Here are the morning’s top stories on Monday, September 15, 2025…

The world lost an icon when Latin jazz pioneer Eddie Palmieri died last month. His music lives on through recordings, but also through sheet music, thanks in part to a publisher in rural California. This pioneer has helped make the work of Palmieri and other Latin jazz artists available to the world, from his home office in Madera.
A handful of controversial bills on climate and energy are heading to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk. That’s after state lawmakers passed the bills in the final hours of the legislative session on Saturday.
While discourse during this year’s end of session at the Capitol was dominated by that package of energy measures, some other big bills were sent to the governor’s desk.

Music Of Latin Jazz Pioneers Lives On Through Central Valley Publisher

Steve Alcala, a music teacher and trumpet player in the Central Valley, fell in love with Latin Jazz. He joined a mariachi band in high school, studied jazz in college and in the 1980s, became a high school music teacher. It was then that he heard something that changed his life. “I go, whoa. This is cool. I love this,” when he heard Eddie Palmieri. “I was thinking to myself, man, I think the kids would really like playing this stuff.”

But very little sheet music was available to help his students learn. Pioneers who were performing Latin jazz typically weren’t sharing their sheet music beyond their bands. That left students and musicians outside of major jazz scenes without an easy way to learn the music. So Alcala started a sheet music publishing company and set out on a painstaking task. “I had to do all the transcribing myself from records I used to listen to,” he said. He’d literally write down the musical arrangements he heard note by note, sometimes for 10 or 15 different instruments.

He reached out to some of the biggest performers, telling them about teaching Latin jazz at a Roosevelt High School in Fresno, and wanting to get the arrangements for his students. Now, Alcala and his publishing company 3-2 Music Publishing publishes sheet music by more than 70 Latin jazz composers and pays them royalties.

Military bands and especially school bands are his biggest customers, including the jazz orchestra at Fresno State University. “Japan buys a lot of music from me. Germany loves Latin jazz, Austria,” Alcala said. And Latin jazz experts said that by giving more students access to this music, Alcala and his business have helped popularize it around the world.

California Extends Cap-And-Trade Program Aimed At Advancing State Climate Goals

California will extend a key climate program under a bill state lawmakers passed Saturday, sending the measure to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has championed it as a crucial tool to respond to the Trump administration’s environmental rollbacks.

[ad fullwidth]

The Democrat-dominated Legislature voted to reauthorize the state’s cap-and-trade program, which is set to expire after 2030. Then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, signed a law authorizing the program in 2006, and it launched in 2013.

The program sets a declining limit on total planet-warming emissions in the state from major polluters. Companies must reduce their emissions, buy allowances from the state or other businesses, or fund projects aimed at offsetting their emissions. Money the state receives from the sales funds climate-change mitigation, affordable housing and transportation projects, as well as utility bill credits for Californians.

The proposal would reauthorize the program through 2045, better align the declining cap on emissions with the state’s climate targets and potentially boost carbon-removal projects. It would also change the name to “cap and invest” to emphasize its funding of climate programs.

California Lawmakers Wrap Up Session, Here’s What They Passed

California state lawmakers wrapped up their 2025 legislative session on Saturday, sending hundreds of bills to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk. The deadline marked the end of a tumultuous period in which the state experienced record breaking devastation during the Los Angeles fires and lawmakers confronted a $12 billion budget deficit. California also waded into the national redistricting debate over the summer, which dominated discourse and proceedings at the Capitol in August and made for an unusual last month of session.

Lawmakers approved a package of bills aimed at reducing energy costs and pollution in the state. Following a lengthy, emotional debate that lasted into the early hours of Saturday, lawmakers approved a measure aimed at preventing antisemitism in California classrooms. The Legislative Jewish Caucus said the goal of Assembly Bill 715 is to mitigate discrimination and hate incidents that have risen following the terror attacks in Israel in 2023.

Lawmakers passed a pair of bills that would allow gig-workers who drive for companies like Uber and Lyft to unionize. They also passed a number of measures this session aimed at improving tech safety for kids. And they also passed several high-profile and contested bills responding to heightened federal immigration actions in California.

News Daily Newsletter

The Bay

Emma’s Must-Sees

Videos from KQED Live

Donor-Advised Funds

Steve AlcalaSteve Alcala

Central Valley Publisher Preserves Music Of Latin Jazz Artists