State Fair kicks off as triple-digit heat returns. Your Sacramento week in review

From a controversial DMV data-sharing law to the return of triple-digit heat, Sacramento saw a week packed with news affecting daily life across the region.

Here's a quick look at this week’s headlines:

• The 173rd California State Fair returns to Cal Expo for 17 days starting Friday with the theme “Wish You Were Here.” New attractions include the Hip Hop ride, a traveling grand carousel with horses valued over $30,000 each and the first-ever First Peoples’ Art Showcase.

• California state workers returned to offices four days a week under Newsom’s return-to-office order that took effect earlier this month, but unions say the fight for telework isn’t over. Labor groups are backing Assembly Bill 1729 and eyeing the next governor’s race, where Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra has signaled openness to more generous remote work policies.

• Sacramento’s triple-digit heat returned Tuesday at 104 degrees, snapping a roughly monthlong stretch without one and marking just the third 100-degree day of the summer. A heat dome over the eastern U.S. kept most serious above-average heat away from California, but temperatures could reach nearly 110 in parts of the San Joaquin Valley this week.

• Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a controversial DMV transportation bill that allows California to share driver records — including names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth — with other state DMVs through the State-by-State system to verify REAL ID compliance. After months of negotiations, lawmakers added guardrails including a monitoring plan and an advisory committee with immigration, LGBTQ+ and cybersecurity experts.

• Aviator’s Restaurant at Sacramento Executive Airport remains closed six months after a routine kitchen floor repair uncovered crumbling concrete, corroded rebar, asbestos and mold. Sacramento County estimates repairs could take about two years, though owner Cheung-Sang Chik and county officials say they remain committed to reopening the 25-year-old eatery.

• Three environmental groups filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging the Upper Westside project, which the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors approved 5-0 on June 16. The suit, backed by former Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo, alleges the project would destroy 940 acres of prime agricultural land and add roughly 25,000 residents to the Natomas basin in violation of state environmental law. The city of Sacramento filed a suit Friday.