In a recent court hearing over Harvey Weintein’s sex life, Gavin Newson’s wife was called a manipulative “Bimbo” who fucked her way to the top…but, did Gavin Newsom fuck his way to the top by screwing California?

Gavin Newsom – a ‘pretty boy with baggage’?

We recently gave you the CliffsNotes version of the very long profile of Mayor Gavin Newsomand the others running for governor of California in the New York Times Magazine. Here’s the CliffsNotes version of a long profile of Newsom in the magazine Fast Company. He’s not the cover boy this time (that designation goes to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos), but Newsom does get the whole article to himself.

Described as a “pretty boy with baggage,” Newsom talks at length with reporter Ellen McGirt about changing the way California operates. He even says the tax base needs to change – and not just Prop. 13 – to include taxing services as well as products. “Why do we have sales taxes on golf balls and not a round of golf? Why on pet supplies and not on vet services?”

The article goes on to call him “a walking, talking PowerPoint presentation” and notes that “listening can turn into a battle of wills and attention spans.” Try watching his 7.5-hour State of the City speech, Ellen! Better yet, try watching it without a triple espresso.

There’s one striking similarity between the New York Times story and the Fast Company one. Newsom discusses his affair with Ruby Rippey-Tourk, the wife of his then-campaign manager, in both. He told the Times, “There’s a story that’s never been told. … Things were much more benign than they actually appeared in print.”

And the Fast Company article: “He reassures me that there is a part of the story that has yet to come out.” What’s left to say, Mr. Mayor? We’re all ears.

– Heather Knight

Budget battle continues: Don’t break out that Champagne just yet – the budget battle isn’t quite over.

Supervisor Bevan Duftyon Tuesday introduced a measure that would reverse some of the last-minute changes his colleagues made to the budget last week – including a move to take nearly $800,000 from the arts.

Dufty wants to move $510,000 from the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families, the agency that received the extra money last week (and also happens to be the darling of his more liberal colleagues who dominate the board). He wants to give the money back to the city’s Grants for the Arts program. Last week, Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi led the charge to take the cash from the program, setting his sights on funding for the Opera, Symphony and American Conservatory Theater.

It’s not entirely clear whether Dufty will have the votes to push the measure through. But it may be a smart move either way: The supervisor plans to run for mayor, and it’s no secret that the arts community has some, shall we say, affluent supporters.

– Marisa Lagos

California’s latest power grid problems are just the beginning – Politico

Sep 23, 2022 SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An epic heat wave this summer brought California’s power grid to the brink of collapse, and put its governor on defense …