Latest news with #Californians
CBS News
33 minutes ago
- Climate
- CBS News
California deploys firefighting resources in multiple northern counties ahead of increased fire risk
In anticipation of critical fire weather conditions forecast for parts of Northern California, Gov. Gavin Newsom has approved the pre-deployment of firefighting resources in multiple counties. Newsom's office made the announcement on Tuesday and said it is in response to a heightened fire risk forecast for Wednesday and Thursday for Plumas, Nevada and Sierra counties. "This proactive approach has proven to be a critical component of California's wildfire response strategy, reducing response times and containing fires before they escalate," Newsom said in a statement. "Residents should be prepared and listen to local authorities." As part of the effort, Newsom's office said 14 fire engines, four water tenders, and two dispatchers have been strategically positioned in the region to enhance the state's ability to respond rapidly to potential wildfire outbreaks. Newsom approved similar pre-deployments for Nevada, Plumas and Sierra counties between July 20 and July 25 in response to previous fire weather threats. Officials urge residents in at-risk areas to stay alert and prepare for the possibility of evacuation. The California Governor's Office of Emergency Services advises the public to develop a wildfire action plan, identify evacuation routes, and pack a go-bag with essential supplies. Californians are also encouraged to sign up for local emergency alerts.
San Francisco Chronicle
8 hours ago
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Sara DiNatale joins S.F. Chronicle to report on Trump's impact on the Bay Area
Sara DiNatale has joined the San Francisco Chronicle as a reporter on the politics team. In her new role, DiNatale will chronicle the ways in which the Trump administration is shaping life in the Bay Area, including impacts its policies and decisions are having on local governments, businesses, nonprofits, individuals and communities. She will report to Politics Editor Sara Libby. 'Sara has done incredible work examining the ways in which government systems are impacting people's day-to-day lives,' said Libby. 'As the Trump administration continues to target California's leaders and seeks to override policies it disagrees with, it's more important than ever to dig into the ways these tensions are playing out on the ground.' DiNatale has spent the last decade reporting on a mix of business and breaking news topics across the southern United States. She has worked for the Tampa Bay Times, Mississippi Today and, most recently, the San Antonio Express-News, which is also owned by Hearst, the Chronicle's parent company. DiNatale was the recipient of a 2024 George Polk Award for her investigation on the Texas residential solar industry as an energy reporter at the San Antonio Express-News. The four-part series led Texas to adopt new state laws and licensing requirements to regulate bad actors and door-to-door scammers. In addition to energy, she has reported extensively on labor, health care and retail. She got her start as a night cops reporter in Tampa after graduating from the University at Buffalo with an English degree in 2015. DiNatale's storytelling has spanned power tool theft-driven drug rings, Delta farmworkers fighting racist hiring practices and the complexities of Texas' troubled electric grid. Her reporting has been recognized by a series of state-level and national awards, including top honors from the Headliner Foundation, Best of the West and Bill Minor Prize for Investigative Reporting. She's a native of Western New York. 'I'm so excited to begin this next chapter of my career in the Bay Area,' DiNatale said. 'I look forward to being on the ground, meeting Californians and reporting how they see their lives changing under the Trump administration.' The San Francisco Chronicle ( is the largest newspaper in Northern California and the second largest on the West Coast. Acquired by Hearst in 2000, The San Francisco Chronicle was founded in 1865 by Charles and Michael de Young and has been awarded six Pulitzer Prizes for journalistic excellence. Follow us on Twitter at @SFChronicle
Los Angeles Times
12 hours ago
- General
- Los Angeles Times
Californians agree that this insidious invader must be held at bay
OLYMPIC VALLEY, CA. — 'Keep Tahoe Blue' may not be the most common bumper sticker in California, but it's certainly one of them. And for good reason. Californians treasure the giant lake for its clarity, its spectacular vistas and the countless memories made here. But an onslaught of invading species threatens the plants and creatures that have made Tahoe their home for ages. The newcomers gobble up food sources that would otherwise go to native species like the cutthroat trout. And they spew out waste that threatens the lake's acclaimed clarity. Government resource managers have intensified their efforts this summer to prevent non-native mussels from entering the lake. Beginning in 2008, boats trailered to Tahoe have been required to undergo inspections for prolific quagga mussels, which have caused vast damage in the Great Lakes, Lake Mead and other places. But the discovery late last year of another species, the golden mussel, in the Sacramento River Delta has redoubled concern. The golden mussels, native to Asia, are even heartier and more prolific than their quagga cousins. The tiny creatures grow up to 2 inches in length, and have already proved their ability to spread. They have been detected in Quail Lake in Los Angeles County. And inspectors at Alpine Meadows found a single live golden mussel on the drive shaft of a boat bound for Tahoe at the end of May. Allowed to proliferate, the mussels will thoroughly encrust docks, boats and other hard surfaces, requiring cleanups that easily run into millions of dollars. 'These golden mussels are an extreme threat to Tahoe and other waters in this area,' said Dennis Zabaglo, aquatic invasive species program manager for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. The agency oversees a program that inspects every boat that wants to launch in Lake Tahoe. With the emergence of golden mussels last fall, inspectors now also decontaminate the hulls, engines and bilges of all incoming watercraft. Boats previously launched in mussel-infested waters, such as Lake Mead or Lake Powell along the Colorado River, will also have their ropes, buoys and life vests decontaminated. Luckily, the process is easy and nontoxic: a thorough flushing with hot water kills all the invasive mussel species and their eggs. There is also a mantra among the boating community in Tahoe and beyond: Clean, drain and dry. That process kills off the unwanted invaders. Boats that have been properly cleaned get a wire seal connecting their trailer and boat to prove the vessel has not been launched in any other body of water. Without that seal, boat ramp operators will not allow watercraft into Tahoe. At three inspection stations near Lake Tahoe, most boat owners said they appreciate the intense inspections and decontamination, which take from 20 minutes to an hour and cost $145 to $175. 'It's not like we're tree huggers,' said Haley Finn, as her family's sleek ski boat was checked out Sunday at an inspection station in Alpine Meadows. 'But we want them to do what it takes to keep Tahoe clean and nice.' Matt Bromage, a tech engineer from San Jose, felt the same way. 'I think what they are doing is great,' said Bromage, whose 27-foot sailboat, the Great Escape, was getting the once-over. 'I don't know a lot of the specifics of the non-native organisms. But I'm in favor of any actions that are trying to keep the lake and nature beautiful.' Finn, who builds custom homes with her husband, Corey, echoed a sentiment of many passing the inspection. 'Nothing is prettier than Tahoe. I don't care what anybody says. And we want to keep it that way.' Skylar says, 'I bought them their own futon! When they are inside they spend the whole day on it! Totally worth it!' Email us at essentialcalifornia@ and your response might appear in the newsletter this week. Today's powerful photo is from Palestinian photojournalist Ali Jadallah as part of a series highlighting the suffering of children in Gaza, where a humanitarian disaster is escalating and civilians are starving. Jim Rainey, staff writerDiamy Wang, homepage internIzzy Nunes, audience internKevinisha Walker, multiplatform editorAndrew Campa, Sunday writerKarim Doumar, head of newsletters How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@ Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on
San Francisco Chronicle
a day ago
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
UC admits more California freshmen than ever — but fewer at top campuses
The University of California admitted more than 100,000 California first-year students for fall 2025 — a systemwide record — even as the most selective campuses extended fewer offers to in-state applicants. According to data released Monday by the UC Office of the President, 100,947 California residents received offers of admission, a 7.4% increase over last year's total of 93,990. The admission rate for California students rose to 77%, up from 70% in 2024. 'We continue to experience significant growth — a clear indication that Californians recognize the value of a UC degree,' UC President Michael V. Drake said in a statement. Four of the UC system's nine undergraduate campuses — Merced, Riverside, Davis and Santa Cruz — accounted for the increase in first-year admissions of California students. UC Merced in particular saw a whopping 71.9% surge in admissions of in-state students, after a 45% increase in applications following several changes that made it easier for students to apply and enroll there. UC Riverside also had a robust 46% increase in admissions of California students. Admissions of in-state first-year students fell slightly at its most competitive campuses: Berkeley, UCLA, San Diego, Irvine and Santa Barbara. Systemwide, UC admitted 149,368 first-year students from a pool of 205,348 applicants, increasing the overall admission rate to 73% from 66% last year, though not all are expected to accept the offer. Offers to domestic nonresidents rose by 9%, while international offers grew by 17%, despite lower anticipated enrollment from those groups. Among California admits, 41.8% reported low family incomes, up from 40.6% last year. While the proportion of first-generation college students dipped slightly to 42.4%, the actual number rose by more than 2,300. Admissions officials attributed the increase to the university's adherence to the California Master Plan for Higher Education, which guarantees admission to a UC campus for students in the top 9% of their high school class or statewide, regardless of standardized test scores. UC Berkeley, one of the most competitive campuses, admitted approximately 14,500 first-year students — 787 more than in 2024 — from a record 126,798 applicants. The campus also admitted more than 5,600 transfer students. Among freshman admits, 68% come from California and one in four identify as first-generation students. 'At Berkeley, we seek to find the most exceptional students wherever they are in the state, country or world, and it's especially rewarding when we can offer admission to more of these incredible students,' said Olufemi Ogundele, Berkeley's associate vice chancellor and dean of enrollment, in a statement. UC Davis admitted 55,739 undergraduate students for fall 2025, an 8.6% increase over the previous year. The total includes a record 45,963 first-year admissions — up 10.4% — and 9,776 transfer admissions, a slight increase from 2024. Of those admitted, 34,088 are California residents, representing 61.1% of the admitted class. The gains in admissions support UC's broader 2030 plan, which aims to gradually expand capacity for California undergraduates over the next five years.
Los Angeles Times
a day ago
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Under pressure, UC admits a record number of Californians; racial diversity remains strong
UC admitted its largest class of California undergraduates for fall 2025, while also maintaining a diverse student body and increasing the number of students who are the first-generation in their family to attend college, according to preliminary data released Monday. The University of California also offered admission to 17% more undergraduate international students, a group which has come under scrutiny from the Trump administration with increased vetting and visa delays. The strategy in raising international student admits took into account that UC raised nonresident tuition fees last year and that White House actions will likely mean fewer foreigners will decide to study in the U.S. in the fall. The bigger pool of admission offers aims to capture a large enough group of students who will enroll and bring the international diversity UC values — as well boost coffers with the full-price tuition paid by non-California residents. Overall, UC admitted 100,947 first-year California students, up more than 7% from last year. The number represents the largest admitted class to the nation's premier public university system as leaders address public demands to give more seats to Californians — despite the allure of charging higher tuition to out-of-state students during tough budgetary times. UC is grappling with a hiring freeze, layoffs, deferred state funding, campus-level structural deficits, potentially costly union contract negotiations and talk of tuition increases. Questions loom over billions in federal grants amid Trump administration claw-backs and multiple federal government investigations probing allegations regarding antisemitism, use of race in admissions and sources of foreign funding. The system-wide admission rate for California first-year students — even taking in highly competitive campuses including UCLA and Berkeley — increased to 77% from 70% last year. Overall, UC offered seats to 180,382 first-year and transfer students from California and other states and nations. At UCLA, the nation's most applied-to university, the admit rate remained roughly the same at 9%. UCLA offered admission to 8,575 California first-year applicants for fall 2025, down by more than 200 students over last year. Like in previous years, the number represented the smallest set of offers among UC campuses. Monday's data focused only on admitted students — not those who will end up accepting offers and enroll. Thus, the numbers are higher than campus capacities. 'We continue to experience significant growth — a clear indication that Californians recognize the value of a UC degree,' said outgoing UC President Michael V. Drake. 'Our latest admissions numbers demonstrate that families across our state recognize that UC degrees prepare students for a lifetime of meaningful contributions in their communities and far beyond.' Drake, a physician, will leave his role at the end of July to return to research and teaching. James B. Milliken, the former University of Texas Chancellor, will replace him. 'Creating pathways to a UC education for a wide range of top California students yields benefits not only for those students, but for the state at large,' said Han Mi Yoon-Wu, UC associate vice provost and executive director for undergraduate admissions. 'We are proud to offer these exceptional young people a place at the University of California.' The data released Monday continues years-long UC trends of increasing racial diversity, first-generation students, those from lower-income families, and transfers from California community colleges. In recent years, UC has touted the racial and ethnic mix of its admitted students as a better reflection of California demographics — even as diversity programs nationwide have come under political and legal attack, and the Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that affirmative action in college admissions was unconstitutional. In California, Proposition 209, approved by voters in 1997, bans the consideration of race in admission to public education institutions. Over the years UC has moved to recruit a diversity of students and in the early 2000s, launched two major reforms. One focuses on an admission guarantee to top-performing students statewide and at most California high schools. The other evaluates applicants using a comprehensive review process — including special talents, how a student compares to peers in their high school, and geographic location — in addition to grades and coursework. This year, as the Trump administration has criticized campus diversity programs, UC's messaging around admissions has been quieter about race. A press release on admissions data did not refer to the racial make-up of admitted students, as it has in the past several years — although racial data was included in detailed admissions tables. Earlier this year, the Trump administration said it was investigating UCLA, UC Berkeley and UC Irvine of using 'illegal DEI' in admissions and suggested the system's faculty diversity goals amounted to race-based hiring discrimination. The Justice Department zeroed in on a 'UC 2030 Capacity Plan' that charts out desires to increase diversity among graduate students and faculty, including adding 1,100 tenure-track faculty. UC has vigorously defended it admissions practices and said it abides by state and federal laws. Monday's UC data showed increases in admits of all racial groups: Black, Latino, Native American, Asian American, Pacific Islander, white and 'unknown.' The growth happened despite the total applicant pool declining slightly — by less than 1% — to 249,824. For the sixth consecutive year, Latinos were the largest group of admitted first-year California students, primarily because of their high numbers accepted by UC Merced and UC Riverside. At the other seven undergraduate campuses, Asian Americans were the leading admitted group. Overall, Latinos made up 39% of first-year Californians admitted, followed by Asian Americans at 33%, white students at 18%, Black students at 6%, Native Americans at roughly 1% — or 604 people — and Pacific Islanders at less than 1% with 294 people. As it was last year — following national trends in higher education — women admits outweighed men. Across UC campuses, 54% of admits for the fall were women, 42% were men. In addition, 1% were nonbinary, less than 1% each were transgender men or women, and 3% were of a different or unknown gender identity. UC Berkeley and Davis, where 57% of admits were women, had the biggest gender divides. While UC's overall admission data showed increases in the number of students offered slots, the campus-by-campus data varied widely. Most campuses only increased admits by a few hundred or few thousand students. The bulk of admissions growth was dominated by UC Merced and UC Riverside. At Merced, UC's newest campus, overall admissions grew more than 60% to 50,662 from 31,585 last year. At Riverside, admissions jumped greater than 38% from 51,345 to 71,069. Part of the increase reflected targeted recruiting for those campuses, Yoon-Wu said in an interview. 'One of the changes this year was focusing on students who perhaps were not familiar with those two campuses and getting them in as applicants early on,' she said. Merced saw the biggest growth in applications this year with a 45% increase to to 51,745. The second-biggest increase was at Riverside, jumping 18% to 82,904. Both campuses have been expanding and do not face the same restrictions of some high-profile UCs that are surrounded by dense urban areas with relatively high housing costs, such as UCLA and UC Berkeley. Riverside, which is undergoing housing expansion, aims to enroll 35,000 students by 2035 — an increase of roughly 9,000 from last fall. Merced has a enrollment goal of 15,000 by 2030, which would be a growth of roughly 6,000 from last fall. Merced and Riverside campuses also have the highest admission rates in UC and are among the most diverse when it comes to race, first-generation status and student income levels. In addition, the campuses also have low yield rates — the percentage of admitted students who choose to enroll. At Merced, the overall first-year student yield rate last year was 7%. At Riverside, it was 12%. Systemwide, the number of low income students and those who are the first in their family to attend college was relativity stable. Low income students made up 42% of the admitted first-year California class, a 1% increase over last year. First generation students also made up 42%, a 1% decrease. The system made gains in expanding access to California Community College transfer applicants. It offered admission to 27,845 — 5.9% more than last year. UC began adding more out-of-state students, who pay higher tuition, after funding cuts during the Great Recession. In recent years, under public pressure and amid state budget deals, it has steadily increased California admissions and enrollment. The latest admissions data showed an increase of 2,150 first-year admission offers to 26,191 — a growth of 9% — students who are residents of other states. At the same time, 3,263 more first-year international students were offered seats, an increase of 17% over last year. UC said that both numbers were higher due to 'rising uncertainty of their likelihood of enrollment' and noted that share of accepted students in the groups who choose to enroll is generally 'substantially lower' than that of California residents. Yoon-Wu said there were 'many factors' that contributed to the system wanting a larger pool of nonresident admits. She noted that that cost of being a non-Californian at UC has gone up. Last fall, the UC Board of Regents approved a 10% increase of the 'nonresident' tuition fee from $34,200 to $37,602. 'This year, there is more uncertainty about how people are feeling about higher education,' Yoon-Wu said, adding that changes in the Trump administration are 'definitely' a factor on student minds. 'Luckily for the University of California, we have proven that getting a degree from UC is a valuable decision.'
