As California burns, Trump freezes federal spending to investigate it for ‘wokeness’
Sacramento Bee, ANDREW SHEELER/DAVID LIGHTMAN: "California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Tuesday announced he is joining a coalition of Democratic state attorneys general, including New York’s Letitia James, to once again sue the Trump administration, this time to block a pause on federal funding for programs such as Medicaid and food stamps.
The funding freeze was set to go into effect Tuesday afternoon. However, minutes before going into effect, U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan in Washington ordered a halt to the freeze. AliKhan’s block stays in effect through Monday."
READ MORE -- This would be ‘devastating’: California sues to stop Trump’s chaos-inducing funding freeze -- CALMatters, BEN CHRISTOPHER
Edison wants customers to pay for wildfires linked to its equipment
LAT, MELODY PETERSEN: "Southern California Edison is asking state regulators to make its customers cover more than $7 billion in damages it paid to the victims of two devastating wildfires in 2017 and 2018.
At its meeting Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission will consider Edison’s request to pass on to its ratepayers $1.6 billion in damages from the 2017 Thomas wildfire in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, one of the largest fires in state history."
Will CIRM research fill knowledge gap on wildfire particulate connection to brain damage?
Capitol Weekly, DAVID JENSEN: "When some Los Angeles area residents returned to homes that survived the wildfires, it felt like they were hit by an “invisible injury.” Their couches, rugs and even walls reeked. The emissions generated by smoke-linked particles and chemicals drove some from their homes once again.
Max Pellegrini, who lives east of Altadena, said that the inside of his home was coated in a quarter inch of “dirt and ash and whatever else,” the New York Times reported."
One reason your power bill is high: Baked-in profits that critics call excessive
CALMatters, MALENA CAROLLO: "Making sense of the alphabet soup of charges on a monthly power bill is challenge enough. But there’s a surprising cost baked into customers’ bills that doesn’t have its own line item.
A portion of each payment goes directly in the pockets of shareholders. Called a “return on equity,” the amount is meant to compensate investor-owned utilities for the risk of doing business. It pays back shareholders for their investment in the companies and helps utilities maintain a higher credit rating to attract better loan rates for future projects."
Bill providing one year of mortgage relief for L.A. fire victims moving forward
LAT, LAURENCE DARMIENTO: "State legislation that would make it easier for victims of the Los Angeles County fires to receive one year of mortgage relief will move ahead, despite voluntary agreements Gov. Gavin Newsom reached with hundreds of lenders.
Assembly Bill 238 would allow borrowers to put a stop to their mortgage payments for up to 180 days with no fees, penalties or interest, simply by attesting — without documentation — that the fires caused a financial hardship. The relief could be extended another 180 days at the property owner’s request."
Visa approval crisis threatens to cost 2026 World Cup and L.A. Olympics millions
LAT, KEVIN BAXTER: "The 2026 World Cup kicks off in less than 500 days and there is mounting concern that the U.S. is not ready to welcome the more than 6 million visitors who will flood North America for the tournament.
Fans, politicians and other stakeholders, including FIFA, the world governing body for soccer, fear rigid immigration rules and long visa wait times will make it difficult for supporters and even players to enter the U.S. for the games, tarnishing what FIFA president Gianni Infantino once promised would be the “most inclusive World Cup ever.”"
California’s special session to fight Donald Trump becomes fiery immigration debate
Sacramento Bee, NICOLE NIXON: "A $50 million package in the California Legislature to boost resources for court battles against President Donald Trump’s policies has in some ways turned into a proxy debate over immigration, an illustration of how deeply the new administration’s policies could impact the state’s residents and economy.
One of Trump’s main campaign pillars was to crack down on immigration and enforce mass deportations."
A Ukrainian woman was granted refuge in the U.S. Trump is threatening to take it away
The Chronicle, KO LYN CHEANG: "Since she arrived in September, Kateryna Miyenko has been taking long walks under the towering redwood trees of Oakland’s parks. Being in nature is one of the few ways the 27-year-old can take her mind off what is happening at home in western Ukraine, where her parents and younger brother remain.
She never imagined the country that provided her safety would, within months of her arrival, threaten to revoke it."
Immigration arrests in churches? Some clergy say not so fast
LAT, ANDREA CASTILLO: "With the Trump administration declaring that immigration agents are now free to make arrests in places of worship, undeterred faith leaders in Southern California and beyond say they are prepared to aid and even shelter immigrants.
“We have an executive order from God, not from politicians,” said Guillermo Torres, who leads immigration campaigns at Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, a nonprofit advocacy group in Los Angeles. “Do you think we’re going to betray the greatest commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself?”"
S.F. union boss says feds attempted two immigration enforcement actions downtown
The Chronicle, CHASE DIFELICIANTONIO/MOLLY BURKE: "San Francisco immigrant-rights activists and elected officials gathered at San Francisco City Hall Tuesday to rally around the city’s sanctuary policies for immigrants after a report emerged of an attempted immigration enforcement action in downtown San Francisco last week.
Olga Miranda, president of the SEIU Local 87 union, which represents thousands of janitors in the city, said immigration officials showed up at two buildings downtown on Friday."
Sacramento City Council vows to conduct a ‘true national search’ for next city manager
Sacramento Bee, JENNAH PENDLETON: "The Sacramento City Council set a new timeline to find a permanent city manager Tuesday, establishing a plan to hire a recruitment firm by March.
Following a national search, whomever takes the job will be tasked with leading the city’s roughly 6,000 employees, overseeing an annual operating budget of more than $1.6 billion and implementing policy directed by the City Council."
Sacramento has contracts of over $1 million with leader accused of bribery in mayor’s race
Sacramento Bee, JOE RUBIN: "In December, runner-up mayoral candidate Flojaune Cofer introduced intrigue at a City Council meeting, commenting publicly to oppose extending City Manager Howard Chan’s contract a year.
“In late September, I was told that I would be given a campaign contribution in exchange for agreeing to extend the city manager’s contract by one year,” she said. “And I was told that this had to happen because the city required stability.”"
Activists whose videos accused Planned Parenthood of selling fetal remains plead to felony
CALMatters, KRISTEN HWANG: "Two anti-abortion activists who made sensational videos of Planned Parenthood officials nearly a decade ago pleaded no contest this week to a felony count of illegally recording someone without consent.
David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt secretly filmed Planned Parenthood executives in California and edited the clips in a way that purported to show them selling fetal remains. Monday’s plea deal and felony conviction ends a criminal case that has dragged through the court system since 2017."
California schools could be required to warn students, families about immigration enforcement
Sacramento Bee, MATHEW MIRANDA: "California schools might be required to warn students and parents if federal immigration agents arrived on campus under a bill introduced this week.
The measure, authored by Senator Sasha Renée Pérez, D-Pasadena, is a response to a new directive from President Donald Trump’s administration. The mandate removes yearslong restrictions that have prevented U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from conducting operations at schools and other “sensitive places.""
The cost of private colleges is high, yet many low-income students still choose them
CALMatters, STAFF: "Smaller class sizes, grassy knolls, campus idyll — for low-income college students chasing that storied experience at California’s private nonprofit colleges, the expense is high: sometimes $30,000 or more in the first year alone after all grants and scholarships are considered.
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While most California college students attend a public college or university, roughly 160,000 undergraduates pursue degrees at private nonprofit universities such as Chapman University, Loyola Marymount University, Stanford and the University of Southern California."
California leaders still uncertain about impact of potential federal funding freeze
EdSource, DIANA LAMBERT: "State leaders spent much of Tuesday trying to determine the potential impact of a White House freeze on federal grants and loans that could potentially affect millions of California students and their families.
A White House memo released Monday from the Office of Management and Budget called for the freeze to begin Tuesday at 2 p.m. PST. But, just minutes before 2 p.m., U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan in Washington, D.C., blocked the order until next Monday at 2 p.m. PST to give courts more time to consider its impact, according to Politico."
Strengthening atmospheric river poised to bring significant rainfall to Northern California
The Chronicle, GREG PORTER: "On Thursday, the ridge of high pressure responsible for the recent stretch of cold nights will begin to break down. At the same time, a strong low-pressure system will develop over British Columbia and move south toward the U.S. West Coast.
By Friday, the storm system is expected to stall over the Pacific Northwest, drawing in a plume of tropical moisture originating near Hawaii. This setup will tap into an atmospheric river aimed at the West Coast, bringing the first pulse of rain to Northern California."
L.A. County says state housing laws stand in way of rebuilding. Advocates disagree
LAT, REBECCA ELLIS: "A request by L.A. County officials to temporarily waive state housing laws as residents rebuild in fire-ravaged swaths of unincorporated areas drew the ire of housing advocates, who accused the officials of skirting efforts at boosting affordable housing.
County Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Lindsey Horvath, who represent districts blackened by this month’s wildfires, put forward a motion Tuesday with 41 steps they want department heads to take to speed up the recovery process."
S.F. wants to bus more homeless people out of the city. So why are numbers still down?
The Chronicle, MAGGIE ANGST: "Mayor Daniel Lurie and his top challengers in the mayoral race last year pledged to expand a decades-old initiative giving homeless people a city-funded bus ticket out of town.
Yet the tactic — long seen as an easy and cost-efficient way to reduce the city’s homeless population by reuniting them with loved ones elsewhere — has been operating far below its peak for years, and it’s not clear how the new administration will turn it around."
