Daily Business Report: February 20, 2026
County Pharma Chief’s Second Job ‘Presented a Potential Conflict of Interest’
By Lisa Halverstadt | Voice of San Diego
A county investigation into its top pharmacy official found that she failed to fully disclose a second gig that presented a potential conflict of interest.
Investigators with the county’s Office of Ethics and Compliance found that Dr. Emily Do, who has served as the county’s full-time chief pharmacy officer since 2019, did not fully disclose that she was working as a partner at a law firm that advises pharmaceutical companies. She has since left the New York-based firm.
County spokesperson Tim McClain confirmed that Do remains the county’s chief pharmacy officer overseeing county pharmacy practices and standards. It’s unclear if she was disciplined, or forced to leave the second job, because McClain did not answer those questions from Voice.
Recent events contributed to major drop in election confidence, UCSD report says
By Brooke Binkowski | Times of San Diego
Recent events in the United States, along with disinformation circulated in order to undermine the integrity of voting, have led to a dramatic drop in confidence in elections across both major parties and independents.
In a national survey of 11,406 eligible voters by the Center for Transparent and Trusted Elections, 60% of respondents said they are confident votes will be counted accurately nationwide in the 2026 midterms, according to research that UC San Diego released Wednesday.
Just after the 2024 presidential election, that figure stood at 77%.
Ringside: What Will California Gas Prices Do in 2026?
by Edward Ring | California Globe
About the time it became inevitable that California was going to lose two major refineries, in May of last year, an alarming study was released by Michael Mische, an economist and business professor at USC. In his analysis, “Ensuring California’s Gasoline Security for the 21st Century,” Mische made a prediction that was widely quoted:
“Based on current demand and consumption assumptions and estimates, the combined consequences of the 2025 Phillips 66 refinery closure and the April 2026 Valero refinery closure, the estimated average consumer price of regular gasoline could potentially increase by as much as 75% from the April 23, 2025 price of $4.816 to $7.348 to $8.435 a gallon by calendar year end 2026.”
In a less disseminated quote, more ad hoc, but equally consequential, Democratic candidate for governor Tom Steyer said this in a recent debate:
