By JANIE HAR

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Self-driving Waymo taxis have gone viral for negative reasons involving the death of a beloved San Francisco bodega cat and pulling an illegal U-turn in front of police who were unable to issue a ticket to a nonexistent driver.

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But this week, the self-driving taxis are the bearer of happier news after a San Francisco woman gave birth in a Waymo.

The mother was on her way to the University of California, San Francisco medical center Monday when she delivered inside the robotaxi, said a Waymo spokesperson in a statement Wednesday. The company said its rider support team detected “unusual activity” inside the vehicle and called to check on the rider as well as alert 911.

Waymo, which is owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, declined to elaborate on how the vehicle knew something was amiss.

The company has said it has cameras and microphones inside as well as outside the cars.

The taxi and its passengers arrived safely at the hospital ahead of emergency services. Jess Berthold, a UCSF spokesperson, confirmed the mother and child were brought to the hospital. She said the mother was not available for interviews.

Waymo said the vehicle was taken out of service for cleaning after the ride. While still rare, this was not the first baby delivered in one of its taxis, the company said.

“We’re proud to be a trusted ride for moments big and small, serving riders from just seconds old to many years young,” the company said.

The driverless taxis have surged in popularity even as they court higher scrutiny. Riders can take them on freeways and interstates around San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles and Phoenix.

In September, a Waymo pulled a U-turn in front of a sign telling drivers not to do that, and social media users dumped on the San Bruno Police because state law prohibited officers from ticketing the car. In October, a popular tabby cat named Kit Kat known to pad around its Mission District neighborhood was crushed to death by a Waymo.

By MATTHEW BROWN and MATTHEW DALY

WASHINGTON (AP) — Oil companies offered $279 million for drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday in the first of 30 sales planned for the region under Republican efforts to ramp up U.S. fossil fuel production.

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The sale came after President Donald Trump’s administration recently announced plans to allow new drilling off Florida and California for the first time in decades. That’s drawn pushback, including from Republicans worried about impacts to tourism.

Wednesday’s sale was mandated by the sweeping tax-and-spending bill approved by Republicans over the summer. Under that legislation, companies will pay a 12.5% royalty on oil produced from the leases. That’s the lowest royalty level for deep-water drilling since 2007.

Thirty companies submitted bids, including industry giants Chevron, Shell and BP, federal officials said. The total amount of high bids was down by more than $100 million from the most recent lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, under former Democratic President Joe Biden, in December 2023.

“This sale reflects a significant step in the federal government’s efforts to restore U.S. energy dominance and advance responsible offshore energy development,” said Laura Robbins, acting director of the Gulf region for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which is part of the Interior Department.

The administration’s promotion of fossil fuels contrasts sharply with its hostility to renewable energy, particularly offshore wind. A judge on Monday struck down an executive order from Trump blocking wind energy projects, saying it violated U.S. law.

Environmentalists said the fossil fuel sales would put wildlife in the Gulf at an higher risk of dying in oil spills. Spills occur regularly in the region and have included the 2010 Deepwater Horizon tragedy that killed 11 workers in an oil rig explosion and unleashed a massive spill.

“The Gulf is already overwhelmed with thousands of oil rigs and pipelines, and oil companies are doing a terrible job of cleaning up after themselves,” said Rachel Matthews with the Center for Biological Diversity.

Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association, an industry group, said the takeaway from Wednesday’s sale was that the Gulf “is open.”

While results of individual lease sales may fluctuate, Milito added, “the real success is the resumption of a regular leasing cadence.”

The industry and Republican lawmakers had complained that the Biden administration conducted only a handful of lease sales in the Gulf — the largest source of U.S. offshore oil production — as it moved away from fossil fuels to address climate change.

“Knowing that (another lease sale) is coming in March 2026 allows companies to plan, study, and refine their bids, rather than being forced to respond to the uncertainty of a politically-driven multi-year pause” in leasing, Milito said.

At least two lease sales annually are mandated through 2039 and one in 2040.

Administration officials cited the new, more predictable schedule as a reason for the lower bidding by oil companies. “They are not pressed to come in all at once,” Robbins told reporters at an online news conference.

The Gulf lease sale supports an executive order by Trump that directs federal agencies to accelerate offshore oil and gas development, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement. The sale should unlock investment, strengthen U.S. energy security and create jobs, he said.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum speaks during the Western Governors’ Association meeting Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rebecca Noble)

But Earthjustice attorney George Torgun said the Trump administration conducted the sale without analyzing how it would expose the entire Gulf region to oil spills, how communities could be harmed by pollution and how it could devastate vulnerable marine life such as the endangered Rice’s whale, which numbers only in the dozens and lives in the Gulf of Mexico.

The environmental group has asked a federal judge to ensure that the lease sale and future oil sales better protect Gulf communities.

Only a small portion of parcels offered for sale typically receive bids, in areas where companies want to expand their existing drilling activities or where they foresee future development potential. It can be years before drilling occurs.

The drilling leases sold in December 2023 and during another sale in March 2023 are held up by litigation, according to Robbins. A federal court ruled this spring that Interior officials did not adequately account for impacts to planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions and the Rice’s whale.

Brown reported from Billings, Montana.

After leading the Vikings to a 31-0 win over the Washington Commanders, young quarterback J.J. McCarthy tried his best to keep the focus on the big picture.

He repeatedly talked about how his success in the present — he completed 16 of 23 passes for 163 yards and a trio of touchdowns in the win — doesn’t mean anything if it doesn’t translate to success in the future.

McCarthy, however, momentarily let his guard down after some prodding at the podium, answering honestly when asked if he needed a performance like this to ease his mind.

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s definitely reassuring.”

There hasn’t been much for McCarthy to feel good about this season as he attempts to put the pieces together. He missed more than a month and a half with a high ankle sprain, then seemed to get bogged down in the minutiae as he reworked his mechanics before missing another game while in concussion protocol.

To combat the paralysis by analysis that had been plaguing McCarthy, head coach Kevin O’Connell opted for what can be considered a simplified approach, even if he pushed back on the semantics surrounding the strategy.

“The word simplification and all that is getting thrown out,” O’Connell said. “If it was that simple, I would probably get a lot more rest.”

Nonetheless, there was a marked shift in how the Vikings operated against the Commanders, putting less pressure on McCarthy to make the offense move. In total, the Vikings handed the ball off 28 times, and while some of that was due to them playing with a rare lead, the passing attack didn’t seem to be hunting for explosive plays in the same way it had been.

The advanced metrics support the eye test as McCarthy had the lowest average time to throw (2.56 seconds) of his career, and the second lowest average depth of target (7.5 yards). Not only did he get the ball out quicker than ever before, he also didn’t push the ball down the field at the same rate.

“He threw the ball pretty accurately,” O’Connell said. “I thought it was really positive for him.”

The question now is whether that short-term approach will ultimately lead to long-term success. The next litmus test will come when the Vikings travel to play the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night at AT&T Stadium, where it will be interesting to see how O’Connell handles McCarthy’s responsibilities as a signal caller.

Although it’s unlikely the Vikings will ever go completely away from an offense aimed at creating explosive plays, O’Connell might have to continue to scale it back while McCarthy gets his feel under him.

Perhaps growing restless with the approach last Sunday against the Commanders, O’Connell dialed up a perfect play call that probably should have resulted in McCarthy hitting receiver Justin Jefferson for a 66-yard touchdown. Instead, McCarthy bailed from the pocket amid minor pressure and scrambled his way for a 16-yard gain.

“We had a chance for a touchdown there and J.J. got moved off the spot,” O’Connell said. “We actually kind of created a play on the sideline to put an exclamation point on the game.”

The design worked to perfection as receiver Jordan Addison went into motion before the snap, ran a dig across the middle of the field and pulled a defender with him in the process. That left Jefferson running wide open after a perfectly executed stutter-and-go move.

“It just didn’t come to me,” Jefferson said. “It is what it is. It’s not really something I’m affected by, or overly thinking about. As long as we get the win, that’s all that matters.”

The hard truth layered in that pragmatic response is the fact that McCarthy missing that type of throw could eventually be the difference between winning and losing down the road. If the Vikings are going to live in a world that prioritizes efficient drives over explosive plays, McCarthy can’t miss the layups that will inevitably present themselves along the way.

“It doesn’t matter what happened,” McCarthy said. “It’s about doing it again and consistently growing and staying on the right trajectory of being the best version of ourselves.”

That hinges on McCarthy being the best version of himself.

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The legislation mandates that households receiving city rental assistance contribute no more than 30 percent of their income to rent. It reverses an earlier move by the Adams administration to increase that amount for a subset of CityFHEPS voucher holders, an effort to manage costs of the $1.2 billion program.

The bill’s sponsor, Councilmember Diana Ayala, with Council Speaker Adrienne Adams at Thursday’s stated meeting. (John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit)

The New York City Council last week overrode Mayor Eric Adams’ veto of a bill that would cap rent contributions for households receiving city rental assistance—reversing an earlier move by the administration to increase that amount for a subset of voucher holders, in an effort to rein in spending.

The legislation, passed by the Council in early October and vetoed by Adams a month later, mandates that New Yorkers receiving subsidies under the City Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement (CityFHEPS) program contribute no more than 30 percent of their income to rent. The vouchers, which help more than 60,000 low-income and formerly homeless households afford housing, cover the remainder.

The bill sought to overturn a rule the city implemented in September that increased the monthly rent contribution to 40 percent for a subset of CityFHEPS voucher holders—those with earned income who are receiving the subsidy for their sixth year (with exemptions for households on Supplemental Security Income, or with members older than 60).

Advocates and progressive lawmakers denounced the shift, saying it would put those impacted (about 3,100 households, officials said) at increased risk for eviction.

“New Yorkers are already facing significant economic strains and struggling to pay their rent,” Councilmember Diana Ayala, who sponsored the bill, said during a Council hearing in September. The 40 percent contribution, she added, is “a huge financial burden on families that are already stressed out.”

“It is a backward step when it comes to providing New Yorkers with what they need to survive in this city,” Ayala said.

Adams administration officials say the rent increase impacts only a small portion, about 5 percent, of the 60,000 households participating in CityFHEPS, and cited the shift as one lever to help manage costs for the program, which have increased five-fold since 2020.

The city spent $1.25 billion on CityFHEPS in the most recent fiscal year that ended in June, and with more than 136,000 participants, it is now the second largest rental subsidy program in the country, according to the city’s Department of Social Services (DSS).

By comparison, the New York State legislature allocated just $50 million this fiscal year for the launch of a statewide rental voucher program (an effort Gov. Kathy Hochul long resisted, citing concerns about the longterm costs).

“It is important we continue to think about responsible financial management so that CityFHEPS can continue to serve as a lifeline going forward,” DSS said in written testimony to councilmembers in September.

More than 37,500 people used CityFHEPS to move from the shelter system to permanent housing in the most recent fiscal year, a record high, according to the agency.

But homelessness advocates argue the savings the city would yield by increasing rents for a portion of participants—an estimated $11 million a year—will be outweighed by the hardship it could cause.

“We have New Yorkers struggling right now,” said Diana Ramos, a member of the Safety Net Activists and a CityFHEPS voucher holder (though she wasn’t impacted by the rule change). “Housing people is cheaper than leaving someone to rot in the shelter.”

Ayala’s bill is expected to take effect in 90 days.

This is the second major dustup between Adams and the City Council over CityFHEPS. In 2023, the mayor vetoed a package of bills to expand eligibility for the program, raising the income threshold and allowing people facing eviction to apply.

The Council also overrode that mayoral veto, but City Hall refused to carry out the legislation, as City Limits was first to report at the time. The two sides have been battling it out in court ever since.

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who takes office Jan. 1, pledged to implement the Council’s expansion bills, and previously criticized Mayor Adams for fighting them.

“What a ridiculous waste of time during a housing crisis,” he wrote in a social media post in July.

To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

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