“The litigation has revealed a clear pattern: Uber’s lawyers scour women’s private communications, medical records, therapy notes …They grill the women about those issues, their sex lives and their behavior on the night of the incident.” www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/b...

Uber’s Strategy for Fighting Sexual Assault Suits: ‘What Were You Wearing?’

The ride-hailing giant promised to handle legal claims “in a way that is best for the survivor.” Its lawyers are pursuing a far more aggressive strategy.

nytimes.com

There is no way that betting on wildfires should be legal. www.oregonlive.com/wildfires/20...

As Oregon burns and gamblers bet, lawmakers push back against wildfire betting markets drawing millions

Wyden and Merkley are urging federal regulators to crack down on prediction markets that allow users to wager on how long wildfires will burn and how much damage they will cause

oregonlive.com

News: The Los Angeles Fire Department has released the results of its investigation into the cause of last year's Eaton Fire, saying it was "sparked by an electrical event at the Southern California Edison transmission towers."

Ashley Garibay, 23, had traveled from Stockton to train workers at a new Idaho In-N-Out when a gunman killed her and two others.

Northern California woman identified as In-N-Out worker killed in mass shooting

Ashley Garibay, 23, had traveled from Stockton to train workers at a new Idaho In-N-Out when a gunman killed her and two others.

bit.ly

The bank is asking a judge to permanently dismiss a lawsuit from Trump-affiliated businesses, arguing a monthslong internal review — not the Jan. 6 riot — explains why hundreds of accounts were shut down in 2021.

Capital One says it closed Trump Organization accounts over money-laundering concerns

The bank is asking a judge to permanently dismiss a lawsuit from Trump-affiliated businesses, arguing a monthslong internal review — not the Jan. 6 riot — explains why hundreds of accounts were shut down in 2021.

n.pr

News: California sues the Trump administration a third time over tariffs, saying with a couple of dozen other states that Trump's order to investigate the EU and nearly 60 other countries over forced labor is an attempt to "re-create the tariffs already declared illegal by various courts."

"The letter pointed to offshore wagers on Polymarket that racked up more than $1.2 million in trades about the deadly Palisades and Eaton fires in California at the beginning of 2025."

Bloomberg News@bloomberg.com · 2d ago

A group of Democratic senators urged the CFTC to rein in prediction market trading on wildfires, expressing concern that individuals could be tempted to commit arson to make their bets pay off

Lawmakers have returned to Sacramento ready to hammer out — and potentially spike — several legislative deals before they adjourn for the year on Aug. 31 and hit the campaign trail. cal.news/4fBUsZL 📸 Miguel Gutierrez Jr.

Homeowners who saw their neighborhoods burn in the Eaton and Palisades fires last year will soon be able to build up to four units on their properties now that the two fire-scarred cities have settled a lawsuit brought by pro-development activists. cal.news/4wxc3aZ 📸 I RYU, VCG

A California public university cut ties with a federal program that paid for campus police to aid Border Patrol, within weeks of CalMatters revealing the decade-long partnership. cal.news/3S8yBzY 📸 Adriana Heldiz

A shakedown www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

If you're a California taxpayer, this is a must-read from my colleague.

Mikhail Zinshteyn@mzinshteyn.bsky.social · 5d ago

I did so much work on this piece about Prop 38, its $8 billion, and the nonprofit that seemingly stands to gain billions of taxpayer dollars. Dig in. calmatters.org/politics/ele...

My latest: L.A. fire survivors, consumer advocates and the insurance industry — strange bedfellows — are slamming what looks like last-minute political maneuvering that could help utilities reduce their costs for wildfires they cause.

CalMatters@calmatters.org · 6d ago

The groups are speaking out against the purported bill package, which appears to align with the goals of Wildfire Survivors First, a campaign funded by utilities that, despite its name, has no wildfire survivors groups among its supporters. cal.news/4bW1x4X 📸 David McNew

It’s far too early in California’s fire year to make any conclusions or predictions. But with fires devouring millions of acres in the Western U.S., Canada, and Europe, California stands out for what has been, so far, a below-average summer. cal.news/4fsUeEb 📸 Cal Fire

Records show Anamarie Ávila Farías attempted to have her mother placed under conservatorship in the midst of a family real estate dispute. She now sits on her chamber’s eldercare committee — the legislative body that’s supposed to protect seniors. cal.news/4bTOqRL 🎨 Gabriel Hongsdusit

A health worker union has accused Kaiser Permanente of screening patients and making care recommendations through “a digital, automated algorithm” without clinician oversight — a practice the union says violates state law. cal.news/3Tno9oI 📸 Jules Hotz

Breaking: Federal immigration agents used racial slurs, including “wet” and “tonks,” to identify people to target while sweeping through Los Angeles last year, according to text messages cited in a new court filing... cal.news/4wqUI3w 📸 Carlin Stiehl

What.

NPR@npr.org · last wk.

The spat between the leading prediction market company and a key battleground state could be a glimpse into the next major fight between states and the fast-growing industry. n.pr/4pP9Ghu

My latest.

CalMatters@calmatters.org · 2w ago

As the state’s residents prepare to vote for a new insurance commissioner in November, here’s a look at a few common myths about insurance in California. cal.news/4wkWwv0 📸 Jules Hotz

It’s an admission that lawyers for the research professors say is proof that the agencies illegally cancelled nearly $2 billion in grants. cal.news/4vLWv2a 📸 Adriana Heldiz

I took a hard look at the financial donors to ICE’s biggest supporters in Congress. These are people who want to significantly expand ICE’s power and have sponsored or co-sponsored legislation to do so. Here are the top 25 consumer brands bankrolling the biggest ICE supporters in Congress:

Please avoid all salads, including word.

BREAKING: The bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission has made TWO CRIMINAL REFERRALS to the Brown County DA against ELON MUSK, who likely broke the law when he gave $1M checks to voters. www.cnn.com/2026/07/14/p...

Elon Musk likely broke the law by giving voters $1 million, Wisconsin board says | CNN Politics

Billionaire Elon Musk likely broke Wisconsin law when he handed out $1 million checks to voters in the 2025 state Supreme Court election, a bipartisan panel has found.

cnn.com

A CalMatters analysis shows that Perkins operations include false evidence ploys, jail cells outfitted with recording devices, and cash payments of up to $3,000 per day to undercover operatives, also known as Perkins agents. cal.news/4wJaeYo 🎨 Adriana Heldiz

California’s largest public pension fund just had a banner year, riding a soaring stock market to record its second consecutive double-digit annual investment return. cal.news/4ypuHmS 📸 Rich Pedroncelli, AP

Exclusive: Three men who were alongside Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was killed in an immigration operation, said a federal officer fired at them almost immediately after exiting his vehicle and that at no point did the driver veer in his direction.

Migrants who saw man killed by ICE in Houston say he did not ram officers

Three men who were in the vehicle alongside Lorenzo Salgado Araujo are contesting the Department of Homeland Security’s account of the fatal shooting.

washingtonpost.com

The College Journalism Network at CalMatters investigated how public campuses throughout California were complying with a state law that requires transparency about military equipment. This guide is for student journalists to investigate their own campuses. cal.news/4faihq9 📸 Adriana Heldiz

Proposal would allow drivers to trade personal data for potentially lower insurance rates AB 311 would change California insurance law by allowing drivers to be tracked through telematics, which transmits data to insurers.

Proposal would allow drivers to trade personal data for potentially lower insurance rates

AB 311 would change California insurance law by allowing drivers to be tracked through telematics, which transmits data to insurers.

cal.news

Reduced media attention does not mean a less extreme approach to deportations. DHS has reminded us of that in the worst way possible. The latest edition of Huddled Masses from @adriancarrasquillo.bsky.social:

He Lived Here for 35 Years. Put Three Kids in College. ICE Killed Him.

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was picking up a crew for a construction project when ICE shot him. It now claims he was the aggressor.

lnk.thebulwark.com

All across California, unhoused people are suffering at alarming rates from less obvious but potentially enervating mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. cal.news/44CxyLz 📸 Louis Bryant III