Editor's Note:
Due to technical difficulties, the Round Up was unavailable on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
The Capitol Weekly Top 100: Sweet Sixteen!
Capitol Weekly's STAFF: "Hello everyone and welcome to the 16th edition of the Capitol Weekly Top 100.
As a young parent many years ago, I learned pretty quickly that Job One was simple: keep this baby alive. Because infants are so dependent on us, everything else was secondary to just keeping that little human safe and secure and among the living. But as time went on and my daughter became more self-sufficient, that parental task evolved…a lot. In many ways it became much more challenging each day, and as parents we were no longer the unchallenged authority in our house. It was in fact just the opposite – we got questioned about almost everything. It wasn’t necessarily fun at the time, but thinking back on it now, I realize how valuable it was."
Introducing: The Capitol Weekly Top 100 Hall of Fame!
Capitol Weekly's STAFF: "We have added a new wrinkle to our annual Top 100 list of California’s unelected political influencers – the Capitol Weekly Top 100 Hall of Fame.
This year we wanted to do something to recognize some of the true giants within our Capitol community, folks we think have a track record of influence so impressive and that we must acknowledge them in a way that stands the test of time. In doing so, we can permanently acknowledge their place in this community and honor them for all they have accomplished in their stellar careers. And because sometimes we just want to give people their flowers while they’re here to enjoy them."
Talking Top 100, with John Myers (PODCAST)
Capitol Weekly's STAFF: "Last night we published the 16th edition of Capitol Weekly’s Top 100 – our annual analysis of the unelected political power structure in California. We look at the mostly behind the scenes players who influence policy, elections and governance, including Capitol staff, lobbyists, Agency staff, donors, business leaders, activists, Labor leaders – and even journalists.
Hosts Rich Ehisen and Tim Foster are joined by former KQED reporter and LA Times Bureau Chief John Myers, who left journalism for communications two years ago, but still keeps a watchful eye on Golden State politics. Few political observers are more respected than Myers – one of the many reasons he was a mainstay of the Top 100 List for more than a dozen years. (His kids nicknamed his Top 100 portrait ‘Old Squinty.’)"
TikTok, Brat and Kamala Harris: Will newly fired-up young voters flip elections in California?
CALMatters's MATTHEW REAGAN, JENNA PETERSON: "Christian Figueroa isn’t jumping on the Kamala Harris bandwagon. He doesn’t need to: The San Gabriel Valley native has been on board ever since her first presidential campaign sparked his passion for politics when he was 13.
“To say it had an impact on me is definitely an understatement,” Figueroa said, recalling his trip to Los Angeles Southwest College in 2019 to hear the then-U.S. senator speak. “My life is politics. I feel like I sleep, eat and breathe politics.”"
‘Our lives are on the line’: Why many LGBTQ+ people hope for a Harris win
LAT's KEVIN RECTOR: "At a recent celebration of San Francisco’s vibrant transgender past, one speaker after another directed the crowd’s attention to a worrisome future, casting November’s presidential election as a turning point for the LGBTQ+ community and the nation as a whole.
“This election will determine our fate,” said Sofía Sabina Ríos Dorantes, deputy director of El/La Para TransLatinas, a local advocacy organization. “It will determine whether we continue to face discrimination and marginalization at [a] disproportionate rate, or whether we can continue walking toward the recognition and respect we deserve.”"
GOP attacks Walz as ‘Tampon Tim,’ ‘stolen valor garbage’ and more. A fact-check on the claims
The Chronicle's MOLLY BURKE, JOE GAROFOLI: "Republicans are trying to define Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz as he’s being introduced to a country where most voters don’t know much about the Minnesota governor and six-term House member.
Their approach is to throw a lot of attacks into the ether and see what sticks. Their early salvos are a mixed bag: Walz is “a San Francisco liberal.” He allowed “rioters to burn down the streets of Minneapolis,” in 2020 after the city’s police killed George Floyd. He ducked out early on his military service. And he is “Tampon Tim.”"
GOP Rep. Mike Garcia, in tough reelection bid, says job is to keep U.S. from becoming California
LAT's HAILEY BRANSON-POTTS: "There was a bogeyman at Republican Rep. Mike Garcia’s town hall in Santa Clarita this week: the state of California.
Onstage at the Performing Arts Center at College of the Canyons, Garcia spoke in front of a large screen projecting the red-lettered words: “My mission is to prevent the U.S. from adopting California’s extreme policies.”"
Mayor Breed surges in new Chronicle poll, while Peskin struggles to gain support
The Chronicle's CHRISTIAN LEONARD: "San Francisco Mayor London Breed has pulled ahead of her competitors as voters’ first-choice pick in this year’s mayoral election, a new poll commissioned by the Chronicle found. Still, the race remains close, with ranked-choice preferences showing two of her challengers in strong contention.
About 28% of likely voters polled from July 31 through Aug. 5 said they would rank Breed as their first choice, or were leaning toward doing so, in the November election, up from the 18% that said the same in the Chronicle’s February poll. That poll showed Breed in serious danger of losing the election, with former Mayor and Supervisor Mark Farrell and nonprofit founder Daniel Lurie having similar levels of support."
Many immigrant spouses without legal status left out of Biden’s plan despite deep U.S. ties
LAT's ANDREA CASTILLO: "Almost as soon as President Biden announced a sweeping executive action in June to set more than 500,000 people on a path to U.S. citizenship, immigrants who won’t qualify under the plan began pushing to be included.
The new policy — unveiled before Biden dropped out of the presidential race as he was attempting to shore up progressive credentials — would shield from deportation undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens if they have lived in the country for the last decade, don’t have any disqualifying criminal convictions and pass a vetting process to ensure they pose no threat to public safety or national security."
California battles onslaught of wildfires with help from mutual aid: ‘More resources than rest of US combined’
CALMatters's JULIE CART: "On the surface, fighting wildfires doesn’t appear to require delicacy or nuance. Fire bosses speak in the language of war: weapons, attack, suppression, control.
But to effectively manage a wildfire is to engage in an intricate game of multi-dimensional chess: moving firefighters and equipment where they are most needed or where they are predicted to be required, then coaxing and caring for these resources so that they can continue to be used and moved around a fiery board."
Dangerous herbicide used on California crops banned
CALMatters's RACHEL BECKER: "A dangerous herbicide banned immediately by the US Environmental Protection Agency has been sprayed on crops in many California counties and has contaminated groundwater in low concentrations in the Salinas Valley and Santa Barbara County.
The weed-killing chemical, known as DCPA or Dacthal, can harm the developing brains of babies in the womb, and can remain in farm fields for weeks, EPA officials said. The greatest threat is to pregnant farmworkers and those who live near fields."
Californians say they were fired for leaving their jobs in sweltering heat. Is the state on their side?
CALMatters's JEANNE KUANG: "They worked nearly three triple-digit days before it felt unsafe to go on.
Maria Paredes said she already had a headache while working in a tomato field near Dixon on June 5, when high temperatures hit between 99 to 107 degrees. The hotter the next day got, the 40-year-old farmworker said, “the more it started to go back to my head, and I started to feel like vomiting.”"
READ MORE -- California has heat regulations for farmworkers. Is another law needed for employers to comply? -- Sacramento Bee's MATHEW MIRANDA, WILLIAM MELHADO
The Park Fire is tearing through some of California’s last wild habitat for threatened salmon
Sacramento Bee's ARI PLACHTA: "The devastation caused by wildfires extends far beyond human homes. Northern California’s Park Fire has burned through some of the Central Valley’s last wild salmon habitat, dealing a blow to an already struggling iconic fish species.
It’s unclear how much damage the fire has done to the Mill and Deer creek watersheds. But scientists fear that spring-run Chinook salmon, a once abundant California fish, could take another step toward extinction amid dangerous levels of population decline."
When California can expect La Niña, and what it means for the weather
The Chronicle's JACK LEE: "La Niña is expected to develop this fall, with a 66% chance of emerging from September to November, according to an update Thursday by the Climate Prediction Center.
La Niña is a global climate pattern defined by unusually cool waters in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, typically leading to drier weather in Southern California. While sea surface temperatures in the region have been dropping in recent months, they are still near normal. When conditions are not in La Niña or El Niño, they are referred to as being in the “neutral” phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)."
Delayed cooldown finally headed for Bay Area, bringing more clouds and gusty winds
The Chronicle's GREG PORTER: "Thursday will start to feel a bit cooler across the Bay Area as an upper level ridge of high pressure finally starts to shift to the east. As that ridge starts to break down, the door opens up for a more robust marine layer to develop and bring with it more clouds, fog and gusty winds.
The cooling trend was delayed by about 24 hours as Wednesday ended up with much less cloud cover and warmer temperatures than what was forecasted. Sunshine broke through across much of the Bay Area faster than anticipated, thanks to a combination of hard-to-predict yet fascinating variables."
Bay Area’s summer COVID wave prompts renewed mask guidance from health officials
The Chronicle's AIDIN VAZIRI: "Health officials in Contra Costa County are recommending the use of face masks in crowded indoor settings as a summer wave of COVID-19 cases sweeps through the Bay Area.
On Tuesday, county health authorities renewed their advice for residents, especially those at high risk of severe illness, to use masks as a protective measure."
UC students push for a place to get — and stay — sober on every campus
CALMatters's MIKHAIL ZINSHTEYN: "Four years clean from methamphetamine and with five associate degrees in hand from a community college in California’s Central Coast, Cheech Raygoza began his undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley in 2022 feeling like he was in prison — again.
Away from his fiancé, kids and grandchildren, and plucked from his community in Santa Maria, he was alone — like all those years he served behind bars."
Is California one of the worst states to have a baby in US? See where it ranked
Sacramento Bee's ANGELA RODRIGUEZ: "California is one of the most expensive states in the nation to start a family, according to WalletHub.
The personal finance site ranked the best places in the United States to have a baby, analyzing all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., based on birthing costs, health care accessibility and other f"
L.A.’s new Intuit Dome just might be one of the best arena designs in America. But there’s one missing link
LAT's SAM LUBELL: "Since the Clippers moved to Los Angeles from San Diego 40 years ago, the team has ingloriously labored in the shadow of its sexier sibling, the Lakers. To add insult to injury, the Clippers had to share a room with their big brother after Staples Center, now Crypto.com Arena, opened in 1999.
But finally, the tables have turned. The Clippers and their billionaire owner, Steve Ballmer, have moved out of the house and gotten their own place — in Inglewood, no less, site of the Lakers’ glory days. And it’s really nice."
What a Fed rate cut would mean for Californians looking to buy or refinance a home
The Chronicle's JESSICA ROY: "As unemployment ticks up and inflation continues to cool off, the Federal Reserve is dropping hints it might finally cut the federal funds rate to boost the economy. And the California housing market is paying attention.
For potential home buyers, sellers, and anyone who has bought a home in recent years as mortgage rates have jumped, a drop in the Fed rate could mean mortgage interest rates come down, making buying or refinancing a house more affordable — especially in pricey California."
California lawmakers want to build more affordable housing on the coast. Why it’s controversial
Sacramento Bee's JENAVIEVE HATCH: "Assemblyman David Alvarez, a San Diego Democrat, grew up in the poor neighborhood of Barrio Logan. Despite living a stone’s throw from California’s coastline, he didn’t visit the beach until he was in high school.
“Access to the coast is not something I have been able to enjoy, growing up in a very poor part of San Diego,” Alvarez told the California Assembly’s Committee on Housing and Community Development in June."
Real estate commission rules are about to change. Here’s how it could affect home buying
LAT's ANDREW KHOURI: "For decades, if you wanted a real estate agent to help you buy or sell a home, the model was static.
At the close of escrow, the seller typically used their proceeds to pay a 5% to 6% commission, with half going toward their agent’s brokerage and half going to the buyer agent’s brokerage."
Outside Lands and Kamala Harris visit could create S.F. traffic nightmare this weekend
The Chronicle's ANNIE VAINSHTEIN: "Two major events in San Francisco this weekend — the Outside Lands Music Festival and Vice President Kamala Harris’ first trip back to the city since becoming the Democratic nominee for president — could make for challenging travel conditions.
City transit officials estimate at least 75,000 people are expected to attend the festivities each day of the annual festival in Golden Gate Park, which will take place from Friday to Sunday."
Ex-L.A. sheriff’s corruption squad targeted Kuehl. Now state has dropped the case
LAT's KERI BLAKINGER: "Two years after Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies showed up with guns and battering rams for an early morning raid on Sheila Kuehl’s home in Santa Monica, the investigation is officially over — and there will be no criminal charges.
Instead, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William Ryan approved an agreement Wednesday in which the California Department of Justice said there was a “lack of evidence of wrongdoing.” The department had taken over the politically charged investigation originally launched by then-L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s controversial public corruption squad."
Comments? Questions or suggestions? Please contact the editor of the Round Up, Geoff Howard.
