Local:

  • It was reported earlier this week that Newsom mailed out prepaid cellphones programmed with his phone number to about 100 California tech executives. The phones came with handwritten notes that read, “If you ever need anything, I’m a phone call away.” [Politico]
  • State Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit along with 20 other states to halt the dismantling of the Department of Education last week. The lawsuit is one of several that Bonta has filed in the first nine weeks of his administration. [NBC Bay Area]
  • Russian River Brewing is launching its Pliny the Younger 2025 release at its Santa Rosa and Windsor pubs today through April 3. The highly coveted beer already made the rounds in San Francisco last month. [ABC7]
  • In spite of record profits, PG&E is requesting its seventh rate hike in a year to protect investors from future “climate risks,” which means customer rates would go up by about $5.50 a month starting next year. [NBC Bay Area]
  • Video game workers from across the US and Canada have formed a union, United Video Workers, in partnership with the American Federation of Musicians, which was announced on Wednesday at the Game Developers Conference being held in San Francisco. [UVW-CWA]

National:

  • Musk-funded America PAC announced on X that it’s offering $100 to Wisconsin voters to sign a petition opposing “activist judges” ahead of a pivotal state Supreme Court election on April 1. They’re also offering $100 for referring others to sign the petition. [AP]
  • Disney shareholders overwhelmingly voted against a proposal by right-wing think tank National Center for Public Policy Research that the company end its participation in the Human Rights Campaign’s index that rates companies’ levels of support for LGBTQ-friendly workplace policies and practices. Only 1% voted in favor of the proposal, which was especially focused on erasing trans rights. [Variety]
  • A new US task force is projected to start using terror laws to prosecute university students protesting the war in Gaza by connecting free speech to propaganda. [Guardian]
  • In spite of his current policy to end the US refugee resettlement program, Trump is reportedly offering white South Africans refugee status to the US who are “victims of racial discrimination by their Black-led government.” [Marin Independent Journal]

Video of the Day:

  • Flashback to the ‘80s with glimpses of the Embarcadero Freeway.

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist