Nearly 200 East Bay college students just got a surprise text: Your debt is gone Contra Costa College’s foundation wiped out $31,490 in unpaid tuition and fees for 181 students, clearing balances that had kept some from enrolling or graduating.

Some of these big league #universities with million dollar endowments should follow in the footsteps of little Contra Costa College. www.sfchronicle.com/eastbay/arti...

California Fabricators Face Possible Artificial Stone Ban as Silicosis Cases Mount | KQED California artificial stone fabricators face a potential ban as regulators weigh action amid rising silicosis cases, even as shops spend heavily on compliance that doctors say may not prevent the dead...

California may ban artificial #stone countertops due to health hazards. www.kqed.org/news/1207965...

Faculty Defect From Texas Publics, Citing Censorship Fed up with the state’s censoring of Plato, Joan of Arc and Romeo and Juliet, humanities professors are leaving Texas public institutions in pursuit of academic freedom.

'Texas A&M philosophy professor Martin Peterson is leaving the university after administrators told him in January that he couldn’t teach Plato’s Symposium in his philosophy class; they said the ancient Greek philosopher’s work violated the system’s restrictions on gender and sexuality content.' 1/3

Prego Has a Dinner-Conversation-Recording Device, Capisce? The pasta-sauce company has partnered with the nonprofit StoryCorps on a device designed to record family conversations around the table and save them for all time.

The pasta-sauce company has partnered with the nonprofit StoryCorps on a device designed to record family conversations around the table and save them for all time. www.wired.com/story/prego-...

The Intercept’s Press Freedom Defense Fund Leads Cohort Fighting Trump’s Unconstitutional Media Attacks A cohort of 42 media and press freedom advocates, led by The Intercept’s Press Freedom Defense Fund, filed an amicus brief opposing Trump's attempts to censor the press.

Media Alliance is proud to be a signatory to this important amicus brief. #pressfreedom theintercept.com/2026/04/02/p...

PG&E CEO, other execs land higher total pay as monthly bills decline Utility giant says it is attempting to rein in electricity and gas costs for customers.

Our #utility bills go down a little. Their executive pay goes up a lot. www.eastbaytimes.com/2026/04/10/p...?

Sheriff’s deputies committed crimes before man died in Vista jail, oversight board finds in unprecedented ruling It’s the first time the watchdog panel made such findings and will refer them to the district attorney for possible charges.

"It’s the first time CLERB will refer its findings to the District Attorney’s Office for potential criminal charges." #policeoversight www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/04/06/s...

"By buying facilities currently owned by private prison companies, #ICE could help shield those detention centers from state oversight and some lawsuits tied to alleged abuse, including labor violations." jacobin.com/2026/03/ice-...?

"The SOMA West Neighborhood Association filed a complaint alleging that SF used a “deliberate containment strategy” to create a “segregated … impact zone” in SoMa. The complaint argues that SoMa’s “hyper-concentration of #poverty” is an intentional policy choice" www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/arti...?

"In recent months, the possibility of state funding going to Islamic private schools has emerged as a new front. This has complicated the initial phase of the $1 billion school choice program, a signature policy achievement of Gov. Greg Abbott" #school #vouchers www.nytimes.com/2026/04/03/u...

"She applied for a U visa, a visa that gives crime victims a pathway to residency. Last year #ICE detained Carmen (not her real name) and deported her and her young son back to their homeland—where her abusive ex was awaiting them at the airport" www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

"A group of residents is gathering signatures for a potential November 2026 ballot initiative that would block #datacenters in Imperial County altogether. They’re calling it the “Imperial County Data Center Prohibition Act.” inewsource.org/2026/04/05/d...

5 stories of how the use of AI is impacting everyday life - TechEquity Collaborative To underline the need for change and help you understand when AI might impact you, we rounded up five stories where AI was involved in harm.

The next generation of California leaders will take office at the dawn of a new technological age.

From jobs to justice, AI is transforming society, and its use is already creating profound consequences for us all.

techequity.us/2026/01/21/5...

Key nonprofit pitches tech giants to pay $100M each for AI safety effort California-based nonprofit Common Sense Media is asking top AI firms to help fund new safety assessments — and it’s offering companies input into the process, according to documents and people close t...

"#AI Companies were asked to each pay $10 million annually over a decade, The two industry representatives confirmed that AI companies were offered a role in shaping how the institute would evaluate their models if they donated" www.politico.com/news/2026/04...

I wore Meta’s smartglasses for a month – and it left me feeling like a creep Content creators love the built-in camera; sceptics call them ‘pervert glasses’. Do we really need any more hi-tech wearables, even with a voice assistant that sounds like Judi Dench?

"I’m perturbed by how quickly my initial discomfort passes and the #smartglasses become second nature. Just having a covert camera makes me want to use it, the possibilities of the tech overriding my better judgment and even basic decency" www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Meta Loses Insurance for Defense in Major Social Media Addiction Litigation A Delaware judge has ruled insurers do not have a duty to defend Meta Platforms in the thousands of lawsuits that allege its Facebook and Instagram

Delaware judge lets #insurance companies off the hook for covering judgments against #Meta for harming children. #socialmedia www.insurancejournal.com/magazines/ma...?

Apple says no one using Lockdown Mode has been hacked with spyware | TechCrunch The tech giant's claim that it has not seen any successful spyware attacks targeting Apple devices with Lockdown Mode enabled comes amid a leak of hacking tools targeting users running devices with ol...

Apple's "lockdown mode", implemented four years ago appears to be effective against powerful governmental #spyware like Pegasus.
techcrunch.com/2026/03/27/a...

Born Abroad and Fearful of ICE, Adoptees Try to Prove They Belong

"The State Department does not track how many international #adoptees become naturalized citizens. But, an immigration lawyer scoured records and found that a total of about 200,000 children brought to the U.S. since that year had grown up without U.S. citizenship" www.nytimes.com/2026/03/23/u...

Are your local cops telling ICE about you? California is now investigating The state will audit three of its federally-funded fusion centers amid concerns about violations of civil liberties and privacy.

California will be the first state to audit the operations of its federal fusion centers. calmatters.org/economy/tech...

Minnesota sues Trump administration over access to evidence in shootings by federal agents • Minnesota Reformer Minnesota prosecutors escalated their fight with the Trump administration over Operation Metro Surge on Tuesday, filing a lawsuit seeking to force the federal government to turn over evidence in the f...

Minnesota AG is suing the federal government for access to evidence in the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. #DOJ #immigration #ICE minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/24/m...

Judge sanctions public defender in case that raises critical issues about criminal justice - 48 hills Does a 'tough on crime' mayor have to fund the public defender as well as the cops and DA?

SF #PublicDefender Mano Raju accepts sanctions for refusing cases when the office does not have the staffing to provide competent representation. 48hills.org/2026/03/judg...

Berkeley council delays vote on ‘largest surveillance expansion in the city’s history’ After hours of debate, the council's vote on a $2 million expansion of the city’s Flock Safety surveillance network was postponed until June.

City of Berkeley delays #Flock #ALPR vote till June, running out of time at 1:30 in the morning after vociferous public comment. www.berkeleyside.org/2026/03/25/b...

Get ready for more Big Tech lawsuits about design, not content. A new wave of cases pin blame for tech’s harms on product design—keeping the First Amendment and Section 230 out of the conversation.

"For the first time, the 1st Amendment isn’t part of the discussion. Instead the case is the first to go to trial that seeks to hold #tech companies accountable for harm by using tort law which is normally the province of ambulance chasers and too-hot McDonald’s coffee" www.cjr.org/tow_center/g...

Hey #Oakland. We passed a good law in 2021 allowing apartment and condo residents to use whatever Internet provider they choose. Use it!

The Wyden Siren Goes Off Again: We’ll Be “Stunned” By What the NSA Is Doing Under Section 702 Senator Ron Wyden says that when a secret interpretation of Section 702 is eventually declassified, the American public “will be stunned” to learn what the NSA has been doing. If you&#8…

"The #Wyden Siren — the pattern where Senator Ron Wyden sends a cryptic public signal that something terrible is happening behind the classification curtain, can’t say what it is, and then is eventually proven right. Well, the siren is going off once again" www.techdirt.com/2026/03/12/t...?

Progressives love him. Billionaires hate him. Can a Berkeley professor pass California’s wealth tax? As inequality soars, UC Berkeley economist Emmanuel Saez has sparked a fiery debate with his billionaire tax proposal.

"Zucman described the billionaire #tax as “a test of whether modern governments can reassert fiscal power over massive private fortunes.” www.sfchronicle.com/california/a...?

Meta Is Turning Its Smart Glasses Into A Mass Surveillance Tool… And You Can’t Stop It - Yanko Design If not Palantir, why Palantir-shaped?? Palantir builds spy tech for the CIA, DHS, and ICE. It aggregates data, maps your life, and tells governments who to watch. Meta is building something with the s...

Look what you did when you "tagged your friends". "The surveillance hardware is a $300 fashion accessory, the database was built by 3 billion people tagging photos for free, and the targets are anyone, anywhere, who never agreed to any of it" www.yankodesign.com/2026/03/15/m...

Robot dogs are protecting data centers. Operators are seeing payoffs. Boston Dynamics and Ghost Robotics are selling robot dogs to data center operators, providing perimeter security and inspection capabilities.

Data centers plan on guarding their facilities with robot dogs. "There are 5,000 data centers in the US alone, 800 to a thousand new data centers being built currently. So we see that as a large market for us." #datacenters #robots www.businessinsider.com/robot-dogs-q...

Video of Oakland police 'ghost chase' captures cops laughing after deadly collision Graphic video from the OPD car chase that turned fatal for a 28-year-old bystander also shows that the officers abruptly left the scene.

Video released of unauthorized police chase that killed a bystander shows OPD cops turning off lights, turning off body cameras, laughing and not getting medical care as a 19 year old dying on he sidewalk. #sideshows oaklandside.org/2026/03/18/l...

‘Americans at heart’: ICE detains DACA recipient on way to visit premature baby in NICU Juan Chavez Velasco’s case reflects a growing pattern: The Trump administration is targeting Dreamers who once believed DACA shielded them — and letting their renewals expire unanswered.

The sell-out of the DACA young adults is one of the worst betrayals by government in this new century. #Dreamers #Immigration www.ms.now/news/ice-det...