Daily Business Report: Monday, September 8, 2025
This Law Aimed to Cut Housing Prices. A Hidden Fee Could Raise Them
By Deborah Sullivan Brennan | Voice of San Diego
Last week we looked at the new state laws that update the California Environmental Quality Act, known as CEQA, to see how they could affect San Diego. The new policies exempt urban housing projects under 20 acres from environmental review, to cut red tape on home construction.
Business leaders said the changes to CEQA could spur a modest increase in home-building. But they objected to a part of the law that would add a new fee for vehicle miles traveled.
Leaders of the Building Industry Association of San Diego and San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce say the new fee undermines the purpose of CEQA reforms, which aim to make housing more affordable and accessible to Californians. They’re pushing for additional legislation to fix that.
Opinion: Courts striking down California laws restricting violent speech, gun rights
By Dan Walters | CalMatters
Gov. Gavin Newsom and his fellow Democrats in the Legislature incessantly denounce President Donald Trump for trampling on civil rights in his lust for power.
Their current drive to sanction a gerrymander of California’s 52 congressional districts to add five Democratic seats is couched in assertions that it would help blunt Trump’s authoritarian tendencies. One pro-Proposition 50 ad describes Trump’s campaign for pro-Republican gerrymanders as a “blitzkrieg,” using language associated with Hitler and World War II Germany.
However, as Newsom, et al, posture as saviors of democracy, they haven’t hesitated to infringe on constitutional rights themselves.
“Endless Summer” Icons Named 2025 Recipients of the California Surf Museum’s Silver Surfer Lifetime Achievement Award
By California Surf Museum
The international California Surf Museum, celebrating 40 years in 2026 and the first and oldest surf museum in the country, is proud to announce that seven central figures at the heart of filmmaker Bruce Brown’s time-honored gems “The Endless Summer” and “Endless Summer II” are named this year’s recipients of the Museum’s “Silver Surfer Award.” This lifetime achievement award is bestowed annually to surfers who made significant contributions to the culture and lifestyle of surfing.
“Though it was first released over five decades ago, I can think of nothing that has quite captured and defined the essence of the art of surfing and surfing lifestyle as Bruce Brown’s classic ‘The Endless Summer’,” said Jim Kempton, Executive Director of the California Surf Museum. “This film, along with its follow-up with his son Dana Brown, ‘The Endless Summer II,’ has inspired generations of surfers to take to the road as they embark on their own surfing adventure. In the process, these two films became timeless classics that continue to inspire, proving that their influence may truly be ‘endless.’ ”
The awards will be held at the 17th Annual Silver Surfers and annual gala fundraiser November 1 at the NEW LOCATION, Oceanside’s beachfront 5-star resort, the Seabird Ocean Resort & Spa on Mission Avenue.
Tickets:
Individual – $ 285 (Includes appetizers, dinner (vegetarian option available), and dessert)
Table of 10 – $ 2,850 (Includes appetizers, dinner (vegetarian option available), and dessert)
Sponsorships are still available.
When:
Saturday, November 1
2:00pm – 8:00pm
Where – NEW LOCATION:
Seabird Ocean Resort & Spa
101 Mission Ave
Oceanside, California.
To purchase tickets and for more information visit surfmuseum.org or contact Museum Manager Camille Cacas – csm@surfmuseum.org / (760) 721-6876.
