California Today: What to Know About California’s Proposed Tax on Billionaires

January 21, 2026, 6:31 a.m. Pacific time

Today’s Top Story

Loren Elliott for The New York Times

What to Know About California’s Proposed Tax on Billionaires

The wealth tax ballot proposal has set off a feverish debate in California, as well as plenty of confusion.

White Students Hurt by L.A. Desegregation Policy, Lawsuit Says

Schools with more white children miss out on smaller class sizes and other benefits, the lawsuit says. The policy dates back to desegregation efforts in the 1970s.

California Republicans Ask Supreme Court to Block New Congressional Map

Republicans asked the justices to step in after a federal court rejected their claims that the state’s new congressional map violated the Constitution.

Does Jimmy Butler’s ACL Injury Herald the End of Warriors’s Dynasty?

Is this the end of Golden State’s storied dynasty, the one that even Steve Kerr acknowledged recently was fading?

An A.I. Start-Up Says It Wants to Empower Workers, Not Replace Them

Founded by researchers from Anthropic, Google and xAI, the new company, Humans&, is already valued at $4.48 billion.

Suicides Were Frequent at the Golden Gate Bridge. Not Anymore.

For decades, there had been an average of 30 each year. With a new deterrent in place, there were none in the second half of 2025.

Netflix Revamps Its Warner Bros. Bid, Seeking to Thwart Paramount

Netflix will pay all cash for the $83 billion deal to acquire major parts of Warner Bros. Discovery, instead of a mix of cash and stock.

At Yosemite, Rangers Are Scarce and Visitors Have Gone Wild

After the Trump administration’s cuts, workers at the national park are spread too thin to stop people from littering, flying drones and cliff-diving.

Before Urban Raids, Border Patrol Tested Tactics in California Farm Country

Just before President Trump took office, Border Patrol agents led by Gregory Bovino arrested immigrants in Kern County using the same playbook later seen in places like Chicago and Minneapolis. Then a federal judge ordered them to stop.