Ben Christopher

Newsom says Trump is pissing on what?

I appreciate the journalistic effort here, but don't let Newsom off easy here. We need PRAs.

www.politico.com/newsletters/...

These cities have a new tactic to evade California housing laws. Legal experts are dubious Can anti-density advocates get around California’s aggressive housing laws by becoming charter cities? Some intend to try.

FWIW, I wrote about this strategy (becoming a charter city to skirt preempting state housing laws) back in 2024. Every state constitutional and land-use attorney I spoke to was very skeptical it would work.

calmatters.org/housing/2024...

Atherton takes another look at becoming a charter city Atherton is reviving a long-debated push to become a charter city, even as some city officials acknowledge they are uncertain whether the change would actually help the town avoid some state-mandated ...

ah yes, this old chestnut:

"The latest push to become a charter city was started by a coalition of Atherton residents working on the town’s housing element, hoping to avoid some housing requirements imposed by the state."

www.almanacnews.com/atherton/202...

Los Angeles won’t be tweaking its ‘mansion tax.’ Now the debate is likely to go statewide The ballot measure do-over for LA's 'mansion tax' was intended to ward off a statewide anti-tax crusade.

Measure ULA* is here to stay for now.

And so our state once again turns its eyes to the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association...

calmatters.org/housing/2026...

Videos on social media that were verified by The New York Times contradict the Department of Homeland Security's account of the fatal shooting of a man by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday morning. The Department of Homeland Security said the episode began after a man approached Border Patrol agents with a handgun and they tried to disarm him. But footage from the scene shows the man was holding a phone in his hand, not a gun, when federal agents took him to the ground and shot him.

Sometimes it takes a bit for national (or really, any) media to catch up with a story but now the New York Times is noting the video did not show Alex Pretti brandishing a gun as ICE has claimed. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...

Los Angeles might tweak its 'mansion tax.' Here’s why that matters for the rest of California Los Angeles might tweak its “mansion tax.” Here’s why that matters for the rest of California.

calmatters.org/housing/2026...

LA transit agency seeks to override state law allowing more homes near train and bus lines The L.A. Metro Board of Directors voted to oppose implementation of SB 79, calling for a countywide exemption.

L.A. politicians tried to stop SB 79, a state law allowing more apartments near transit stops. It passed anyway. But L.A. leaders aren't done fighting.

Today the L.A. Metro Board of Directors voted to oppose local implementation. More details in my @laist.com story:

California counties must jump through new hoops to get homelessness funds Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration is pressuring local leaders to pass ordinances regulating homeless encampments, among other requirements.

This morning Gov. Newsom is announcing the release of $419 million for local homelessness programming, funded back in 2024.

But in the coming months, the Legislature will be fighting over the NEXT round of HHAP funding — and on the conditions that will come with it.

calmatters.org/housing/home...

Linda Vazquez, 52, eats noodle soup outside of her tent on Cedar Street in San Francisco on Nov. 19, 2024. City workers tell Linda and other unhoused people to move on a regular basis during homeless sweeps and cleaning operations. Photo by Jungho Kim for CalMatters. Hed: California counties must jump through new hoops to get homelessness funds

Gov. Gavin Newsom has threatened many times to withhold state homelessness funds from cities and counties that aren’t doing enough to get people off the streets.

This year, those threats seem more real than ever. bit.ly/3Ljqu0l

📸 Jungho Kim

Renfrew Christie Dies at 76; Sabotaged Racist Regime’s Nuclear Program

Holy hell, what an obituary

In a virtual press conference with affordable housing groups, @buffywicks.bsky.social:

"I have been, since I got into the Legislature in 2018, almost a crazy woman when it comes to housing."

S.F moves to combine building inspection, planning and permitting into one department Of state's 10 largest cities, only San Francisco and L.A. have separate building and planning departments. Mayor Lurie wants to change that.

"Among the state’s 10 largest cities, only Los Angeles and San Francisco have wholly separate building and planning departments."

Didn't know that!

missionlocal.org/2026/01/s-f-...

It was a tough call, but at the end of the day I wasn't about to start digging into the annual quota of Simpsons references my editor allows me on the first week of the year.

Newsom and Trump agree on something: Blame Wall Street for the housing crisis Political foes Newsom and Trump are both targeting corporate landlords this week. Newsom plans to address the issue during Thursday’s State of the State.

An unlikely meeting of the minds of two political foes who, in a race to head off the electorate’s concerns about affordability, have landed upon the same populist message.

Newsom and Trump agree on something: Blame Wall Street for the housing crisis Political foes Newsom and Trump are both targeting corporate landlords this week. Newsom plans to address the issue during Thursday’s State of the State.

Gavin Newsom will go after Big Landlord in Thursday's State of the State address, report @frombenc.bsky.social and @jeannereporter.bsky.social:

Former reality television personality Spencer Pratt announced from the stage of a protest on the one-year anniversary of the LA wildfires that he’s running for mayor of Los Angeles. He didn’t take questions but I asked him if he actually submitted paperwork and he showed me

Horseshoe theory something something

Congestion pricing after one year: How life has changed. How life has changed in the New York area, according to data on traffic, transit and the responses of 600 readers.

“It turns out that mostly when people say ‘New York is noisy’ they really mean ‘cars are noisy.’”

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

I wonder if this is a phenomenon outside oil and gas where you find politicians taking, say, an anti-regulatory posture that may not be embraced by all, even most, members of the regulated industry. Literally not pro-business, but a pro-businessism aesthetic with a political signaling function.

Yes, as a nation we are bad at bringing up our children and the childless amongst us treat their dogs like the children they would bring up badly if they had them.

🧵 on a big new CA Court of Appeal decision that's going to make CEQA attorneys think twice when they're next asked to challenge a housing approval on contingency.

threadreaderapp.com/thread/20065...

Sold razor blades to John Cleese while working as a drug store cashier in high school.

You are not going to believe how much I had to go out-of-pocket for targeted crab massage to treat my acute tummy ache (the doctor didn’t even wash her hands before administering!)

But that’s American healthcare for you smh

Insurers Said They Could Return Home. Our Tests Found Neurotoxins in Their Bodies. A Times investigation has found that insurers are driving families into homes contaminated by smoke. Lab results show how one family was exposed to neurotoxins and carcinogens.

Horrific

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Thanks! Not distortive in that it doesn’t disincentivize investment/wealth-building because it’s retrospective and won’t happen again?

Why is a one-off the *correct* way to levy a wealth tax?

I’ll let you know when it ends if/when I ever find out.

An amateur codebreaker may have just solved the Black Dahlia and Zodiac killings Two retired LAPD homicide detectives say that both notorious cases are solved -- with a single culprit -- thanks to the work of a novice sleuth.

If true, the theory would rewrite the history of two legendary unsolved murders. An amateur sleuth claims he has cracked both the Black Dahlia and Zodiac cases — a claim experts say remains unproven but impossible to ignore.

For all the concerns that many pro-housing development advocates had about a President Pro Tem Limón, removing Wahab as Housing chair (albeit by giving her a top leadership spot) and replacing her with a YIMBY Arreguin (albeit a “born again” one) has got to do some assuaging.

Why homeownership in California isn’t nearly the financial slam dunk it once was High prices, high interest rates and cooling rents: These days tenancy (versus owning a home) in California has its perks.

Homeownership is, we're told, a benchmark of success, a milestone of responsible adulthood, the most viable way to amass wealth for you and your progeny and the white-picket-fence-fronted embodiment of the American Dream.

What if it’s also a little overrated?

calmatters.org/housing/2025...