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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 22h

@jeannereporter.bsky.social helps answer some of the biggest questions voters have about Prop. 50 -- some that I've been wondering too! calmatters.org/politics/202...

Democrats drew Prop. 50 maps to gain seats, but are they actually less fair?

Prop. 50 would redraw California’s congressional districts to favor Democrats. Both sides claim their map better represents communities. Here's the reality.

calmatters.org

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Reposted by Yousef Baig

Levi Sumagaysay @levisu.bsky.social · 23h

Breaking news from my colleague @frombenc.bsky.social: The signature caps off a legislative year full of housing policy overhauls that even just a few years ago would have seemed unthinkable.

CalMatters @calmatters.org · 23h

After weeks of waiting, California's governor signed a bill that will allow mid-rise apartment buildings near major transit stops in California's biggest metro areas. https://cal.news/4n3hzge

📝 @frombenc.bsky.social
📸 Ray Chavez

Passengers look on as a BART train didn’t stop at the Rockridge BART station due to a systemwide closure that affected all BART stations, in Oakland on March 9, 2025. Photo by Ray Chavez, Bay Area News Group

Hed: Breaking: Gov. Newsom signs massive California housing overhaul

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 1d

Trevor Noah is so good at existing in the messy middle of our discourse and helping remind us that nothing in our world is binary. youtu.be/U9bfuM7YR2U?...

Saudi Comedy Festival, Charlie Kirk - Between the Scenes

YouTube video by Trevor Noah

youtu.be

Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 1d

wishing you the best in this career transition, Sammy. Your voice and deep experience covering climate in the West is as critical as ever.

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 1d

Appreciate this from @gomez.house.gov. Free Emily Wilder gomez.house.gov/news/documen...

Gomez Demands Immediate Action to Protect and Free Detained Constituent, Journalist Emily Wilder

506 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515

gomez.house.gov

Reposted by Yousef Baig

San Francisco Chronicle @sfchronicle.com · 2d

Investigators allege Uber driver Jonathan Rinderknecht lit a fire early New Year’s Day that was extinguished but smoldering and rekindled days later.

A burned Bible and ChatGPT messages: Chilling details of the case against man charged with starting Palisades Fire

Investigators allege Uber driver Jonathan Rinderknecht lit a fire early New Year’s Day that was extinguished but smoldering and rekindled days later.

bit.ly

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Reposted by Yousef Baig

CalMatters @calmatters.org · 2d

Los Altos Hills agreed to legalize some apartment buildings. Now, with a project proposed at Twin Oaks that would include the town’s first-ever affordable housing units, the wealthy Bay Area suburb is having second thoughts. https://cal.news/47hCdV6

📝 @frombenc.bsky.social

Why this wealthy Bay Area suburb is at the center of the next big fight over California housing

Los Altos Hills agreed to legalize some apartment buildings. Now it wants a do-over.

cal.news

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 2d

In the San Joaquin Valley, inspiring voters to cast a ballot is a very different process than California's coastal hubs. And given that Democrats are hoping to draw David Valadao out of a job in the midterms, turnout will be key for Prop. 50 @mayacmiller.bsky.social calmatters.org/politics/202...

Voter turnout is low in this California region, but people are tuning in for the Newsom v. Trump showdown

Most Central Valley voters don’t know the term “Proposition 50.” But they’ll weigh in on whether California should draw new maps to fight Texas’s gerrymander.

calmatters.org

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 2d

If a reporter gives you an opportunity to present an agenda that can appeal to voters outside your party and your answer is “I don’t have to because math,” then you’re probably not suited to be the most powerful elected in a state. Doesn’t matter if she’s right about the numbers.

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 2d

...this was not a "stupid" question for someone who wants to govern 39 million people.

Katie Porter gained notoriety for grilling greedy corporate execs. She should be able to answer every question and follow-up she gets from a journalist. Period.

Jordan Grimes @cafedujord.bsky.social · 3d

Laughing at stupid questions is the appropriate reaction to them and more politicians should respond that way

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 2d

California has been hit especially hard as oil refineries close nationwide. The state has so far offered a $30 million pot of money to help refinery workers transition out or train for new jobs. But it'll be hard to match the lucrative gigs they've had for years calmatters.org/economy/2025...

Oil refinery closures leave workers searching for a job that ‘just doesn’t exist’

As two more oil refineries prepare to close in California, workers who are laid off face limited job opportunities.

calmatters.org

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Reposted by Yousef Baig

Kate Wolffe @katewolffe.bsky.social · 3d

New investigation from me into the new Republican Leader of the CA Assembly, Heath Flora.

I dug into Flora's voluminous campaign finance records and drove down to his legal address to see who lives there (not him!)

Read more here (gift article): www.sacbee.com/news/politic...

Top CA Republican vowed to cut waste, corruption. His spending says otherwise

An investigation by The Bee raises questions about the new leader’s registered address, his travel stipend and his personal conduct.

www.sacbee.com

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 3d

Utility regulators are formally reviewing a complaint that PG&E and Edison are failing to meet mandated deadlines for connecting solar installations to the grid as much as 73% of the time @malenacarollo.bsky.social calmatters.org/economy/2025...

Regulators know PG&E, Edison are slow to hook up solar. Why are there no penalties?

PG&E and Southern California Edison are routinely late to hook up new solar panels, squeezing owners financially. Will they be punished?

calmatters.org

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Reposted by Yousef Baig

Ben Christopher @frombenc.bsky.social · 5d

Here's why the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, a low-tax advocacy group, seems intent on making Los Angeles' “mansion tax” the face of their statewide tax-capping ballot measure campaign.

calmatters.org/housing/2025...

California is about to have a massive fight over taxes. Here’s why Los Angeles is the frontline

A low-tax advocacy group seems intent on making the Los Angeles “mansion tax” the face of their statewide tax-capping ballot measure campaign.

calmatters.org

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Reposted by Yousef Baig

Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 5d

"Giving L.A. a veto over state policy would doom California to more of the same — rising costs, worsening displacement and endless obstruction." calmatters.org/commentary/2...

Opinion | Los Angeles housing permits are tanking, yet leaders want Newsom to veto a major reform

Signing SB 79 should be an easy call, despite pressure from L.A. Newsom should know better than to let L.A. dictate state housing policy.

calmatters.org

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 6d

The discourse around the Riyadh Comedy Fest is so annoying.

Reposted by Yousef Baig

Levi Sumagaysay @levisu.bsky.social · 7d

Important story by my colleague @ab-ibarra.bsky.social

CalMatters @calmatters.org · 7d

Immigration raids are straining mental health among children and school communities across California, a state where about 1 million children have a parent who is undocumented and about 300,000 students are undocumented themselves. https://cal.news/4gWGsss

📸 Zaydee Sanchez

The playground at Juan Lagunas Soria Elementary School is empty on a rainy day, on Sept. 18, 2025. Photo by Zaydee Sanchez for CalMatters/Catchlight

Quote: “Can you imagine taking a lesson of geometry when a part of your brain is tracking and texting your parent every once in a while?...That’s really, really difficult to do.”
Maria Jarquin, a therapist who directs school-based mental health centers on behalf of Venice Family Clinic. She estimates that schools refer about 10 to 15 students to her mental health center each week. As many as a third of those referrals are prompted by stress and anxiety over ICE activity, she said.

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Reposted by Yousef Baig

Ida Bae Wells @nhannahjones.bsky.social · 8d

In case it wasn’t clear, the anti-DEI crusade has never been about merit. Zero news experience. Never been a reporter. Elevated to Editor in Chief of CBS News, one of the most storied news institutions in the nation. www.mediaite.com/media/news/p...

Paramount Officially Acquiring The Free Press and Making Bari Weiss CBS News Editor in Chief: Report

Paramount Skydance will be officially acquiring The Free Press and hiring its founder Bari Weiss as editor in chief of its CBS News division, with the deal to be announced this coming Monday, accordin...

www.mediaite.com

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 8d

It’s hard to take the No on 50 ads seriously when it says in big yellow font that KEVIN MCCARTHY paid for it. Any politician that voted against certifying the 2020 election has zero credibility, especially when trying to claim you care about the will of the voters. He helped fuel an insurrection!

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 8d

Co-published with @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social: The insurance industry’s playbook for offloading California's disaster risk is the same as it was when the FAIR plan was created after the Watts riots: hike prices on consumers and devise instruments to offload losses calmatters.org/commentary/2...

Opinion | California's insurer of last resort was meant to cover 'riot-prone areas,' not climate disasters

By leaning on insurance-based solutions to societal problems, California has put itself on a path toward repeating the mistakes of the past.

calmatters.org

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 8d

Union protections and respect for free speech are big reasons why California has seen far fewer teachers under fire for comments made after Charlie Kirk’s untimely death @carolynjones100.bsky.social calmatters.org/education/k-...

Charlie Kirk fallout hits California schools, where 20 teachers face discipline over posts

Some California teachers who posted social media comments critical of Charlie Kirk were disciplined, raising concerns about free speech.

calmatters.org

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 10d

you're welcome to pitch a guest commentary. Or should get in touch with @levisu.bsky.social who is closely following insurance. I'm biased but think @calmatters.org does a pretty decent job of covering it.

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 10d

The bureaucracy and economics that upend rebuilding, especially in more rural areas, also are sending a pretty strong signal that California needs to flood the zone with infill homes in urban areas if the type of growth that emerged in response to expensive coastal life is less & less possible.

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 10d

The inverse of this headline is equally, if not more, unsettling: 62% of destroyed homes haven't gone back up.

Los Angeles Times @latimes.com · 10d

Over the last eight years, wildfires have burned down more houses than at any other time in California history. The wreckage stubbornly resists recovery

https://www.latimes.com/homeless-housing/story/2025-09-30/rebuilding-california-after-major-wildfires?utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky_

22,500 homes lost. Over five years later, only 38% rebuilt: What California fire survivors face

Just 38% of the 22,500 homes burned down in California's five most destructive wildfires from 2017 to 2020 have been rebuilt, The Times found.

www.latimes.com

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 11d

This conversation embodied a very real tension over the role journalists & public intellectuals play. I'm more with Coates on this, that we have to tell the truth plainly, period.

It is not our job to heal the nation or reach across the divide. That's a universal responsibility all of us share.

Ezra Klein @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social · 13d

Today’s episode of The Ezra Klein Show

Ta-Nehisi Coates on Bridging Gaps vs. Drawing Lines

Ta-Nehisi Coates joins the show to discuss how the left should think about the work of politics and persuasion in this moment.
open.spotify.com/episode/4jQE...

youtu.be/UaeoDlLNnok?...

Ta-Nehisi Coates and Ezra Klein Hash Out Their Charlie Kirk Disagreement

YouTube video by The Ezra Klein Show

youtu.be

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