“When the criteria for advancement are pliability and willingness to take direction from the people writing the checks, you shouldn’t be surprised when the person you have elevated has no moral compass.” thehill.com/opinion/camp...
WOW: Jodi Kantor & Adam Liptak have the memos that describe the origins of SCOTUS shadow docket - the 2016 order halting Obama’s Clean Power Plan @jodikantor.bsky.social @adamliptak.bsky.social @nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/u...
There should be a lot more skepticism and attention on legislation that helps consolidate a multibillion-dollar market for a company just found guilty of acting like a monopoly. The language used by the lawmakers & LiveNation in this story is chocked full of red flags calmatters.org/digital-demo...
Last fall, CA legislators made it legal to build mid-rises in big metros near major transit stops.
But SB79, which goes into effect on July 1, gave local govs wiggle room over the where, when and how of the new law.
My story on how cities are starting to wiggle:
calmatters.org/housing/2026...
This is amazing recognition for the team behind Digital Democracy. More importantly, it makes wider adoption of our platform beyond California and Hawaii possible, making other state legislatures a lot more transparent and accessible.
Sharp analysis from The Bee here. This is a system-wide squeeze. A budding stagflation era. I mean, everyone has become a supply chain expert, which is how you know how widely this is being felt.
Democrats aren’t the only ones experiencing an identity crisis. Both parties failed to pick a candidate to endorse for California governor. And Republicans even rebuffed the president, a year-plus into his second term, underscoring how unpopular he is with rank & file calmatters.org/politics/202...
Artemis II humanized the moon. Lynn Sherr, who covered NASA during the early 1980s, wonders if we can capture the same sentiment back on Earth:
The first Honda Civic cost $2,100, or $15,100 today. Now, the reliable family car is 3.5 feet longer, three times more powerful — and almost twice as expensive. What happened to the “econobox” cars of the 1970s?
Reading some of the details in these reports the last few days, I’m stunned this man had the audacity to run for governor.
It is dumbfounding to watch the Trump regime try and fail to negotiate for things that were secured to much higher levels in the original Obama-era nuclear deal. When we talk about the Iran War as a war of choice, the idiotic choice to throw that away for nothing is what made all this possible.
If your main reaction to the allegations against Eric Swalwell is to question the timing or to invoke some fantasy conspiracy because he’s a frontrunner for California governor, you have completely lost the plot.
Let’s take a moment to recognize the Artemis crew is returning to Planet Earth in CALIFORNIA. What a flawless mission. No notes.
A woman who worked for nearly two years for Rep. Eric Swalwell told the Chronicle she had sexual encounters with him while he was her boss and alleged he twice sexually assaulted her when she was too intoxicated to consent. www.sfchronicle.com/politics/art...
The latest in @calireporter.bsky.social’s investigation into California’s conservator system reveals how weak and undermanned (one employee!) the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau really is, and the stunning amount of harm that happens calmatters.org/investigatio...
Republican gubernatorial candidate Chad Bianco speaks on stage during The Western Growers California Gubernatorial Candidate Forum at Fresno State in Fresno on April 1, 2026. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco’s investigators had no insider tipsters, no witnesses and no independent analyses from forensic experts when they approached a local judge and asked to take the unprecedented step of seizing hundreds of thousands of ballots cal.news/41oU74K
📸 Larry Valenzuela
Wildfire-related charges now add approximately $41 per month to the average PG&E residential bill (approximately 19% of the total bill), $27 for SCE (approximately 17%), and $21 for SDG&E (approximately 14%), according to a wildfire report released this week. www.cawildfirefund.com/sites/wildfi...
The U.S., despite its immense wealth and might, is increasingly an outlier in the world when it comes to covering the basic needs of its people.
The mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous inventor of Bitcoin, has remained unsolved for 17 years. Read my 18-month investigation to find out who Satoshi really is.
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/08/b...
You know things are bad when Iran is also winning the meme war.
Since 2028 is so far away, taking a pass may quickly turn into a two-year-long regret. I just hate that these are the choices households have to make. Live events are wholly compromised.
Maybe Angelenos got luckier with the earlier access, but it really is a bummer just how expensive #LA28 tickets are. It's either: Pay a "once-in-a-lifetime" amount to see the Olympics in California, or make a responsible financial decision in our already high-cost era and don't go.
what a glorious time capsule of this broken moment we are in
Trump just made gas so much more expensive for the rest of the world. And for what?
If you haven’t been watching the Artemis broadcast today, even just in the background, you are really missing out.
Turns out Chad Bianco’s ballot seizure stunt wasn’t enough to sway Trump from backing Rupert Murdoch’s choice candidate.
They won’t. And the American people will be worse for it.
Federal judge: Continued Border Patrol sweeps in California violated court order
In a tersely worded decision unsealed Thursday morning, the judge wrote that agents had “again detained people without reasonable suspicion,”
W/ @wendyfry.bsky.social
calmatters.org/justice/2026...
Voters wait in line at the Riverside County Registrar of Voters office in Riverside on Nov. 5, 2024. Photo by Jules Hotz for CalMatters
Breaking: Several media organizations, including CalMatters, filed a motion seeking public access to the warrants a judge approved allowing Sheriff Chad Bianco to seize hundreds of thousands of ballots cal.news/47FNsGS
📸 Jules Hotz
That’s two major endorsements for Swalwell with SEIU and now the all-powerful teachers union. Labor seems to have found their candidate…or are backing who polls the highest. That’s become a leading rationale lately because of the hysteria surrounding the primary edsource.org/updates/swal...
