California Democrats propose election laws to keep ICE away from polling places
SACBEE, KATE WOLFFE: "Weeks after President Donald Trump suggested on a conservative podcast that the Republican Party should “nationalize” voting in the United States, California lawmakers are floating proposals to limit federal presence in elections.
“Kristi Noem has said, ‘We’re going to make sure that the right people vote for the right leaders,’ and that’s a concern,” said state Sen. Thomas Umberg, D-Santa Ana, speaking with reporters in his office Thursday. “That’s why we’ve introduced legislation to protect our polling places here in California.”"
Sen. Alex Padilla slams DHS after agency admits deporting 86 DACA recipients
SACBEE, MATHEW MIRANDA: "The Department of Homeland Security acknowledged it has deported dozens of undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children and have removal protections, prompting outrage from Democrats like California Sen. Alex Padilla.
In a letter earlier this month, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had deported 86 recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals from Jan. 1 to Nov. 19, 2025. The program, better known as DACA, began under President Barack Obama’s administration and has shielded some people from deportation if they arrived in the country before the age of 16."
Meet the insurance commissioner candidates: Jane Kim
CAPITOL WEEKLY, STAFF: "Capitol Weekly recently asked a half dozen insurance commissioner candidates to answer a set of identical questions regarding how they would approach this incredibly important and challenging job. The candidates – Sen. Ben Allen, former Sen. Steven Bradford, California Working Families Party executive director Jane Kim, Insurance agent Stacy Korsgaden, Los Angeles school teacher Lalo Vargas and financial analyst Patrick Wolff – all submitted their answers, which we will be presenting individually in alphabetical order by last name. In recent weeks we have featured answers from Sen. Ben Allen and former Sen. Steven Bradford. This week we bring you answers from California Working Families Party executive director Jane Kim."
How antisemitic heckling and a tweet by S.F. Mayor Lurie turned into a firestorm
CHRONICLE, J.D. MORRIS: "The shouting began minutes into a Wednesday news conference that Mayor Daniel Lurie and other San Francisco leaders hosted to discuss a new tax proposal.
“Tax the rich! Tax the rich!” chanted a small group of protesters opposed to the mayor’s proposal, which would cut the city’s real estate transfer tax in half in a bid to jump-start housing construction."
Exclusive: S.F.’s new drug sobering center will get paid based on results. Will it work?
CHRONICLE, LUCY HODGMAN: "A planned drug sobering center is set to serve as a testing ground for a new way of funding the fight against San Francisco’s drug crisis.
The Board of Supervisors this month approved a 26-month contract for the Arizona-based Connections Health Solutions to operate the RESET Center, a 25-bed site where police can drop off intoxicated people they’ve arrested as an alternative to county jail."
Gender could play decisive role in landmark L.A. social media addiction suit
LAT, SONJA SHARP/SANDRA MCDONALD: "Ladies of the jury dabbed their eyes, sniffling as the 20-year-old on the witness stand described the hours she’d spent trying to fix her face before appearing in court that morning — her view of herself irreparably warped by what she characterized as a decade of addiction to YouTube and Instagram.
“Whenever I got a bunch of likes I was really happy, and it made me feel really good about myself,” said the woman, known in court as Kaley G.M. “If I didn’t, I would feel insecure, like I looked ugly.”"
California is sued by Jewish advocacy groups seeking to stop antisemitism in schools
LAT, CHRISTOPHER BUCHANAN: "The state of California, its Department of Education and officials were sued Thursday by two Jewish advocacy groups that alleged the state allowed antisemitic harassment of Jewish and Israeli students to go unchecked on campuses.
The suit by Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights and StandWithUs — nonprofits focused on Jewish civil rights — was filed on behalf of at least 12 Jewish parents and students who say they have faced “pervasive anti-Semitism in their California public schools,” court documents said."
READ MORE -- Frustrated families sue the state to stop antisemitism in California schools -- EDSOURCE, JOHN FENSTERWALD
Are California students ready for UC admissions? Here’s how every public high school scores
CHRONICLE, DANIELLE ECHEVERRIA: "Bay Area high schoolers are more likely than students from other states to have completed the requirements to get into a California public university, according to a Chronicle analysis of state education data.
Students in Marin and San Francisco counties have the highest completion rates of the set of 15 high school courses that they must take and pass in order to be considered for admission into the California State University or University of California systems. The data only includes students who graduated from public high schools."
They picketed a UC chancellor’s inauguration. Why were union staffers arrested?
SACBEE, WILLIAM MELHADO: "In an attempt to pressure University of California administrators to agree to raises for some of the lowest-paid employees, AFSCME Local 3299 decided to hold a small but loud picket earlier this month outside the inauguration of UC Riverside’s new chancellor.
The union planned to peacefully protest the ceremony by chanting and using a bullhorn outside the auditorium where the new UC president was in attendance."
Carvalho’s big bet on AI imploded at L.A. schools. Now, it’s the center of FBI raids
LAT, RICHARD WINTON/HOWARD BLUME/BRITTNY MEJIA: "Los Angeles Unified schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho introduced “Ed” the AI chatbot amid fanfare in March 2024, touting a revolutionary tool that would put the district at the leading edge of school technology.
But the multimillion-dollar project failed within months and never fully launched."
Los Angeles Unified school board delays decision on Superintendent Carvalho after FBI raids
EDSOURCE, MALLIKA SESHADRI/BETTY MARQUEZ ROSALES: "After a four-hour closed session on Thursday, the Los Angeles Unified School District board recessed without announcing a decision on whether Superintendent Alberto Carvalho will be placed on leave a day after the FBI raided his residence and the district’s downtown Los Angeles headquarters.
The session will continue on Friday at 12:30 p.m."
Wave of California teacher strikes ‘is no coincidence’
CALMATTERS, CAROLYN JONES: "If your child’s teacher hasn’t threatened to go on strike recently, they probably will soon.
Thousands of California K-12 teachers have walked off their jobs or voted to strike in the past few months, as part of a strategic, statewide effort by the California Teachers Association to boost salaries and benefits — and get the public’s attention."
Oakland teacher strike averted after union, school district reach tentative deal
CHRONICLE, JILL TUCKER: "Oakland teachers and district officials reached a tentative contract agreement early Friday morning, averting an imminent strike.
Union leaders declared in a in a social media post that they had “won” after reaching a deal at 3 a.m after 18 hours of bargaining. Details on the agreement were not immediately available."
Supporting the next generation of Black excellence in STEM (OP-ED)
CAPITOL WEEKLY, AKILAH WEBER PIERSON: "As we close out Black History Month, we celebrate the extraordinary contributions of Black Americans to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. We remember Katherine Johnson, the NASA mathematician whose calculations sent astronauts safely into orbit and back home again in 1962. Her brilliance helped shape the space age—yet for decades, the world did not even know her name.
That is the nature of hidden genius. It does not disappear. It simply goes unrecognized. Today, too many of California’s hidden geniuses are sitting in our classrooms, falling through the cracks."
Bay Area temperatures surge into the 70s again — here’s how long it will last
CHRONICLE, GREG PORTER: "After a month of major weather swings, the Bay Area is closing February with a brief surge of spring warmth. Temperatures will climb into the 60s and 70s on Friday and Saturday before easing back closer to normal on Sunday.
It’s a fitting end to a helter-skelter stretch of weather. February opened dry and mild, flipped wet and stormy, and will now end with some of the warmest readings of the month."
Santa Barbara judge rules against company that turned to Trump for help restarting pipeline
CALMATTERS, ALEJANDRO LAZO: "A Santa Barbara judge intends to rule against Sable Offshore Corp.’s bid to restart a pipeline that spilled thousands of barrels of crude into the Pacific 11 years ago – dealing a significant blow to the company’s attempt to use the Trump Administration to get around California regulators in its path.
In a tentative ruling, Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Donna D. Geck said the Trump administration’s intervention was not enough to undo her earlier order keeping the pipeline shut down. The ruling — a preliminary decision signalling how the judge intends to rule unless persuaded otherwise — comes ahead of a Friday hearing."
Netflix walks away from Warner Bros deal, clearing the path for Paramount
AP, WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS: "Netflix is walking away from its offer to buy Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming business, in a stunning move that effectively puts Paramount in a position to take over its storied Hollywood rival.
On Thursday, Warner’s board announced that Skydance-owned Paramount’s latest offer to buy the entire company for $31 per share was superior to the agreement it had previously struck with Netflix. Warner gave Netflix four business days to come up with a counteroffer — but Netflix instead responded less than two hours later, declining to raise its proposal. It said the new price it would have to pay made the deal “no longer financially attractive.”"
OpenAI gets $110 billon in funding from a trio of tech powerhouses, led by Amazon
AP, MICHELLE CHAPMAN: "ChatGPT maker OpenAI has received $110 billion in funding from Amazon, SoftBank and Nvidia, putting the technology company's pre-money valuation at $730 billion.
Amazon is leading the trio of tech heavyweights in commitments, putting up $50 billion, followed by $30 billion each from Nvidia and SoftBank, said OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman on Friday. Other investors are anticipated to join as the funding round progresses."
READ MORE -- OpenAI enters Silicon Valley with massive lease in Google’s backyard -- CHRONICLE, ROLAND LI
4 California cities rank among ‘highly competitive’ rental markets. Here’s where
SACBEE, ANGELA RODRIGUEZ: "Renting can mean high prices and limited options — especially in California.
According to Apartments.com, one of the nation’s largest online rental marketplaces, four California cities rank among the most competitive rental markets in the country for 2025."
L.A. firefighter testifies that Lachman fire was not fully put out when crews were ordered to leave
LAT, ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN: "A Los Angeles firefighter said in sworn testimony that he sounded the alarm about the inadequate mop-up of the Lachman fire — and was blown off by a captain — days before the embers reignited into the deadly Palisades fire.
The firefighter, Scott Pike, testified last month in a lawsuit brought by Palisades fire victims against the city and the state."
More than $100 million for transportation projects in jeopardy amid L.A. budget woes
LAT, MELISSA GOMEZ: "Four years ago, Boyle Heights and Skid Row had something to celebrate: state grants to build new sidewalks and protected bike lanes.
But now, more than $100 million from the state for the transportation projects in some of the neediest parts of Los Angeles is in jeopardy because city officials say they don’t have enough staff to complete the projects."
BART officials approve an alternate ‘doomsday’ plan that still includes closing stations next year
CHRONICLE, ALDO TOLEDO: "BART officials on Thursday gave initial approval to an emergency “doomsday” plan that would significantly cut service on the regional rail system, including potentially shuttering 10 to 15 stations to save money — but not as early as they initially had projected.
The BART board of directors voted 8 to 1 on Thursday — with director Liz Ames dissenting — to approve an alternative service plan that would see immediate cost reductions starting in January 2027 to cover the system’s massive operating deficit, if a November ballot measure doesn’t provide relief for the ailing transit agency."
