Latest news with #Rendon
Politico
28-07-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Anthony Rendon enters superintendent's race
RENDON'S RETURN — Anthony Rendon, a labor-connected Democrat with deep ties to Sacramento and its early childhood education sphere, is running for state schools superintendent. Playbook first reported in March that the former Assembly speaker was considering folding his state treasurer account into the race for California's top education office. In an interview, Rendon said he was motivated to run by the chance to implement the state's universal transitional kindergarten program, rejoin California's public college boards and improve schools for his daughter, who will enroll in public kindergarten this fall. The Trump administration's attempted siege on California education funding also played into Rendon's calculus, he said. 'In the same way that I helped lead the state's efforts against Trump in 2016, I want to make sure I'm in those trenches and doing it again,' Rendon said. Trans athletes: Trump's most direct threat to California education funding was over its laws permitting trans women and girls to compete on sports teams matching their gender identity. The California Department of Education rebuffed the Trump administration's calls to stop those athletes from competing; Rendon said he approved of that decision (though CDE, which he would run as superintendent, doesn't have authority over the issue). 'Rather than using them as pawns in an ideological game,' Rendon said of trans athletes, 'we need to respect them, and we need to be supportive of them, so I'm supportive of trans students competing in sports in the genders in which they identify.' Lately: Term limits forced Rendon out of the Legislature last year following a messy succession fight, in which now-Speaker Robert Rivas ousted him from leadership. Rendon has been living in Southern California, holding fundraisers, ironing out a divorce and meeting with education groups in anticipation of his campaign launch. He held the most powerful political office of anyone in the state superintendent's field and argued in the interview that his experience negotiating state budgets with Govs. Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom could help him break through in a field teeming with Democratic elected officials. Before entering office, Rendon ran Plaza de la Raza Child Development Services and was interim director of the California League of Conservation Voters. The sprawling field: Assembly Education Chair Al Muratsuchi and former Senate Education Chair Josh Newman are also running, and Assemblymember Mia Bonta has explored jumping in the field. Local officials have also entered the race, including San Diego Unified board member Richard Barrera and Los Angeles Community College District Trustees Nichelle Henderson and Andra Hoffman. Hard-line Republican Chino Valley school board member Sonja Shaw has largely consolidated GOP support. Campaign stockpile: Rendon will start the race with close to $900,000 on hand. The JSQ Group is managing his campaign, Democratic consultant Kevin Liao is heading communications and Lisa Cassinis is his fundraiser. GOOD MORNING. Happy Monday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. Like what you're reading? Sign up to get California Playbook in your inbox, and forward it to a friend. You can also text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as 'CA Playbook' in your contacts. Or drop us a line at dgardiner@ and bjones@ or on X — @DustinGardiner and @jonesblakej. WHERE'S GAVIN? Nothing official announced. BAY AREA THROWING SHADE — Hundreds of documents show how climate researchers failed to notify officials in California about a test of technology to block the sun's rays — while they planned a much huger geoengineering sequel to try to counter the effects of global warming. As Corbin Hiar reported for POLITICO's E&E News, the experiment in the San Francisco Bay last year is part of a secretive billionaire-backed initiative to study how salt water-spraying equipment could eventually be used to create clouds and dim sunlight. But the demonstration, intended to run for months, lasted about 20 minutes before being shut down by Alameda city officials who objected that nobody had told them about it beforehand. The aborted initial experiment in the Bay Area shows how the researchers appear to have kept their plans from the public and lawmakers until the testing was underway. 'Alameda was a stepping stone to something much larger, and there wasn't any engagement with local communities,' said Sikina Jinnah, an environmental studies professor at the University of California in Santa Cruz. 'That's a serious misstep.' CAMPAIGN YEAR(S) FRIENDLY ADVICE — Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown isn't exactly sold on a potential Kamala Harris run for governor. 'I do think people running for public office really ought to fit eventually where they are trying to land,' Brown said on an episode of State of Gold hosted by Jon Slavet. 'And I really do hope, frankly, that she comes to that reality. She may not want to run the governor of the state of California. That may not be where she should be going.' Brown, whom Harris dated in the 1990s, shared that he discouraged Harris from accepting a VP pick from Joe Biden because he thought she might be better suited for attorney general. 'I think she stopped speaking to me as a result of that,' he said. Brown, now 91, said the state has plenty of other people who could serve as the state's top executive, including former state Controller Betty Yee and real estate mogul turned failed LA mayoral candidate Rick Caruso. 'That is a really talented guy,' the former Assembly speaker said of Caruso. 'He's got great executive potential. And I think in this day and age when the public is looking for somebody that represents not yesterday, but somebody who is fresh and relatively new for the 39 million people, he is exactly that.' — Nicole Norman STATE CAPITOL NOT BRINGING THE BACON — New USDA data revealed that California's landmark animal welfare law drove up pork prices for consumers and disproportionately affected small farmers, a finding that gives Republicans ammunition in upcoming farm bill negotiations. As POLITICO's Grace Yarrow reported for subscribers, the data shows that 27 percent of U.S. pork producers have made or are working to make investments to comply with California's Proposition 12, which created confinement requirements for any hogs that are sold or raised in the state. Meanwhile, retail pork prices in California increased by nearly 19 percent in June compared with the same month last year, and low-income households are buying less pork. CLIMATE AND ENERGY ICYMI: GREENER GRID — Gov. Gavin Newsom penned an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, touting how 'more than two-thirds of California's electricity now comes from clean sources such as solar, wind and geothermal.' Newsom said that clean energy has fully powered the state's electrical grid for an average of seven hours per day this year. TOP TALKERS COUNTER OFFENSIVE — Democratic leaders in California, New York and Maryland are still scrambling to their response to the GOP's redistricting maneuver that is threatening to upend the midterms landscape. As Texas Republicans press forward with a redistricting blitz designed to increase the number of red seats in the state, Newsom's administration talked to state election officials about the logistics and timing of a special election to overturn its nonpartisan redistricting commission. California likely offers Democrats' best shot at redrawing a map, as our POLITICO colleagues reported. Newsom hosted Texas Democrats at the governor's mansion in Sacramento on Friday, doing his part to project a united national front against Republicans, and told reporters he was weighing several options to expand Democrats' margins beyond their current, disproportionate hold on 43 of 52 House seats. But the legal obstacles are steep. 'The question I imagine many folks are asking here in California is: what do the politics of Texas have to do with the politics here in California?' Newsom told reporters on Friday, flanked by Texas lawmakers. 'The answer is everything.' AROUND THE STATE — ICE agents raided one of the state's largest licensed cannabis operators, sending shock waves through the industry. One worker died after he fell three stories while trying to escape. (Los Angeles Times) — California's largest solar farm is expected to be constructed in western Fresno County, on 9,500 acres of fallow farmland. The facility plans call for about 3.1 million solar panels and a large battery storage system. (The Fresno Bee) — Unionized Safeway employees have reached a tentative agreement with the grocery company, averting a potential strike that would have involved thousands of workers in Northern California. (KQED) — The San Diego LGBT Community Center is preparing to possibly lay off dozens of workers amid federal funding cuts to grants that support its community health programs. (The San Diego Union-Tribune) PLAYBOOKERS STORK ALERT — Overland Strategies co-founders Derek and Anna Humphrey welcomed a son, Dalton Brown Humphrey, on July 20. PEOPLE MOVES — Joe Goldman is now the regional director for Southern California at New Israel Fund, which supports the ecosystem of Israeli pro-democracy and human rights organizations. He previously served as the community engagement director for the Western Region of HIAS. — Tony Ball has been named incoming CEO at Entrust (global provider of identity-centric security solutions) and will replace current CEO Todd Wilkinson, who plans to retire in March 2026. Ball is currently the company's president of payments & identity. — Rachel Chiu has joined the government relations team for the LA28 Olympic & Paralympic Games. She previously served as special assistant to the president and chief of staff of the Office of Political Strategy & Outreach in the Biden White House, and is a Harris campaign alum. BIRTHDAYS — Voleck Taing at the Silicon Valley Leadership Group … 23andMe co-founder Anne Wojcicki … Josh Curtis … real-estate developer Izek Shomof BELATED B-DAY WISHES — (was Sunday): Elliot Schrage … Jean 'Gigi' Pritzker … Berin Szóka … Gaurav Parikh … Jacquelynn Burke … Saumitra Thakur … Michael M. Baden … (was Saturday): Robert Gonzalez at the Teamsters Local 1932 … Lesli Linka Glatter … Sam Schabacker … Lia Seremetis … actor Jeremy Piven … Barry Munitz … (was Friday): Peter Suschitzky … producer Darren Star … (was Thursday): pollster John Nienstedt … Alex Zucco … (was Wednesday): David Dewit … (was July 21): Laura Bennett at California Advisors, LLC … lobbyist Nick Romo … Peter Prengaman … Katherine Schneider … consultant Bob Shrum … Ritika Robertson at Meta … Roberta Achtenberg … Breanna Pitcher … Jon Lovitz … (was July 20): Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove … Susannah Delano at Close the Gap California … Elle Hoxworth in the office of Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel … Don Seymour at Meta … former FCC Chair Dick Wiley … Julia Pyper … Lila Mirrashidi, the governor's chief deputy cabinet secretary … (was July 19:) former Rep. John Campbell … Graham Knaus at the California State Association of Counties … Jacob Kirn at the Department of Finance … Maria Giannopoulos … Stephanie Valencia … Peter Obregon WANT A SHOUT-OUT FEATURED? — Send us a birthday, career move or another special occasion to include in POLITICO's California Playbook. You can now submit a shout-out using this Google form.
Time of India
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
'Equine armed with explosives': Mule laden with explosives kills soldier in Colombia; National Liberation Army blamed
Representative image A Colombian soldier was killed and two others injured on Wednesday after explosives carried by a mule detonated in rural northeastern Colombia, said Antioquia governor Andres Julian Rendon, as reported by AP. He confirmed the soldier's death and blamed the National Liberation Army (ELN), a guerrilla group of around 6,000 fighters still engaged in conflict with the government. Rendon said the soldiers were patrolling near Valdivia when they were targeted by 'an equine armed with explosives.' The army later confirmed that the animal was a mule and condemned what it described as 'the cruel and macabre use of animals to carry out terrorism,' as quoted by AP. While car and motorcycle bombs are more common in Colombia, the military said the last known use of an animal for such an attack was in 2013, involving a dog. In the past, horses and donkeys have also been used to transport explosives. President Gustavo Petro had initiated peace talks with the ELN and other armed groups under his 'Total Peace' plan. However, those talks were suspended in January after the ELN launched an offensive against a rival group near the Venezuelan border, killing more than 90 people.
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
LBJ wrestler Rendon finding home, success in sport
AUSTIN (KXAN) — When Michaela Rendon began as a wrestler, it wasn't the most encouraging start. 'My first match, I didn't know what to do,' Rendon said. 'So I kind of just screamed in the middle. I didn't win.'Seven months later, the sport seems like it has always been a part of her life. 'I like the sport because it's a one-man sport,' she said. 'You can't really rely on a team like in football. It's really just you and the other person. That's what it comes down to.' Despite being newer to the sport, Rendon has excelled. She qualified for the Junior National Championships in Fargo, North Dakota, this July. Texas Longhorns set to claim Directors' Cup for 4th time in 5 years The LBJ standout just finished her freshman year and is staying extremely focused. 'What makes Michaela special is the idea of an athlete being what I would call complete,' said Randy Bryant, principal of LBJ High School. 'She does what's necessary inside the classroom and she's doing what's necessary to be successful at athletics.' Bryant is also the owner of Heart and Pride Wrestling, where Michaela trains. The club is free for students from the Austin Independent School District. National championship-winning coach questions all the Arch Manning hype 'Some gyms you can tell when it's just about the money, but I feel like they really want to help out the kids and they're just genuine,' she said. Rendon is an athlete in every sense of the word. She's been successful in track and field and football, as well as boxing. She said that her boxing background has helped her in wrestling. Her goal in wrestling is simple. 'I want to win state,' she said. She has helped revitalize the wrestling program at LBJ. There should be around 20 athletes in the program for the upcoming season, a turnout much higher than it typically is. 'It feels good. I don't want to say I'm the start, but I'm one of the first ones that is going to start the club back up,' she said. 'It feels good.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
GMA Network
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- GMA Network
‘Mga Batang Riles' ends chapter with justice served and brighter tomorrows
'Mga Batang Riles' served a gripping finale that delivered a rollercoaster of emotions as it closed the chapter on the boys' tumultuous journey. The episode opened in the heat of chaos as the boys rushed to save Kidlat (Miguel Tanfelix), who was inside a burning building. In a dramatic turn, it was his biological father, Rendon (Jay Manalo), who came to his rescue. Kidlat managed to escape and was tearfully reunited with his mother, Maying (Diana Zubiri), and his found family, Dagul (Anton Vinzon), Kulot (Kokoy de Santos), and Sig (Raheel Bhyria). Inside the flames, Rendon made the ultimate sacrifice, choosing to stay with Matos (Bruce Roeland) in their final moments. Kidlat and the others attempted to save them, only to witness the building collapse before their eyes. Following the tragedy, a more emotional reunion unfolded between Dagul and Dolor (Ynez Veneracion), who, for the first time, showed genuine care and regret for how she had treated him. The two embraced, symbolizing healing after years of distance. As the flames of the past settled, Kidlat wrestled with his emotions over Matos' death, once a friend, then a foe, and Rendon, the father who saved him despite their bitter history. Maying reminded him of the strength he showed. The residents of Sitio Liwanag, wounded but unbroken, gathered with newfound hope and pledged to start anew. The final act brought long-awaited justice as Argus (Jeric Raval) was captured and exposed Scarlett (Desiree Del Valle) as the mastermind behind the arson that devastated Sitio Liwanag. With this revelation, the people finally got the justice they deserved. The young heroes also took their first steps into new lives: Dagul became a police officer, Kulot an engineer, and Sig, now with Lady, who successfully received a transplant, looked forward to the future. Kidlat became a martial arts teacher, continuing to inspire strength and discipline in others. Mutya (Zephanie), who pursued her dream of becoming a nurse, remained by Kidlat's side as his partner. In a fitting final scene, the boys were seen chasing after a thief, symbolizing their undying courage and readiness to stand up for what is right. —Carby Rose Basina/CDC, GMA Integrated News
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Yahoo
Crime novelist explores MMIW in 'Where They Last Saw Her'
Frank ZufallWisconsin Examiner Marcie Rendon, author of 'Where They Last Saw Her,' spoke at the Muir Library in Winnebago in southern Minnesota last Tuesday, where a group of 15-20 white women from a conservative, Republican-leaning farming community came to hear the Native American author talk about her recently published book. The crime novel explores the theme of Native American women who are missing or murdered. Rendon is a member of the White Earth Nation in northwest Minnesota who now lives in Minneapolis. The story begins with the protagonist, Quill, a Native American wife and mother of two, who is jogging on the reservation when she hears a woman scream. That scream sends her into panic, which later leads to an investigation. Rendon told the admiring audience that she is a crime junkie who loves to create page-turners, and that her goal with the new book wasn't to provide a sociological study of Indigenous life, but to tell a good story. However, Rendon framed the book's accounts of missing Native American women taken from a reservation and an infant kidnapped from a Walmart to the movement recognizing the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives (MMIW/R). Early on, Crow, Quill's husband, expresses concern about his wife risking her safety chasing down information on the possible identity of the woman she heard screaming: 'We've been hearing these horror stories of four thousand, maybe five thousand women missing across Canada. Missing down here. The stories of what has happened to women and children' – he emphasized children – 'in the man camps over the Dakotas. And they are here now.' He jabbed two fingers onto the table when he said the word now. 'Those same men are here now.' He jabbed the table again. 'I don't want anyone from my family to go missing. To end up dead in a ditch or a river. No. Not on my watch.' When the book club members had an opportunity to ask Rendon questions, they didn't focus on the plotline of the story but on the larger MMIW/R issue, what's behind it and what could be done to address it. In mainstream culture, Rendon responded, Native Americans are seen as invisible and their problems have not been taken as seriously. 'When I go out East to talk, most people out there think we're all dead; that we disappeared with, I don't know, the Black Hills gold rush, which also makes it easier for us to disappear if people don't think we exist,' she said. 'How can you disappear if you don't exist?' Although the MMIW/R issue has benefited from more public discussions, such as the May 5 MMIW/R Day of Awareness, Rendon said, when she was recently in Madison, she met a college professor who had never heard of the issue. 'Where They Last Saw Her' is an example of a work of fiction that raises awareness of a real crisis and provides insights into subcultures and their struggles. In 2018, as part of a statewide program called Wisconsin Reads, several book clubs around the state collectively read and discussed 'The Round House' by Louise Erdrich, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians in North Dakota. That book also raised awareness of struggles on Native American reservations and, in particular, the complication of prosecuting a crime when there are competing jurisdictional authorities between a tribal nation and county and state authorities. Rendon is also the author of the 'Cash Blackbear' series, which involves a Native American 19-year-old woman who solves crimes in the Red River area of Minnesota/North Dakota in the 1970s. She said her editor at Bantam asked her about writing another book outside the series. 'She said, 'Well, what's the current issue in Indian Country?' and I said, 'missing and murdered Indian women.'' However, Rendon was initially reluctant to write a story around the MMIW/R issue. 'I said, 'there's no resolution. If somebody's missing or murdered, there's no happy ending,' she said. 'There's no resolution to the story. They're either dead or they're still missing.'' Rendon's story is set in Minnesota at a fictional tribe on the outskirts of Duluth, Minnesota, where in real life there had been a major pipeline project on a reservation in the area, like the one in her book — the replacement of Line 3 by Enbridge on the Fond du Lac Reservation, completed in 2021. Prior to the Line 3 permit being approved, there had been concerns by Native American groups about man camps and violence and harassment against Native women. A 2021 article by The Guardian, 'Sexual violence along pipeline route follows Indigenous women's warnings,' reported that a local crisis center for survivors of violence had 'received more than 40 reports about Line 3 workers harassing and assaulting women and girls who live in northwestern Minnesota.' Rene Ann Goodrich, a member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, and a member of the Wisconsin MMIW/R Task Force is one of several Ojibwe women from Northern Wisconsin who have also expressed concern over Enbridge replacing a portion of Line 5, currently located on the Bad River Reservation, but Enbridge has filed for permits to build outside the reservation. Besides environmental concerns, the new project could result in a man camp in the area and possible assaults against Native women. Rendon said there is a strong relationship between the extractive industry and the MMIW/R issue, and she makes a strong correlation between the two in her book. 'Anytime you have an extractive industry, like the pipelines, gold mines, uranium mines, anytime you have an extractive industry where large groups of men are pulled in to do the extraction, there's no police force. They show up without their wives and families. They show up without ministers or priests. It's just like the Wild West,' she said. 'There has to be something done about the extractive industries and this use of men in large groups to actually go out and do these extractive industries. I don't know how you change this. But I think that awareness is a piece of it.' However, Rendon said she had heard that some oil companies have responded to concerns about man camps by putting men up in hotels with their families. 'Talk about the power of women, right? Bringing your wife and she'll make you go to church,' she said. Rendon said it was vital for her to portray Native American women in a community. In the story, three women, Quill and her friends Punk and Gaylyn, often travel together as they pursue information about missing women or help with searches. 'In Native communities, you almost never do anything alone,' she said. 'You know, if I'm going to go to the grocery store, somebody's with me. There's one family that, if you see them at the pow wow — if you see them at the grocery store, if you see them downtown, in the courthouse — it's the mom, the grandma, the kids, you know; it's like, it's a whole group,' she said. Regarding Native women and community, Rendon notes it was Indigenous/First Nation women in Canada who first gathered together and spoke out about the phenomenon of Indigenous women missing around the man camps of oil pipelines and mining operations. 'I knew that in this story about missing and murdered Indian women, what was important to me was a community of women, and so I knew that it wasn't going to be just one person,' she said. Rendon said she has received some criticism for including a male Native American who is abusive. 'We have bad people in our communities, too,' she said, 'and then there's the thing about domestic abuse, it happens in every community and in smaller communities. People know that it happens, but people don't talk about it, or there's this secrecy and stuff that happens around it.' In Minnesota, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) reports there were 716 Indigenous persons missing in that state in 2024, 57% of whom were women. In Wisconsin the exact number of missing Indigenous persons is not published, in part because the state does not have a clearinghouse like Minnesota for gathering that data. Rendon praised efforts in Minnesota to create an MMIW/R office that tracks MMIW/R cases, works with families, and provides support and even rewards for information. And she noted that in Minneapolis, the Indigenous Protectors Movement, a branch of the American Indian Movement, is active in putting out flyers and organizing searches for missing persons. In researching the novel, Rendon said she was surprised by how often white women who went missing were blamed for causing their own victimization through their behavior, including having multiple sexual partners. In Native American communities, she said, there isn't that cloud of guilt over women. 'The Native community clearly has said, 'I don't care what our women were doing, nobody deserves to be trafficked. Nobody deserves to end up dead in a ditch or in a gunny sack in the Red River Valley,'' she said. 'So there's a difference, a cultural difference that I saw, which surprised me.'
