california

HIGH SCHOOL SCORES

Monday’s Results

BASEBALL

CITY SECTION

Fairfax 14, VAAS 4

Fremont 16, Los Angeles 0

Grant 4, Canoga Park 1

Huntington Park 21, Collins Family 0

Marquez 10, Gardena 4

North Hollywood 7, Taft 6

San Pedro 4, South East 3

SOCES 10, King/Drew 7

South Gate 8, Port of LA 1

SOUTHERN SECTION

Adelanto 13, Riverside Notre Dame 1

Agoura 4, Mira Costa 3

Alemany 1, Culver City 0

Alhambra 1, Bosco Tech 0

Alta Loma 16, Baldwin Park 2

Anaheim 7, Godinez 2

Apple Valley 5, Knight 4

Arcadia 6, San Dimas 2

Bellflower 10, Eastvale Roosevelt 3

Bishop Amat 5, Redlands East Valley 2

Bonita 4, Damien 4

Burbank Providence 11, YULA 1

Cajon 5, Arlington 4

Calabasas 5, Rio Mesa 4

California 10, Don Lugo 4

Calvary Baptist 15, Rio Hondo Prep 2

Canyon Country Canyon 8, Glendale 0

Capistrano Valley Christian 7, Colony 5

Cerritos 13, Cerritos Valley Christian 4

Chaparral 11, Chino 5

Corona Santiago 1, San Juan Hills 0

El Modena 11, Patriot 2

El Monte 4, San Gabriel 0

El Segundo 5, West Torrance 1

Esperanza 5, Century 3

Gladstone 8, Immanuel Christian 4

Glendora 14, Littlerock 0

Golden Valley 3, Santa Clarita Christian 0

Hesperia 16, Eisenhower 4

HMSA 6, Lynwood 2

Hoover 11, Salesian 1

Indio 8, Nuview Bridge 4

La Quinta 7, Oak Hills 0

La Salle 13, West Covina 2

Los Amigos 8, Bolsa Grande 7

Magnolia 12, Whitney 7

Mark Keppel 2, Pomona 2

Millikan 6, Citrus Valley 5

Monrovia 19, Burbank 4

Moreno Valley 12, San Jacinto Valley Academy 2

Newport Harbor 8, Woodcrest Christian 7

Ontario Christian 10, Paloma Valley 5

Paraclete 4, Buena 0

Riverside King 10, Rancho Christian 3

Riverside Prep 25, Carter 1

Rosamond 15, Antelope Valley 0

Rosemead 6, Whittier 5

Rubidoux 4, Big Bear 2

Sage Hill 6, Pasadena Poly 3

San Bernardino 9, Vista del Lago 8

Santa Ana 12, Santa Ana Valley 3

Santa Ana Foothill 7, Crean Lutheran 3

Santa Monica Pacifica Christian 6, Shalhevet 3

Segerstrom 6, Portola 3

Silverado 25, CIMSA 0

Sonora 9, Orange 1

South Hills 2, Northview 0

Temple City 13, South El Monte 3

Thousand Oaks 11, Saugus 5

Torrance 12, Brea Olinda 0

Valencia 2, Oxnard Pacifica

Valley View 5, Shadow Hills 4

Villa Park 12, Downey 3

Walnut 2, South Pasadena 2

Western Christian 8, Los Alto 6

Westminster 10, Western 6

West Valley 14, Perris 1

Wiseburn Da Vinci 17, Animo leadership 0

INTERSECTIONAL

Bellflower 10, LA Roosevelt 3

Birmingham 7, Ventura 4

Buckley 17, Sun Valley Magnet 1

Castaic 4, Hueneme 0

Chaminade 9, Santa Paula 1

Cleveland 6, Camarillo 4

Compton 2, Rancho Dominguez 0

Dos Pueblos 9, Granada Hills 3

Gardena Serra 12, LA Hamilton 4

Inglewood 19, Locke 3

Newbury Park 2, El Camino Real 1

Riverside Poly 3, Upland 2

Simi Valley 6, Highland 4

South Torrance 4, Carson 1

Sun Valley Poly 2, Quartz Hill 0

Viewpoint 14, Northridge Academy 0

Westlake 9, Chatsworth 1

Yorba Linda 5, Yucaipa 4

SOFTBALL

CITY SECTION

Carson 12, Wiseburn Da Vinci 0

Chatsworth 4, Sylmar 0

Marquez 10, LA Marshall 4

Narbonne 20, Maywood Academy 9

Orthopaedic 26, Contreras 3

Rancho Dominguez 16, Santee 5

Verdugo Hills 19, LA Hamilton 0

Wilmington Banning 9, Garfield 7

SOUTHERN SECTION

ACE 11, Barstow 5

Ayala 14, Cajon 1

Baldwin Park 17, Pomona 5

Burbank Providence 10, St. Pius X-St. Matthias 0

Castaic 10, Arleta 0

Corona 10, Heritage 1

Crean Lutheran 6, Santa Ana Calvary Chapel 3

Eastvale Roosevelt 5, Alta Loma 4

Eisenhower 23, Loma Linda Academy 5

Esperanza 15, Sonora 14

Etiwanda 17, Ramona 0

Faith Baptist 9, Golden Valley 5

Glendora 10, Villa Park 4

Hesperia 5, Hesperia Christian 1

Jurupa Valley 15, San Jacinto 12

Jurupa Valley 6, Miller 1

La Canada 9, Burbank 0

Lancaster 12, Serrano 6

Linfield Christian 16, Santa Rosa Academy 0

Los Amigos 11, Samueli Academy 1

Los Osos 8, Victor Valley 2

Newport Harbor 19, Laguna Hills 5

Oak Hills 16, Summit 4

Rancho Cucamonga 9, Kaiser 1

Redlands 5, San Bernardino 4

Redondo Union 12, Bishop Montgomery 0

Riverside North 10, Citrus Hill 0

Riverside Prep 5, Sultana 0

Rosamond 13, Antelope Valley 3

Santa Ana 14, Westminster La Quinta 1

Santa Ana Valley 24, Estancia 4

Santa Fe 1, Paramount 1

Santa Margarita 1, El Toro 0

Shadow Hills 15, Palm Springs 0

Silverado 7, Ridgecrest Burroughs 4

St. Bonaventure 5, Simi Valley 4

St. Paul 6, Whittier 1

Upland 7, Northview 2

Valley View 7, Chino 1

Ventura 5, Grace 4

Westlake 7, Oak Park 1

Whittier Christian 12, La Serna 5

Yucaipa 13, Rancho Verde 0

INTERSECTIONAL

Burbank Burroughs 13, Cleveland 0

Carson 12, Wiseburn Da-Vinci 0

Castaic 10, Arleta 0

Heritage Christian 13, Monroe 0

Pasadena Marshall 18, Canoga Park 5

Port of Los Angeles 16, Mary Star of the Sea 4

San Pedro 5, South Torrance 4

Venice 12, Culver City 1

SACRAMENTO — Every farmer knows there comes a time to thin the crop to allow the most promising plants to grow bigger and reach their potential.

The same is true in politics. And it‘s now time to cull some Democrats from the dense field of candidates for governor.

Put another way, it’s time for some lagging Democrats to step aside and provide more running room for swifter teammates in the race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Sure, they’ve all got a constitutional right to run. But too many Democrats on the June 2 primary ballot could flip the California governor’s office to a Republican.

You’d think that Democratic candidates now plodding behind in the race — with little realistic hope of catching up — would want to avoid having that on their conscience. Party leaders, too.

Until recently, this nightmarish scenario for Democrats seemed inconceivable. After all, California hasn’t elected a Republican to statewide office for 20 years. Roughly 45% of registered voters are Democrats. Only 25% are Republicans. About 23% are independents who lean left.

But do the math. There are nine Democrats running for governor with various degrees of seriousness. There are only two major Republican contenders, plus a third lagging practically out of sight.

Remember, California has a “top two” open primary. The top two vote-getters, regardless of their party, advance to the November election. And only the top two. Write-in candidates aren’t allowed.

It’s a matter of arithmetic.

In the primary, about 60% of voters will choose a Democrat, political data expert Paul Mitchell figures. That number of voters split among nine Democratic candidates could result in all sharing smaller pieces of the pie than what the top two Republicans receive. Mitchell estimates nearly 40% of voters will side with a Republican, with just two candidates splitting most of the smaller GOP pie.

Recent polls have shown three candidates — two Republicans and one Democrat — bunched closely near the top. They’re Republican former Fox News commentator Steve Hilton, Democratic U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell from the San Francisco Bay Area, and Republican Sheriff Chad Bianco of Riverside County.

Another Democrat, former Rep. Katie Porter of Orange County, has been running close to the top three, followed by Democrat Tom Steyer, a billionaire former hedge fund investor.

It’s not likely that two Republicans will survive the primary and block a Democrat from reaching the general election. But it’s a legitimate possibility — and not worth the risk for the Democratic Party.

“How unlikely does it have to be for Democrats not to be worried?” asks Mitchell, who works primarily for Democrats. “Even if the chances are very small, the consequences could be catastrophic.”

He is constantly running primary election simulations. And last week he calculated the chances of two Republicans gaining the top slots at 18%. Most of his calculations have come out at around 10% to 12%, he says.

“I’m not trying to yell fire in a crowded theater,” Mitchell says. “But I’m trying to install a thermostat.”

He adds: “If there was ever a perfect storm when this could happen, we’re experiencing it now.”

The absence of a gubernatorial candidate heading the Democratic ticket in November, Mitchell says, would result in party damage far beyond the governor’s office.

It would lower Democratic voter turnout and probably cost the party congressional and legislative seats, and also affect ballot measures, Mitchell says.

In fact, it could jeopardize the Democrats’ chances of ousting Republicans and capturing control of the U.S. House.

So which candidates should drop out, not only to avoid embarrassment on election night but to save the party from possible disaster?

Four clearly should stay.

Swalwell has some momentum and is the leading Democrat in most polls, although his numbers are only in the teens. He’s relatively young at 45 and many voters are looking for generational change.

Porter is the leading female — with a chance to become the first woman elected California governor — and has been holding up in the polls despite showing a bad temper in a damaging TV interview last year.

Steyer has loads of his own money to spend on TV ads. But he needs a more coherent, simple message in the spots.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan just entered the race, but shows some promise. He’s a moderate with strong Silicon Valley tech support. And he also has youth at 43.

Five others should consider bowing out.

Xavier Becerra has a great resume: Former U.S. health secretary, former California attorney general and longtime congressman. But he hasn’t shown much fire. And his message is muted.

Antonio Villaraigosa also has an impressive resume: Former Los Angeles mayor and state Assembly speaker. He’s running with a strong centrist message. But at 73, voters seem to feel his time is past.

Former state Controller Betty Yee knows every inch of state government, but lacks voter appeal.

State Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond hasn’t shined in his current job and has no traction in the governor’s race.

Former legislator Ian Calderon isn’t even a blip.

What causes some candidates to stay in a race against long, even impossible odds?

“Hope springs eternal,” says longtime Democratic strategist Darry Sragow. “History is replete with races that turned around on a dime.”

And many feel obligated to their donors and endorsers, he adds.

Also, consultants often “have a vested interest” financially in keeping their clients in the game, he acknowledges.

But currently, Sragow adds, “it’s time for the Democratic Party to get its act together and weed out the field.”

“Party leaders should start cracking the whip. There’s something to be said for decisions being made behind closed doors in a ‘smoke filled room.’ The difference today is that it’s in a smoke-free room.”

The filing deadline for officially becoming a candidate is March 6. After that, a name cannot be removed from the ballot. It’s stuck there — possibly drawing just enough votes to rob another Democrat of the chance to be elected governor in November.

What else you should be reading

The must-read: Bernie Sanders kicks off billionaires tax campaign with choice words for the ‘oligarchs’
What the … : Bondi claims win in ICE mask ban fight — but court ruled on different California case
The L.A. Times Special: Billionaires Spielberg, Zuckerberg eyeing East Coast, stirring concerns about California’s wealth-tax proposal

Until next week,
George Skelton

—
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SAN FRANCISCO — While united against a common political enemy in the White House, the California Democratic Party remains deeply divided over how to address the state’s affordability crisis and who is best suited to lead the state in this turbulent era of President Trump.

Those fractures revealed themselves during the party’s annual convention in California’s liberal epicenter, San Francisco, where a slate of Democrats running to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom pitched very different visions for the state.

Former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter and wealthy financier Tom Steyer were among the top candidates who swung left, with Porter vowing to enact free childcare and tuition-free college and Steyer backing a proposed new tax on billionaires. Both candidates also support universal healthcare.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, the newest major candidate to enter the race, hewed toward partisan middle ground, chastising leaders in Sacramento for allowing the state budget to balloon without tangible improvements to housing affordability, homelessness and public schools.

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin), a vociferous critic and constant target of the Trump administration, emerged from the convention with the greatest momentum after receiving the most votes for the California Democratic Party’s endorsement, with 24% of delegates backing him.

“The next governor has two jobs: one, to keep Donald Trump and ICE out of our streets and out of our lives, and two, to lower your costs on healthcare, on housing, on utilities,” Swalwell said. “Californians need a fighter and protector, and for the last 10 years, I’ve gone on offense against the worst president ever.”

Still, none of the top Democrats running for governor received the 60% vote needed to capture the endorsement, indicating just how uncertain the race remains just months away from the June primary.

Betty Yee, a former state controller and party vice chair, placed second in the endorsement vote with 17%; former U.S. Health and Human Services Sec. Xavier Becerra had 14%; and Steyer had 13%. The remaining candidates had single-digit levels of support from among the more than 2,300 delegates who cast endorsement votes.

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) takes a selfie with supporters during the California Democratic Party’s annual convention at the Moscone Center in San Francisco on Saturday.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Despite anxiety and infighting over the governor’s race, many in the party agreed that the most effective way to fight Trump is to win back control of the House in November’s midterm elections.

“We’re going to win the House. There’s absolutely no question we will win the House,” said former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) at a Young Dems event on Friday evening. “We’re going to protect the election, we’re going to win the election, and we’re going to tell people the difference that we will make.”

Thousands of delegates, party allies and guests attended the weekend California Democratic Party convention at Moscone Center in the South of Market neighborhood. The gathering included a tribute to Pelosi as she serves her final term.

Party leaders did coalesce behind one of the Democrats running to replace Pelosi, Scott Wiener, a liberal state senator who is vying be the first openly gay person to represent San Francisco in Congress.

The convention comes as party members and leaders continue to soul search after Trump’s second election. California remains a stronghold of opposition to the president, but its next governor will also have to face a growing cost-of-living crisis in a state where utility costs keep climbing and the median single-family home price is more than double what it is nationally.

Under growing pressure, the candidates for governor went on the offensive at the party gathering. Candidates sniped at each other — though rarely by name — for being too rich, too beholden to special interests or for voting in the past in support of ICE and border wall funding.

While largely panned by delegates who tend to lean further left than the typical California Democratic voter, Mahan has jolted the race by quickly raising millions from tech industry leaders and targeting moderate voters with a message of getting the state “back to basics.”

“We are at risk of losing the trust of the people of California if we don’t hold ourselves accountable for delivering better results on public education, home building, public safety,” Mahan said. “We’re not getting the outcomes we need for the dollars we’re spending.”

Mahan has raised more than $7.3 million since entering the contest in late January, according to campaign finance disclosures of large contributions. Many of the donors are tied to the tech industry, such as Y Combinator, Doordash, Amazon and Thumbtack. Billionaire Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso has also contributed the maximum allowed to Mahan’s campaign.

Technology businessman Dennis Bress, from Newport Beach, wears a pin supporting Planned Parenthood and a Yes on Proposition 50 shirt at the California Democratic Party convention at the Moscone Center on Friday in San Francisco.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Other candidates have raised concerns about the cash infusion, particularly Steyer, who has already dropped more than $37 million into his self-funded campaign and is pitching himself as a “billionaire who will take on the billionaires.”

“Here’s the thing about big donors: If you take their money, you have to take their calls,” Steyer said during his floor speech.

Delegates and party leaders said California’s next governor will have to continue leading the state’s aggressive opposition to Trump while dealing with the issues at home.

“I think people want a fighter,” said Rep. Dave Min (D-Irvine), who represents Porter’s former congressional district and has endorsed her in the governor’s race. “They want someone who’s going to stand up to Donald Trump but also fight to help average people who feel like they’re getting a raw deal in today’s America.”

Several of the candidates made the case that they could do both.

During her speech, Porter held up a whiteboard — her signature prop when grilling CEOs and Trump administration officials while she served in Congress — with “F— Trump” written on it.

“I’ll stand up to Trump and his cronies just like I did in Congress,” she said. “But this election for governor is about far more than defeating Trump.”

Porter, a law professor at UC Irvine, called on Democrats to “send a message about democracy by rejecting billionaires and corporate-backed candidates.” She also rolled out a long list of “true affordability measures” including free child care, free tuition at public universities, and single-payer healthcare, though she did not specify how she would pay for them.

Fighting back against Trump is “the floor,” said 29-year-old Gregory Hutchins, an academic labor researcher from Riverside. “We need to go higher than the floor — what can you do for the people of California? We all recognize that this is a beautiful and wonderful state, but it is very difficult to afford living here.”

Even some delegates — often the most politically active members of a party — have yet to make up their minds in the governor’s race. Nearly 9% opted not to endorse a particular candidate at the convention.

“You want that perfect candidate. You want that like, yes, this is the person,” said Sean Frame, a school labor organizer from Sacramento who is running for state Senate. “And I don’t feel like there is one candidate for me that fits all that.”

For all the focus on affordability, there were undertones of growing frustration from even reliable Democratic allies over a lack of tangible results in a state where the median home price is more than $823,000. SEIU California president David Huerta said workers have “been deferring our power to elected leadership” for too long.

“I think we need to be the ones who set the agenda and hold them accountable to that agenda,” Huerta said. “And they need to be leading from the direction of working people.”

It’s a constant battle with Democrats at state and local levels to get fair pay, said Mary Grace Barrios, who left a career in insurance to take care of her disabled adult daughter.

Barrios makes $19 an hour as an in-home caregiver to other clients in Los Angeles County. When Newsom signed a law to raise wages for most healthcare workers to $25 an hour by 2030, in-home support staff like Barrios were not included.

“It’s so important that we be given the respect and pay we need to live because we can’t live on that amount,” she said, adding that it feels like a “constant attack by people in our own party that we supported, that forgot us.”

“As citizens, you get what you vote for, right? So we have to do it. We have to make the change.”

RICHMOND, Calif. — New bumper stickers reading “Jesse Jackson/Dan Boatwright” appeared recently in this heavily black and economically struggling industrial city across the bay from San Francisco.

“Can you believe that?” state Senate candidate Sunne McPeak grumbled. “It makes it appear that Jesse Jackson has endorsed Dan Boatwright. He hasn’t. And Boatwright hasn’t endorsed Jackson. It’s misleading.”

McPeak, for 10 years a Contra Costa County supervisor, is challenging Sen. Daniel E. Boatwright, a white, 16-year veteran of the Legislature, in the hottest state Senate contest in the June 7 primary election.

On the same day the Jackson/Boatwright bumper stickers showed up, McPeak, who also is white, trumpeted the endorsement of her candidacy by Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley as she walked black precincts in the 7th Senate District, which includes most of Contra Costa County.

Boatwright, widely regarded as a conservative Democrat who said he has not endorsed any candidate for President but will support the party’s nominee, denies that the bumper stickers are misleading. He asserts, while denying any contradiction, that they merely are intended “to get Jesse Jackson and me elected.”

In a tight election, the black vote–which Boatwright said makes up 15% of the Democratic registration–could be pivotal.

McPeak and Boatwright seem to share the same conservative political philosophy on many issues. Both fiercely oppose export of additional water from Northern to Southern California without ironclad guarantees that water supplies in their home base of Contra Costa County will not be degraded or diminished.

McPeak gained statewide attention in 1982 when she spearheaded a successful referendum that overturned a law that would have built the controversial Peripheral Canal, a project strongly supported by Southern California water interests and opposed by Northerners.

McPeak, 39, a former health care consultant, is the mother of two school-age children. An attorney, Boatwright, 58, is the father of three grown sons.

The Democratic winner in June will face Republican William Pollacek, a Martinez city councilman who is unopposed in the GOP primary. Although declining in numbers, Democrats still hold a big registration advantage in the district, 53.7% to 35.1% over Republicans. So the Democratic primary winner is a heavy favorite to emerge victorious in November.

The fast-growing region is a bedroom for San Francisco and includes some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the Bay Area, as well as some of the poorest. Ethnically diverse, Anglos account for roughly 71% of the district’s population, blacks 10%, Latinos 9%, Asians 5% and others 5%. But since blacks register heavily in the Democratic Party, they represent a much larger voter bloc in Democratic primaries than they do in general elections.

Boatwright’s casual manner masks an explosive temper and the tenacity of a pit bull. He delights in characterizing himself as “tough as a cob” and still speaks in a slight drawl that lingers from his boyhood in Arkansas

In legislative skirmishes, he has been known to invoke his experience as a combat infantryman in Korea and once told a reporter: “I’ve never seen anybody around that I couldn’t lick. And if I can’t do it with my fist, I’ll still do it.”

But the tough-talking Boatwright also writes poetry. In a sentimental poem printed in a campaign brochure, Boatwright talks of soaring “like a magic machine” with Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

Boatwright unabashedly boasts of his fondness for dipping into the “pork barrel” of public projects and delivering them to his constituents, including the expansion of Mt. Diablo State Park and authorization for a new state university campus at Concord.

“See that ridge up there?” he said, pointing to an undeveloped saddle of land as he wheeled his sedan through a scenic valley en route to a meeting with constituents to discuss creating a new bay-side park. “We saved that for open space.”

Last year, Boatwright carried a major bill for his district that proposed massive rehabilitation of deteriorating levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. But he got into a feud with fellow Democratic Sen. Ruben S. Ayala of Chino, chairman of the Senate Water Committee, and Ayala sent the bill back to his committee, never to re-emerge.

This left Boatwright open to political attack that he had failed his constituents. But pressure continued for a levee repair bill and in December, environmentalists, farmers, Southern California water interests, Deukmejian Adminstration water officials, Ayala and Boatwright agreed to a virtually identical measure.

Boatwright’s name was attached to the new bill as its author and it became law in March.

“Boatwright needed a substantial bill to run with in his district,” observed a Senate Democratic staff source.

McPeak, still active in water affairs, contends that the compromise would never have occurred without “pressure” from herself and others.

Now, Boatwright has proposed drought-spawned legislation that would require the installation of water meters in Sacramento, one of the few major population centers in California where water rates are not tied to water usage. Boatwright maintains that 25% of water used in Sacramento is wasted and if metering forced water conservation, his downstream district would benefit. Similar measures have failed in the past.

In her quest to unseat Boatwright, who concedes that this reelection race is his toughest, McPeak goes from door to door telling voters that “the incumbent has been in the Legislature for 16 years. I think it’s time for a change. Don’t you?”

For Boatwright, it is the first time since his election to the Senate in 1980 that he is spending his Saturdays walking precincts and knocking on doors in search of votes. His support includes Senate staff employees from Sacramento who “volunteer” to walk.

McPeak decided to take on Boatwright against the advice of the Democratic Establishment, including Senate leader David A. Roberti of Los Angeles, who last year perceived Boatwright as conspiring to topple him as president pro tem of the Senate.

As a result, Roberti fired Boatwright as chairman of the Appropriations Committee, one of the Senate’s most prestigious posts. Later, Roberti softened the punishment and appointed Boatwright as a member of the committee.

Lukewarm to Candidacy

Some Senate sources have suggested that Roberti is privately only lukewarm to Boatwright’s candidacy. But in keeping with Senate’s clubby tradition of standing by their own, Roberti has publicly pledged to provide “whatever is necessary” in campaign contributions to secure Boatwright’s renomination. Although he may be a rebel at times, Boatwright still is a member of the Senate Democratic fraternity.

Boatwright, who coasted to victory in previous reelection campaigns, estimated his primary election budget at $500,000, a substantial sum for an established incumbent. McPeak estimated her spending at $300,000, with most contributions coming from residents and organizations within the county, many of them developers.

McPeak, endorsed by some labor unions who had been urged by Roberti to remain neutral in the primary, portrays herself as an outsider, striking out against the “power brokers, the bosses, the political dictators” in Sacramento who counseled her not to run.

However, delegates to a recent convention of the California Democratic Party endorsed her over Boatwright, who became the only incumbent Democrat to not receive the endorsement of his party.

Although Boatwright did not seek the endorsement, giving it to McPeak rankled him. “I resent the state Democratic Party injecting itself into my race,” he said. “They don’t know how I vote in the Senate, and they shouldn’t be telling people in my district how they should vote.”

Stirs Controversy

Virtually from his first election to the Assembly in 1972, Boatwright has stirred controversy. He has been the subject of investigations by a local district attorney, state attorney general, Fair Political Practices Commission and the FBI. In each case, no charges were filed.

Additionally, he was sued by a citizen watchdog organization for allegedly failing to accurately disclose the value of two shares of stock he owned in a Walnut Creek shopping center. He purchased them for $24,000 in 1973 but the lawsuit charged their actual value exceeded $300,000. Boatwright won in court.

Later, the Internal Revenue Service claimed that Boatwright and his former wife owed $112,800 in back taxes and penalties on income from that stock allegedly not reported in 1976. Boatwright sued the IRS and the agency dropped the action, a Boatwright aide said.

McPeak said she does not intend to hit Boatwright about the investigations but will concentrate on his legislative record.

“We won’t get into that,” she said. “We are focusing on issues that affect the future. We are talking about his voting record. . . . We think that is sufficient.”

But Boatwright is skeptical. “She can’t get me on my record,” he asserted. “She is going to have to start attacking me personally. She is going to get down and dirty. She has to.”

At a recent meeting of California’s high school sports governing board, two seniors from Arroyo Grande High School spoke out against a transgender peer competing on their track and field team and allegedly “watching” them in the girls’ locker room.

One of the Central Coast students said she is “more comfortable” changing in her car now. The other cited a Bible verse about God creating men and women separately, and accused the California Interscholastic Federation of subjecting girls to “exploitative and intrusive behavior that is disguised through transgender ideology.”

“Our privacy is being compromised and our sports are being taken over,” she said.

During the same meeting, Trevor Norcross, the father of 17-year-old transgender junior Lily Norcross, offered a starkly different perspective.

“Bathrooms and locker rooms are the most dangerous place for trans students, and when they are at their most vulnerable,” he said. “Our daughter goes to extreme lengths to avoid them. Unfortunately, sometimes you can’t.”

Lily Norcross with her parents, Trevor and Hilary Norcross.

(Owen Main / For The Times)

Norcross said Lily’s teammates had for months been misrepresenting a single moment from the year prior, when Lily had to use the restroom after a full day of avoiding it, chose to use the one in the locker room because it is monitored by an adult and safer for her than others, and briefly stopped to chat with a friend on her way out.

“There’s always more to the story,” he said.

The conflicting testimony reflected an increasingly charged debate over transgender athletes participating in youth sports nationwide. Churches, anti-LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, cisgender athletes and their conservative families are organizing to topple trans-inclusive policies, while liberal state officials, queer advocacy groups, transgender kids and their families are trying to preserve policies that allow transgender kids to compete.

The battle has been particularly pitched in California, which has some of the nation’s most progressive statewide athletic policies and liberal leaders willing to defend them — including from the Trump administration, which has attacked transgender rights and is suing the California Department of Education and the CIF, alleging their trans-inclusive sports policies violate the civil rights of cisgender athletes.

Along with a pending U.S. Supreme Court decision on the legality of policies banning transgender athletes from competing in states such as Idaho and West Virginia, the Trump administration’s lawsuit against California could have sweeping implications for transgender athletes — with a state loss potentially contributing to their being sidelined not just in conservative states, but nationwide.

For the handful of transgender California teens caught in the middle of the fight, it has all been deeply unnerving — if strangely motivating.

“I have to keep doing it, because if I stop doing sports, they won,” Lily Norcross said. “They got what they wanted.”

A coordinated effort

The movement to overturn California’s trans-inclusive policies is being coordinated at the local, state and national levels, and has gained serious momentum since several of its leaders joined the Trump administration.

At the local level, cisgender athletes, their families and other conservative and religious allies have expressed anger over transgender athletes using girls’ facilities and resentment over their allegedly stealing victories and the spotlight from cisgender girls.

In 2024, two girls at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside filed a lawsuit challenging the participation of their transgender track and field teammate Abigail Jones, arguing her participation limited their own in violation of Title IX protections for female athletes. A judge found insufficient evidence of that, and recently dismissed the case.

Last year, Jurupa Valley High School track star AB Hernandez won several medals at the CIF State Track and Field Championships despite President Trump personally demanding she be barred from competing. Critics argued Hernandez’s wins were unfair, despite CIF having changed its rules so that her cisgender competitors received the medals they would have received had she not competed.

AB Hernandez competed for Jurupa Valley High School in the long jump at the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships.

(Tomas Ovalle / For The Times)

The challenges to Abigail, AB and Lily competing have all been driven in part by a network of conservative organizations working across California and beyond to oust transgender girls from sports, including by coordinating with evangelical churches, pushing social media campaigns, lining up speakers for school board meetings and working with cisgender athletes to hone their messages of opposition.

Shannon Kessler, a former PTA president and church leader who is now running for state Assembly, has worked within the wider network. In March 2025, Kessler founded the group Save Girls’ Sports Central Coast, and the next month distributed fliers at Harvest Church in Arroyo Grande that called on parishioners to challenge Lily’s participation on the track and field team.

Kessler said the two seniors on Lily’s team, who did not respond to a request for comment, had initially asked if she would “speak on their behalf,” so she did, but she has since let the girls “take the lead.”

“They took the initiative to speak and wrote their own speeches,” Kessler said, of their remarks at the recent CIF meeting.

Norcross said the effort to sideline his daughter has clearly been coordinated by outsiders from the start. He blames Kessler, Harvest Church and the state’s wider network of conservative activists for stirring up baseless fears about transgender athletes, exposing his family to danger and leaving them no choice but to defend themselves publicly.

“It’s not a fair position to be in,” he said.

Tied up in court

Within months of Trump issuing his February 2025 executive order calling for transgender athletes to be barred from competition nationwide, two leaders within the California conservative network turned Trump administration officials — Harmeet Dhillon, who is now assistant attorney general for civil rights, and former state Assemblyman Bill Essayli, who is now in charge of the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles — quickly moved to bring the state to heel.

They launched an investigation into California’s trans-inclusive sports policies, ordered its school districts to comply with Trump’s order in defiance of state law, and then sued the Department of Education and the CIF when they refused — alleging the state’s policies illegally discriminate against cisgender girls under Title IX by ignoring “undeniable biological differences between boys and girls, in favor of an amorphous ‘gender identity.’”

Neither Dhillon nor the Justice Department responded to a request for comment. Essayli’s office declined to comment.

Assistant Atty. Gen. for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon arrives for a news conference at the Justice Department in September.

(Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)

The Department of Education and the CIF have called for the lawsuit to be dismissed, arguing that Title IX regulations “do not require the exclusion of transgender girls” and that the Justice Department had provided no evidence that the state’s policies left cisgender girls unable to compete.

The CIF said in a statement that it “provides students with the opportunity to belong, connect, and compete in education-based experiences in compliance with California law,” but it and the Department of Education said they do not comment on pending litigation. California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta’s office has slammed the Trump administration’s efforts, and filed its own lawsuit to block them.

Separate from the California litigation, there is a major case on transgender youth athletes before the U.S. Supreme Court.

After athletes successfully challenged West Virginia and Idaho bans on transgender competition in lower federal courts, the states appealed. During arguments last month, the high court’s conservative majority sounded ready to uphold the state bans — but not necessarily in a way that would topple liberal state laws allowing such athletes to compete.

Pressure and resolve

Lily, AB and Abigail — all of whom are referenced anonymously in the federal lawsuit against California — agreed, with their parents, to be identified by The Times in order to share how it has felt to be targeted.

Abigail, 17, graduated early and is preparing to start college but hasn’t stopped being an advocate for transgender high school athletes, continuing to show up to CIF and school board meetings to support their right to compete.

“This is a part of my life now, whether I like it or not,” she said.

Speaking can be intimidating, Abigail said, but it has also become familiar — as has the cast of anti-transgender activists who routinely show up to speak as well. “It’s always the same people,” she said.

Abigail Jones participates in a protest against President Trump and his attacks on transgender people in April in Riverside.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

AB, also 17, said last year — when everyone, including Trump, seemed to be talking about her — was “just so much — too much.”

She felt she had to constantly “maintain an image,” including among her peers, that she was “not bothered by anything and just confident,” which was exhausting, she said. “There were a lot of times I just didn’t go to school, because I felt like I couldn’t keep up that image and I didn’t want them to see me down.”

It still can be overwhelming if she looks at all the vitriol aimed her way online, she said, but “off the internet, it’s a completely different story.”

AB was nervous headed into last year’s championships, but a couple of other competitors reached out with their support and the meet ended up being “a blast,” she said. At track practice this year, she’s surrounded by friends — one of her favorite things about being on the team.

For Lily, the last year has been “different and interesting, in not really a good way.”

She has had slurs lobbed at her and been physically threatened. She sometimes waits all day to use the toilet, nearly bursting by the time she gets home. When she has to use a school restroom, she times herself to be in and out in under three minutes. She took P.E. courses over the summer in part because she felt there would be fewer students around, but faced harassment anyway. Like AB, she feels as though she’s under a constant spotlight.

And yet, Lily said she is also “a lot happier with who I am” than she ever was before transitioning a couple of years ago. She said she’s enjoying her classes and her school’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance, where LGBTQ+ kids gather at lunch to swap stories, and is optimistic about the future — even if things aren’t great right now.

Her dad said watching her come out and transition has been gratifying, because “the smile came back, the light in her eyes came back.” Watching her navigate the current campaign against her, he said, has been “really hard,” because “she has been forced to grow up too quickly — she has been forced to defend herself in a way that most kids don’t.”

Mostly, though, he’s just proud of his kid.

“We had our fears as parents, as any parent would, that, OK, this is a different path than we thought our kid was going to be on, and we are worried about her safety and her future in this world,” he said. “But she is amazingly strong — amazingly courageous.”

SAN FRANCISCO — It was speed dating: Eight suitors with less than four minutes each, pitching the woo to thousands of Democratic Party faithful.

The race for California governor has been a low-boil, late-developing affair, noteworthy mostly for its lack of a whole lot that has been noteworthy.

That changed a bit on a sunny Saturday in San Francisco, the contest assuming a smidgen of campaign heat — chanting crowds, sign-waving supporters, call-and-response from the audience — as the state party held its annual convention in this bluest of cities.

Delegates had the chance to officially endorse a party favorite, providing a major lift in a contest with the distinct lack of any obvious front-runner. But with an overstuffed field of nine major Democratic contenders — San José Mayor Matt Mahan was said to have entered the contest too late for consideration — the vote proved to be a mere formality.

No candidate came remotely close to winning the required 60% support.

That left the contestants, sans Mahan, to offer their best distillation of the whys and wherefore of their campaigns, before one of the most important and influential audiences they will face between now and the June 2 primary.

There was, unsurprisingly, a great deal of Trump-bashing and much talk of affordability, or rather, the excruciating lack of it in this priciest of states.

The candidates vied to establish their relatability, that most valuable of campaign currencies, by describing their own hardscrabble experiences.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa — the first speaker, as drawn by lot — spoke of his upbringing in a home riven by alcoholism and domestic violence. State Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond described his childhood subsistence on food stamps, free school lunches and surplus government cheese.

Former state Controller Betty Yee told how she shared a bedroom with four siblings. Katie Porter, the single mom of three kids, said she knows what it’s like to push a grocery cart and fuel her minivan and watch helplessly as prices “go up and up” while dollars don’t stretch far enough.

Michele Reed of Los Angeles cheers at the state Democratic Party convention.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

When it came to lambasting Trump, the competition was equally fierce.

“His attacks on our schools, our healthcare and his politics of fear and bullying has to stop now,” Villaraigosa said.

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) called him “the worst president ever” and boasted of the anti-Trump battles he’s fought in Congress and the courts. Xavier Becerra, a former California attorney general, spoke of his success suing the Trump administration.

Porter may have outdone them all, at least in the use of profanity and props, by holding up one of her famous whiteboards and urging the crowd to join her in a chant of its inscription: “F—- Trump.”

“Together,” the former Orange County congresswoman declared, “we’re going to kick Trump’s ass in November.”

Porter was also the most extravagant in her promises, pledging to deliver universal healthcare to California — a years-old Democratic ambition — free childcare, zero tuition at the state’s public universities and elimination of the state income tax for those earning less than $100,000.

Unstated was how, precisely, the cash-strapped state would pay for such a bounty.

Former Assemblyman Ian Calderon offered a more modest promise to provide free child care to families earning less than $100,000 annually and to break up PG&E, California’s largest utility, “and literally take California’s power back.” (Another improbability.)

Becerra, in short order, said he was “not running on inflated promises” but rather his record as a congressman, former attorney general and health secretary in President Biden’s cabinet.

Rachel Pickering, right, vice chair of the San Luis Obispo County Democratic Party, stands with others wearing pins supporting Democratic causes at the party’s state convention.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

It was one of several jabs that could be heard if one listened closely enough. (No candidate called out any other by name.) “You’re not going to vote for a Democrat who voted for the border wall, are you?” Thurmond demanded, a jab at Porter who supported a major funding bill that included money for Trump’s pet project.

“You’re not going to vote for a Democrat who praises ICE, are you?” Thurmond asked, a poke at Swalwell, who thanked the department for its work last year in a case of domestic terrorism.

“You’re not going to vote for a Democrat who made money off ICE detention centers,” Thurmond went on, targeting Tom Steyer and his former investment firm, which had holdings in the private prison industry.

Yee seemed to take aim at Mahan and his rich Silicon Valley backers, suggesting grassroots Democrats “will not be pushed aside by the billionaire boys club that wants to rule California.”

The barb was part of a full-on assault on the state’s monied class, which includes Steyer, who made his fortune as a hedge fund manager.

In a bit of billionaire jujitsu, he sought to turn the attack around by saying his vast wealth — which has allowed him to richly fund his political endeavors — made him immune to the blandishments of plutocrats and corporate interests.

“Here’s the thing about big donors,” Steyer said. “If you take their money, you have to take their calls. And I don’t owe them a thing. In a world where politicians serve special interests, I can’t be bought.”

There were no breakout moments Saturday. Nothing was said or done in the roughly 35 minutes the candidates devoted to themselves that seemed likely to change the dynamic or trajectory of a race that remains stubbornly ill-defined and, to an unprecedented degree in modern times, wide open.

And there was certainly no sign any of the gubernatorial candidates plan to give up, bowing to concerns their large number could divide the Democratic vote and allow a pair of Republicans to slip through and emerge from California’s top-two primary.

But for at least a little while, within the confines of San Francisco’s Moscone Center, there was a glimmer of a life in a contest that has seemed largely inert. That seemed a portent of more to come as the June primary inches ever closer.

SAN DIEGO — Light rain slicked the pavement in San Diego’s East Village neighborhood on a recent morning, forcing some homeless people to scatter while others huddled under tents or slept through the drizzle.

I was on foot with Dr. Aaron Meyer, a psychiatrist frustrated by California’s most visible crisis: The failure to provide help for many of the people who need it most, despite all the programs rolled out over the years, and all the billions of dollars spent.

We see them in parks, on sidewalks and in other public spaces in obvious distress, and we’ve heard the never-ending conversations and political promises of better days. The problem goes well beyond homelessness: Thousands of severely ill people live with exasperated family members who wear themselves out trying to get help for loved ones.

“We have a history of services that have ended up prioritizing less severe people rather than the most severe,” said Meyer, a UC San Diego associate clinical professor of psychiatry who was speaking on his own behalf, as a university rep.

In searching for answers, Meyer teamed with lawyer Ann Marie Council, a former San Diego deputy city attorney who once worked in drug court. She was struck by the number of clients spun through the system countless times without getting treatment for addiction or mental illness.

“I was really sick and tired of watching people go to jail when they weren’t getting the help they needed,” said Council, who retired from public service and started Quarter Turn Strategies, a nonprofit focused on practical solutions to fractured public services.

It turns out the doctor and the lawyer make a pretty good team. In their research, they came upon a tool that could address chronic severe mental illness and addiction, and it was hiding in plain sight: in a book of California statutes, namely Section 5200 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code.

The state law governing involuntary commitments and conservatorships for people with severe mental illness is known as the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, and it includes the commonly used Section 5150 for those deemed “gravely disabled.” The process begins with a 72-hour hold that can lead to a longer commitment, but often does not.

Section 5200 outlines a far more thorough evaluation and care plan than 5150. The 5200 process can be initiated by anybody concerned about someone who is gravely disabled or a danger to themselves or others (with misdemeanor penalties for abuse of the reporting privilege).

Dr. Susan Partovi, who has practiced street medicine in Los Angeles for many years, has a term for the 72-hour hold under 5150:

“We call it the 72-second hold,” she said.

I’ve written previously about Partovi’s moral outrage over the number of severely ill people who either are not deemed “gravely disabled” or who spin repeatedly through three-day holds and return to the same self-destructive routines. I’ve also heard her talk about who among her clients is likely to die next.

Partovi is a member of Grave Disability Workgroup of California, which has endorsed a research paper on 5200, “The Lost Legal Pathway to Mental Health Care,” co-written by Meyer and Council and released a few weeks ago by Quarter Turn. It detailed the frustrations of families, outreach workers and first responders and concluded that 5200 could help break down some of the bureaucratic barriers to life-changing mental health care.

In San Diego, as Meyer and I passed a woman trying to erect a tent in the rain and a person asleep on a littered patch of weeds, I asked him to explain the difference between 5150 and 5200.

Under a 5150 commitment, he said, a person is often brought to an emergency room for an assessment by someone who is not necessarily a behavioral health specialist. A decision is then made about whether the person meets the legal criteria for an involuntary hold.

“If they don’t, then they’re released, and there’s no requirement for any care coordination,” Meyer said. Under 5200, a full medical evaluation is required with a multidisciplinary team, “and it also requires a coordinated care plan on discharge,” raising “the hope of leading to something substantive.”

In their research, Meyer and Council found that 5200 is not known to be in use in any of the state’s 58 counties, with public officials either unaware of it or under the impression that it’s an unnecessary tool given other initiatives over the decades, and cost of implementation could be a problem.

Meyer argues that the state spends billions without addressing glaring needs, and 5200 could cost less than roller-coastering people through hospitals, courts, jails and prisons without putting them on a healthier track.

Meyer said he’s gotten pushback from civil libertarians and disability rights groups, both of which have long opposed coerced treatment and argued instead for a host of greater resources in housing and preventive healthcare, and for more outreach that can lead to voluntary treatment.

I understand the pitfalls of forced treatment, having been on a 20-year journey with someone who initially resisted help and objected to medication. It’s true that forced treatment doesn’t always get the desired outcome, and can backfire if it makes the person more resistant to treatment.

But some people can become too sick to make a decision in their own best interest, which is why we’ve seen so many of them at death’s door, living in squalor and desperation, tortured by psychosis or chewed up by killer drugs.

Care Courts, which were meant to help address this, have not yet had the anticipated impact, and some families have felt let down. Meyer and Council say that although those courts can implement 5200, that isn’t happening yet.

The fact that 5200 is little known and never used “is another example of systems failure,” said former state senator and Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg.

Steinberg said although 5200 isn’t a one-step answer to homelessness or untreated severe mental and addiction illness, it’s worth implementing given the existing “set of systems that are not responsive to people who are the sickest of the sick.”

Jon Sherin, former head of L.A. County’s mental health department, called 5200 “one of the most powerful tools” available and said he tried to implement it several years ago but faced some of the same resistance described by Meyer.

“If you used it thoughtfully and had capacity, you could actually have a massive impact,” said Sherin, who urged those running for governor to “bring 5200 into the limelight and guarantee resources to counties.”

The same can be said about the race for Los Angeles mayor. Despite some progress, homelessness is still a public catastrophe, and gravely ill people are a haunting representation of policy failures.

Supporters of 5200 include Bay Area resident Teresa Pasquini, a mental health reform advocate whose brother and son have both dealt with severe mental illness. Pasquini, whose causes include “Moms on a Mission” and “Housing that Heals,” told me her son, now in his 40s, has been through the 5150 turnstile 40 times.

Pasquini said people in her circumstances have been accused of wanting to shed their troubles by having their kids locked away. All she really wants, she said, is for him to be housed and safe and given proper care.

“We need all the tools we can get … and we need 5200,” Pasquini said. “I’ve watched my son walk out the front door in handcuffs over 40 times. Treatment is not a bad word.”

steve.lopez@latimes.com

U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi declared a triumph against California on Friday, touting an appellate court ruling that she said blocked a state ban on immigration agents and other law enforcement officers wearing masks.

“The 9th Circuit has now issued a FULL stay blocking California’s ban on masks for federal law enforcement agents,” Bondi posted on the social media site X, calling the Feb. 19 decision a “key victory.”

Bondi, however, appeared confused about which case the court was ruling on this week.

A federal judge in Los Angeles blocked California’s first-in-the-nation mask ban 10 days earlier, on Feb. 9.

At the time, U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder said she was “constrained” to block the law because it included only local and federal officers, while exempting state law enforcement.

The state did not appeal that decision.

Instead, on Wednesday, the law’s author Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced a new mask bill without the problematic carve-out for state officers.

With the initial legal challenge already decided and the new bill still pending in the legislature, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has no reason to revisit the mask ban.

The ruling that Bondi appeared to reference involves a separate California law requiring law enforcement officers to display identification while on duty.

Snyder had previously ruled the “No Vigilantes Act” could take effect because it did not exempt state police, a decision the Justice Department appealed to the 9th Circuit.

The appellate court is set to review the matter early next month. Until then, the court issued an injunction that pauses the state law from taking effect.

Issuing a temporary administrative injunction is a common procedural move, allowing judges to freeze things in the status quo until the court has a chance to weigh the law and come to a decision.

Thursday’s order set a hearing in the Richard H. Chambers U.S. Court of Appeals in Pasadena for March 3, indicating the case is far from over.

Bill Essayli, who leads the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles, also celebrated with a post on X, calling Thursday’s order “another key win for the Justice Department.” He too suggested the injunction somehow involved the mask case.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The law requiring officers to show ID is less controversial than the mask ban. But it may still face an uphill battle in the appellate court. A three-judge panel is set to hear the case, comprising two judges nominated to the bench by President Trump and one by President Obama. One of the Trump appointees, Judge Mark Bennett of Hawaii, has previously signaled skepticism over the administration’s immigration enforcement policies.

At issue in the ID case is whether California’s law interferes with or controls the operations of the federal government, actions prohibited by the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution. Snyder ruled that the identification law was more akin to speed limits on the highway, which apply equally to everyone, a decision the appellate court could reject.

A ruling is not expected before mid-March, and would not directly affect the push by state lawmakers to pass a revised mask ban.

Recent polls show more than 60% of Americans want U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and other federal agents unmasked. More than a dozen states are pursuing laws similar to California’s.

In Washington, congressional Democrats have made a mask ban for ICE a key issue in the ongoing partial government shutdown, vowing not to fund the Department of Homeland Security until one is enacted.

Legal experts have said the issue likely will not be resolved until it reaches the Supreme Court.

My friend Andrea and I had hiked about 3½ miles before we perched ourselves atop boulders near the Brown Mountain Dam waterfall. We eagerly pulled out our sandwiches, jalapeño pimento cheese, and chips and queso we’d carried in our backpacks.

Nearby, a small group of hikers glowered at us, eating jerky and protein bars, commenting on the resplendent meal before us (which we’d purchased from local deli Maciel’s). It seemed they were rethinking their food choices. 💅

I love spending time in nature, regardless of whether I’m lounging on a blanket with a friend at a park or hauling my body up a steep fire road to summit a local peak. But the uniting factor of many of the best experiences I’ve had outdoors is great food.

Below you’ll find three hikes that will lead you to great picnic spots around L.A. You’ll see that I’m defining “picnic spots” as a place that offers enough open space to take a seat, including on park benches, picnic tables and flat ground.

Before we dive in, I’d like to remind you of something I frequently scream on trails: Orange peels are trash! Please don’t leave any food out in nature that you bring with you.

“There is a common misconception that ‘natural trash’ such as orange peels, banana peels, apple cores, and shells from nuts and seeds are OK to leave behind on the trail, in campgrounds, or in other outdoor spaces,” Leave No Trace’s Erin Collier and Brice Esplin wrote in this article. “While these things are natural, they are not natural to the places they are being left. These types of trash attract wildlife to areas with human activity, affecting their health and habits.”

Now that you’ve vowed to pack out what you pack in, let’s dive into this week’s hikes.

Oak woodlands and riparian habitats are among several plant communities in the mountains around L.A., including along the Gabrielino Trail near Pasadena.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

1. Gabrielino Trail to Gould Mesa campground

Distance: 3.6 miles out and back
Elevation gained: About 300 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
Dogs allowed? Yes
Accessible alternative: The first mile of this trail is paved!

The Gabrielino National Recreation Trail is a 28.8-mile long journey from Chantry Flat Recreation Area north of Sierra Madre all the way to Ventura Street & Windsor Avenue trailhead near the Hahamongna Watershed Park in La Cañada Flintridge. It is a multi-use trail for hikers, mountain bikers and horse riders.

The trail has several beautiful sections, including from its western entrance in Hahamongna to the Gould Mesa Trail Camp.

To begin your hike, you’ll park at a large free dirt lot near the backside of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. If hiking in a wheelchair or seeking a paved path, I recommend parking at this smaller paved lot.

You can either take the paved trail or an unofficial dirt trail that follows the Arroyo Seco before leading you to the official trail. Either way, it’s a fairly easy stroll along the Arroyo Seco, shaded by coast live oaks, bay laurels and sycamore trees. After hiking about two miles, you’ll reach the Gould Mesa Trail Camp, where you can set up your picnic at one of the campground’s tables, or nearby along the creek.

And if you’d like to go a bit farther, you can continue onward to the Paul Little Picnic Site or the Brown Mountain Dam waterfall that I mentioned above. Regardless of where you stop, I promise you’ll be treated to a stunning landscape and likely hear the chirp and squawk of scrub jays, California quail and more.

Hikers make their way up a trail to the Griffith Observatory.

(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

2. Griffith Observatory via Fern Dell/Four Loops (Griffith Park Explorer Segment 6)

Distance: 4.1 miles
Elevation gained: 750 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
Dogs allowed? Yes
Accessible alternative: Griffith Park Explorer Segment 4 — Anza, Autry and Main

How often do you act like a tourist in your own city? Well, now’s the time!

The Fern Dell/Four Loops trail is a 4.1-mile figure-eight-shaped looping path through Griffith Park’s southern end. Although it doesn’t officially include a stop at the Griffith Observatory, that’s what I’d recommend, as it is such a serene place to share a meal with family and friends.

To begin, you’ll park in an O-shaped lot north of the Trails Cafe, where you could grab a meal to-go before heading out. You’ll head north from the lot, following the West Trail in a loop back south to the aptly named Loop Trail. After completing the Loop Trail’s loop, you’ll head south before taking the Observatory Trail on your next loop. If following the Griffith Park Explorer map, you’ll want to take note of when to turn to head to the Griffith Observatory.

If the Observatory area is busy, consider going just a little farther north to the Berlin Forest to have your picnic. Just make sure to link back up with the Fern Dell/Four Loops trail so you can not only enjoy the lush greenery in the Fern Dell area, but also make it back to where you parked.

One of many benches on the way to Mt. Thom and Tongva Peak in Verdugo Mountains.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

3. Mt. Thom and Tongva Peak via Brand Park

Distance: About 3 miles
Elevation gained: 1,950 feet
Difficulty: Hard
Dogs allowed? Yes
Accessible alternative: Crescenta Valley Community Regional Park loop

If you’ve ever looked out your plane’s window as you flew out of Hollywood Burbank Airport, and thought, “My, that trail looks hard,” you would have been correct.

The trail from Brand Park in Glendale to Mt. Thom is a grueling dirt trail, but its payoff includes stunning views of the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys and San Gabriel Mountains. And along the way, you’ll find benches and other lookout spots that would make for epic picnic spots. (Plus, if you do it, you could brag from your plane window, “I hiked up there and had these great tacos from that very peak!”)

To begin your hike, you’ll park near the Miss American Green Cross statue before heading northeast up the trail. Please note that there isn’t any water access on the trail, and it has limited shade outside of its lookout points with benches, which you’ll reach just under a mile in.

You’ll reach Mt. Thom about half a mile farther, but it will be a steep half mile. Keep going for about three-quarters of a mile, and you will find a quick offshoot that’ll take you to Tongva Peak. This is a fabulous place to relax, take in the views and, most importantly, eat.

If you’d like to skip the steep section, I’d recommend parking near the Sunshine Preserve, a critical wildlife passageway managed by the Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy. From here, you’ll take Sunshine Drive up to Las Flores Motorway, which offers an easier incline to reach Mt. Thom and Tongva Peak.

Either way, you should spot some benches and flat areas to take a seat or lay out a blanket and enjoy the expansive views of Glendale, Burbank and the cities beyond there. I promise: Your meal will taste even better after the climb to Mt. Thom — especially since it won’t be just jerky or a protein bar!

3 things to do

Runners participate in a previous 4 Mile Hill Challenge run.

(Aztlan Athletics LLC)

1. Frolic for feathered friends in L.A.
Athletes from beginner to elite have until Friday to sign up for Saturday’s 4 Mile Hill Challenge, a trail run and walk in Ernest E. Debs Regional Park. Proceeds from the race benefit the Audubon Center at Debs Park. Race onlookers can partake in bird-themed activities as they cheer on their athletes. Register at 4milehillchallenge.com.

2. Get moving in Montebello
Montebello Outdoor Adventures will host a hiking trip from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday in the Puente Hills Preserve. Guests will meet at the Cathy Hensel Youth Center (236 S. Taylor Ave. in Montebello) before being taken by free transportation on the day trip. Registration is required. Register at montebellorecreation.com via the Trips and Tours page.

3. Foster the forest in Sunland-Tujunga
The Sierra Club Angeles Chapter will host a volunteer workday from 8 to 10 a.m. Saturday in Sunland-Tujunga. Volunteers will water and mulch four or more trees, helping them stave off disease or death, especially in hotter months. Participants should bring gloves and sun protection. Tools provided. Location released upon registration. Register at act.sierraclub.org.

The must-read

A motion-sensor camera captures an adult female mountain lion in the Verdugo Mountains in 2016.

(U.S. National Park Service via Associated Press)

I continue to be amazed by the ongoing legacy of P-22, L.A.’s dearly departed lion king. On Thursday, the California Fish and Game Commission unanimously voted to list six specific mountain lion populations — more than 1,400 pumas — in Southern California and the Central Coast as threatened under state law. “Hemmed in by freeways and housing, cougar clans in the Santa Monica and Santa Ana mountains — both included in the listing — have a 16% to 28% chance of extinction in 50 years if they aren’t able to reach lions to mate with in other areas, providing genetic diversity,” wrote Times staff writer Lila Seidman. It’s hard to imagine this happening without the advocacy for mountain lions stimulated by P-22, whose memorial in 2023 lasted more than three hours and drew thousands of guests.

Happy adventuring,

P.S.

Do you have a story of love on the hiking trail? Did someone break up with you atop a mountain? Or perhaps it was a marriage proposal on a peak! On April 3, The Times will host L.A. Affairs Live, a competition show featuring real dating stories from people living in the Greater Los Angeles area. The event is a spin-off of our popular dating and romance column of the same name. Seven to 10 storytellers will be selected to perform 5- to 7-minute relationship stories related to the theme of “Starting Fresh.” A live audience will choose the winner. The winner will get a written version of their story published as an L.A. Affairs column and receive a $400 payment. So, do any of our Wild readers have a lowercase-wild story to tell? Learn more about how to audition here. The deadline to submit is midnight Sunday!

For more insider tips on Southern California’s beaches, trails and parks, check out past editions of The Wild. And to view this newsletter in your browser, click here.

There are two, seemingly irreconcilable, stories of how the Palisades fire became a deadly and destructive behemoth dominating post-fire discourse. One is told by the residents who lived through it, and the other by the government officials who responded to it.

Government officials have routinely argued they had little agency to change the outcome of a colossal fire fanned by intense winds. Palisadians point to a string of government missteps they say clearly led to and exacerbated the disaster.

Officials’ unwillingness to acknowledge any mistakes has only sharpened residents’ focus on them, functionally bringing to a grinding halt any discourse around how the two groups can work to prevent the next disaster.

Instead, residents have been left feeling gaslighted by their own government, while fire officials struggle to navigate the backlash to new fire safety measures.

When officials and residents do talk solutions, the former tend to emphasize personal responsibility — most prominently, Zone Zero, which will require residents to remove flammable materials and plants near their homes — while the latter often push for greater government responsibility: a bolstered fire service and a beefed-up water system.

The residents’ account goes like this:

The Fire Department failed to put out the Lachman fire a week prior. Mayor Karen Bass then left the country during dangerous weather while the deputy mayor for public safety position was vacant after Brian K. Williams, who formerly held the role, was put on leave after allegedly making a bomb threat against City Hall. L.A.’s city Fire Department officials failed to deploy 1,000 firefighters in advance of the fire and did not call for firefighters to work extended hours, while dozens of fire engines were out of commission at the time, waiting for repairs.

An aircraft drops fire retardant on the Palisades fire on Jan. 8, 2025.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Meanwhile the L.A. Department of Water and Power left a water reservoir designed for firefighting empty and the city failed to analyze how it would evacuate the community.

However, when government officials — be it the mayor, the fire chief or the governor — describe the fire, they tell a different story:

The day after the fire erupted, Bass placed some of the blame on climate change, which some scientists argue has exacerbated fires in the area by increasing the frequency and intensity of hot, dry and windy conditions. Fire officials stressed that the winds during the first few days of the fires were so strong that there was little even the best-equipped fire service could do and that the fire grew so large that there wasn’t a single fire hydrant system in the world that could handle the demand.

Many residents don’t deny that, under such extreme conditions and after the fire reached a certain scale and ferocity, the destruction became inevitable — and there are many who would just like to move on from January 2025.

However, others remain frustrated that these official versions of the story do not acknowledge the government’s failure to prepare for such conditions and its failure to stop the fire before it passed the threshold of inevitability. Indeed, at times, officials have shied away from these uncomfortable discussions to shield themselves from potential liability.

One telling example: On the one-year anniversary of the fire, residents gathered to voice these frustrations at a protest in the heart of the neighborhood. But when Bass was asked to comment on the event, she dismissed it as an unfit way to commemorate the anniversary and accused organizers of profiting off the disaster.

Survivors gathered in Palisades Village to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Palisades fire on Jan. 7, 2026.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

This sort of dismissal has essentially forestalled any constructive discussions of climate change, the limits of the fire service and water systems and proposals like Zone Zero, since so many Palisadians now feel like any of that is just a fig leaf for the government’s agency and responsibility, and not a good faith discussion of how to solve the wildfire problem.

The reality is, how climate change is influencing wildfires in Southern California is still a subject of debate among scientists. That doesn’t mean that local leaders need to sit on their hands and wait for consensus. Experts can easily point to a litany of steps that can be taken to better protect residents, regardless of how profound the impact is of global warming on fire risk in the region.

Fire scientists and fire service veterans (who have the pleasure of speaking freely in retirement) argue both personal responsibility and government responsibility play key roles in preventing disasters:

Home hardening and defensible space slow down the dangerous chain reaction in which a wildfire jumps into an urban area and spreads from house to house. It is then the responsibility of a prepared and capable fire service to use that extra time to stop the destruction in its tracks.

The bottom line is that neither the government’s story nor the residents’ story of the Palisades fire is fundamentally wrong. And neither is fully complete.

The conversations around fire preparedness that need to happen next will require both homeowners and government officials to acknowledge they both have real agency and responsibility to shape the outcome of the next fire.

More recent wildfire news

Mayor Karen Bass personally directed the watering down of the city Fire Department’s after-action report on the Palisades fire in an attempt to limit the city’s legal liability, my colleague Alene Tchekmedyian reports. The revelations come after Bass repeatedly denied any involvement in the editing of the report to downplay failures.

Last Thursday, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta announced his office had opened a civil rights investigation into the fire preparations and response for the Eaton fire, looking for any potential disparities in the historically Black west Altadena, my colleague Grace Toohey reports. West Altadena received late evacuation alerts, and officials allocated limited firefighting resources to the neighborhood.

Meanwhile, the federal government is hard at work attempting to unify federal firefighting resources within the Department of the Interior — including from the Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service — into one U.S. Wildland Fire Service by the end of the year. The effort does not yet include the federal government’s largest firefighting team in the U.S. Forest Service. Because it is housed under the Department of Agriculture, not the Department of the Interior, merging it into the U.S. Wildland Fire Service would probably require congressional approval.

A few last things in climate news

An investigation from my colleague Hayley Smith found that, as Southern California’s top air pollution authority weighed a proposal to phase out gas-powered appliances, it was inundated with at least 20,000 AI-generated emails opposing the measure. When staff reached out to a subset of people listed as submitters of the comments, only five responded, with three saying they had no knowledge of the letters. The authority ultimately scrapped the proposal.

The National Science Foundation announced last week that a supercomputer in Wyoming used by thousands of scientists to simulate and research the climate would be transferred from a federally funded research institute to an unnamed “third-party operator.” It left scientists shocked and concerned.

The Department of Energy has made new nuclear energy a priority; however, no new commercial-scale nuclear facilities are currently under construction, and it’s unclear how the U.S., which imports most of the uranium used by its current reactors, would fuel any new nuclear power plants. These sorts of technical challenges have vexed nuclear advocates who are fighting against a decades-long stagnation in nuclear development, triggered primarily by safety concerns.

This is the latest edition of Boiling Point, a newsletter about climate change and the environment in the American West. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. And listen to our Boiling Point podcast here.

For more wildfire news, follow @nohaggerty on X and @nohaggerty.bsky.social on Bluesky.

Populist Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday formally kicked off the campaign to place a billionaires tax on the November ballot, framing the proposal as something larger than a debate about economic and tax policy as he appeared at a storied Los Angeles venue.

“The billionaire class no longer sees itself as part of American society. They see themselves as something separate and apart, like the oligarchs,” he told about 2,000 people at the Wiltern. The independent senator from Vermont compared them to kings, queens and czars of yore who believed they had a divine right to rule.

These billionaires “have created huge businesses with revolutionary technologies like AI and robotics that are literally transforming the face of the Earth,” he said, “and they are saying to you and to everybody in America, who the hell do you think you are telling us what we — the ruling elite, the millionaires, the billionaires, the richest people on Earth — who do you think you are telling us what we can do or not?”

California voters can show the billionaires “that we are still living in a democratic society where the people have some power,” Sanders said.

The senator is promoting a labor union’s proposal to impose a one-time 5% tax on the assets of California billionaires and trusts to backfill federal healthcare funding cuts by the Trump administration. Supporters of the contentious effort began gathering voter signatures to place the measure on the November ballot earlier this year. Sanders previously endorsed the proposal on social media and in public statements, and said he would seek to create a national version of the wealth tax.

But Wednesday’s event, a rally that lasted more than two hours and featured a lengthy performance by Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, was framed as the formal launch of the campaign.

“Some people are free to choose between five-star restaurants, while others choose which dumpster will provide their next meal,” Morello said. “Some are free to choose between penthouse suites, while others are free to choose in which gutter to lay their heads.”

The guitarist’s comments came amid a set that included Rage’s protest song “Killing in the Name” and Bruce Springsteen’s social justice ballad “The Ghost of Tom Joad.”

“The people who’ve changed the world in progressive, radical or even revolutionary ways,” Morello said, “did not have any more money, power, courage, intelligence or creativity than anyone here tonight.”

Milling about outside the Wiltern, a historic Art Deco venue, were workers being paid $10 per signature they gathered to help qualify the proposal for the November ballot. Inside, attendees heard from labor leaders, healthcare workers and others whose lives are being affected by federal funding cuts to healthcare.

Lisandro Preza said he was speaking not only only as a leader of Unite Here Local 11, which represents more than 32,000 hospitality workers, but also as someone who has AIDS and recently lost his medical coverage.

“For me, this fight is very personal. Without my health coverage, the thought of going to the emergency room is terrifying,” he said. “That injection I rely on costs nearly $10,000 a month. That shot keeps my disease under control. Without it, my health, my life, are at risk, and I’m not alone. Millions of Americans are facing the same after massive federal healthcare cuts are putting our hospitals on the brink of collapse.”

Sanders, who punctuated his remarks with historic statistics about wealth in the United States and anecdotes about billionaires’ purchases of multiple yachts and planes, tied the impending healthcare cuts to broader problems of growing income and wealth inequality; the consolidation of corporate ownership, including over media outlets; the decline in workers’ wages despite increased productivity; and the threats to the job market of artificial intelligence and automation. He said all these issues were grounded in the greed of the nation’s wealthiest residents.

“For these people, enough is never enough,” he said. “They are dedicated to accumulating more and more wealth and power … no matter how many low-income and working-class people will die because they no longer have health insurance.”

“Shame! Shame!” the audience screamed.

In addition to the wealth tax event, Sanders also plans to use his time in California to meet with tech leaders and speak on Friday at Stanford University about the effects of artificial intelligence and automation on American workers alongside Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont).

Millions of California voters deeply support the Vermont senator, who won the state’s 2020 Democratic presidential primary over Joe Biden by eight points, and narrowly lost the 2016 Democratic primary to Hillary Clinton.

Sanders were the first presidential candidate Elle Parker, 30, ever cast a ballot for in a presidential election.

“He’s inspired me,” said the podcaster, who lives in East Hollywood. “I just love the way he uses his words to inspire us all.”

Supporters proposed the wealth tax to make up for the massive federal funding cuts to healthcare that Trump signed last year. The California Budget & Policy Center estimates that as many as 3.4 million Californians could lose Medi-Cal coverage, rural hospitals could shutter, and other healthcare services would be slashed unless a new funding source is found.

But the tax proposal is controversial, creating a notable schism among the state’s Democrats because of concerns that it will prompt an exodus of the state’s wealthy, who are the major source of revenue that buttresses California’s volatile budget.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is among the Democrats who oppose it, as is San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who is among the dozen candidates running to replace the termed-out governor.

Mahan argued that the proposal had already hurt the state’s finances by driving economic investment and tax revenue out of California to tax-friendly environs.

“We need ideas that are sound, not just political proposals that sound good,” he said. “The answer is to close the federal tax loopholes the ultra-wealthy use to escape paying their fair share and invest those funds in paying down our debt, rebuilding our infrastructure, and protecting our most vulnerable families from skyrocketing healthcare premiums. The only winners in this proposal are the workers and taxpayers of Florida and Texas, who will take our jobs and benefit from the capital and tax revenue California is losing.”

A group affiliated with the governor plans to run digital ads opposing the proposal featuring Newsom along with other politicians on both sides of the aisle, as first reported by the New York Times.

The proposal has received more expected and unified backlash from the state’s conservatives and business leaders, who have launched ballot measures that could nullify part if not all of the proposed wealth tax. This is dependent on which, if any, of the measures qualify for the ballot — the number of votes each receives in November compared to the labor effort.

Silicon Valley billionaires, notably PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel and venture capitalist David Sacks — both major Trump supporters — announced they had already decamped California because of the effort.

Rob Lapsley, president of California Business Round Table, added that if the wealth tax is approved, it would destroy the state’s innovation economy, destabilize tax revenue and ultimately result in all Californians paying higher taxes.

“Let’s be clear — this $100-billion tax increase isn’t just a swipe at California’s most successful entrepreneurs; it’s a tax no one can afford because it weakens the entire economic ecosystem that supports jobs, investment, wages, and public services for everyday Californians,” he said. “When high earners leave, the cost doesn’t vanish — it lands on everyone through fewer jobs, less investment, and a weaker tax base — a recipe for new and higher taxes for everyone.”

California may be losing two of the state’s most famed residents and generous political donors.

Filmmaker Steven Spielberg recently moved to New York and Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg is eyeing purchasing a new property in Florida, stirring speculation about whether their decisions are tied to a proposed new tax on California billionaires to fund healthcare for the state’s most vulnerable residents.

Although a handful of prominent conservatives who bolted out of California noisily blamed their departure on the controversial wealth tax measure, as well as the state’s liberal ways and what they describe as cumbersome business regulations, neither Zuckerberg nor Spielberg has given any indication that the tax proposal is the reason for their moves.

A spokesperson for Spielberg, who has owned homes on both the East and West coasts since at least the mid-1990s, said the sole motivation for Spielberg and his wife, actor Kate Capshaw, decamping to Manhattan was to be near family.

“Steven’s move to the East Coast is both long-planned and driven purely by his and Kate Capshaw’s desire to be closer to their New York based children and grandchildren,” said Terry Press, a spokesperson for the prodigious filmmaker. She declined to answer questions about his position on the proposed ballot measure.

Director Steven Spielberg presents president Bill Clinton with the Ambassadors Humanity award at the 5th Annual Ambassadors for Humanity Dinner Honoring former President Bill Clinton to support the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation held at the Amblin theatre Universal Studios on February 17, 2005 in Los Angeles, California.

(Frazer Harrison / Getty Images)

On Jan. 1, Spielberg and Capshaw officially became residents of New York City, settling in the historic San Remo co-op in Central Park West. The storied building is among the most exclusive in Manhattan, having been home to Bono, Mick Jagger, Warren Beatty, Tiger Woods and many other celebrities. On the same day, Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment opened an office in New York City.

Zuckerberg and his wife, pediatrician Priscilla Chan, are considering buying a $200-million waterfront mansion in South Florida, the Wall Street Journal first reported this month. The property is located in Miami’s Indian Creek, a gated barrier island that is an alcove of the wealthy and the influential, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner.

Representatives for Zuckerberg declined to comment.

The billionaires’ moves raised eyebrows because they take place as supporters of the proposed 5% one-time tax on the assets of California billionaires and trusts are gathering signatures to qualify the initiative for the November ballot. Led by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, they must gather the signatures of nearly 875,000 registered voters and submit them to county elections officials by June 24.

If approved, the tax would raise roughly $100 billion that would largely pay for healthcare services, as well as some education programs. Critics say it would drive the wealthy and their companies out of the state. On Dec. 31, venture capitalist David Sacks announced that he was opening an office in Austin, Texas, the same day PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel publicized that his firm had opened a new office in Miami.

The proposed ballot measure, if it qualifies for the ballot and is approved by voters, would apply to Californians who are residents of the state as of 2026. But residency requirements are murky. Among the factors considered by the state’s Franchise Tax Board are where someone is registered to vote, the location of their principle residence, how much time they spend in California, where their driver’s license was issued and their cars registered, where their spouse and children live, the location of their doctors, dentists, accountants and attorneys, and their “social ties,” such as the site of their house of worship or county club.

It’s unclear whether the proposal will qualify for the November ballot, and if it does, whether voters will approve it. However, a mass exodus of a number of the state’s billionaires — more than 200 people — would have a notable effect on state revenue, regardless. The state’s budget volatility is caused by its heavy reliance on taxes paid by the state’s wealthiest residents, including from levies on capital gains and stock-based compensation.

“The highest-income Californians pay the largest share of the state’s personal income tax,” according to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2026-27 budget summary that was published in January. “The significant share of personal income taxes — by far the state’s largest General Fund revenue source — paid by a small percentage of taxpayers increases the difficulty of forecasting personal income tax revenue.”

This reliance on wealthy Californians is among the reasons the proposed billionaires tax has created a schism among Democrats and is a source of discord in the 2026 governor’s race to replace Newsom, who cannot seek another term and is weighing a presidential bid. He opposes the proposal; Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT.) campaigned for it Wednesday evening at the Wiltern in Los Angeles.

“I am not only supportive of what they’re trying to do in California, but we’re going to introduce a wealth tax for the whole country. We have got to deal with the greed, the extraordinary greed, of the billionaire class,” Sanders told reporters Feb. 11.

Zuckerberg and Spielberg are both prolific political donors, though it is difficult to fully account for their contributions to candidates, campaigns and other entities because of how they or their affiliates donate to them as well as the intricacies of campaign finance reporting.

Spielberg, 79, a Hollywood legend, is worth more than $7 billion, according to Forbes. He and his wife have donated almost universally to Democratic candidates and causes, according to Open Secrets, a nonprofit, nonpartisan tracker of federal campaign contributions, and the California secretary of state’s office.

The prolific filmmaker, who won acclaim for movies such as “Schindler’s List,” “Jaws,” “Jurassic Park” and the “Indiana Jones” trilogy, was born in Ohio and lived with his family in several states before moving to California. He attended Cal State Long Beach but dropped out after Universal Studios gave him a contract to direct television shows.

Zuckerberg, 41, launched Facebook while in college and is worth more than $219 billion, making him among the world’s richest people, according to Forbes.

His largest personal federal political donation appears to be $1 million to FWD.us, a group focused on criminal justice and immigration reform nationwide, according to Open Secrets.

Zuckerberg, who is currently a registered Democrat in Santa Clara County, has donated to politicians across the partisan spectrum, including Democrats such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and current Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to Republicans such as President Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio when he ran for the White House and Chris Christie during his New Jersey gubernatorial campaign.

Both men’s personal donations don’t include their other effects on campaign finances — Spielberg has helped countless Democratic politicians raise money in Hollywood; Zuckerberg’s company has made other contributions. Meta — the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration committee in December 2024. Zuckerberg later attended the president’s swearing in at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

Zuckerberg, born in White Plains, N.Y., created an early prototype of Facebook while at Harvard University and dropped out to move to Silicon Valley to complete the social media platform, as depicted in the award-winning film “The Social Network.”

He still owns multiple properties in California and elsewhere, including a controversial, massive compound on Kauai that includes two mansions, dozens of bedrooms, multiple other buildings and recreational spaces — and an underground bunker that features a metal door filled with concrete, according to a 2023 investigation by Wired. The cost of land acquisition and construction reportedly has topped $300 million.

Meta is based in Menlo Park, Calif., though it has been incorporated in Delaware since Facebook’s founding in 2004.

Times staff writer Queenie Wong contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — As progressives seek to place a new tax on billionaires on California’s November ballot, a Republican congressman is moving in the opposite direction — proposing federal legislation that would block states from taxing the assets of former residents.

Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin), who faces a tough re-election challenge under California’s redrawn congressional maps, says he will introduce the “Keep Jobs in California Act of 2026” on Friday. The measure would prohibit any state from levying taxes retroactively on individuals who no longer live there.

The proposed legislation adds another layer to what has already been a fiery debate over California’s approach to taxing the ultra-wealthy. It has created divisions among Democrats and has placed Los Angeles at the center of a broader political fight, with Bernie Sanders set to hold a rally on Wednesday night in support of the wealth tax.

Kiley said he drafted the bill in reaction to reports that several of California’s most prominent billionaires — including Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin — are planning to leave the state in anticipation of the wealth tax being enacted.

“California’s proposed wealth tax is an unprecedented attempt to chase down people who have already left as a result of the state’s poor policies,” Kiley said in a statement Wednesday. “Many of our state’s leading job creators are leaving preemptively.”

Kiley said it would be “fundamentally unfair” to retroactively impose taxes on former residents.

“California already has the highest income tax of any state in the country, the highest gas tax, the highest overall tax burden,” Kiley said in a House floor speech earlier this month. “But a wealth tax is something unique because a wealth tax is not merely the taxation of earned income, it is the confiscation of assets.”

The fate of Kiley’s proposal is just as uncertain as his future in Congress. His 5th Congressional District, which hugs the Nevada border, has been sliced up into six districts under California’s voter-approved Proposition 50, and he has not yet picked one to run in for re-election.

The Billionaire Tax Act, which backers are pushing to get on the November ballot, would charge California’s 200-plus billionaires a onetime 5% tax on their net worth in order to backfill billions of dollars in Republican-led cuts to federal healthcare funding for middle-class and low-income residents. It is being proposed by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West.

In his floor speech, Kiley worried that the tax, if approved, could cause the state’s economy to collapse.

“What’s especially threatening about this is that our state’s tax structure is essentially a house of cards,” Kiley said. “You have a system that is incredibly volatile, where top 1% of earners account for 50% of the tax revenue.”

But supporters of the wealth tax argue the measure is one of the few ways that can help the state seek new revenue as it faces economic uncertainty.

Sanders, an independent from Vermont who caucuses with the Democrats, is urging Californians to back the measure, which he says would “provide the necessary funding to prevent more than 3 million working-class Californians from losing the healthcare they currently have — and would help prevent the closures of California hospitals and emergency rooms.”

“It should be common sense that the billionaires pay just slightly more so that entire communities can preserve access to life-saving medical care,” Sanders said in a statement earlier this month. “Our country needs access to hospitals and emergency rooms, not more tax breaks for billionaires.”

Other Democrats are not so sure.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is eyeing a presidential bid in 2028, has opposed the measure. He has warned a state-by-state approach to taxing the wealthy could stifle innovation and entrepreneurship.

Some of he wealthiest people in the world are also taking steps to defeat the measure.

Brin is donating $20 million to a California political drive to prevent the wealth tax from becoming law, according to a disclosure reviewed by the New York Times. Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal and the chairman of Palantir, has also donated millions to a committee working to defeat the proposed measure, the New York Times reported.

One person remains missing after a heavy avalanche engulfed a group of skiers in the Sierra Nevada mountains of the US.

Local authorities say that at least eight people have been found dead following an avalanche in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, the deadliest incident of its kind in more than 40 years.

Nevada County Sheriff Shannon Moon said on Wednesday that rescue crews have been hindered by difficult conditions during a powerful winter storm.

One person remains missing. Six of the 15 skiers buried by the avalanche were found alive.

“We are still looking for one of the members at this time,” Moon confirmed to reporters, adding that family members have been informed that the search has moved from rescue to recovery.

The deadly incident comes as California experiences a winter storm that has deluged the mountains near the popular winter destination of Lake Tahoe with heavy snow.

The Sierra Avalanche Center warned on Wednesday that the risk of further avalanches remains high in the area as several feet of additional snow contribute to unstable conditions.

The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services announced in a statement that it was “leading whole of government efforts to aid Nevada County”, which is located in eastern California, on the border with the neighbouring US state of Nevada.

“We are actively coordinating additional resources statewide to support avalanche search and rescue efforts to locate missing skiers near Castle Peak,” the office added.

Search-and-rescue teams were dispatched to the Castle Peak area after a call to emergency services reported that 15 people on a three-day trek had been buried by an avalanche on Tuesday morning.

“Our thoughts are with the missing individuals, their families, and first responders in the field,” the company Blackbird Mountain Guides said in a statement, noting that four guides were among those struck by the avalanche as they were returning to a trailhead.

Feb. 18 (UPI) — Tesla will stop using the term “Autopilot” in marketing of its vehicles in California, the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles announced.

In December, a judge ruled that the company was using deceptive wording in its marketing of the cars in California and recommended a suspension of sales and manufacturing in the state. But the DMV allowed the company 60 days to change its wording.

Autopilot is Tesla’s driver-assistance mode, and its self-driving setting is called Full Self-Driving. The DMV argued that both terms mislead customers and distort the abilities of the driver-assistance systems.

Tesla had changed the self-driving system to be called “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” to indicate that drivers must still monitor the system. But it stayed with “Autopilot,” prompting the DMV to refer the case to the California Office of Administrative Hearings.

The judge ruled with the DMV and recommended the suspension. But the DMV gave the company the grace period.

“Since then, Tesla took corrective action and has stopped using the misleading term ‘Autopilot’ in the marketing of its electric vehicles in California,” the DMV said in a press release Tuesday. “Tesla had previously modified its use of the term ‘Full Self-Driving’ to clarify that driver supervision is required. By taking this prescribed action, Tesla will avoid having its dealer and manufacturer licenses suspended in the state for 30 days by the DMV.”

But Tesla went a step further and changed its driver-assistance plan altogether. It discontinued the former Autopilot mode and now requires owners to pay for an FSD Supervised subscription. Until last week, owners paid a one-time fee of $8,000 for FSD. Now, they pay a $99 monthly fee. CEO Elon Musk has said the fee will increase as FSD Supervised improves, TechCrunch reported.

California is Tesla’s biggest market, with about 30% of its sales. Tesla recently announced that its Fremont, Calif., factory will begin making its Optimus humanoid robots by the end of 2027. It discontinued its Model S and X cars, previously manufactured there.

Dominated by anti-crime measures passed by the 1994 Legislature, hundreds of new state laws took effect Sunday. In all, 1,349 laws were signed by Gov. Pete Wilson during the year.

The standout in the crime category, the “three strikes and you’re out” provision, took effect months ago, but now other new laws join the anti-crime arsenal.

Some substantially widen the grounds on which wrongdoers can be convicted. Others, including a tough “one strike” sentencing law for rapists, ensure that they will stay behind bars longer.

Among other new laws, one bans smoking in practically all indoor workplaces. Another lifts a ban that some employers impose against women wearing pants to work. But at schools, students may now be required to wear uniforms.

Here’s a sampling of the state’s new laws. For more information about a particular law, write to the bill’s author at the state Capitol, Sacramento, Calif. 95814. Further information is available to computer users through the Internet; a user’s guide is available from legislators.

CRIMINAL PENALTIES

Violent crimes–The minimum age at which minors charged with serious violent crimes can be tried, convicted and imprisoned as adults drops from 16 to 14. (AB 560 by Sen. Steve Peace, D-Bonita).

Parole hearings–An inmate serving time for murder is permitted to seek parole before the Board of Prison Terms only once every five years instead of once every two years. (SB 826 by Sen. Bill Leonard, R-Big Bear Lake).

Work-time credits–Violent felons can reduce their prison sentences with work-time credits by only 15%, no longer by as much as 50%. (AB 2716 by Assemblyman Richard Katz, D-Sylmar).

Gun sales to minors–Prison sentences are increased for people convicted of the illegal sale or transfer of handguns to minors. (AB 2470 by Assemblyman Richard K. Rainey, R-Walnut Creek).

Ammunition sales–It is now a crime to sell ammunition to anyone under age 18. (AB 2449 by Assemblywoman Dede Alpert, D-Coronado).

Looting penalties–Judges can require community service in addition to jail time for people convicted of looting during a state of emergency such as the riots that erupted after the Rodney G. King beating trial. (AB 2965 by Assemblywoman Martha M. Escutia, D-Huntington Park).

ATM robberies–Robbing a customer at an automated teller machine becomes a specific crime, subject to penalties of three, four or six years in state prison. (SB 2908 by Sen. Tom Hayden, D-Santa Monica).

Church services–The penalty is doubled from six months to one year in jail for those convicted of disrupting religious services or preventing people from attending them. (AB 3103 by Assemblyman Gil Ferguson, R-Newport Beach).

Criminal profits–Any income derived by criminals convicted of serious crimes from books, movies or similar works resulting from their notoriety will be placed into a trust fund for the benefit of the victims of their crimes. (SB 1330 by Sen. Charles M. Calderon, D-Whittier).

911 calls–It is a crime to repeatedly harass 911 telephone operators and block legitimate emergency calls from getting through. (AB 2741 by Assemblyman Sal Cannella, D-Ceres).

Prisoner rights–Prison officials can require inmates to bathe and get haircuts, prohibit receipt of pornographic magazines and racist hate literature, and charge them a $3 fee for filing civil lawsuits. (SB 1260 by Sen. Robert B. Presley, D-Riverside).

Child abuse–A prison sentence of 15 years to life is established for those convicted of abusing a child under the age of 8 and causing the child’s death. (AB 27X by Assemblywoman Jackie Speier, D-Burlingame).

SEX CRIMES

Rape sentences–Perpetrators of aggravated rape or child molestation, such as those who kidnap their victims, face prison terms of 25 years to life upon a single conviction. The sentence is 15 years to life for first-time sex offenses in less violent circumstances. The law took effect Nov. 30. (SB 26X by Sen. Marian Bergeson, R-Newport Beach).

Sex offender information–The state Department of Justice will maintain a 900 toll number that people can call to find out if someone who is a registered sex offender is living in their neighborhood. (AB 2500 by Assemblywoman Barbara Alby, R-Fair Oaks).

Registration list–The list of crimes for which sex offenders must register with local law enforcement authorities after their release is expanded. (AB 1211 by Assemblyman Richard K. Rainey, R-Walnut Creek).

Sex offenders–Parents who are registered sex offenders are prohibited from assuming custody of their children and barred from making unsupervised visits. (SB 25X by Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer, D-Hayward).

HIV–Victims of sex offenders are guaranteed the right to request and obtain the result of HIV testing of their attackers. (AB 2815 by Assemblywoman Paula L. Boland, R-Granada Hills).

Child molesters–A special unit is added to the state Department of Justice to investigate child molestation complaints. (AB 3273 by Assemblyman Tom Umberg, D-Garden Grove).

Custody restrictions–Convicted child molesters are prohibited from getting custody of children conceived through their illicit conduct. (AB 1082 by Assemblyman Dean Andal, R-Stockton).

Job restrictions–Convicted child molesters or registered mentally disordered sex offenders cannot become state-licensed social workers, educational psychologists or counselors for families or children. (AB 2956 by Assemblywoman Valerie Brown, D-Sonoma).

Sex offenders–Registered sex offenders are prohibited from serving as classroom or play yard volunteers in the public schools. (AB 3458 by Assemblyman Trice Harvey, R-Bakersfield).

Sexual assault–A woman’s request that an attacker use a condom or other birth control device does not constitute consent to sexual assault. (SB 1351 by Sen. Milton Marks, D-San Francisco).

Palm prints–Registered sex offenders are required to submit full palm prints to law enforcement authorities in addition to blood and saliva samples before their release from prison. (AB 151X by Assemblyman Sal Cannella, D-Ceres).

Rape definition–The legal definition of rape is expanded to include situations in which women are unable to resist because they are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. (AB 85X by Assemblywoman Diane Martinez, D-Monterey Park).

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Catching killers–The governor can offer a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a person who kills a police officer acting in the line of duty. (SB 435X by Sen. Robert G. Beverly, R-Long Beach).

Firearms records–Gun dealers are required to make their sales records available to law enforcement officials, and the Department of Justice is required to computerize its handgun records. (SB 1308 by Sen. Steve Peace, D-Bonita).

Inspector general–An inspector general’s office is created within the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency to conduct internal audits and investigations. (SB 1462 by Sen. Ken Maddy, R-Fresno).

Stalking crimes–It will become easier to prosecute state inmates who continue to harass their victims from inside prison. (AB 3730 by Assemblyman Tom Umberg, D-Garden Grove).

Inmate movies–Wardens can prohibit sexually explicit or extremely violent movies from being shown to state prison or Youth Authority inmates. (AB 1685 by Assemblyman Ray Haynes, R-Murrieta).

Jailhouse sex–It is a misdemeanor for law enforcement personnel to engage in sexual relations with inmates. (AB 1568 by Assemblywoman Hilda Solis, D-El Monte).

GRAFFITI

Graffiti materials–It is a misdemeanor to possess an aerosol paint can, felt tip pen or other marking device with the intent to write graffiti or commit public vandalism. (SB 583 by Sen. John R. Lewis, R-Orange).

Graffiti cleanup–Parents of minors convicted of graffiti crimes are required to spend at least 12 hours helping their children clean up the mess. (AB 2595 by Assemblyman Tom Connolly, D-Lemon Grove).

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Bodily harm–The maximum prison sentence for domestic violence convictions is increased to five years and the maximum fine is increased to $10,000. (SB 739 by Sen. Marian Bergeson, R-Newport Beach).

Firearms possession–Anyone subject to a domestic violence restraining order is prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm while the order is in effect. (SB 1278 by Sen. Gary K. Hart, D-Santa Barbara).

Visitation rights–A father’s right to visit his children can be restricted in court cases in which a battered woman has obtained a domestic violence restraining order. (AB 356 by Assemblywoman Margaret Snyder, D-Modesto).

Restraining orders–A statewide registry of people under domestic violence restraining orders is established for use by law enforcement officials. (AB 3034 by Assemblywoman Hilda Solis, D-El Monte).

LEGAL SYSTEM

O.J. Simpson case–Witnesses and jurors in high-profile criminal cases such as the O.J. Simpson trial are prohibited from selling their stories to tabloid newspapers or television shows before or during the trial. (AB 501 by Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, D-San Francisco).

Attorney conduct–The State Bar is to draft rules of conduct to restrict trial attorneys from making out-of-court public comments that could prejudice potential jurors. (SB 254 by Sen. Quentin L. Kopp, I-San Francisco).

900 numbers–Courts are authorized to establish 900 telephone numbers to provide callers with recorded information regarding scheduled trial dates and traffic court sessions. (AB 1800 by Sen. Tom Campbell, R-Stanford).

Attorney advertising–Attorneys are prohibited from engaging in television or radio advertising of their services that is misleading to the public. (AB 3659 by Assemblyman Paul Horcher, R-Diamond Bar).

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

Juvenile decoys–Law enforcement officials are allowed to use people under age 21 as decoys to apprehend merchants who illegally sell beer, wine or liquor to minors. (AB 3805 by Assemblyman Bernie Richter, R-Chico).

Liquor stores–Licensing of new liquor stores is restricted in high-crime neighborhoods already saturated with liquor stores and bars. (AB 2897 by Assemblyman Louis Caldera, D-Los Angeles).

Beer and wine licenses–A three-year moratorium is imposed on the issuance of new beer and wine licenses in some cities in Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties, depending on the ratio of population to the number of existing licenses. Fines and penalties are increased for existing liquor store operators who break the law by selling to obviously intoxicated people or to minors. (AB 463 by Assemblyman Curtis Tucker Jr., D-Inglewood).

Nude juice bars–Cities and counties are empowered to regulate so-called nude juice bars that currently sidestep local laws regulating nude entertainment by not serving alcoholic drinks. (SB 1863 by Sen. Tim Leslie, R-Carnelian Bay).

DRUGS

Trucker drug tests–Intrastate truck drivers will be subject to random drug testing just as interstate truck drivers are under existing federal law. (SB 2034 by Sen. Ruben S. Ayala, D-Chino).

Drug sales–Prison penalties are increased for those convicted of selling illegal drugs on the grounds of public parks or public beaches, including adjacent parking lots and sidewalks. (AB 2638 by Assemblyman Terry B. Friedman, D-Brentwood).

Driver’s licenses–A six-month driver’s license suspension is authorized for those convicted of any drug offense, even if it is unrelated to operation of a motor vehicle. This measure took effect Dec. 1. (AB 79X by Assemblyman Robert Frazee, R-Carlsbad).

Seized assets–The state will continue to seize property and money from convicted drug dealers, using those assets for law enforcement purposes, with new safeguards added to protect innocent people from losing their assets. (AB 114 by Assemblyman John Burton, D-San Francisco).

WOMEN

Dress codes–Employers may not stop women from wearing slacks to work in place of dresses or skirts. (SB 1288 by Sen. Charles M. Calderon, D-Whittier).

Sexual harassment–State law allowing women to sue employers and instructors for sexual harassment is expanded to allow them to sue doctors, lawyers, accountants and other white-collar professionals. (SB 612 by Sen. Tom Hayden, D-Santa Monica).

Abortion protesters–Health care facilities can sue anti-abortion protesters who block access to their premises. (AB 600 by Assemblywoman Jackie Speier, D-Burlingame).

CHILDREN

Child support–State business and professional licenses held by parents who fail to make court-ordered child support payments can be suspended. (AB 923 by Assemblywoman Jackie Speier, D-Burlingame).

Juvenile vandalism–The amount of money that parents or guardians may be liable for because of acts of vandalism committed by their minor children is increased from $10,000 to $25,000. (AB 308 by Assemblyman Dean Andal, R-Stockton).

Parental liability–Parents are held responsible for making court-ordered restitution for property damage committed by their children. (AB 1629 by Assemblywoman Betty Karnette, D-Long Beach).

Missing children–Telephone, gas and electric companies are required to quickly provide law enforcement officials with customer information to help find missing or kidnaped children. (AB 2333 by Assemblyman Bill Morrow, R-Oceanside).

Child seat belts–The fine for the first offense of transporting a child age 4 through 12 in a vehicle without using safety belts is increased to $50 from $20, and to $100 from $50 for subsequent offenses. (SB 2004 by Sen. Nicholas C. Petris, D-Oakland).

Bicycle helmets–Bicycle riders under age 18 are required to wear approved safety helmets or face $25 fines. (AB 2268 by Assemblyman Louis Caldera, D-Los Angeles).

Medical expenses–Divorce court judges are required to specify legal responsibilities of each parent regarding the payment of the children’s medical expenses and health insurance. (SB 1807 by Sen. John R. Lewis, R-Orange).

Tobacco sales–Merchants who illegally sell tobacco products to minors face increased fines and penalties, and the state is permitted to use sting operations to catch them in the act. (SB 1927 by Sen. Tom Hayden, D-Santa Monica).

Curfew fines–Parents whose children break local curfew laws are subject to fines of $50 or more. (AB 3797 by Assemblyman Tom Umberg, D-Garden Grove).

Adoption consent–The time period is reduced from 120 to 90 days during which a birth mother of an adopted child can change her mind, revoke consent and have the child returned to her. (AB 3336 by Assemblywoman Jackie Speier, D-Burlingame).

Pornography–It is a misdemeanor to sell pornographic matter in a news rack unless the news rack is supervised by an adult or located in an area that is not frequented by children. (AB 17 by Sen. Steve Peace, D-Bonita).

CHILD CARE

First aid and CPR training–Child day-care home providers must undergo training in first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to help cope with possible injuries to children under their care. (AB 243 by Assemblywoman Dede Alpert, D-Coronado).

Portable classrooms–Administrative procedures are streamlined for school districts to lease surplus portable classrooms for use as private day-care facilities. (AB 3466 by Assemblyman Ted Weggeland, R-Riverside).

Baby cribs–Manufacture and sale of baby cribs that do not comply with federal safety requirements and present an unreasonable risk of injuries to infants is prohibited in California. (AB 3760 by Assemblywoman Jackie Speier, D-Burlingame).

SCHOOLS

School uniforms–School boards can adopt dress codes requiring students to wear uniforms on campus and stop them from wearing gang-related clothing. (SB 1269 by Sen. Phil Wyman, R-Tehachapi).

Metal detectors–One million dollars is provided to purchase metal detectors for Los Angeles senior and junior high school campuses to catch students who bring guns to school. (AB 777 by Assemblyman Richard Katz, D-Sylmar).

Campus firearms–It is a felony to carry a firearm within 1,000 feet of a public or private school campus. (AB 645 by Assemblywoman Doris Allen, R-Cypress).

Hate violence–The State Board of Education is instructed to adopt policies designed to reduce acts of hate violence in kindergarten through high school. (AB 2543 by Assemblywoman Barbara Lee, D-Oakland).

Student harassment–School boards can suspend or expel students who harass, threaten or intimidate other students and create a hostile school environment in grades 4 through 12. (AB 2752 by Assemblywoman Doris Allen, R-Cypress).

Teaching credentials–The state will permanently revoke the teaching credentials of any teacher who is convicted of a felony sex offense or a drug offense involving a minor. (SB 2005 by Sen. Tim Leslie, R-Carnelian Bay).

Volunteer police–Local school boards can create unpaid volunteer police reserve corps to supplement salaried school police forces. (SB 281 by Sen. Ruben S. Ayala, D-Chino).

School leave–Employers must allow parents and grandparents of school-age children up to 40 days off per year, without pay, so they can take part in school activities. (AB 2590 by Assemblywoman Delaine Eastin, D-Fremont).

COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

New state university–A portion of the old Ft. Ord Army training base in Monterey County is set aside as the site for a new state university campus. (SB 1425 by Sen. Henry J. Mello, D-Watsonville).

Cross-enrollment–Students enrolled in the community college, state college or University of California systems may take one course each term, if space is available, at a campus in one of the other systems by paying a $10 administrative fee. (SB 1914 by Sen. Lucy Killea, I-San Diego).

DRIVING

Unlicensed drivers–Police can confiscate, in some cases permanently, automobiles driven by unlicensed drivers who have a prior conviction for driving without a license or for driving with a suspended or revoked license. (AB 3148 by Assemblyman Richard Katz, D-Sylmar).

Suspended licenses–Penalties are increased for those convicted of driving with a suspended license as a result of a prior drunk driving conviction. (AB 2416 by Assemblywoman Grace F. Napolitano, D-Norwalk).

Driving tests–On a two-year trial basis, private driving schools can give license-qualifying driving tests to 15,000 minor students per year with the Department of Motor Vehicles closely monitoring the program. (SB 1390 by Sen. Charles M. Calderon, D-Whittier).

Automobile theft–A statewide automobile anti-theft prevention and investigation program is established, financed by requiring auto insurance companies to pay a 20-cent fee for each vehicle that they insure. (SB 1723 by Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer, D-Hayward).

Concealed firearms–Judges can suspend or delay issuance of the driver’s licenses of minors convicted of carrying a pistol or other concealable firearm, and order them to complete up to 500 hours of community service. (AB 3499 by Assemblyman Jack O’Connell, D-Carpinteria).

Truancy punishment–The courts can suspend or delay for up to one year the driving privileges of a habitually truant minor. (SB 1728 by Sen. Teresa Hughes, D-Inglewood).

FIRES

Aggravated arson–A mandatory prison term of 10 years to life is prescribed for convicted arsonists who set fires that cause injury, $5 million in property damage or the destruction of five or more homes. (SB 1309 by Sen. William A. Craven, R-Oceanside).

Arson tracking–A statewide computerized arson information system is to be established to help local fire and law enforcement officers track, arrest and prosecute arsonists. (AB 2336 by Assemblyman Richard Katz, D-Sylmar).

Arson registration–All people convicted of arson or attempted arson must register with local law enforcement officials upon their release. (AB 8X by Assemblyman Bill Hoge, R-Pasadena).

Re-roofing requirements–Residents of fire-prone regions are required to use fire-retardant materials when they re-roof their homes. (AB 3819 by Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, D-San Francisco).

Super Scoopers–On a trial basis, the state will lease two so-called Super Scooper aircraft that can swoop low over bodies of water to pick up water to fight forest fires. (AB 2802 by Assemblyman Terry B. Friedman, D-Brentwood).

POULTRY

California grown–It will be a misdemeanor to say “California grown” on supermarket poultry labels if the birds were not raised in this state. (SB 1412 by Sen. Henry J. Mello, D-Watsonville).

Fresh chickens–Poultry advertised and sold as “fresh” by markets must be just that and not pre-frozen. (SB 1533 by Sen. Dan McCorquodale, D-Modesto).

CONSUMER PROTECTION

Travel agencies–A fund of more than $1.5 million is to be set up from fees paid by travel agencies and tour operators to reimburse customers if the agencies and operators skip town or go bankrupt. (AB 918 by Assemblywoman Jackie Speier, D-Burlingame).

Price gouging–It becomes a crime for merchants to increase prices for vital goods and services by more than 10% after a natural disaster such as the Northridge earthquake. (AB 36X by Assemblyman Richard Katz, D-Sylmar, and AB 57X by Assemblywoman Marguerite Archie-Hudson, D-Los Angeles).

Ticket sales–Ticket brokers who sell tickets to events such as football games and rock concerts must possess the tickets they advertise, or have an option to purchase them, and tell buyers exactly how much they will cost. (AB 3083 by Assemblyman Dede Alpert, D-Coronado).

Towing services–It is a crime for towing service operators to accept kickbacks or gifts in return for taking disabled vehicles to certain auto repair shops. (AB 3017 by Assemblywoman Juanita M. McDonald, D-Carson).

Charitable contributions–Professional fund-raisers hired by charity groups are required to give at least 50% of received donations to the sponsoring group. (AB 3443 by Assemblyman Tom Connolly, D-Lemon Grove).

Charity report–The attorney general’s office is required to publish an annual report on charitable fund-raising activities in the state with copies of the report made available to public libraries. (AB 3778 by Assemblyman Tom Umberg, D-Garden Grove).

Cable television–Cable TV customers must be notified in writing that their names and addresses will, if they wish, be deleted from mailing lists that are sold to potential advertisers. (SB 1941 by Sen. Herschel Rosenthal, D-Los Angeles).

HEALTH CARE

Premarital blood tests–Marriage license applicants no longer have to take expensive blood tests to check for syphilis and rubella. (AB 3128 by Assemblywoman Jackie Speier, D-Burlingame).

Health care–Health insurance plans are required to allow women to name their obstetrician-gynecologists as primary care physicians. (AB 2493 by Assemblywoman Jackie Speier, D-Burlingame).

Dalkon shields–The statute of limitations is waived for women filing claims for damages alleging that they were injured by Dalkon shield intrauterine birth control devices. (AB 2855 by Assemblywoman Marguerite Archie-Hudson, D-Los Angeles).

Genetic disease–Health care insurers are prohibited from using genetic testing to discriminate against people who carry the gene for a disease but have no symptoms of it. (SB 1146 by Sen. Patrick Johnston, D-Stockton).

Paramedic training–A statewide system is established for the examination and licensing of California’s 7,000 paramedics, replacing current local programs that vary from county to county. (AB 3123 by Assemblyman Johan Klehs, D-San Leandro).

Whistle-blowers–Continuing-care facilities are prohibited from terminating a contract with a senior citizen as retaliation for the resident filing a complaint against the care provider. (AB 2847 by Assemblywoman Jackie Speier, D-Burlingame).

ENVIRONMENT

Offshore oil drilling–New offshore oil and gas drilling is banned in all state coastal waters–those within three miles of California’s 1,100-mile coastline. (AB 2444 by Assemblyman Jack O’Connell, D-Carpinteria).

Mono Lake–A $36-million state fund is established to permit the city of Los Angeles to replace water supplies it gets from Mono Lake, which will soon be cut off. (AB 3096 by Assemblyman Richard Katz, D-Sylmar).

District budget–The South Coast Air Quality Management District must submit its annual budget for suggested changes, and its extended forecasts for review, to the state Air Resources Board, the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Legislature. (AB 1853 by Assemblyman Richard Polanco, D-Los Angeles).

Ride-sharing programs–The air quality district cannot force employers to use cash incentives or disincentives to encourage employee ride-sharing programs. (SB 1134 by Sen. Newton R. Russell, R-Glendale).

ANIMALS AND FISH

Two-rod fishing–Purchase of a $7.50 stamp in addition to a fishing license will allow anglers to use a second rod while fishing in inland lakes and reservoirs. (SB 2115 by Sen. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena).

Bear poaching–Penalties are increased for the illegal sale or possession of bear parts that are highly valued as medicine and aphrodisiacs among some ethnic groups. (SB 1597 by Sen. Milton Marks, D-San Francisco).

Horse tripping–Intentional tripping of running horses, sometimes a feature of Mexican-style rodeos, is prohibited. (AB 49X by Assemblyman John Burton, D-San Francisco).

Meat–Slaughterhouses, stockyards and auction yards are prohibited from buying or selling animals that cannot walk by themselves, to prevent diseased meat from being sold. (SB 692 by Sen. David A. Roberti, D-Van Nuys).

VETERANS

Cabinet status–The state Department of Veterans Affairs is elevated to gubernatorial Cabinet level status and its director must now be a U.S. military veteran. (AB 2597 by Assemblyman Stan Statham, R-Oak Run).

HOUSING

Homeless shelters–National Guard armories can be used as emergency shelters for homeless people in cold and wet weather between Dec. 1 and March 15 until 1997–as a matter of law rather than executive order by the governor. (AB 1808 by Assemblyman Rusty Areias, D-San Jose).

Shelter transportation–Police officers are authorized to take people lacking evidence of any residence to the nearest homeless shelter, if there is space available and the person does not object. (SB 2083 by Sen. Tom Campbell, R-Stanford).

Mobile homes–Mobile home installations are required to meet state earthquake and wind safety requirements so they cannot be knocked or blown off their foundations. (SB 750 by Sen. A. David Roberti, D-Van Nuys).

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

No smoking–With few exceptions, a statewide smoking ban is imposed for restaurants, offices, factories and other enclosed workplaces. (AB 13 by Assemblyman Terry B. Friedman, D-Brentwood).

Workplace violence–Business owners can obtain temporary restraining orders and court injunctions against customers and others who engage in violence or make credible threats of violence against employees. (AB 68X by Assemblywoman Dede Alpert, D-Coronado).

Employer fines–Fines are increased for employers who pay their employees in cash under the table in order to avoid paying state taxes. (SB 1490 by Sen. Patrick Johnston, D-Stockton).

Home addresses–Owners of small at-home businesses who use mail-receiving services are exempted from having to disclose their home addresses so they will be less susceptible to break-ins and stalkers. (AB 171 by Assemblyman Mickey Conroy, R-Orange).

Armed security guards–State officials are charged with developing minimum standards for the selection and training of armed security guards hired to protect private businesses. (AB 1713 by Sen. Gary K. Hart, D-Santa Barbara).

Late payment fees–The cap on late payment fees is increased from $5 to $10 for retail store charge cards and installment contracts. (SB 1583 by Sen. Teresa Hughes, D-Inglewood).

Tourist information–A statewide network of visitor information centers is authorized, to encourage tourism in California to help boost the state’s economy. (SB 1983 by Sen. Herschel Rosenthal, D-Los Angeles).

MISCELLANEOUS

Chavez holiday–March 31, the birth date of the late Cesar Chavez, founder of the United Farm Workers union, becomes an unpaid state holiday. (SB 1373 by Sen. Art Torres, D-Los Angeles).

Gifts and parties–A state law is repealed that previously let the lieutenant governor, attorney general, controller, treasurer, secretary of state, superintendent of public instruction and chief justice each spend up to $10,000 a year in state funds on gifts and parties. (AB 1921 by Assemblywoman Jackie Speier, D-Burlingame).

Political reform–Local elected officials are held to the same restrictions regarding acceptance of speech honorariums and gifts as state elected officials. (AB 1542 by Assemblyman Tom Umberg, D-Garden Grove).

Judicial gifts–Limits are imposed on gifts that judges can receive, to be enforced by the Commission on Judicial Performance. (AB 3638 by Assemblyman Burt Margolin, D-Los Angeles).

Attorney lobbyists–Cities and counties can require attorneys who are lobbyists to register and disclose their lobbying activities. (AB 3432 by Assemblyman Jack O’Connell, D-Carpinteria).

Lawsuit damages–It is illegal to use public funds to pay court judgments against elected officials who are sued for unethical or illegal actions. (AB 2467 by Assemblywoman Debra Bowen, D-Marina del Rey).

Obsolete state laws–Obsolete state laws dating back to Gold Rush days are repealed, relating to such subjects as dueling penalties, “wanted dead or alive” posters and prohibiting horses from mating where they can be seen by the public. (AB 3326 by Assemblyman Jack O’Connell, D-Carpinteria).

South Africa–A ban on the investment of state pension funds in businesses that operate in South Africa is lifted now that apartheid has been abolished in that country. (AB 2448 by Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, D-San Francisco).

Voter registration–Access to voter registration records is restricted to prevent stalkers from obtaining home addresses and telephone numbers of potential victims. (SB 1518 by Sen. Milton Marks, D-San Francisco).

The restaurant looks incredibly similar to the fast-food giant, with the same red and yellow colour scheme, and a logo that looks not unlike the iconic golden arches. But there’s one big difference.

A British couple in America were astonished when they stumbled upon a ‘vegan McDonald’s’ – and loved it so much they demanded it comes to the UK. Liam and Janine Day, known as Those Happy Days on social media, regularly share content about their global travels.

They are currently in the USA, and shared a clip about the incredible discovery they made in San Francisco, California. In the TikTok video, Janine is shown pointing at a McDonald’s before turning to point at another business across the road, which looks remarkably similar – with a few notable differences.

Speaking in the video, Liam said: “Something very weird is happening here. That’s a regular McDonald’s, but right across the street is a completely vegan one.”

The video then cuts to inside the restaurant, called Mr Charlie’s. Liam continues: “It looks exactly like a McDonald’s, with red and yellow and fast food screens everywhere, but everything here is plant-based.

“Vegan burgers, vegan chicken nuggets, vegan fries, even a vegan McFlurry. It even feels like the real McDonald’s inside.”

Showing close-ups of the food as he and Janine tuck in, Liam adds: “Can I say that the chicken nuggets were the most life-like I’ve ever had, and the burgers taste just like a McDonald’s burger. In fact, they’re better than McDonald’s burgers.”

Concluding he says: “The UK really needs a Mr. Charlie’s. In fact, every city in the world needs one of these.”

Although Mr. Charlie’s does feature a number of cheeky nods to the fast-food giant in its red and yellow colour scheme, and logo, which looks not unlike a certain iconic golden arches, it is not affiliated with McDonald’s. It currently has four branches in California, with another opening soon, as well as one in Sydney, Australia.

The menu offers a number of plant-based takes on McDonald’s food, with the Mr. Chuck looking very similar to the famous Big Mac, and Mr. FluffHead ice cream featuring the same signature swirl as a McFlurry.

In their video description Liam and Janine wrote: “We genuinely had to do a double take… There’s a real McDonald’s on one side of the road, and a fully vegan version of it on the other. Same red & yellow vibe, same fast-food menu boards… but EVERYTHING is plant-based. And honestly? The nuggets were the most realistic we’ve ever had. Like, scary good.

“The burger tasted just like the classic McDonald’s flavour too. If no one told you, you’d never know.

“UK… we are BEGGING for @mrcharlies to come over and take over the world. Would you try a fully vegan McDonald’s?”

According to vegan business website vegconomist, Mr. Charlie’s opened its first branch in 2022, and quickly became known as the ‘vegan McDonald’s’, with pop megastar Lizzo among those praising the food. Having already expanded to Australia, it reportedly plans to open branches in New Zealand and Singapore, but there is no word so far on whether it will come to the UK.

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Feb. 17 (UPI) — Search-and-rescue personnel were working through dangerous weather conditions Tuesday to reach a group of six stranded skiers and locate 10 others unaccounted for in Northern California’s backcountry following an avalanche, authorities said.

Rescue ski teams from Boreal Mountain Ski Resort and Tahoe Donner’s Alder Creek Adventure Center have departed to reach the six known survivors sheltering at the avalanche site, while 46 first responders search for the 10 people unaccounted for, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

Videos posted to the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page show a handful of people, seemingly rescuers, bundled up and walking through heavy snow underfoot and through a snowstorm.

The avalanche occurred at about 11:30 a.m. PST Tuesday in Castle Peak, located in California’s mountainous Nevada County near Lake Tahoe, affecting the four ski guides and 12 clients of a ski tour.

Capt. Russell Green of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office told KCRA 3 that authorities were notified of the avalanche by activated emergency beacons and by the ski tour company.

His office described weather conditions as “highly dangerous,” and Green remarked that rescue efforts would be “slow going.”

Specialized SnoCat vehicles have been brought in, rescuers on skis have been deployed and snowmobilers are on standby, he said.

“We have several different ways that people are attempting to get in there,” he said. “It’s just going to be a slow, tedious process. They also have to be very careful accessing the area due to the fact that the avalanche danger is still very high.”

An avalanche warning from the Sierra Avalanche Center was in effect from 5 a.m. Tuesday through 5 a.m. Wednesday.

Green said people use the backcountry in all weather.

“We advise against it, obviously,” he said. “But I wouldn’t say it’s uncommon, not that it was a wise choice.”

Concerning the six people accounted for, Green said they have taken refuge in a makeshift shelter and are “doing everything they can to survive and wait for rescue.”

Truckee-based mountain guide company Blackbird Mountain Guides confirmed in a statement that four of its guides and 12 clients were involved.

“The group was in the process of returning to the trailhead at the conclusion of a three-day trip when the incident occurred,” the company said, adding it was cooperating with authorities and was in contact with the emergency contacts of the clients and guides.

Last month, a snowmobiler was killed in the Castle Peak area after being buried in an avalanche while out for a ride.

SACRAMENTO — The head of California’s High-Speed Rail Authority took a voluntary leave Tuesday after news reports circulated about his recent arrest on suspicion of domestic battery against a spouse.

Ian Choudri was arrested Feb. 4 at his Folsom home in the 500 block of Borges Court.

The rail authority said in a statement Tuesday that Choudri agreed to take a temporary leave to allow its board of directors and the California State Transportation Agency to review and assess the situation.

Choudri’s attorney said Monday that the Sacramento County district attorney’s office declined to file charges in the case. Police were called to Choudri’s home by a third party, Choudri’s attorney told The Times.

“This matter is over and no further action will be taken,” said Allen Sawyer, who is representing Choudri.

The district attorney’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Choudri is among the highest-paid state employees in California, having earned $563,000 last year, according to payroll records obtained by The Times from the state controller’s office.

The High-Speed Rail Authority did not answer a question about whether Choudri would receive pay during his absence.

The board of directors is scheduled to meet next on March 4.

The day before his arrest, Choudri had appeared with Gov. Gavin Newsom in Kern County to announce the completion of a 150-acre facility that would serve as a hub for construction of the high-speed rail project in the San Joaquin Valley.

California’s grand vision for a bullet train, originally to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles, has become a flash point in national politics.

President Trump and Republicans have seized on the billions of dollars in cost overruns and slow progress to cast the project as a Democratic boondoggle and waste of taxpayer money.

Newsom, eager to show some advancement before he leaves office, has refocused construction on building a segment from Merced to Bakersfield. His office said earlier this month that 119 miles were under construction and 58 structures, including bridges, overpasses and viaducts, have been completed.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority’s Board of Directors approved Choudri as chief executive in August 2024. Newsom praised the decision and commended his more than 30 years of experience in the transportation sector.

Choudri replaced former CEO Brian Kelly, who retired. Choudri joined the agency from HNTB Corp., an infrastructure design firm where he previously held the position of senior vice president.

Choudri did not respond to requests for comment. Newsom’s office directed questions to the High-Speed Rail Authority.

Feb. 16 (UPI) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced an agreement with Britain on Monday that will bring $1 billion in investments into his state.

The climate agreement sets a framework for British companies to expand their access to California’s market and for cooperation on decarbonization and clean energy technology.

British energy company Octopus Energy is among the companies that will expand its access in California. It has committed nearly $1 billion to clean energy companies and projects based in California. Newsom announced the partnership after meeting with British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband in London.

“California is the best place in America to invest in a clean economy because we set clear goals and we deliver,” Newsom said in a statement.

“Today, we deepened our partnership with the United Kingdom on climate action and welcomed nearly a billion dollars in clean tech investment from Octopus Energy. California will continue showing the world how we can turn innovation and ambition into climate action.”

Newsom visited Octopus Energy’s headquarters in London during his trip.

California has climate agreements with several countries around the world. During the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference, it entered new partnerships with Chile, Colombia, Nigeria and Brazil.

President Donald Trump criticized the new agreement between California and Britain on Monday, saying it was “inappropriate” for the two sides to be working with each other.

“The worst thing that the U.K. can do is get involved in Gavin,” Trump told POLITICO. “If they did to the U.K. what he did to California, this will not be a very successful venture.”

The Trump administration has rolled back federal climate-focused initiatives, most recently eliminating greenhouse gas emissions standards.

Reporting from Sacramento — For all of the unprecedented elements of President Trump’s federal budget plans, there’s an item buried in the list of detailed spending cuts that has a familiar, contentious political legacy in California.

Trump has proposed canceling federal government subsidies to states that house prisoners and inmates who are in the U.S. illegally. He’s not the first president to try it, and undoubtedly will get an earful from states like California.

For sheer bravado, the award for defending that subsidy probably goes to former Gov. Pete Wilson. In a letter sent to federal officials in 1995, two days after Christmas, Wilson threatened to drop off one of the state’s undocumented prisoners — in shackles, no less — on the doorstep of a federal jail. (He never actually did it.)

“The intent of federal law is unequivocal,” Wilson wrote about the subsidy program. “The federal government must either reimburse the state at a fair rate for the incarceration of any undocumented inmate which it identifies or… take the burden of incarceration off the state’s hands.”

Wilson had won a second term the year before, with a blistering campaign attacking illegal immigration. His time in office was also marked by persistent state budget problems, and the money mattered. The state never got as much as it wanted, though, and years of squabbles followed over the fate of the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, established as part of the sweeping immigration reforms of 1986.

Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did his fair share of complaining about skimpy SCAAP funding. In 2005, he and a bipartisan group of western U.S. governors demanded a boost in the program to a total of $850 million. That didn’t happen.

The past two presidents, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, offered their own proposals to cancel the program. Trump’s budget scores the possible savings at $210 million. His budget blueprint lampoons SCAAP as “poorly targeted,” and describes it as a program “in which two-thirds of the funding primarily reimburses four states” for housing felons who lack legal immigration status.

Want to take a guess which state gets the most? OK, that’s an easy one.

California’s state government received $44.1 million in the 2015 federal budget year, according to Justice Department data. Add to that another $12.8 million that was paid directly to California counties, with the largest local subsidy being the $3 million paid to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

More than one-third of the entire program went to California. No other state’s share was even close. A win on this issue for the president would be particularly bitter for the state, where political animosity toward Trump is widespread.

Political Road Map: There’s a $368 billion reason that California depends on Washington »

In Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget unveiled last month, he assumed $50.6 million in federal help for prison costs related to felons in the U.S. illegally. A budget spokesman for Brown said the governor will ask for help from the state’s congressional delegation in saving the program. Still, it’s safe to say the estimate is now in doubt.

Roll back the clock, though, and take a look at how this political debate has changed. Wilson’s legacy on illegal immigration cast a long shadow as candidate Trump promised to go after “bad hombres” who are illegally in the country. The president’s official plan, by most estimates, would go even further.

When President Obama tried to nix the subsidy, conservatives warned it would endanger public safety. So far, few are making the same case now that it’s coming from Trump — a curious development, given California’s most famous illegal immigration critic once insisted the program was essential.

john.myers@latimes.com

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Updates on California politics and state government

SACRAMENTO — Tom Steyer must solve this dilemma: How does he convince financially struggling Californians they can trust a billionaire to be their governor?

Because, after all, the former hedge fund titan doesn’t exactly share their daily ordeal of scraping up enough money to pay for rent, groceries and gas in the run-down car.

And he doesn’t have any record in public office to point to. He’s trying to start his elective career at the top.

So, what’s the solution? Well, you can be a global celebrity like super-rich actor Arnold Schwarzenegger when he was elected in 2003. Or a Gold Rush tycoon like Leland Stanford back in 1861. Other than those two, there’s a long list of well-heeled rookie failures.

They include Republican Meg Whitman, who blew $144 million of her fortune losing in 2010. And Al Checchi, who spent $40 million of his own money getting beaten in the 1994 Democratic primary.

“Look, they didn’t have anything to say,” Steyer told me while sipping tea at a popular hangout near the state Capitol, specifically mentioning Whitman and Checchi. “They’d never done anything. Not like I’ve done for 14 years.”

Steyer, 68, who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, touts his record of funding and promoting progressive causes, including successful ballot campaigns that raised tobacco taxes, closed a major corporate tax loophole and beat back oil industry efforts to kill climate fighting laws.

“I could give you 10 things I’ve done about environmental sustainability and economic justice,” he said.

“Why trust me? Because I’ve gotten results. And I don’t owe anybody anything.”

The Democrat spent $12 million on TV ads last year pushing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Proposition 50 that allowed the Legislature to gerrymander congressional districts aimed at gaining five more Democratic seats in California.

Being a billionaire allows Steyer to buy all the TV spots he wants. He already has popped for $27 million worth running for governor.

But astronomical wealth comes with a political price.

“California voters do not cotton to some rich guy who has never spent a day in office but looks in the mirror one morning and suddenly sees a governor of California,” says veteran Democratic strategist Garry South.

So, in his campaign TV commercials, Steyer wears casual backyard barbecue garb trying to look like Mr. Average, but with a populist agenda.

“I’m the billionaire who’s going to take on the billionaires,” he says.

That sounds counterintuitive, and I’m skeptical about how well it sells.

Steyer knows he sorely needs labor support to seem credible among the working class. That’s why he recently joined rallies for striking teachers in San Francisco and healthcare workers in San Diego.

He has scored endorsements from the California School Employees Assn. — a union representing school staff — and the California Nurses Assn.

Nurses are backing Steyer largely because he has embraced their No. 1 goal: a single-payer, state-run health insurance system.

They’ve attempted to push that in Sacramento for years and failed. And for good reason.

Single-payer would cost the state barrels of money it doesn’t have. Moreover, it would replace not only private insurance, but popular federal Medicare and the state’s Medi-Cal program for the poor. The federal government would need to agree. Fat chance.

I asked Steyer whether he really believes the state bureaucracy is capable of handling such an ambitious undertaking.

“We’re going to have to get back to having a government that works,” he replied, in what sounded like a knock on Newsom and his predecessors.

How could he make a single-payer system work? “God is in the details,” he answered, a phrase he frequently uses. Translation: “I don’t know.”

“We’re going to work through it. That’ll take at least three years… But we’re going to have to do it…. Healthcare costs have been escalating for a very long time. And they’re eating up the [state] budget.”

After Steyer left hedge fund investing, he became an ardent crusader for clean energy and fighting climate change. It was his core issue running for president in 2020, when he spent $340 million before giving up.

But these days, he barely mentions climate. The better politics du jour is advocating for “affordability” — especially affordable housing.

Steyer said he doesn’t have a “silver bullet” for lowering housing costs. He has “silver buckshot” — a scattergun of solutions for boosting housing supply, plus rent control.

He’d shorten the time for issuing construction permits, require rezoning to develop vacant land, tax unoccupied housing left off the market and build higher — more like in New York’s Manhattan, where he was raised.

“What we’re doing is sprawl,” he said. “And what sprawl leads to is an awful lot of commuting, a lot of driving.”

That’s been a problem for generations, I noted. Suburban ranch-style housing is the California way. “People can change,” he said. “I think people want to.”

I asked him about the slow-poke bullet train project that’s costing four times original estimates.

“Of course, I’m in favor of high speed rail,” he said. “But good grief. We’ve been working on this for an incredibly long time and spent an incredible amount of money. As far as I can tell, we haven’t built anything. If we’re going to do high-speed rail, we have to build it at a reasonable price. And we haven’t been able to do that.”

Might he abandon the project? “I want to look at it,” he said.

The odds are against him ever getting the opportunity.

But the odds aren’t exciting for any candidate in this ho-hum contest.

Steyer is running in the middle of the pack, based on polls. He has hired the strategists who managed Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani’s victorious campaign for New York mayor.

There’s no front-runner for governor. But Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) has some momentum. He recently was endorsed by Sen. Adam Schiff. And he’ll also soon be endorsed by influential former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, I’m told.

Voters will do their all-important endorsing in the June 2 primary.

What else you should be reading

The must-read: In 50-year fight to protect California’s coast, they’re the real McCoys, still at it in their 80s
CA vs. Trump: Trump, California and the multi-front war over the next election
The L.A. Times Special: Who pays for Newsom’s travel? Hint: It’s not always taxpayers

Until next week,
George Skelton

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