Daily Business Report: Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Where Oh Where Are My Tijuana River Sewage Updates
By MacKenzie Elmer | Voice of San Diego
In “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” Captain Jack Sparrow led his crew to buried treasure on Isla de Muerta – a place that could not be found, except by those who already know where it is.
That’s how I feel about getting information on the Tijuana River sewage crisis from the Trump Administration’s new leadership. It’s out there – somewhere – but only those who know it exists can find it.
Public updates alerting when sewage pumps or pipes burst or broke on either side of the border used to hit email inboxes within fairly short order under the previous administration. But under President Donald Trump’s newly appointed Commissioner Chad McIntosh, that’s no longer the case.
Here’s how Newsom’s maps are already changing California’s congressional races
By Maya C. Miller | CalMatters
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to redraw California’s congressional map has kicked off a game of musical chairs as candidates evaluate which districts they’ll run in and see new possibilities to jump into districts that were previously not competitive.
Some have already announced plans to switch districts if voters approve the new maps in November.
“Chaos breeds opportunity in politics, and that’s what we’re experiencing right now,” said Katie Merrill, a veteran Democratic political strategist and campaign consultant. “It’s basically opening more doors than it’s closing.”
Democrats’ High Speed Rail Slush Fund Growing Again to $130+ Billion
By Katy Grimes | California Globe
When President Donald Trump announced in February he would be launching an investigation into the high cost of California High Speed Rail fulfilling a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) promise made late in 2024, many California taxpayers celebrated.
Originally estimated to cost $33 billion in 2008 with a San Francisco to Los Angeles line to open by 2028, the California high speed rail system ballooned to over $1oo billion.
Lawmakers pushed a dubious 2012 revised business plan, in which the cost of the project was magically reduced to $68 billion from $98.6 billion, and an estimated partial completion somewhere in the late 2030’s.
