11 stunning moves by Trump in his first year back in office
LAT, KEVIN RECTOR: "During his first term, President Trump was both praised and condemned for being wildly unpredictable, pushing boundaries and disregarding long-standing norms in Washington.
During the 2024 presidential campaign, then-Vice President Kamala Harris — Trump’s opponent — spoke directly to his volatile leadership style in her final pitch to voters, saying their choice would determine “whether we have a country rooted in freedom for every American or ruled by chaos and division.”"
‘Call a Republican’: Tech startup tries high-stakes social experiment connecting liberal S.F. and Texas
CHRONICLE, RACHEL SWAN: "Anyone who walks by the Black Serum Tattoo Shop, in San Francisco’s Mission District, might notice a strange artifact by the front entrance: A shiny red public phone with a hand-held receiver mounted to a pay phone pedestal.
Above it are the words “Call a Republican.”"
This Supreme Court case could strike a major blow to California’s vote-counting system
CHRONICLE, BOB EGELKO: "The future of mail-in voting — in particular, the power of states like California to count votes that are mailed by Election Day but received afterward — will soon be in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court.
It’s the same court that overturned a key section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act in 2013 that required states and cities with histories of racial discrimination in voting to obtain federal government approval before changing their election laws."
Explaining California’s billionaire tax: The proposals, the backlash and the exodus
LAT, QUEENIE WONG: "The battle over a new tax on California’s billionaires is set to heat up in the coming months as citizens spar over whether the state should squeeze its ultra-rich to better serve its ordinary residents.
The proposed billionaire tax that triggered the tempest is still far from being approved by voters or even making the ballot, but the idea has already sparked backlash from vocal tech moguls — some of whom have already shifted their bases outside the state."
A new law could help reunite Korean families separated by war. But time is running
CHRONICLE, ALEXEI KOSEFF: "For a long time, Chang Soon Lee hoped he would see his father again one day.
Lee was 15 when, like millions of families, they were separated by the war that partitioned the Korean Peninsula into north and south. Over the ensuing decades, as efforts to reunite loved ones across the border gained steam, he tried unsuccessfully from his adopted home of Los Angeles County to track down his father, or at least learn what happened to him, until Lee eventually had to accept he was no longer alive."
Jack Ohman: Politics, cartooning and the new media landscape (OP-ED)
CAPITOL WEEKLY, STAFF: "Jack Ohman has been a political cartoonist for 48 years; he got his start at the Minnesota Daily when he was still a college student, and at 19 he became the youngest-ever syndicated cartoonist in the United States. He has worked at major papers across the US, including The Detroit Free Press, The Oregonian and The Sacramento Bee, where in 2016 he won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning. Since 2023 he has been the editorial cartoonist and a political columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle, and also publishes at his Substack, Jack Ohman’s You Betcha.
He joined us to talk about his history in the news biz, the state of editorial cartooning, the death of Scott Adams, and much, much more. Plus – Who Had the Worst Week in California Politics."
California’s choice: clean energy or oil chaos (OP-ED)
CAPITOL WEEKLY, MARY CREASMAN: "The Trump Administration’s raid in Venezuela reveals a dangerous truth about the fossil fuel economy: so long as we remain dependent on dirty expensive fuels – chaos, violence, and corruption will flourish. But it doesn’t have to be this way – the clean energy solutions that can end this pattern are already at our fingertips, and it’s up to California to continue to lead the way out of this mess.
As Trump himself acknowledged, this attack is fundamentally about oil. But an illegal invasion – that has reportedly killed 80 civilians and members of security forces – is an incredible gamble on global security to steal a resource that’s becoming obsolete. All while the rest of the world races ahead on clean energy innovation."
California can help lead on climate by cleaning up our landfills (OP-ED)
CAPITOL WEEKLY, PILAR SCHIAVO: "On hot summer days just north of the San Fernando Valley and Santa Clarita, our small community of Val Verde knows the smell of rotting garbage all too well. Take the words of former Val Verde resident Toye Davis: “When I first began to notice the landfill, it was approximately seven years ago…and then slowly but surely, a couple years passed by and now I could smell it going to Val Verde. It was probably around three years ago that I started to smell it at my home.”"
Fresno Unified’s $30 million investment to support students is paying off
EDSOURCE, LASHERICA THORNTON: "Lunchtime at Fort Miller Middle School in Fresno comes with a sense of urgency these days as dozens of students rush through their meals, eager to throw on jerseys and head outside to play basketball on the blacktop.
Three months in, the lunch sports program, with coaching from High Performance Academy, is actively engaging teens, teaching them teamwork and “giving them something to look forward to,” Principal Eugene Reinor said."
Entrance exams to end for Sac City elementary schools after mandate from state
SACBEE, JENNAH PENDLETON: "The Sacramento City Unified School District will end its screening exams for admission to two desirable elementary schools after California Attorney General Rob Bonta found the tool discriminated against students with disabilities.
Prospective kindergarten and first grade students will no longer be subject to a screening requirement for enrollment at Phoebe Hearst and Camellia Basic elementary schools. Both schools will hold open enrollment lotteries not dictated by neighborhood boundaries, the district said in a Friday news release."
Don’t let nature’s splendid rebirth fool you. L.A.’s fire zone is hurting, not healing
LAT, SHELBY GRAD: "My friend and I (but mostly me) were polishing off a piece of Basque cheesecake, scanning the view of the Los Angeles basin from atop Mariposa Avenue in Altadena.
It was one of those crisp, clear L.A. winter nights. Twinkling lights of the cityscape danced along a perfect horizontal line in the distance — except for one spot where the lights suddenly became vertical."
After unseasonably warm winter weather, temperatures to cool this week across Southland
LAT, ANDREW KHOURI: "The New Year’s streak of unseasonably warm weather in Southern California is about to take a break.
After more than a week in which temperatures hovered in the upper 70s to low 80s in downtown Los Angeles, they are supposed to dip into the more normal range starting Tuesday as a low pressure system approaches the region, said Lisa Phillips, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard."
Will California see more rain or warm weather this spring? What experts predictSAC
SACBEE, ANGELA RODRIGUEZ: "California’s run of cold, rainy winter weather could soon come to an end. Weather experts say the Golden State is heading toward a warmer and drier pattern in the months ahead."
Disney succession: Inside the search for a CEO to replace Bob Iger
LAT, MEG JAMES: "The Walt Disney Co. can ill afford another succession implosion.
The last time Chief Executive Bob Iger handed over the reins, the plan backfired, executives revolted, his replacement got bounced and Iger returned to lead the storied entertainment giant for another four years."
S.F. didn’t make Zillow’s list of hottest markets — but one part of the Bay Area did
CHRONICLE, CHRISTIAN LEONARD: "Zillow’s predictions for the hottest housing markets of 2026 are out — and the San Francisco metropolitan area is way down the list.
That may be news to buyers in San Francisco, where the artificial intelligence boom has set off bidding wars in parts of the city. It may even be more surprising when you consider that the San Jose area far outranked its neighbor, ranking fifth out of the 50 largest U.S. metro areas."
