Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new proposal to speed approval of rate hikes for most types of property insurance and help stabilize a collapsing market will cost Californians billions of dollars, consumer advocates said Wednesday. Insurers contend the plan language released announced Tuesday evening — which affects home, rental, vehicle, boat and small business policies — would help fix the state’s wildfire-linked insurance crisis that has seen rates climb, coverage dramatically shrink and insurers flee the state. Newsom’s plan would impose a hard 120-day deadline for the state Department of Insurance to ..read more

Mike Barbanica, an Antioch city councilman and local businessman, has won the endorsement of California State Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, in his bid for Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors in District 5. Glazer represents Contra Costa and Alameda counties. “Mike Barbanica is a no-nonsense leader with the skills and expertise to effectively impact the issues facing us in Contra Costa County,” Glazer said in a statement. “Mike shares my belief that politics is about service and progress, and I’m confident he’ll bring a sense of civility and respect for diverging opinions that we need more ..read more

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor. Port is wasting moneyon airport name change Re: “Oakland’s airport adopts its new name, sues San Francisco over ongoing dispute” (Page A1, May 11). If the Port of Oakland is so keen on renaming Oakland International Airport maybe they should rename themselves the “Port of San Francisco Bay Oakland.” They should save their budget fighting a trademark infringement lawsuit to promote Oakland airport as the Bay Area’s “affordable and on time” airport. Sorry, but even with the name change, it will always be called Oakl ..read more

By BY YUE STELLA YU | CalMatters Described by its author as the “most significant political reform” in decades, a 2022 law designed to limit businesses’ and contractors’ attempts to sway local elected officials with campaign contributions cleared the California Legislature without a single “no” vote. Two years later, some of the same legislators who backed the measure want to water it down — and they have the backing of developers and labor unions. Sen. Bill Dodd, a Napa Democrat, is championing a bill to loosen restrictions on how much — and when — local elected officials can accept in campai ..read more

ORINDA — Miramonte didn’t need to look too far to find its next boys basketball coach. The Orinda school hired former Northgate coach Mike Shaughnessy to be its next head coach. “I feel like it was a good fit for me,” Shaughnessy told the Bay Area News Group on Tuesday. “We live very close to Miramonte and we feel like we’re a part of the community. I’m excited to be back in the Diablo Athletic League.” Shaughnessy’s hiring, which the school announced on Friday, comes a month after Miramonte parted ways with Chris Lavdiotis, who was the Matadors’ head coach for the past five seasons. Lavdiotis ..read more

California’s population grew for the first time in three years as legal immigration rebounded and the great California exodus during the COVID pandemic dramatically slowed as remote workers returned to the office, according to a state report released Tuesday. The overall population gains were relatively small — a net increase of some 67,000 people to raise California’s population to 39.1 million people in 2023, according to the California Department of Finance. Some Bay Area counties lost population, including Alameda and San Mateo, as layoffs took hold last year and residents continued to see ..read more

From snickerdoodles and shortbread to oatmeal and peanut butter, the world of cookies is vast. But none sets the heart racing quite like the chocolate chip. It’s a classic for a reason. Of course, everyone has their own niche preference. Some crave crunchy, while others lean chewy. And sweetness is a continuum unto itself. The one sure thing: We know a great chocolate chip cookie when we taste it. Here’s a guide to some of the best in the Bay Area. (Did we miss your favorite? Tell us about it via the submission form at the end.) East Bay Bakery, Danville and farmers markets in Danville, Walnut ..read more

Threats against two Bay Area high school campuses prompted a lockdown at one school and a shelter-in-place order at another Monday afternoon, according to authorities. Related Articles Crime and Public Safety | Editorial: San Ramon Valley voters should reject school tax proposals Crime and Public Safety | Editorial: Voters in Los Gatos-Saratoga high school district should reject parcel tax hike Crime and Public Safety | Play Like a Girl+ Piedmont set for May 5 at high school’s Witter Field Crime and Public Safety | Library Lines: Free Comic Book Days returning to Contra Costa branches Cr ..read more

Miramonte lacrosse player Sydney Gray is the Bay Area News Group’s girls high school athlete of the week for March 25-30. In online voting that ended at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Gray finished with 40.49% of the votes. San Mateo softball player Nia Mapa was second at 30.58%. Congratulations to all the candidates for this week’s recognition. Gray scored six goals and had two assists in an 18-16 victory over Berkeley. The freshman began this week with 30 goals and 14 assists this season. To nominate an athlete for next week’s poll, email highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com by Monday at 11 a.m. Please ..read more

Hours before a walkout, administrators at the Pleasanton Unified School District coughed up a 10% pay hike earlier this month to keep teachers from hitting the picket line. But teachers aren’t the only ones benefiting from a salary boost. Thanks to a contract clause known as “me too,” high-paid district administrators will receive identical raises as the employees whose contracts they helped negotiate. Pleasanton isn’t an outlier. The “me too” clause included in several school districts’ faculty and staff contracts negotiated every three years specifies that when one bargaining unit receives a ..read more