William Melhado
@wfam.bsky.social
State Worker reporter for The Sacramento Bee. He/him/🏳️🌈 📷 by Eli Hartman
SCOOP: Ken Paxton Vowed to Crack Down on “Illegal Voting.” He May Have Violated Texas Election Law. by @zachdespart.bsky.social w/ @texastribune.org
Ken Paxton Vowed to Crack Down on “Illegal Voting.” He May Have Violated Texas Election Law.
The Texas attorney general appears to have used an address where he did not live while voting in six elections in the past two years — despite his warning voters that “it is illegal to misrepresent yo...
propublica.org
HUGE NEWS: ProPublica is launching a new investigative reporting hub in California, our sixth regional unit. Read more 👇
ProPublica to Launch Investigative Reporting Hub in California
The new team will bring accountability journalism to the nation’s largest state as part of a broader expansion.
propublica.org
NEW: Lawmakers in Texas have repeatedly rejected bills that could protect residents in the state’s most dangerous, flood-prone areas, an investigation by @propublica.org and @texastribune.org found.
Texas Lawmakers Repeatedly Failed to Pass Legislation That Could Have Protected Residents From Deadly Floods
Dozens of bills were rejected over nearly 60 years, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found. The most consequential measures could have saved lives by prohibiting youth camps and new construction in ar...
propublica.org
My colleague Aaron Parsley just won a Pulitzer for this story, written days after he survived the July 4 floods that killed his nephew. It's one of the most gutwrenching and memorable things you'll ever read. Please do.
“The River House Broke. We Rushed in the River.”
The July 4 Texas flooding ripped our Kerr County home from its pillars, pulling us into the water and into the night. Then morning came.
texasmonthly.com
More than 200 donors are seeking over $1.5M in refunds from Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign in the wake of allegations he sexually assaulted multiple women, according to an internal campaign document viewed by the Chronicle. @akoseff.bsky.social and I report: www.sfchronicle.com/politics/art...
Hundreds of Eric Swalwell campaign donors are trying to get their money back
In emails reviewed by the Chronicle, former campaign staffers said they’d received hundreds of refund requests and a lack of clear guidance about what to do with them.
sfchronicle.com
California is preparing to share with an outside organization detailed information about driver’s license holders, including immigrants who do not have legal authorization to live in the U.S. cal.news/4eaPJ0I 📸 Larry Valenzuela
“The fact that a police department is currently in violation of California state law is very disturbing. And in a way, that in particular puts their student population at risk,” said a researcher of surveillance technology.
Records show UC Merced police is sharing license plate data with border patrol
“The fact that a police department is currently in violation of California state law is very disturbing. And in a way, that in particular puts their student population at risk,” said a researcher of surveillance technology.
bit.ly
We're hosting our April Board meeting next week at our headquarters in Sacramento. The meeting spans two days and will touch on several topics pertinent to our operation. Agendas are posted: https://bit.ly/41aTP21
A woman who worked for nearly two years for Rep. Eric Swalwell told the Chronicle she had sexual encounters with him while he was her boss and alleged he twice sexually assaulted her when she was too intoxicated to consent. www.sfchronicle.com/politics/art...
Client Challenge
sfchronicle.com
Unionized journalists at the Sacramento Bee stand united against McClatchy’s latest AI “articles” initiative. We have withheld our bylines from these stories because we do not want the public to think this is being done in our name — it’s not. We think it’s disgusting.
In a story on ProPublica reporters’ fight for AI protections, WaPo highlights Bee journalists who stand against McClatchy’s AI “articles” initiative. I wonder why McClatchy has now twice declined to comment on this AI tool. Internally we have heard corporate executives say they’re very proud of it 🤔
Busy day in Sac today: First: California intends to reward a $19M contract burnishing its image nationwide to a company that helped Saudi Arabia rehab its image after the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi www.sacbee.com/news/politic...
California to award brand campaign to company that advised Saudi Arabia after journalist’s killing
Edelman is one of the world’s largest communication firms with offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
sacbee.com
The judge who approved a request for Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco to seize more than 650,000 ballots last month has political ties to Bianco, a candidate for governor who has used the investigation to raise his profile on the campaign trail www.sfchronicle.com/california/a...
Judge who OK’d ballot seizure spoke glowingly about Republican sheriff leading investigation
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a leading candidate for California governor, campaigned for the man who would sign his ballot seizure warrant as a local judge four years later.
sfchronicle.com
The oil company Valero, the prison guards’ union, and PG&E gave tens of thousands to a tiny party committee in Sutter County.
A $743,000 mystery: How a rural GOP group got flush with California campaign cash
The oil company Valero, the prison guards’ union, and PG&E gave tens of thousands to a tiny party committee in Sutter County.
bit.ly
Janus was meant to be a huge blow for unions, but it provided some opportunities. "It has allowed some unions to have more ongoing conversations w/ represented workers...to demonstrate the value of being part of a union" said Brenda Muñoz. @sacbee.com @wfam.bsky.social www.sacbee.com/news/politic...
How CA state worker unions have fared since landmark SCOTUS decision reshaped membership
The elimination of representation fees was intended to be a “huge blow” to unions, but it wasn’t the only recent event impacting membership.
sacbee.com
With strong market gains of recent years, CalPERS now is 84% funded -- way up from prior years. Passage of modified, lower pension benefits for new workers in 2012 also has helped improve the stability of my pension system.
CalPERS@calpers.bsky.social · 6mo agoWhen Marcie Frost arrived at CalPERS in 2016 as its new CEO, she knew the role represented a big opportunity — and a big challenge. Here's a look back at Frost's 10-year journey on the job, and where she hopes to lead our enterprise and membership in 2026 and beyond. More: https://bit.ly/4rlDMIG
About 60% of The Sacramento Bee’s reporters and photojournalists are white. But if you look at the pool of local reporters whose wages are so low they qualify for low-income housing, the ratio is flipped: 63% are people of color. Management offered a deal that would leave most of them low-income.
Sacramento Bee News Guild@sacbeeguild.bsky.social · 6mo agoMcClatchy wants you to invest in a Sacramento Bee subscription, but the company doesn’t want to invest in its reporters. Under management’s latest offer, seven local journalists would still make salaries low enough to qualify them for low-income housing.
ICYMI: The Sac Bee Guild is urging McClatchy to raise salaries and give our lowest paid reporters fair pay. Currently, eight of our local news reporters (who are predominantly BIPOC + women) are underpaid so much that they qualify for low income housing. We deserve better.
🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨 Please stand with us and share this far and wide. It’s so important. ✊
Sacramento Bee News Guild@sacbeeguild.bsky.social · 6mo agoMcClatchy wants you to invest in a Sacramento Bee subscription, but the company doesn’t want to invest in its reporters. Under management’s latest offer, seven local journalists would still make salaries low enough to qualify them for low-income housing.
McClatchy wants you to invest in a Sacramento Bee subscription, but the company doesn’t want to invest in its reporters. Under management’s latest offer, seven local journalists would still make salaries low enough to qualify them for low-income housing.
California departments weren't ready to welcome state workers back offices last July, records show. It's not clear if agencies will be ready this summer. www.sacbee.com/news/politic...
CA departments lacked thousands of workstations before RTO order, documents show
A review of surveys from 16 state departments shows that over 70 offices were not prepared to accommodate returning workers in advance of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s first return-to-office deadline.
sacbee.com
NEW: President Trump has repeatedly threatened to bring federal agents, or even soldiers, to San Francisco to battle crime. His administration has actually done the opposite, quietly taking federal law enforcement away from the city to do immigration work instead. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Scoop: Park Service staff at 24 parks and offices are petitioning to unionize. Federal employees at a dozen including Grand Canyon filed for an election today, following staff at a dozen others including Joshua Tree who recently did same www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Parks Service Union Movement Spreads to Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree
Employees in dozens of park units are organizing to fight attempts by the Trump administration to downsize the agency.
bloomberg.com
Emmanuel, a 15-year-old with intellectual disabilities, wandered away from his mom’s fruit stand in October. She reported him missing to Houston police. But instead of reuniting them, the city turned him over to ICE. “They’re failing all of us,” his mom said. thebarbedwire.com/2025/11/24/d...
A Disabled Child’s Mom Reported Him Missing. He Was Locked Away by Federal Immigration Authorities for 48 Days.
Emmanuel, a 15-year-old who has an intellectual disability, walked away from his mom’s fruit stand in October. Houston Police called ICE.
thebarbedwire.com
Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff arrested by FBI public corruption probe Scoop from Lia Russell, Sharon Bernstein www.sacbee.com/news/politic...
Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff arrested by FBI public corruption probe
Dana Williamson served as Gavin Newsom’s top aide until December 2024.
sacbee.com
New: The family of a man who died after he was found unresponsive in the jail has filed a lawsuit. He died in August of a drug-related cause. The Sheriff's Office did not announce it to the public. With @emmahall.bsky.social www.sacbee.com/news/local/a...
Family of man who died after being found in Sacramento jail cell files lawsuit
Jarred Barabino, 32, died in August after he was found unresponsive in the Sacramento Main Jail.
sacbee.com
‘Worse than doing nothing’: Online safety advocates slam changes to AI chatbot bill, @katewolffe.bsky.social reports www.sacbee.com/news/politic...
‘Worse than doing nothing’: Online safety advocates slam changes to AI chatbot bill
“This was a very disappointing but quite obvious capitulation to highly paid big tech lobbyists,” said one former supporter.
sacbee.com
My story about the ride-hailing drivers unionization bill that CA lawmakers have sent to the governor for his signature: calmatters.org/economy/2025...
California Uber and Lyft drivers closer to being able to unionize after crucial vote
A California bill allowing Lyft and Uber drivers to unionize was approved this week after it was tied to an insurance bill that benefits both companies.
calmatters.org
Ben Christopher@frombenc.bsky.social · 11mo agoAn eyebrow raising detail in this story by @levisu.bsky.social about rideshare drivers winning the right to unionize in California
Looks like Charles Munger Jr. is in for another $10 million, bringing his total contributions to California's Prop 50 opposition $30 million. So it's basically him and $5 million from a Republican SuperPAC cal-access.sos.ca.gov/PDFGen/pdfge...
