Tesla Cybertruck before approaching the driver-side door. Then the woman scratched a squiggly line across the mirror and door of the vehicle."
