Welcome to The California Weekly, your Saturday morning recap of top stories and announcements you might have missed.

News you might have missed

1. CELEBRATING THE CHUMASH NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY

California celebrated the federal designation of the Chumash [Shoe-Mash] National Marine Sanctuary, the first marine sanctuary to both honor its Native American cultural heritage and provide tribal co-stewardship of its lands and waters. Watch this historic moment here.

2. WILDFIRE PREVENTION PROGRESS

California unveiled newly updated, first-of-their-kind dashboards that will help Californians track the state’s wildfire prevention work. For the first time, all fuels management projects are being tracked in one place, on one map, delivering valuable information for project planning and wildfire response. The new data shows a big ramp up in forest management.

3. MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING

A first-of-its-kind affordable housing project will soon be the largest in South Lake Tahoe’s history. Sugar Pine Village will grow to more than 240 affordable housing units, transforming once vacant state-owned land into a thriving community. This comes after the Governor’s executive order directed state agencies to identify excess state land to help address the housing crisis. Plus, a 97-unit for seniors broke ground in Oakland.

4. CALIFORNIA BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN

After attending Ethel Kennedy’s memorial, this week Governor Newsom met with senior Biden-Harris officials at the White House and advocated for the disaster supplemental and continued collaboration on pollution and cross-border water management, including in the Tijuana River Valley.

Watch and share the news here

Here’s what we’re reading

A new PPIC fact sheet confirmed California’s economic dominance: California’s economy has grown faster than the nation overall (111% vs 75% over the past 25 years). And, per capita, California’s economic growth outpaces all other large states over the long term. In 2024, California’s GDP (14% of US GDP) represented nearly 40% more of the national GDP than Texas (9%) or New York (8%).

By the numbers

- 1.5 Million - the number of California school children benefiting from universal school meals and the Farm to School initiative. 

- 30% - the increase in clean energy battery storage across the state since April 2024 – bringing the total to more than 13,000 MW. 

- 1,622 - the number of illegal hemp products seized by ABC officials upon visiting more than 600 stores across the state. 

- 700,000 - the acres of land treated across California in 2023 to help manage wildfires and restore forest health.

Read last week’s edition here