Congressman McClintock, restore staff and services at Yosemite National Park
These cuts impact more than just tourism. They affect jobs, small businesses, and regional stability, particularly in areas that rely on visitor traffic and park accessibility. In light of this, the lack of timely, proactive engagement from Congressman Tom McClintock is concerning.
Strong leadership is critical when national resources and local economies are both on the line. It is the duty of elected officials to safeguard public lands and ensure they remain supported, accessible, and well-maintained for future generations.
Constituents and concerned Californians should contact Rep. McClintock at (202) 225-2511 to demand swift, concrete action to restore staffing and services at Yosemite.
Lauren Gonzalez-Perez, Lynwood
Clovis residents need to question the actions lately taken by the Clovis City Council because of the main issues its members seem to fight for, like LGBTQ books at the Clovis Library, sanctuary and immigration laws, teenage trans athletes and other issues. Many Clovis resident seem to not know what is transpiring or not care. We see this when it is time to vote.
I think the cty of Clovis has more pressing problems, like housing, school lunches, utility prices, Marjorie Center, overcrowding and the list goes on.
What should the role of the City Council be? What concerns most Clovis residents? Are our streets safe for children walking or riding their bikes to school every day?
There is no doubt Clovis a is one of the most desirable cities in California, but I think residents need to decide what kind of city they want and are the most important issues facing it today.
Steven Trevino Jr., Clovis
I'm not so old that I have forgotten the halcyon days when public officials, appointed and elected, at every level of government took their bribes behind closed doors in smoke-filled rooms.
Now, it is perfectly acceptable to solicit and receive bribes in the open, in front of everyone. And no one seems to care.
What a country.
Jim Doyle, Fresno
Did you know there are hundreds of clean energy projects slated to happen in the Central Valley from IRA investments? But if the Senate passes the reconciliation Bill without the clean energy tax credits, we stand to lose thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in the Valley alone.
The investments spurred by clean energy tax credits will go a long way toward improving our air, controlling electricity rates and stabilizing our climate chaos. Cuts will hurt many of us if they become law.
A rollback of tax credits for home upgrades like rooftop solar would also be a blow to all of us who've been using these tools to cut energy bills. Incentives have made it easier for homeowners to install solar panels, save money, and even help stabilize America's power grid. But those benefits — and the local businesses that depend on them — are in jeopardy if Congress moves forward with these cuts.
Throughout the country, Republican-led districts are especially benefiting from investments in manufacturing, solar, wind, hydrogen fuel and battery storage projects. But there is pressure to vote along party lines. Call or email your senators. Ask them to work harder across the aisle to help constituents.
Andrea Farber De Zubiria. Fresno
Now I have to say I'm confused: Fresno Unified Superintendent Misty Her used artificial intelligence to make up some accusations against others. Is this a new skill FUSD will be teaching our children — how to use the plagiarism-generation machine to create fake documentation of crimes that never happened?
How can we expect this woman to lead our children in their education when she cannot even follow the most basic instructions for writing in FUSD, which are 'Cite Your Sources' and 'Don't Plagiarize'?
Why would we want to send our children to schools where the administration are purposefully and maliciously being defiant against the teachers they love and trust to teach them?
Washington, D.C. may be a circus right now, it doesn't mean we have to follow suit. Shape up, FUSD — the parents and future teachers are watching you.
Kathleen Osle Eugene. Fresno
The longer and warmer days bring more traveling. Freedom comes with following laws.
When I was 16 in 1992, I was hit by a drunken driver. Medical care and therapy in the Bay Area and Central Valley made up half of my teenage life. After three decades, I communicate with a deep tone, read lips, cannot drive and I walk unsteadily.
Look at the results of the Independence Day weekend maximum enforcement period for 2023 and 2024: CHP made 1,224 DUI arrests in 2023 and 1,336 DUI arrests in 2024. Drivers, please make DUI arrests come down this year.
Anyone's independence can be ruined if you drive drunk. Many holidays are coming. Memories of a crash, injuries or even death caused from drunken driving will haunt your future.
Foods and drinks are part of the fun. Taking Highway 33 to head home from a festivity? Planning to drink? Go ahead, but don't forget to have a sober person drive you if you become drunk. This certainly shows your pride for freedom and people will admire your safety. Freedom and safety go hand in hand.
Lori Martin, Tracy
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San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- 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
a day ago
- 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.'
San Francisco Chronicle
2 days ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
No, California is not guaranteed to remain an abortion haven
The sudden closure of five Planned Parenthood clinics in Northern California last week reveals a sad, stark truth: California is not the national 'haven' for abortion rights that it has aspired to be since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. No state could be under Republican rule in Washington, or while federal law trumps state law, the Supreme Court majority opposes abortion rights and clinics are reliant on federal money to survive. There are few options to fix this problem, even in California, the world's fourth-largest economy. The state barely covered its budget deficit this year, and it has holes to fill as federal funds for public universities, education, transportation and other sectors were slashed in the recently passed budget. Plus, the state needs federal dollars to help rebuild Los Angeles after the devastating wildfires there earlier this year. Ten million Americans are expected to lose their health insurance because of nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts over the next decade in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Meanwhile, the wealthiest Americans will receive a disproportionate share of the tax cuts funded by those reductions, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. 'It's an illustration of the limits on what any state can do (on abortion access) if the federal government is hostile,' said Mary Ziegler, a professor of law at UC Davis and leading scholar on abortion rights. 'It's more of a reminder that there isn't really a real sanctuary. California has limited power over a lot of this.' It is the latest example of how California is in the political crosshairs of what President Donald Trump's former top adviser Steve Bannon famously described as his 'muzzle velocity' philosophy of launching a lot of disruptive policies and spurious attacks simultaneously. California is withering under the incoming fire. The people hurt most by the closure of those clinics will be the poorest Californians, as 80% of the people who used services at those clinics were Medicaid recipients, according to Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, the umbrella organization for the shuttered clinics. Planned Parenthood doesn't just provide abortion services. The majority of people go to Planned Parenthood clinics for contraceptive services, sexually transmitted infection testing, pregnancy testing and gynecological services. One in 10 (11%) female Medicaid beneficiaries ages 15 to 49 who received family planning services went to a Planned Parenthood clinic in 2021, according to the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. California has the highest percentage (29%) of Medicaid recipients in the country who go there for health care. This wasn't the way it was supposed to go. California was supposed to be a haven for abortion rights after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Shortly after the decision, Gov. Gavin Newsom joined the governors of Washington and Oregon to create what he called 'the West Coast offensive. A road map for other states to stand up for women.' A diverse coalition of abortion rights advocates formed the California Future of Abortion Council. It proposed more than 50 recommendations for policymakers to improve abortion access in the state. In the year after the decision, Newsom and the Democratic-controlled Legislature created more than a dozen new laws and invested more than $200 million to increase access across the state. In November 2022, 67% of California voters supported a ballot measure enshrining abortion rights in the state Constitution. Newsom spent $100,000 from his campaign coffers to plant billboards in seven states with some of the nation's most restrictive laws: 'Need an abortion?' reads one billboard. 'California is here to help.' 'What you do in California sets the standard for everyone else,' Mini Timmaraju, national president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said at a 2022 fundraiser for Proposition 1 in San Francisco that Hillary Clinton attended. 'I want to take that package of legislation and this proposition and see it copied nationwide.' Ultimately, all those California laws and all that state funding weren't enough to keep the Mar Monte clinics open. They never could be as long as there isn't the national right to an abortion that Roe provided and as long as women's health clinics are reliant on federal funds to remain open. Planned Parenthood estimates that 200 clinics nationwide could close. To meet this reality, California needs a new 'West Coast offensive.' It needs to draw up a new 'road map for other states to stand up for women.' It would be best if clinics were funded privately, insulating them from partisan federal cuts. But that is harder now. California is the state with the most millionaires and billionaires. Now is the time for wealthy individuals and foundations to stand up and backfill these losses so clinics can continue to provide access to women's health care. But will those individuals step forward? Or will they be cowed like the wealthy law firms and Ivy League universities that have bowed to Trump's intimidation? Even if they do step up, is there enough private money in California to keep federally funded women's health clinics open until Democrats regain control of at least one lever of power in Washington and can curb his fascistic policies? That possibility looks bleak. For starters, it would probably require hundreds of millions of dollars, said Shannon Olivieri Hovis, former NARAL Pro-Choice California director who is now vice president of public affairs at Essential Access Health. 'I think the honest answer is, we don't know yet. We're talking about a huge hole.' Theresa Cheng, a professor of emergency medicine at UCSF and a member of the school's Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, said it will be difficult for the private sector to patch up all the new holes punctured in the social safety net by the Trump administration. 'That's going to be really difficult because the Trump administration has cut so broadly in so many social systems,' said Cheng, who is in touch with private donors through her work with several nonprofit organizations. 'Food insecurity. Homelessness. Immigration. There are a lot of needs out there now.' Relying on private donations isn't going to help clinics across California's chasm of wealth inequality, Ziegler said. 'If you're depending partly on individual donors, that's going to look very different in Beverly Hills or Marin County than it is in Gilroy or other areas where there are few people to give private donations,' Ziegler said. Until political change happens in Washington, Cheng urged Californians to 'stay stalwart in protecting reproductive health. So much of this will have to be settled out in the courts. That will at least buy us some more time.'
