Here are the morning’s top stories on Wednesday, September 9, 2026
- Changes are coming to a controversial drone code enforcement program in Northern California’s Sonoma County. The county’s land use planning and development permitting agency, Permit Sonoma, agreed last week to settle after being sued for allegedly spying on much more than what the program initially intended.
- Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra has a strong lead over Republican Steve Hilton in the race for California governor. But Becerra has kept a relatively low profile since the June Primary and made few specific commitments about what he would do as governor.
- Attorneys for Santa Clara County say they’re optimistic after a federal judge in San Jose extended a halt on the construction of a new ICE holding facility near Gilroy.
- The clean-up effort following last year’s battery fire at Texas-based energy company’s Vistra facility in Moss Landing is moving into its final phase.
Permit Sonoma agreed to a settlement brokered by the ACLU of Northern California, after 3 local residents sued the agency and a number of county officials last year over the use of invasive drone surveillance.
Permit Sonoma’s drone program was started in 2019 to allegedly target illicit cannabis operations. However, ACLU attorney Nick Hidalgo says it quickly spread to more mundane issues.
“So not only were these drones being used to violate people’s right to privacy, but they were doing so without any clear idea of what they were looking for,” said Hidalgo. “And in a lot of cases they of course found code violations because no one’s perfect…