Good morning. It’s Thursday, Feb. 27.
- Republicans target California’s tailpipe standards.
- An eighth attempt to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom.
- And the ACLU sues over Kern County immigration raids.
Statewide
1.
The Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are planning an unusual legislative maneuver to strip California of its longstanding authority to enact tougher car emissions standards than those of the federal government. For more than 50 years, California has been granted waivers under the 1970 Clean Air Act in recognition of the state’s unique air pollution challenges. Republicans, dismissive of California’s clean energy ambitions, argue that the state rules create a de facto national standard that should be reviewed by Congress. State officials say the effort is illegal. N.Y. Times | L.A. Times
2.
The Trump administration unveiled a strategy to combat bird flu and ease egg costs that includes dismantling a California law barring farmers from keeping hens in cages so small they can’t turn around. An industry expert said the move appears designed to increase egg supply and consequently lower prices. But California egg farmers noted that they have spent millions upgrading their operations since the cage law was approved by voters in 2018. Reversing it would put them at a huge economic disadvantage, they said. L.A. Times | A.P.
- Bird flu is threatening the poultry industry in Petaluma, once known as “the egg basket of the world.” CBS News | Mercury News
3.
Critics of Gov. Gavin Newsom are launching their eighth recall attempt in his six years as governor. A 2021 recall election cost the state’s taxpayers $276 million. It was rejected by nearly 24 percentage points, the same margin of Newsom’s gubernatorial victory in 2018. Joe Garofoli, a political writer, said the new effort was certain to be a waste of time and money. “Even under the rosiest projections, a recall election wouldn’t be scheduled until September, or a little more than a year until Newsom leaves office for good,” he wrote. S.F. Chronicle | Fox 11
4.
The Atlantic reached out to all 271 Republican members of the House and Senate with two questions: Did Russia Invade Ukraine? And is Putin a dictator? Rep. Darrell Issa, from suburban San Diego, called it a “gotcha question” and declined to answer. A spokesperson for Rep. Young Kim, from Anaheim, answered: “Yes to both.” As of late Wednesday, none of the seven remaining California Republicans had responded. The Atlantic
Northern California
5.
“They said, ‘Jázmin is dead,’ and the whole world went black.”
In April, 2024, a 15-year-old girl was found dead in a San Francisco driveway. Reeling from a childhood of depression and trauma, Jázmin Pellegrini had been shuttled between 10 different psychiatric facilities for the last two years of her life. The result was a scattershot treatment plan in which doctors started and stopped her on more than a dozen different pharmaceuticals. In a meticulous and infuriating investigation, the San Francisco Chronicle traced how California’s for-profit psychiatric hospital system failed a troubled adolescent.
6.
In 2023, a San Francisco building inspector was sentenced to prison for taking bribes to approve building permits. Now the city is requiring buyers of those homes, who were unaware of their shoddy work, to make costly repairs or face fines. A real estate lawyer representing one of the affected couples summarized their plight this way: The government is threatening to fine homeowners for problems created entirely by the same government. S.F. Chronicle
7.
A Chico couple pleaded guilty to a series of wildlife crimes after they unwittingly chatted with plainclothes wildlife officials during a flight over California, officials said. The officers struck up a conversation with Byron Fitzpatrick, 24, and Shannon Price, 28, after overhearing them talking about hunting. The pair revealed that they were transporting a sea turtle skull and had unlawfully taken a mountain lion. Later, a search of the couple’s home turned up mountain lion claws, a ringtail cat, and a mounted barn owl. SFGATE | L.A. Times
8.
Visitors to Big Sur’s iconic Bixby Bridge got a thrill recently when two unknown BASE jumpers leapt from the 260-foot span. “It was a moment I’ll never forget. … It was really beautiful,” said Ola Williamson, a Carmel resident who captured video. Officials say the legality of jumping from Bixby Bridge is murky, depending on where exactly jumpers launch and land — but the risks are not in doubt. In 2016, two experienced BASE jumpers died after leaping to the narrow beach below only to be overtaken by tumultuous waves. KSBW
Southern California
9.
On Wednesday morning, law enforcement agents raided City Hall and the homes of the mayor and city manager in Huntington Park, a small city on the edge of Los Angeles. The action, dubbed “Operation Dirty Pond,” stemmed from a Los Angeles County district attorney’s investigation into alleged misuse of funds intended for an aquatic center, officials said. Vice Mayor Arturo Flores, who publicly called for an investigation into the project, said roughly $14 million had been spent with only “an empty lot with dead grass” to show for it. L.A. Times | Fox 11
10.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Wednesday that accused the Border Patrol of going on a “fishing expedition” that indiscriminately targeted people of color during a January immigration sweep in Kern County. Agents slashed tires, threw people to the ground, and called farmworkers “Mexican bitches,” according to the filing by the ACLU, which is representing the United Farm Workers and five residents. Asked to respond, a Department of Homeland Security official said enforcement actions are “highly targeted.” CalMatters | Bakersfield Californian
11.
Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the state parole board to assess whether Erik and Lyle Menendez would pose a risk to the public if released. The move, announced on Wednesday, is a first step toward granting clemency to the brothers who killed their parents in their Beverly Hills home in 1989. Their fate became entangled in political agendas when the case emerged as fodder in the Los Angeles County district attorney race. “There is no guarantee of outcome here,” Newsom said on his new podcast, “This is Gavin Newsom,” on Wednesday. L.A. Times | A.P.
12.
The last remaining member of the Los Angeles Times editorial board, Carla Hall, announced on Wednesday that she is taking a buyout after owner Patrick Soon-Shiong publicly vowed to remake the section with more conservative voices. Hall’s exit came as another billionaire newspaper owner, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, announced that the Washington Post’s opinion section would now be limited to advocating “personal liberties and free markets.” Soon-Shiong hailed the move on X: “Welcome to the club Jeff!” he wrote. Columbia Journalism Review
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