Medicaid Freeze: The Trump administration paused about $1B in Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota, saying it’s tied to suspected fraud and demanding documentation before money flows again. Higher Ed Accountability: The DOJ says UC San Diego’s medical school used “hardship” questions as a race proxy in admissions, triggering a new legal fight over how California universities handle diversity after the 2023 Supreme Court ruling. Housing & Rural Homeownership: Federal officials visited the Coachella Valley to highlight $418.7M in USDA rural housing loans over the past decade, focused on helping working families buy homes in Imperial and Riverside counties. Public Safety & Health: CHP awarded more than $41M in impaired-driving grants statewide, while Yolo County declared a local emergency over invasive golden mussels threatening Delta waterways and water infrastructure. Wildlife & Climate: A rare orca hunt was captured in Monterey Bay, and a Northern California vineyard debuted fungus-killing robots using UV-C instead of chemicals. Tech & Business: NetApp acquired California AI data infrastructure firm DataPelago to boost AI analytics performance by processing data closer to storage. Local Life: PG&E’s Lodi cemetery power-line plans are drawing pushback over alleged errors in state documents about what’s historic.