California has a fallback plan for Trump’s clean car attacks. Does it go far enough?
CALMatters, ALEJANDRO LAZO/ALEJANDRA: "California regulators, responding to the Trump Administration’s attacks on the state’s climate policy, propose to fight back in part by asking lawmakers to backfill electric vehicle incentives, recommending more private investment, and beginning to write clean car rules — again.
“Clean air efforts are under siege, putting the health of every American at risk,” said Air Resources Board chairperson Liane Randolph. “California is continuing to fight back and will not give up on cleaner air and better public health. We have a legal and moral obligation.”"
Republicans sue to block Newsom’s gerrymandering, point to legislative gamesmanship
CALMatters, MAYA C. MILLER: "A group of California Republicans is suing the state to block the Democratic-controlled Legislature from considering the bills that would allow Gov. Gavin Newsom to facilitate a special election on gerrymandered congressional maps.
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The legal action could slow down the process by which elections officials, already tight on time, get the maps onto Californians’ ballots for the Nov. 4 special election Newsom wants. But that depends on how quickly the California Supreme Court moves, and whether it suspends the process while considering the lawsuit."
READ MORE -- They came to Sacramento for a Christian rally. Then they heard about Newsom’s redistricting -- CALMattrs, ALEXEI KOSEFF
Newsom is the face of California’s redistricting push. That could help him — and hurt the plan
The Chronicle, SOPHIA BOLLAG: "By launching a campaign to redraw California’s congressional districts, Gov. Gavin Newsom has once again placed himself at the center of the national political conversation.
That’s helpful to Newsom as he positions himself to run for president in 2028 — something he has not explicitly admitted but has long been evident in his efforts to build a national donor base and boost his visibility in other states, including a recent visit to South Carolina. But it could prove detrimental to the redistricting campaign itself if Republicans can convince voters to view the measure as a power grab by Newsom, rather than the Democrats’ framing as a fight against President Donald Trump."
Gavin Newsom wants an election in a hurry on his gerrymander. Here’s what has to happen
CALMatters, MAYA C. MILLER: "Calling a statewide special election sounds simple in theory. But executing one with fewer than 75 days notice? As one California county election official put it, that’s a “herculean” effort.
California voting officials are scrambling behind the scenes to prepare for the special election Gov. Gavin Newsom wants this November on his proposal to redraw the state’s congressional districts. But to do so, Newsom needs voters to approve a ballot initiative in an off-year special election that the state has yet to officially approve and schedule."
California lawmakers rush to pass key education bills before deadline
EdSource, STAFF: "Legislators returned to the State House this week for the four-week dash to decide which bills that haven’t already been passed, killed or held back should be sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom for his signature. They’ll have until Aug. 29 to get an up or down vote in either the Senate or House Appropriations Committees and then until Friday, Sept. 12, to send legislation to Newsom’s desk.
Most bills that get this far stand a good chance of passage. But you may waste your dollars wagering on several contentious education bills still being negotiated. One would define antisemitism and set restrictions on its content in schools; two others, which may merge into one, would add oversight and tighten rules on preventing fraud in hybrid and online charter schools."
CHP’s stealthy new SUVs are coming after reckless California drivers
LA Times, JAMES RAINEY: "They’re coming for you, California. And you aren’t gonna see them coming.
They’re the California Highway Patrol and they’re riding in spiffy new SUVs that don’t look like your daddy’s cop car. The CHP deployed 100 new Dodge Durangos a little more than three months ago. They’re designed to escape easy detection. Gone is authoritarian black-and-white; replaced by a dreamy, civilian-style color palette. The SUVs also aren’t outfitted like standard patrol cars. There’s no push bumper, no giant antenna and no light bar mounted on the roof."
Money for L.A. County voting machines ended up in bribery ‘slush fund,’ feds allege
LA Times, REBECCA ELLIS and RICHARD WINTON: "An election technology firm allegedly overbilled Los Angeles County for voting machines used during the 2020 election and funneled the extra cash into a “slush fund” for bribing government officials, federal prosecutors say in a criminal case against three company executives.
Smartmatic, a U.K.-based voting system company, had bribery embedded as part of its business model, prosecutors allege in a Florida federal corruption case against company co-founder Roger Alejandro Piñate Martinez and two other company officials."
Will the Menendez brothers finally be set free? What to expect at their parole hearings
LA Times, JAMES QUEALLY and RICHARD WINTON: "More than 35 years after murdering their parents in a volley of shotgun blasts, brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez are the closest to freedom since they were arrested and sentenced to life in prison.
The siblings — who infamously gunned down their mother and father in 1989 at the family’s Beverly Hills home — will go before a California parole board this week."
Rep. Kevin Kiley urges House Speaker to stop all partisan redistricting efforts
SacBee, STEPHEN HOBBS and DAVID LIGHTMAN: "The debate over a Democratic-led tactic to gerrymander voting districts in California continued Tuesday with Republicans touting a legal challenge they filed with the state Supreme Court, committees hearing bills related to the effort and former members of a state redistricting committee voicing concerns about the proposal.
On the federal side, Rep. Kevin Kiley, usually a strong Republican and Trump loyalist, was critical of how House Speaker Mike Johnson has handled what is playing out in California."
Hottest temperatures of year coming to Bay Area amid heat wave
The Chronicle, ANTHONY EDWARDS: "Temperatures will soar across the Bay Area on Wednesday, increasing as much as 10 degrees from Tuesday’s highs. The mercury will climb even higher on Thursday, which could be the hottest day so far this summer in the Bay Area as a large high-pressure system quickly builds over the region.
Widespread 90-degree temperatures are forecast Wednesday in the interior North Bay, East Bay, South Bay and Santa Cruz Mountains. Downtown San Francisco should even reach the 70s before noon, but an afternoon sea breeze should keep 80-degree readings away from the city and likely in Oakland. Wednesday night will be warm in the hills, especially above 1,000 feet, where lows will remain in the 60s."
Southern California facing a triple threat: Extreme heat, fire risk and thunderstorms
LA Times, GRACE TOOHEY: "As Southern California braces for the most significant heat wave yet this year, officials warn that the dangerously hot temperatures expected at the end of the week are only one of three major concerns.
“It’s a trio of impactful hazards affecting Southern California as we head into the next several days: heat, fire and storms,” said Ariel Cohen, the meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service’s Oxnard office. “Everyone needs to be getting prepared now.”
A new California law just snuck in a cap on HOA fines. Here’s why that could be a problem
The Chronicle, KATHLEEN PENDER: "A new California law that prohibits homeowners associations from charging members more than $100 per violation for breaking most HOA rules has people on both sides of the issue worrying about the unintended consequences, especially more disputes ending up in court.
The brief provision was inserted hastily into a large budget trailer bill, AB 130, less than a week before it passed on June 30. It took effect immediately, giving HOA boards, advisers, members and lobbyists little time to weigh in or digest its application and impacts."
Graffiti-tarnished towers in downtown L.A. remain in limbo
LA Times, ROGER VINCENT: "Early last year, vandals breached fencing, climbed dozens of flights of stairs and painted bold, colorful graffiti on the exterior of three unfinished high-rises that make up the abandoned Oceanwide Plaza development.
The so-called Graffiti Towers — visible from great distances on the 110 Freeway and looming over thousands of visitors attending events across the street at Crypto.com Arena — were expected to be sold in a bankruptcy auction a year ago."
How a strawberry delivery driver was caught in a fight between Newsom and Trump
LA Times, BRITTNY MEJIA: "The strawberry delivery driver was making his last drop-off in Little Tokyo, unloading nearly a dozen boxes onto the sidewalk outside the Japanese American National Museum.
Inside the building, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his allies were holding a news conference about a Democratic Party plan to fight back against President Trump’s efforts to maintain control of the U.S. House of Representatives through redistricting in Texas."
L.A. student seized by immigration agents alleges they bragged of $1,500 arrest payment
LA Times, HOWARD BLUME: "A Reseda high school student who was arrested by immigration agents Aug. 8 and is being held in a detention facility told a former teacher that he overheard the masked men who seized him brag among themselves that they would receive $1,500 for his arrest, the instructor said.
On Tuesday afternoon, activists and educators rallied outside Los Angeles Unified School District headquarters to call for the immediate release of 18-year-old Benjamin Guerrero-Cruz, who lives with his family in Van Nuys."
Will Sacramento keep controversial gunshot-detection tech? Budget may be an issue
SacBee, MATHEW MIRANDA: "As Sacramento grapples with its multimillion-dollar structural deficit, officials are considering whether to commit money to a controversial gunfire-detection technology.
For more than a decade, Sacramento has contracted and spent millions on ShotSpotter — a system that detects and locates suspected shooting incidents. Roughly 180 cities across the U.S. use this technology, according to California-based SoundThinking, which sells the system."
Why the Bay Area will be the center of the ‘flying car’ revolution
The Chronicle, RACHEL SWAN: "The race is on in Silicon Valley to create the region’s first air taxi network, a futuristic mode of transportation in which riders flit from Wine Country to Palo Alto in planes the size of a charter helicopter.
It’s a commuter vision that verges on magical thinking. And the sales pitch is bold: You don’t have to be a well-heeled jet-setter to use the service, according to the startup founders who are trying to produce it. Ultimately, they hope to offer prices comparable to the Uber Black luxury ride-hail service, but with far shorter travel times. Not by accident do many observers compare the air taxis to flying cars."
Here’s how much money it takes to be Bay Area ‘rich’ — and how your income stacks up
The Chronicle, HANNA ZAKHARENKO/CHRISTIAN LEONARD: "Are you rich? You might not be in the Bay Area, but it’s possible you would be if you lived somewhere else.
Based on survey and U.S. census data, the Chronicle estimates that San Francisco metropolitan area residents would consider a household that makes over $760,000 per year to be “rich.”"
