California gig worker law withstands challenge from Uber at federal appeals court
CALMatters's LEVI SUMAGAYSAY: "Uber today lost its long-running attempt to overturn a California law that would require it to provide employment rights to its drivers and delivery workers.
The ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could have major implications — depending what the state Supreme Court decides in a separate but related case."
READ MORE -- Court says California regulation on Uber drivers is justified, but labor fight continues -- LAT's KEVIN RECTOR/SUHAUNA HUSSAIN
Supreme Court asks Justice Department to weigh in on climate change suits in California, other states
LAT's DAVID G. SAVAGE: "The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Justice Department to weigh in on whether the climate change lawsuits filed by California and two dozen other cities and states should be blocked.
At issue is whether greenhouse gas emissions are a matter controlled only by federal law, or if states can play a role."
9th Circuit revives part of journalist’s lawsuit against S.F. Supervisor Dean Preston
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "A federal appeals court on Monday partially reinstated journalist Susan Dyer Reynolds’ suit against San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston for blocking her from his Twitter account. Although Reynolds cannot seek damages from Preston, the court allowed her to try to prove that he violated her free-speech rights.
Preston, a democratic socialist, was first elected in 2019 as supervisor for District 5, which includes portions of the city’s Panhandle, Haight-Ashbury, Western Addition and Tenderloin neighborhoods. Reynolds, a conservative writer, was editor of the Marina Times when Preston blocked the publication’s access in 2020 from the online account that he maintained to communicate with constituents."
Capitol Briefs: Budget deadline is upon us!
Capitol Weekly's STAFF: "Budget trailers bills now in the wild: As reported by McGeorge law professor and registered lobbyist – and Capitol Weekly columnist – Chris Micheli, lawmakers over the weekend released the main budget bill (AB 107, in print) and two trailers bills not in print at press time: SB 167 and AB 154. Budget committees get to work on the trailer bills on Tuesday morning, with everything needing to be to Gov. Gavin Newsom by Saturday, June 15th.
California among many states facing an insurance crisis: California may be knee deep in an insurance crisis, but it is hardly the only state in such dire straits. As reported by Stateline, numerous states have all suffered mightily from a cluster of climate-driven disasters – from wildfires to hurricanes – that have helped drive insurance policy rates sky high. And with private insurers pulling out or threatening to do so, resident in states from California to Colorado and Texas to Florida are increasingly being driven to state-funded insurers of last resort."
Some California officials can meet remotely. For local advisory boards, state lawmakers say no
CALMatters's SAMEEA KAMAL: "On the one hand, allowing local advisory boards and commissions to meet remotely could make it easier for more Californians to take part, including those with disabilities or in jobs that make it hard to attend in-person meetings.
But on the other, shouldn’t people have the opportunity to address their public officials face-to-face?"
Trump tells group that calls for banning all abortions to stand up for ‘innocent life’
LAT's MICHELLE L. PRICE/PETER SMITH: "Donald Trump on Monday urged a staunchly anti-abortion Christian group to stand up for “innocent life,” ambiguously revisiting an issue that Democrats want to make a focus of this year’s presidential election.
The former president and presumptive Republican nominee’s pre-recorded message praised the work of those attending the event hosted by The Danbury Institute, which is meeting in Indianapolis in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. The newly-formed institute is an association of churches, Christians and organizations that wants to eradicate abortion in its entirety."
Veteran Republican congressman’s reign in Riverside County under siege
LAT's JULIA WICK: "For decades, Rep. Ken Calvert, 71, presided comfortably over this corner of the Inland Empire. The lifelong Riverside County Republican largely coasted to reelection in a safely conservative district, eventually becoming one of the most senior members of the California House delegation.
But that evaporated in 2022, when Calvert was nearly toppled by a fresh-faced Democratic insurgent."
AB 2557 and AB 2561 attack local services for vulnerable Californians (OP-ED)
SUSAN ELLENBERG/CHUCK WASHINGTON in Capitol Weekly: "A pair of deeply problematic bills moving through the California State Legislature would jeopardize the delivery of local services in virtually every city, county and special district across the state.
At a time of significant service cuts due to massive budget deficits, counties and local governments need the flexibility to manage their budgets and workforce to protect communities and to continue to deliver local services in the most effective and cost-efficient way possible."
Heat returns to California. Here’s where temperatures could reach triple digits
The Chronicle's GREG PORTER: "Tuesday is set to be the warmest day of the week in California, with triple-digit heat returning to the Central Valley and some interior spots in the Bay Area possibly flirting with the 100-degree mark.
The National Weather Service has issued heat advisories and warnings for a large portion of interior California for the next few days. However, high temperatures are unlikely to set records like last week, due to a slightly different atmospheric setup."
California is sitting on millions that could boost wage theft response
CALMatters's JEANNE KUANG: "As lobbyists for businesses and labor groups negotiate with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration on how to amend a unique California labor law that allows workers to sue their bosses, the two sides seem to agree on at least one puzzling reality.
The law, known as the Private Attorneys General Act, generates millions each year for a state fund reserved for enforcing state labor laws, including those against wage theft. But despite rising worker complaints of labor violations and severe understaffing hampering the state Labor Commissioner’s Office’s response, California leaves much of the money untouched."
Rebecca Grossman gets 15 years to life for murder of boys killed in crosswalk
LAT's RICHARD WINTON: "A judge on Monday sentenced Rebecca Grossman to 15 years to life in prison for the murders of two brothers she struck while speeding through a Westlake Village crosswalk four years ago, saying her actions were “reckless and unquestionably negligent.”
After hearing Nancy Iskander, the mother of 11-year-old Mark Iskander and 8-year-old Jacob Iskander, angrily ask for the sentence to reflect the deaths of both her boys, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Joseph Brandolino sentenced the philanthropist to two concurrent terms, plus another concurrent three years for fleeing the scene of the fatal crash."
Research casts doubt on proposed legislation ending teaching performance assessments
EdSource's DIANA LAMBERT: "A bill wending its way through the California State Legislature could remove a valuable tool to evaluate teacher preparation programs, according to research conducted by the Learning Policy Institute, a nonprofit research organization headed by State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond.
Senate Bill 1263, sponsored by the California Teachers Association, would do away with teaching performance assessments (TPA), which require teachers to demonstrate competence via video clips of classroom instruction, lesson plans, student work and written reflections on their practice before they can earn a preliminary teaching credential."
Student loan relief deadline approaching for 300,000 California borrowers
CALMatters's MIKHAIL ZINSHTEYN: "As many as 300,000 Californians have until June 30 to take advantage of a one-time offer to qualify for faster student loan forgiveness, lower monthly payments or outright forgiveness for federal loans borrowed before 2010.
The U.S. Department of Education’s June 30 deadline is a big deal because borrowers who submit their applications would become eligible to receive credit for past years of repayment that previously didn’t qualify for student loan forgiveness."
Détente or political ploy? S.F. teachers union endorses moderate board candidates
The Chronicle's JILL TUCKER: "When the San Francisco teachers’ union officially endorsed candidates for the November school board election late last week, a lot of jaws dropped across the city.
That was in no small part because three of the four picks come from the moderate side of the political spectrum. The union, which represents 6,000 educators, hasn’t backed a non-progressive to serve on the board in at least a decade."
San Bernardino County: Growing hot spot for school-run police
EdSource's THOMAS PEELE, DANIEL J. WILLIS, MALLIKA SESHADRI, EMMA GALLEGOS: "In eastern San Bernardino County, a cluster of five school districts take a different approach than nearly all the rest of California when it comes to school policing: they not only buy books for kids, they also buy bullets for cops. They run their own police departments.
There are just 19 school-run police forces in California spread over 10 counties. They include Los Angeles and San Diego unified, the state’s two largest districts. In all, 15% of California K-12 students — more than 863,000 kids — attend districts with their own police departments."
Mysterious sonic booms rattle SoCal coast, and more are coming: ‘My dog freaks out’
LAT's SALVADOR HERNANDEZ: "The house jolts and rumbles, and then there’s the unmistakable boom that Mikayla Shocks has been hearing more and more frequently from her Camarillo home.
“One time, I thought a car hit my house,” the mother of four said. “It’s felt by everyone. We hear the boom. My dog freaks out.”"
Your PG&E bill is changing. Here’s how to calculate how much money you’ll save or lose
The Chronicle's KATHLEEN PENDER: "Maggie Robbins lives alone in a one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights. Because she has no air conditioning, dishwasher, washer or dryer, she uses little electricity.
As a result, the net amount she pays Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to deliver electricity to her home could go up by about $20 a month in early 2026, when the big utility implements a new rate structure for some costs of distributing electricity to homes. Under the new scheme, PG&E’s residential customers will pay a fixed monthly charge based on income, but pay a bit less for each kilowatt-hour used."
California home insurance: Should you submit a claim, or will it get you non-renewed?
The Chronicle's MEGAN FAN MUNCE: "As insurance nonrenewals and rate hikes pile up in California, many homeowners are wondering: Will paying for repairs out of pocket rather than submitting a claim help avoid being nonrenewed and mitigate higher premiums in the long run?
Experts say the answer may be yes, if the cost is small enough. That’s because insurers do take the number and cost of previous claims into account when deciding whether to write a new policy, renew the policy or raise their rates."
Elon Musk threatens to ban Apple devices over OpenAI partnership
The Chronicle's AIDIN VAZIRI: "Elon Musk threatened to ban Apple devices at his companies if the iPhone maker partners with OpenAI.
In response to an announcement at the Cupertino tech giant’s Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, where Apple revealed plans to integrate the latest edition of ChatGPT into its software, including Siri, Musk fired off a series of tweets on his social media platform X."
These wrongly arrested Black men say a California bill would let police misuse face recognition
CALMatters's KHARI JOHNSON: "In 2019 and 2020, three Black men were accused of, and jailed for, crimes they didn’t commit after police used face recognition to falsely identify them. Their wrongful arrest lawsuits are still pending, but their cases bring to light how AI-enabled tools can lead to civil rights violations and lasting consequences for the families of the accused.
Now all three men are speaking out against pending California legislation that would make it illegal for police to use facial recognition technology as the sole reason for a search or arrest. Instead it would require corroborating indicators. The problem, critics say, is that a possible face recognition “match” is not evidence — and that it can lead investigations astray even if police seek corroborating evidence."
S.F. billionaire sets up charity to send $1 million gift to police department
The Chronicle's MEGAN CASSIDY: "Last week, in an unassuming conference room at the San Francisco police’s Northern Station, a small army of officers and civilians began deliberations over a question not often associated with local government:
What should we do with all this free money?"
In a city known for traffic, LAX is a standout for its gridlock. Can it be fixed?
LAT's COLLEEN SHALBY: "Alexa Woodward arrived in California for the first time and was immediately lost. Outside of Los Angeles International Airport, she and a friend tried unsuccessfully to order an Uber. The hum of jackhammers added to the anxiety, and except for the smell of weed in the air, this wasn’t the introduction she had expected.
“It’s not super clean, there’s lots of construction, and we don’t know where to go,” the North Carolinian said, before a Times reporter led her to the shuttle for the designated taxi and ride-share lot."
Rev. James Lawson, civil rights leader who led Nashville lunch counter sit-ins and Freedom Rides, dies at 95
LAT's ELAINE WOO: "James M. Lawson Jr., a Methodist minister who became the teacher of the civil rights movement, training hundreds of youthful protesters in nonviolent tactics that made the Nashville lunch counter sit-ins a model for fighting racial inequality in the 1960s, has died. He was 95.
Lawson, who for decades worked as a pastor, labor movement organizer and university professor, died Sunday of cardiac arrest en route to a Los Angeles hospital, his son J. Morris Lawson III told the Washington Post."
