Good morning. It’s Wednesday, May 7.
- President Trump vows to block federal aid to bullet train.
- Devin Nunes earns $48 million as Trump Media CEO.
- And one ship amounts to $417 million in new tariffs.
Statewide
1.
When the Republican-led House approved a measure last week undercutting California’s transition away from gas-powered vehicles, 35 Democrats signed on in support. It stunned environmentalists, who said they were struggling to understand. One of those Democrats, Rep. Lou Correa of Orange County, said it’s about economics. “We just finished an election where every poll I’m seeing, everybody I talk to, says, ‘You guys need to listen to the working class, the middle class people,’” he said. “I’m listening to my constituents who are saying ‘don’t kill us.’” N.Y. Times
2.
In July 2023, Democratic state lawmakers blocked a Republican bill to reclassify child sex trafficking as a “serious” felony. A backlash took shape on social media. The governor sided with the Republicans, and the Democrats relented.
Last week, Democratic lawmakers blocked a proposal to strengthen the penalty for soliciting sex from a minor aged 16 or 17, closing a loophole in current law. Again, a backlash ensued. Again, the governor sided with the Republicans. And once more, on Tuesday, the Democrats relented. KCRA | Sacramento Bee
- Columnist Emily Hoeven: “Democrats have spent significant time, energy and resources fighting against what most Californians clearly view as common sense.” S.F. Chronicle
3.
New population data showed California growing for a second straight year, reaffirming the reversal of the state’s much-debated exodus. In 2024, the state’s population rose roughly 1% to more than 39.5 million people, essentially even with the pre-pandemic peak. Big cities drove the increase: Bakersfield grew 1.2% in 2024; San Diego was up 1%. But San Francisco was a glaring exception. The city on the bay contracted 0.4% to roughly 842,000 souls in 2024 after also shrinking in 2023. S.F. Chronicle | L.A. Times
- “It’s not a livable situation.” In San Francisco, a person making up to $109,700 a year qualifies as low-income, according to updated eligibility requirements for affordable housing. Mercury News | NBC Bay Area
4.
President Trump said on Tuesday that the federal government would not help pay for California’s troubled bullet train, calling it a “stupid project” that would spell Gov. Gavin Newsom’s downfall. “I would love him to run for president,” Trump said. “I’d love to see that, but I don’t think he’s going to be running because that one project alone.” A Newsom spokesman responded: “Hard pass on fiscal tips from the self-described ‘King of Debt’ who ran a steak company, a casino, and a global economy — all into the ground.” Politico | Bloomberg
Northern California
5.
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the former Stanford professor who became a prominent critic of coronavirus lockdowns before being appointed to lead the National Institutes of Health, sat for a contentious interview with a science reporter. He accused his interviewer of “spreading rumors” that the NIH planned to bar U.S. scientists from directing grant money to researchers overseas. “That’s false,” he said, adding, “I’m really uncomfortable with this conversation.” Hours later, the NIH announced that very policy. Science magazine
6.
Devin Nunes, the former Central Valley lawmaker who quit Congress in 2021 to run President Trump’s social media company, was paid nearly $48 million in 2024, SEC filings showed. The compensation amounted to more than 13 times Trump Media’s total estimated revenue of $3.6 million. The business journalist Allan Sloan said that in his career of more than 50 years he never encountered a CEO pay package so disproportionate to revenue. Asked for comment, a company spokeswoman accused Sloan of writing a “transparent hit piece.” Barron’s
7.
In 1977, 24-year-old Jeanette Ralston was found strangled to death near a San Jose bar. Evidence suggested that she was sexually assaulted. The case went cold for nearly 50 years — until now, authorities announced on Tuesday. Prosecutors said a newly recovered fingerprint led them to Willie Eugene Sims, 69, who was an Army private in Monterey County at the time of the killing. Subsequent DNA testing removed all doubt, officials said. “Cases may grow old and be forgotten by the public,” said District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. “We don’t forget and we don’t give up.” CBS News | WOIO
8.
The Yurok Tribe shared a gallery of new pictures showing the influence of spring along a 10-mile stretch of the Klamath River where two dams had choked the major waterway for more than a century before being removed last year. The images depict verdant green riverbanks, bursts of red-orange wildflowers, and lounging deer — a sharp contrast from the grayish muck initially exposed by the drained reservoirs. 👉 Yurok Tribe
Below, see three images of the newly freed stretch of river in chronological order from March 2024 to April 2025.
Southern California
9.
Kristi Noem, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said on Tuesday that she would seek the death penalty for two Mexican nationals accused of human smuggling after a boat capsized off the San Diego coast on Monday morning, killing at least three people. The dead included two children — ages 14 and 10 — from the same Indian family, officials said on Tuesday. Federal prosecutors charged five people in connection with the tragedy. A.P. | S.D. Union-Tribune
10.
On April 24, dockworkers at the Port of Long Beach began unloading the OOCL Violet, among the first shipping vessels to confront President Trump’s 145% tariff rate on Chinese imports. The cargo included an array of goods and supplies, including fish, car windshields, sneakers, and wheelchairs. The estimated new tariffs: at least $417 million. That’s on top of preexisting import fees. Bloomberg News analyzed the staggering new costs to American importers and consumers involved in just one ship.
- Many importers are simply canceling orders, Gene Seroka, head of the Port of Los Angeles, said on Tuesday. CNN
11.
Los Angeles’ Homeless Services Authority authorized $800,000 to be paid to two whistleblowers who accused the agency’s leader of hiring unqualified friends into high-level positions, trying to destroy public records, and behaving inappropriately at a conference, records obtained by LAist showed. The settlement allowed the agency to avoid embarrassing public litigation. Officials initially refused to disclose the whistleblower claims, relenting only after sustained pressure from a reporter citing public records law. LAist
12.
Since the January wildfires in Los Angeles, a small army of workers, equipment operators, and truck drivers has cleared hundreds of thousands of tons of debris from Altadena and the Palisades area. It’s been called the fastest such cleanup in modern California history. The Los Angeles Times published a collection of before-and-after photographs that show the transformation of the charred landscape. L.A. Times
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