Former Rep. Katie Porter announces bid for California governor

• March 11, 2025

After months of openly considering a run, former Rep. Katie Porter announced Tuesday that she is running for California governor to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Porter, a Democrat who represented Orange County in Congress for three terms, launched her campaign in a video posted to social media, casting herself as a fighter who will stand up to President Donald Trump and corporate interests.

“What California needs now is a little bit of hope and a whole lot of grit. Fresh blood and new ideas. Leaders with the backbone to fight for what’s right,” Porter said in the video. “As governor, I won’t ever back down when Trump hurts Californians — whether he’s holding up disaster relief, attacking our rights or our communities or screwing over working families to benefit himself and his cronies.”

Newsom is ineligible to run in 2026 due to term limits. His second and final term ends in January 2027, leaving the governor’s seat wide open in the next election. The primary is set for June 2, 2026, with the general election on Nov. 3.

Porter joins a field of seven candidates officially running to succeed Newsom, including Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco. But a major wildcard in the governor’s race is former Vice President Kamala Harris, who is considering a run for California’s top post, as first reported by Politico. Her decision, expected by the end of summer, could dramatically reshape the field.

Porter will bow out of the race if Harris decides to run, a spokesperson confirmed to the New York Times.

Porter first won office in 2018, flipping a Republican-held congressional seat in Orange County as part of a Democratic sweep that sent only Democrats to Washington that year. She gained national recognition for her aggressive questioning of Trump administration officials and corporate executives, often using a whiteboard to break down complex issues.

“As governor, I’ll bring all voices to the table to hear new ideas no matter who they come from or what else we may agree or disagree on,” Porter said. “I’ve only ever been motivated by one thing: making Californians’ lives better. And I’ll go toe to toe with anyone who tries to hurt Californians.”

Since leaving Congress in January after an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate, where she finished third in the primary behind Sen. Adam Schiff and Republican Steve Garvey, Porter has returned to UC Irvine Law, where she teaches bankruptcy, consumer law and the legislative process.

This is a breaking story. Check back for updates.

​ Orange County Register 

Trump doubles planned tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum to 50% as trade war intensifies

• March 11, 2025

By JOSH BOAK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will double his planned tariffs on steel and aluminum from 25% to 50% for Canada, escalating a trade war with the United States’ northern neighbor.

Trump said on social media that the increase of the tariffs set to take effect on Wednesday is a response to the price increases that the provincial government of Ontario put on electricity sold to the United States.

“I have instructed my Secretary of Commerce to add an ADDITIONAL 25% Tariff, to 50%, on all STEEL and ALUMINUM COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM CANADA, ONE OF THE HIGHEST TARIFFING NATIONS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD,” Trump posted Tuesday on Truth Social.

The U.S. president has given a variety of explanations for his antagonism of Canada, saying that his separate 25% tariffs are about fentanyl smuggling and voicing objections to Canada putting high taxes on dairy imports that penalize U.S. farmers. But he continued to call for Canada to become part of the United States as a solution, a form of taunting that has infuriated Canadian leaders.

“The only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State,” Trump posted on Tuesday. “This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear.”

The U.S. stock market promptly fell following his social media post, triggering more concerns after a brutal selloff on Monday that puts Trump under pressure to show he has a legitimate plan to grow the economy instead of perhaps pushing it into a recession.

Trump was set to deliver a Tuesday afternoon address to the Business Roundtable, a trade association of CEOs that during the 2024 campaign he wooed with the promise of lower corporate tax rates for domestic manufacturers. But his tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China, steel, aluminum — with plans for more to possibly come on Europe, Brazil, South Korea, pharmaceutical drugs, copper, lumber and computer chips — would amount to a massive tax hike.

The stock market’s vote of no confidence over the past two weeks puts the president in a bind between his enthusiasm for taxing imports and his brand as a politician who understands business based on his own experiences in real estate, media and marketing.

Harvard University economist Larry Summers, a former treasury secretary for the Clinton administration, on Monday put the odds of a recession at 50-50.

“All the emphasis on tariffs and all the ambiguity and uncertainty has both chilled demand and caused prices to go up,” Summers posted on X. “We are getting the worst of both worlds – concerns about inflation and an economic downturn and more uncertainty about the future and that slows everything.”

The investment bank Goldman Sachs revised down its growth forecast for this year to 1.7% from 2.2% previously. It modestly increased its recession probability to 20% “because the White House has the option to pull back policy changes if downside risks begin to look more serious.”

Trump has tried to assure the public that his tariffs would cause a bit of a “transition” to the economy, with the taxes prodding more companies to begin the years-long process of relocating factories to the United States to avoid the tariffs. But he set off alarms in an interview broadcast on Sunday in which he didn’t rule out a possible recession.

“I hate to predict things like that,” Trump said on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” ”There is a period of transition, because what we’re doing is very big. We’re bringing wealth back to America. That’s a big thing. And there are always periods of — it takes a little time. It takes a little time. But I don’t — I think it should be great for us. I mean, I think it should be great.”

The promise of great things ahead did not eliminate anxiety, with the S&P 500 stock index tumbling 2.7% on Monday in an unmistakable Trump slump that has erased the market gains that greeted his victory in November 2024. The S&P 500 index fell roughly 0.4% in Tuesday morning trading.

The White House after the markets closed on Monday highlighted that the tariffs were prompting companies such as Honda, Volkswagen and Volvo to consider new investments in U.S. factories.

It issued a statement that Trump’s combination of tariffs, deregulations and increased energy production had led industry leaders to promise to “create thousands of new jobs.”

The significance of thousands of additional jobs was unclear, as the U.S. economy added 2.2 million jobs last year alone, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

​ Orange County Register 

Another Sacramento mandate making California less affordable? No thanks

• March 11, 2025

For more than 30 years, my company, H.C. Foods Co., has been one of the largest distributors of Asian food and beverage products in California. Located in Commerce, we import products and ingredients that are familiar brands to many Asian-American families, stocking the shelves of hundreds of family-run neighborhood stores. We know what our customers want, and have provided it at affordable prices for decades.

We also know that new legislation being debated in Sacramento is going to make it difficult if not impossible for people to continue to get these products. Senate Bill 45, introduced by Sens. Steve Padilla, D-San Diego, and Catherine Blakespear, D-Encinitas, will require all plastic beverage bottles less than three liters to have an attached bottle cap.

This is an impractical, one-size-fits-all proposal that ignores how global supply chains work. It also places an undue burden on small businesses like ours, as well as the makers of these products.

We are committed to maintaining the high standards we set for our products and services and do our part to promote recycling. But this proposed law introduces serious challenges that threaten both businesses and customers alike.

Retooling entire production lines to meet a regulation that applies to only one state is simply not feasible for our suppliers. The products made overseas are made for domestic markets or foreign markets – not for individual cities or states.

As a result, certain products could disappear from shelves altogether, including many of the authentic Asian foods our community relies upon. This isn’t just a matter of rising costs — it’s the very real risk of losing access to longtime staples.

This legislation would strip away foods that are essential to Asian culture and traditions. Many of our suppliers — small, family-run businesses across Japan, Korea and elsewhere — may be forced to stop selling their products in California entirely.

For products that do remain available, the added charges of complying with the measure would increase grocery prices at a time when inflation continues to rise. Sacramento politicians don’t seem to have considered the real costs of assembly line retooling, logistical hurdles, the potential for shipping delays, and increased administrative burdens that will inevitably be passed down to customers.

Simply put, this means higher prices at local Asian markets and restaurants. Small businesses struggling to stay afloat will be forced to absorb these costs or pass them on to their customers. That will cost employee work hours and even force some stores out of business.

Another crucial detail that is often overlooked is that tethered caps frequently use more plastic than traditional designs. Manufacturers are required to reinforce the caps to keep them attached, resulting in thicker, bulkier tops that use additional material. This raises an important question: if the ultimate goal is to reduce plastic waste, why implement a policy that ultimately increases it?

Senate Bill 45 is a flawed proposal, plain and simple. It burdens small businesses, raises costs for consumers, and appears to run counter to its stated objective. Instead of pursuing impractical half-measures, lawmakers must find a solution that balances environmental goals with the realities of running a business and serving our communities.

We believe that good business and good policy should go hand in hand — and this proposal does neither.

Timothy Sher is the Vice President of Business Development for H.C. Foods, Co. Ltd., a Los Angeles-based company and one of the largest importers of food products from Asia.

​ Orange County Register 

Stock market today: Wall Street’s sell-off eases as Tesla and other recent market losers steady

• March 11, 2025

By STAN CHOE, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street’s sell-off is slowing on Tuesday, for now at least, following a scary stretch where worries about the economy and tariffs sent it close to 9% below its all-time high.

The S&P 500 was 0.2% higher in early trading. While only modest, the gain would provide a respite after the main measure of Wall Street’s health swung by at least 1%, up or down, seven times in the last eight days.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 132 points, or 0.3%, as of 9:50 a.m. Eastern time. A day earlier, it had been down more than 1,100 points at one point. The Nasdaq composite was 0.8% higher.

Several Big Tech stocks helped support the market after getting walloped in recent months. Elon Musk’s Tesla rose 5.9%, for example. President Donald Trump even said he would buy a Tesla in a show of support for “Elon’s ‘baby.’ ”

A day earlier, the electric-vehicle company’s stock tumbled 15.4% to deepen its loss for the young year so far to 45%. Trump blamed political opponents who are “trying to illegally and collusively boycott Tesla,” as Musk leads efforts in Washington to cut spending by the federal government.

Other Big Tech superstars, which had led the market to record after record in recent years, also held a bit firmer. Nvidia rose 3.2% to trim its loss for the year so far to 17.8%. It’s struggled as the market’s sell-off has particularly hit stocks seen as getting too expensive in Wall Street’s frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology.

Still, warning signals continue to flash about the economy, where Trump’s on -and- off -again rollout of tariffs has caused confusion and pessimism among U.S. households and businesses. The fear is that whipsaw moves will either hurt the economy directly or create enough uncertainty to drive U.S. companies and consumers into an economy-freezing paralysis.

Delta Air Lines said late Monday that it’s already seeing the change in confidence, which is already affecting demand for close-in bookings for flights. That pushed it to roughly halve its forecast for revenue growth in the first three months of 2025, down to a range of 3% to 4% from a range of 7% to 9%.

Delta’s stock lost 3.6%.

Southwest Airlines also cut its forecast for an important underlying revenue trend, pointing to less government travel, among other reasons. But its stock nevertheless rallied 8% after the airline said it would soon begin charging some passengers to check bags and announced changes to encourage its most loyal customers.

Oracle dropped 4% after the technology giant reported profit and revenue for the latest quarter that fell short of analysts’ expectations.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia.

Stocks rose 0.4% in Shanghai and were nearly unchanged in Hong Kong as China’s annual national congress wrapped up its annual session with some measures to help boost the slowing economy.

In the bond market, Treasury yields held steadier after tumbling in recent months on worries about the U.S. economy. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was holding at 4.22%, where it was late Monday. In January, it was nearing 4.80%.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County legislator pushes to restore independent contractor status for manicurists

• March 11, 2025

Should licensed manicurists be treated differently from licensed cosmetologists under California’s employment law? Assemblymember Tri Ta doesn’t think so.

Ta, R-Westminster, has taken up an effort that he says would restore independence to California manicurists by challenging a state law he believes unfairly limits their ability to work on their own terms.

AB 5, passed in 2019, aimed to tighten rules for independent contractors across various industries, including beauty. The law aimed to protect workers by ensuring they receive benefits like minimum wage, workers’ compensation and other labor rights — protections they could lose if classified as independent contractors. Its goal was to reduce exploitation and hold employers accountable for their responsibilities.

While the law allowed licensed beauty professionals to work as independent contractors, that exemption expired in January for manicurists.

Cosmetologists, estheticians and barbers — who all fall under the state’s Board of Barbering and Cosmetology — can still rent stations and work as independent contractors.

Linh Nguyen, president of Advance Beauty College in Garden Grove, said the temporary exemption for manicurists stemmed from concerns about labor violations in New York, where nail salons were accused of exploiting workers. Nguyen said that while the intent was to protect manicurists, the law has instead taken away their ability to work independently —meaning they no longer have the freedom to rent a station in a salon and set their own schedules.

While employees earn an hourly wage and are protected by labor laws, they have to follow rules like scheduled breaks and overtime, said Nguyen, a licensed cosmetologist and manicurist for 30 years.

On the other hand, beauty professionals classified as independent contractors who rent their own stations pay a set fee — whether it’s by the hour, day, week or month — and keep all their earnings.

“Some choose to work in a salon, but some want to rent their own station and create their own hours. It’s just an option to be able to have their own business,” she said.

Ta is pushing for a permanent solution that would restore manicurists’ independent contractor status. He introduced legislation to make this change and is also calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate California’s labor code for potential civil rights violations.

“This law is not only unfair, it also targets a specific hardworking immigrant community … this law forces them into a system that limits their earnings, takes away their independence and traps them in a difficult situation,” said Ta, who represents the 70th Assembly District in Orange County’s Little Saigon area.

Vietnamese Americans make up about 80% of licensed manicurists in California, and about 85% of them are women, according to a recent UCLA study.

“It is imperative that this injustice be rectified so that Vietnamese American manicurists are afforded the same opportunities and legal protections as other beauty industry professionals in California,” Ta wrote in his letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The Justice Department’s public affairs office did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.

A report on California’s nail salon workers published last year by the UCLA Labor Center suggests that classifying manicurists as independent contractors leads to unfair treatment.

“Nail salon workers too often do not receive the legally mandated state or local minimum wage” and miss out on “other important workplace protections and benefits,” the report said.

Under the current law, manicurists who wish to be classified as independent contractors would have to go back to school and get a full cosmetology license.

With the manicurist exemption sunsetting, salon owners are also impacted, having to restructure their business models to hire all workers as employees rather than allowing them to rent space, said Nguyen.

Mike Vo, an attorney and co-founder of the Pro Nails Association in Huntington Beach, said many salon owners and licensed manicurists were unaware of the law changing as of January.

“The disparate impact of the law is that it affects Vietnamese American manicurists, hardworking men and women trying to make a living. With this bill, we’re looking to eliminate the expiration of the exemptions that are available to all licensed beauty professionals,” he said.

Ta’s legislation has been referred to the Committee on Labor and Employment.

​ Orange County Register 

Niles: Is there a ‘Fantastic’ future for Disneyland’s Tomorrowland?

• March 11, 2025

Marvel is rebooting its Fantastic Four franchise in theaters this summer. As the company so often does when it is debuting a new movie, Disney also will be bringing the Fantastic Four characters to Disneyland.

At the South by Southwest conference in Texas last weekend, Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige announced that the Fantastic Four would appear to meet guests in Tomorrowland, starting July 25. Walt Disney Imagineering’s Bruce Vaughn joined Feige for the announcement, which also included the news that WDI is working with Marvel on a H.E.R.B.I.E. robot from the franchise.

“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is set on a retro-futuristic Earth, which Feige said was inspired in part by Disneyland’s 1960s Tomorrowland. I have no idea where Marvel will go with this new movie, nor how it will perform with audiences. But I would love to see Disneyland do more than welcome just the Fantastic Four characters into the park if this movie hits at the box office and with critics. Tomorrowland again needs a refresh. Embracing the design aesthetic of the Fantastic Four seems an obvious solution to Disney’s ongoing Tomorrowland problem.

The core problem with Tomorrowland is that the theme of “tomorrow” is ever-changing. Yet our view of the future so often is just an amplification of our present mood. When Disneyland opened in 1955, America’s mood was optimistic. The original Tomorrowland reflected that, with its aspirational Rocket to the Moon and Autopia, inspired by the emerging Interstate highway system.

Disneyland refreshed its Tomorrowland in the mid-1960s, which reflected The Walt Disney Company’s optimism about its future as much as anything else. The company rebuilt the land on a much higher budget, adding attractions including Carousel of Progress, People Mover and  Adventure Thru Inner Space that reflected the strong economic progress of the period.

The 1998 “New New Tomorrowland” brought environmentalism to the land, with earth tones, rockwork and edible plants throughout. But Disneyland abandoned that deign motif within a decade, repainting the land to its original white, silver and blue for the park’s 50th anniversary.

Twenty years on from that, Tomorrowland needs a refresh, again. Unfortunately for Disney, many Americans’ current view of the future is more dystopian than optimistic. Since the heroes have to win at Disney, a truly dystopian Tomorrowland is not going to fly. So what to do, then?

It seems counterintuitive to think of Tomorrowland as nostalgic, but that’s exactly what the land needs. Disneyland’s Tomorrowland needs to call back to an era when Americans felt collectively optimistic about their future. The company did that for Europeans in Disneyland Paris with its Jules Verne-inspired Discoveryland. A retro-futuristic Tomorrowland that called back to its 1960s peak could work well at Disneyland.

If it also featured attractions themed to a successful Fantastic Four franchise, the rebooted Tomorrowland could satisfy Disney’s corporate need to promote its IP throughout the parks. Maybe even we finally could get something new in the long-neglected Carousel of Progress/America Sings building? Now that would be … fantastic.

​ Orange County Register 

How the White House hired Republican political firms to launch an anti-migrant ad campaign

• March 11, 2025

By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON, Associated Press

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security skipped a fully competitive bidding process to give two Republican-linked firms the first part of a $200 million television ad campaign that lauds President Donald Trump for his crackdown on illegal immigration.

DHS told news outlets last month that it had undergone a “competitive procurement process” for the campaign. But in a document posted Friday on a federal database, the department said Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border constitutes “an unusual and compelling urgency,” a circumstance that allows federal agencies to bypass the usual competitive process.

The ads feature Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in a blue suit standing with a backdrop of American flags thanking Trump. The ads have caught some attention as they mix campaign-style images of Trump signing executive orders and flying on Air Force One with clips of large groups of migrants crossing the Rio Grande and police cars with sirens blaring.

Noem warns immigrants to leave the U.S. or not to come. “If you are here illegally, we will find you and deport you. You will never return,” she says in one of the videos.

One of the winning firms is People Who Think, LLC, which is owned by Jay Connaughton, a Louisiana-based political consultant who served as media adviser for Trump’s 2016 campaign. Connaughton appeared to have worked as recently as October 2023 with former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski in the campaign of Jeff Landry, for governor of Louisiana. Lewandowski, a longtime Noem adviser going back to her tenure as South Dakota governor, mentioned him in a post on X as part of the team that helped elect Landry.

The other firm selected for the contract was Safe America Media, LLC, which was incorporated in Delaware a few days before the solicitation with an address to a property owned by Republican consultant Mike McElwain. Safe America Media has already been awarded $16 million for the ad buy.

Connaughton and McElwain did not respond to messages and calls seeking comment. DHS still called it a “competitive process” in a statement provided to The Associated Press.

“Following a competitive process with multiple companies competing to deliver the best service, product, and price for American taxpayers, Safe America Media and People Who Think both earned a shared contract for this targeted national and international campaign,” it said. “Multiple career government officials oversaw this competitive procurement process.”

The document posted on a federal contracting database reads in part: “DHS requires an immediate domestic and international campaign to direct illegal aliens within the U.S. and its territories to leave immediately, and to discourage illegal immigration into the country.”

DHS reviewed industry publications and vendors specializing on hyper-targeted media and advertising services and narrowed its search down to four companies that were able to work immediately.

“Any delay in providing these critical communications to the public will increase the spread of misinformation,” the document says.

Noem shared the story behind the ad campaign at the Conservative Political Action Conference last month. She said she had suggested conducting more news conferences to keep the public posted on its immigration actions, but Trump asked for those ads “to make sure the American people know the truth of what you’re doing.”

“But he said, ‘I want the first ad, I want you to thank me. I want you to thank me for closing the border.’ I said, ‘Yes, sir. I will thank you for closing the border.’”

Most of the money spent so far in airing the ads has been on English-language TV stations with more than $2 million, compared to the $360,000 spent to air them in Spanish-language stations around the country, data from ad-tracking firm AdImpact shows.

The data shows it has aired the most in TV stations in Phoenix, Boston, Los Angeles, New York and Dallas. It has also been tracked running on Fox News in larger markets, with most airings captured in the Washington and Philadelphia areas.

Associated Press writer Byron Tau in Washington contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

CalOptima’s street medicine program expanding next to Santa Ana

• March 11, 2025

Santa Ana will be the fourth Orange County city to have CalOptima Health’s street medicine program — a “doctor’s office on wheels” — in action by the end of the year.

The street medicine program delivers primary health care, behavioral health services and case management to people living on the streets by meeting them where they are at. The program first launched in Garden Grove, and has since added Anaheim and Costa Mesa.

A medical team consisting of a physician’s assistant, a registered nurse, a mental health specialist and peer navigators who have experience with homelessness will travel through Santa Ana neighborhoods in a van equipped with most things a traditional medical office would have.

“Santa Ana is proud to be working collaboratively with CalOptima Health to reach the unhoused in our community,” Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua said in a statement. “We have robust existing resources to serve this population, and we are fortunate to be adding CalOptima Health’s proven approach to community-based health care and social services, helping residents get healthier and move toward a future off the street.”

The program comes at no cost to the city. CalOptima, the provider of public health insurance for Orange County’s lowest income residents, is investing up to $4.3 million for a two-year start to the program in Santa Ana. The next step is to find a service provider.

Services are expected to launch in October.

Mirroring how CalOptima’s street medicine programs are modeled in other cities, the plan is for Santa Ana’s street medicine team to sign up 200 patients to be financially sustainable with Medi-Cal dollars through CalAIM, a state initiative to create a more person-centered healthcare system that addresses one’s physical, mental, and social needs.

Garden Grove is already sustainable and no longer relies on the initial grant dollars that launched the program, said Kelly Bruno-Nelson, executive director of Medi-Cal/CalAIM at CalOptima.

Bruno-Nelson said what set Santa Ana apart as a candidate for the program is the city’s proactive approach to addressing homelessness.

“They definitely have a robust continuum of services in their city,” Bruno-Nelson said. “Their willingness to put permanent, supportive housing and affordable housing in their city is very impressive.”

Oftentimes, communities can be skittish about bringing homeless services to their streets, said Bruno-Nelson, because of the belief that more services will attract more homeless people.

“Our program was no different. We faced those same concerns. Here we are two years later, and cities are knocking each other out of the way to get this program in their city,” Bruno-Nelson said. “We’re helping to change the narrative to show our partner cities that services do help, that services can be a part of a solution, and to embrace us as partners.”

Each street medicine program is designed by CalOptima Health in collaboration with the host city.

“While every program has the same guidelines … there are oftentimes differences as each city is a little bit different,” Bruno-Nelson said. “We will be sitting down with the city once every two weeks for at least four months and designing the program, meeting the partners and making sure that it’s reflective of what happens in Santa Ana.”

“This isn’t something that’s happening to Santa Ana,” she added, “it’s something that’s happening with Santa Ana.”

​ Orange County Register