DMV error means 300,000 California residents need new Real IDs
CHRONICLE, LUCY HODGMAN: "About 325,000 Californians will soon be required to replace their license after the state Department of Motor Vehicles discovered a software error rendering some Real IDs invalid.
The DMV said it identified the issue this winter and was “immediately correcting it.”"
California sets up a showdown with Washington by reissuing licenses to migrant truckers
LAT, NILESH CHRISTOPHER: "California has delayed its cancellation of thousands of commercial driver’s licenses held by migrants, setting it up for another showdown with Washington.
The Department of Motor Vehicles announced on Tuesday that the 17,000 migrant truck drivers whose licenses had been revoked can now keep them for 60 more days, which could enable the drivers to retake tests and do whatever is necessary to remain legal."
ICE immigration enforcement linked to large California job losses, study finds
SACBEE, MARINA PENA: "Heightened federal immigration enforcement activity in California coincided with a workforce downturn that surpassed the Great Recession, a new UC Merced analysis has found.
The UC Merced report used U.S. Census data to track changes in the number of Californians reporting private sector employment across several months in 2025."
New year may entertain political junkies, but California’s sluggish economy deserves the spotlight
CALMATTERS, DAN WALTERS: "As the new year begins, there’s no shortage of political trends to keep Californians preoccupied, entertained or perhaps appalled — particularly the state’s transcontinental feud with President Donald Trump.
There is Gov. Gavin Newsom’s all-but-announced campaign for president, centered on his self-appointed role of resistor-in-chief to Trump. As Newsom continues to troll Trump this year we may learn whether it continues to advance Newsom as a White House frontrunner or becomes tiresome and off-putting.)
Capitol Briefs: A hint of what’s on tap for 2026
CAPITOL WEEKLY, STAFF: "AI, billionaires tax and CEQA reform initiatives enter circulation: California Secretary of State Shirley Weber announced that proponents of three new proposed ballot measure have been cleared to begin gathering signatures. The trio of initiatives would:
Require risk assessments and risk labels for artificial intelligence (AI) products likely to be used by children. The proponent of the measure, James P. Steyer, must collect signatures of 546,651 registered voters (five percent of the total votes cast for governor in the November 2022 general election) in order for the measure to become eligible for the ballot."
California rolls out sweeping new laws for 2026, from cellphone limits in schools to a ban on cat declawing
LAT, KATIE KING/PHIL WILLON: "Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office this week described 2025 as “the year that would not end.” But it has, and in its aftermath comes a slew of new laws passed that year that will affect the lives of almost every Californian.
The governor signed nearly 800 bills last year, including legislation that caps the cost of insulin, streamlines California State University admissions and temporarily allows sexual assault claims that are past the statute of limitations. He also approved legislation banning law enforcement officers from wearing masks to hide their identities during operations — a law that’s already being challenged in court by the Trump administration."
READ MORE -- Get up to speed fast on the new California laws that might change your life in 2026 -- CALMATTERS, STAFF
A new California law gives the state more power over workplaces. Trump is suing to block it
CALMATTERS, LEVI SUMAGAYSAY: "California under a law taking effect today seeks to uphold the labor and unionization rights of private-sector employees, as the federal agency that has held that power for decades is in limbo.
But the new law’s future is unclear because the Trump administration is challenging it."
Billionaire tax proposal sparks soul-searching for Californians
LAT, SEEMA MEHTA/CAROLINE PETROW-COHEN: "The fiery debate about a proposed ballot measure to tax California’s billionaires has sparked some soul-searching across the state.
While the idea of a one-time tax on more than 200 people has a long way to go before getting onto the ballot and would need to be passed by voters in November, the tempest around it captures the zeitgeist of angst and anger at the core of California. Silicon Valley is minting new millionaires while millions of the state’s residents face the loss of healthcare coverage and struggle with inflation."
New California fee targets batteries in PlayStations, power tools and singing cards
CALMATTERS, ALEJANDRA REYES-VELARDE: "Starting January 1, Californians will pay a new fee every time they buy a product with a non-removable battery – whether it’s a power tool, a PlayStation, or even a singing greeting card.
The 1.5% surcharge, capped at $15, expands a recycling program that’s been quietly collecting old computer monitors and TVs for two decades. The change is a result of Senate Bill 1215, authored by former state Sen. Josh Newman, a Democrat who represented parts of Los Angeles and San Bernardino. It was signed into law in 2022."
Next parade of California storms to bring downpours, hazardous mountain driving conditions
CHRONICLE, ANTHONY EDWARDS: "California will kick off 2026 with a series of storm systems that are anticipated to bring widespread rain to the coast and valleys and significant snow to the Sierra Nevada.
Three pulses of wet weather are predicted from New Year’s Day to Tuesday. Each storm will present its own hazards — and benefits — and dry periods won’t last long. The Golden State may be hard-pressed to see much sunshine until the middle of next week."
Rob Bonta is beating Trump in court. He shouldn’t ruin it by running for California governor (COLUMN)
CHRONICLE, JOE GAROFOLI: "Attorney General Rob Bonta, like many California Democrats of a certain level, looks at the field of candidates running to be governor and thinks: I could take that crew.
One word of advice as he ponders a run: Don’t."
A California National Guard pilot warned about Trump for years. Now she’s being forced out
CHRONICLE, RACHEL LEIBROCK: "Brynn Tannehill just wants to fly.
As a member of the California Air National Guard, she’s piloted Black Hawk helicopters on search and rescue and firefighting missions across the state since 2023, and more than a decade in the U.S. Navy before that."
Want to go to LA Olympics in 2028? Here’s how Californians can score tickets
SACBEE, HANNA POUKISH: "Want to attend the Summer Olympics?
Californians can soon register to get tickets for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles."
California’s peer-to-peer support program shows early gains in youth mental health
EDSOURCE, VANI SANGANERIA: "Peer-to-peer mental health support programs show early signs of improving student mental health, enhancing student engagement and reducing stigma in California high schools, according to a report by The Children’s Partnership.
The report evaluated the first year of California’s Peer-to-Peer Youth Mental Health High School Pilot Demonstration, a three-year initiative to strengthen student well-being by training high school students to support their peers. The pilot was funded and operated through a partnership between the California Department of Health Care Services and The Children’s Partnership across eight high school campuses."
AI is scoring college essays and conducting interviews, a new layer in admissions stress
LAT, JAWEED KALEEM/JOCELYN GECKER: "When prospective Caltech students applied in the fall for early admission, some faced a new, technologically advanced step in the selection process at one of the nation’s most prestigious universities.
High schoolers who submitted research projects appeared on video and were interviewed by an artificial intelligence-powered voice that peppered them with questions about their papers and experiments, akin to a dissertation defense. The video-recorded exchanges were then reviewed by humans — faculty and admissions officers — who also evaluated test scores, transcripts, personal statements."
Lick Observatory remains closed after ‘devastating’ winter storm
CHRONICLE, JOAQUIN PALOMINO: "The Lick Observatory, a University of California-owned research center on the summit of 4,200-foot Mount Hamilton near San Jose, will remain closed to the public as workers assess the damage caused by a winter storm on Christmas day and stabilize the building.
Wind gusts reaching up to 114 miles-per-hour tore half the massive shutter off the Great Refractor Dome and blew it onto the Great Hall, causing severe structural damage, officials said in a statement."
Tesla loses title as world's biggest electric vehicle maker as sales fall for second year in a row
AP: "Tesla lost its crown as the world’s bestselling electric vehicle maker on Friday as a customer revolt over Elon Musk’s right-wing politics, expiring U.S. tax breaks for buyers and stiff overseas competition pushed sales down for a second year in a row.
Tesla said that it delivered 1.64 million vehicles in 2025, down 9% from a year earlier."
From timber wars to cannabis crash: Scotia’s battle to survive as California’s last company town
LAT, JESSICA GARRISON: "The last time Mary Bullwinkel and her beloved little town were in the national media spotlight was not a happy period. Bullwinkel was the spokesperson for the logging giant Pacific Lumber in the late 1990s, when reporters flooded into this often forgotten corner of Humboldt County to cover the timber wars and visit a young woman who had staged a dramatic environmental protest in an old growth redwood tree.
Julia “Butterfly” Hill — whose ethereal, barefoot portraits high in the redwood canopy became a symbol of the Redwood Summer — spent two years living in a thousand-year-old tree, named Luna, to keep it from being felled. Down on the ground, it was Bullwinkel’s duty to speak not for the trees but for the timber workers, many of them living in the Pacific Lumber town of Scotia, whose livelihoods w"
California homeowners could qualify for grants for new roofs and fire safety
CALMATTERS, LEVI SUMAGAYSAY: "Some homeowners in areas of California with high wildfire risk could eventually get money for new roofs or to build fire-resistant zones around their properties under a new state law that goes into effect today.
The Safe Homes grant program is designed to help low- and middle-income homeowners with fire mitigation. People who qualify could use grants to create 5-foot ember-resistant zones around properties, also known as Zone Zero, as required by law in some areas. The program will also contribute toward costs for fire-safe roofs."
Owners of mobile home park destroyed in the Palisades fire say they’re finally clearing the debris
LAT, NOAH HAGGERTY: "Former residents of the Palisades Bowl Mobile Home Estates, a roughly 170-unit mobile home park completely destroyed in the Palisades fire, received a notice Dec. 23 from park owners saying debris removal would start as early as Jan. 2.
The Bowl is the largest of only a handful of properties in the Palisades still littered with debris nearly a year after the fire. It’s left the Bowl’s former residents, who described the park as a “slice of paradise,” stuck in limbo."
Waymos are now coming for your coveted San Francisco parking spots
CHRONICLE, RACHEL SWAN: "A long stretch of curb in San Francisco’s Mission District might contain a whole menagerie of parked vehicles: hatchbacks, SUVs, dusty pickups, sleek Teslas.
And recently, Waymo robotaxis."
Tommy Lee Jones’ daughter found dead at San Francisco hotel, reports say
CHRONICLE, AIDI VAZIRI/DOMINIC FRACASSA: "A woman found dead early New Year’s Day at San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel is believed to be Victoria Jones, the daughter of Academy Award-winning actor Tommy Lee Jones, according to multiple media reports.
San Francisco police responded to a report of a medical emergency at the hotel at about 3:14 a.m. Thursday. A woman was pronounced dead at the scene, and the case was referred to the city’s Medical Examiner for investigation, police said."
