• School Inoovation and Achievement
  • San Diego Water Authority

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Progressive group calls for Rep. Devin Nunes to resign post over comments about Trump's former national security advisor -- A California progressive group says it will demand Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) step down as chairman of the House Select Intelligence Committee during a protest at his Clovis office Wednesday. Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

Three Californians are on the Republicans' list of their most vulnerable members of Congress -- The National Republican Congressional Committee added Reps. David Valadao of Hanford, Steve Knight of Palmdale and Darrell Issa of Vista to its list of "patriots," or those believed to be most vulnerable to Democratic challenges in 2018. Christine Mai-Duc in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

Rep. Issa’s Constituents Call On Him To Attend Town Hall On Health Care -- Constituents in the 49th Congressional District have invited Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, to a town hall meeting focusing on health care next week. Protestors have been rallying outside Issa’s Vista office since December, but have been unable to meet with him. Alison St John KPBS -- 2/15/17

Assembly Speaker: ‘I’m tired of talking about Donald Trump’ -- Led by Rendon and Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, Democrats in the California Legislature have been setting themselves up as the resistance to the new administration since before Trump took office. De León in particular has been very outspoken against Trump in the press and the president’s executive orders on immigration, saying the actions conflict with California values. Taryn Luna in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/15/17

The price tag for winter storm damage to California highways? More than $400 million -- Rough weather this winter has taken a toll on California's vast network of roads and highways, and state officials calculated the cost Wednesday at $401 million. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

Senate panel supports confirmation of Lori Ajax as California pot czar -- A state Senate panel recommended confirmation of Lori Ajax as California’s chief of marijuana regulation on Wednesday after she promised equal opportunity in making licenses available. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

California state senator proposes banning prescriptions of powerful painkiller oxycodone for those under 21 -- Seeking to stem the growing opioid abuse crisis, a California state senator is proposing to prohibit prescriptions of the painkiller oxycodone for anyone under the age of 21. Melanie Mason in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

Dam operators now hope to lower Lake Oroville by 60 feet in preparation for rain and snowmelt -- The most recent 10-day forecast calls for water levels to be dropped 60 feet below the lake's maximum of 901 feet, which would give it the ability to hold nearly 1 million acre-feet of water before overtopping a damaged emergency spillway that is still undergoing temporary repairs. Paige St. John in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

Supervisors order inspections of L.A. County dams in wake of Oroville crisis -- The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has ordered inspections of all county dams, spillways and other flood control infrastructure, prompted by the emergency at Lake Oroville in Northern California over the past week, when failures of two spillways used to lower the lake’s water level prompted mandatory evacuations. Hailey Branson-Potts in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

L.A. area braces for what could be biggest storm of the season; flooding, mudslides possible -- A powerful new storm is expected to arrive in Southern California on Friday, and it could provide a walloping, with possible flash flooding, mudslides and rock slides. Hailey Branson-Potts in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

Oroville Dam isn’t the only piece of California flood infrastructure under strain -- Most of the river flows below the dams haven’t exceeded the capacity of the levees that line their channels, and independent experts say California’s flood-control network has endured the exceptionally wet winter rather well. But some levees, including those that protect the Sacramento region, are showing signs of the strain as prolonged heavy river flows push back. Ryan Sabalow, Ellen Garrison and Brad Branan in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/15/17

California's secretary of state vows to spread the word on duties, responsibilities of private immigration consultants -- Fueled by what he called "fear and anxiety" over Trump administration actions, California's secretary of state launched a new effort on Wednesday to provide consumers with more information about private immigration consultants. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times$ Jim Miller in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/15/17

Jerry Brown to Congress: Protect California’s private retirement program -- Gov. Jerry Brown, in a letter to the state’s congressional delegation, pushed back against a Republican-led repeal of federal labor regulations allowing California to create state-run investment accounts for millions of private-sector workers without retirement plans. Christopher Cadelago in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/15/17

BART wants to ask voters for bridge toll hike -- Fresh from winning voter approval of a $3.5 billion bond measure, BART is looking at asking for another $1.5 billion as part of a bridge-toll increase that could go on Bay Area ballots as early as next year. Matier & Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/15/17

Russian scheme allegedly used stolen identities of Sacramento-area high school students -- By the middle of 2014, he had broken into the American Express accounts of 119,000 customers all over the U.S., authorities said, and he and his partners had made off with between $300,000 and $400,000 in an alleged fraud scheme that used phony online businesses created with identities stolen from Sacramento-area high school students. Andy Furillo in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/15/17

Abcarian: In the Central Valley, drought fears ease, but farmers contend with a new threat: Trump -- It’s almost impossible to get a rise from my favorite farmer, Joe Del Bosque, who grows almonds, melons and asparagus here on the perpetually water-challenged west side of the San Joaquin Valley. Robin Abcarian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

LA set to decriminalize street vending, but those with convictions still on the hook -- The Los Angeles City Council is poised to take action today to remove criminal penalties from the city’s law banning street vending, but city attorneys say they have no way of directly granting amnesty to vendors already convicted of misdemeanors or who have ongoing cases. Elizabeth Chou in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 2/15/17

In protest demanding GOP congressman hold town hall, 2-year-old hit by door, 71-year-old taken to hospital -- A tussle between a staffer at Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s Huntington Beach office and activists on Tuesday resulted in a 2-year-old girl being knocked in the head by a door and the congressman’s 71-year-old district director being transported to a local hospital after falling to the ground. Neither the child nor the aide was seriously injured. Martin Wisckol in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 2/15/17

Lopez: Why this gay, disabled Texan went to the Women's March to tell Trump: 'Mock me to my face' -- He had taken up a spot on the sidewalk near the end of the Women’s March, not far from the White House, and held a sign overhead for marchers to see. “Mock Me to My Face.” Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

Fox: The Oroville Dam and the Fight for Infrastructure Funding -- Might a pending disaster of the Oroville Dam spillway collapse move the legislature to a compromise on infrastructure funding? Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 2/15/17

 

California Policy & Politics This Morning  

California members of Congress say they aren't getting answers on immigration raids: 'My constituents are freaked out' -- Several Democratic members of California's congressional delegation said Tuesday they still don't have details about who in their districts was arrested in last week's immigration raids, and why they were targeted. Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

San Diego to fight Trump's refugee travel ban -- The San Diego City Council voted Tuesday to join the legal battle against President Donald Trump’s executive order prohibiting refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. Gary Warth in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 2/15/17

Oroville Dam inspectors ignored integrity of hillside that eroded -- Inspectors visited Oroville Dam 14 times since 2008 but never considered the integrity of the hillside that eroded below the emergency spillway, leading to a near catastrophe that forced the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people downstream, state records show. Peter Fimrite and Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/15/17

Oroville Dam drags California’s $65 billion infrastructure annual price tag into the open -- Shock over the emergency evacuation downriver from the Oroville Dam has given way to serious questions about how California is coping with its aging infrastructure — which the American Society of Civil Engineers says would cost the state a staggering $65 billion per year to fix and maintain after years of neglect. Katy Murphy in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/15/17

Oroville Dam operators say they’re ready for next key hurdle: Wednesday night’s storm -- There’s another storm bearing down on troubled Oroville Dam, set to begin late Wednesday. But state officials say they believe the precipitation will be mild enough – and the reservoir empty enough – to handle this latest challenge. Tony Bizjak, Dale Kasler and Phillip Reese in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/15/17

Residents return, but Oroville Dam dangers remain as new storm approaches -- Authorities lifted mandatory evacuation orders Tuesday for communities downstream of the imperiled Oroville Dam amid a lessened flood risk, but they stressed that an incoming storm system means the danger is not over and that many residents might have to flee again. Hailey Branson-Potts in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

1,200 tons of rock an hour dumped in frantic bid to protect Oroville Dam as storm approaches -- A swarm of trucks and helicopters dumped 1,200 tons of rock per hour onto the eroded hillside that formed the Oroville dam’s emergency spillway. One quarry worked around the clock to mine boulders as heavy as 6 tons. An army of workers mixed concrete slurry to help seal the rocks in place. Paige St. John, Rong-Gong Lin II and Laura J. Nelson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

Trump Administration approves assistance for Oroville Dam crisis, January storms -- Brown issued a state of emergency on Sunday to make it easier for state officials to quickly respond to the situation at the dam, where two damaged spillways have forced the evacuation of more than 100,000 people. Paige St. John in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

Oroville Is a Warning for California Dams, as Climate Change Adds Stress -- Of the 1,585 dams in California, 17 are listed in poor condition and 97 in fair condition, according to the National Inventory of Dams, which is kept by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Adam Nagourney and Henry Fountain in the New York Times$ -- 2/15/17

Cracks may offer clues to California dam's troubles -- Six months before rushing water ripped a huge hole in a channel that drains a Northern California reservoir, state inspectors said the concrete spillway was sound. Justin Pritchard and Ellen Knickmeyer Associated Press -- 2/15/17

Anthony Kennedy worries that civic discourse has become too ‘hostile’ and ‘divisive’ -- At a summit Tuesday on civic education in California schools, the U.S. Supreme Court justice and Sacramento native son lamented the harm that contemporary American rhetoric has done to our democracy, as an example to both younger generations and other countries. Alexei Koseff in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/15/17

Walters: As cap and trade awaits fate, auction tests market -- Whither cap and trade? California’s high-profile – and highly controversial – program of selling greenhouse gas emission allowances will be tested again next week in the year’s first quarterly auction. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/15/17

Laguna Beach real estate broker who hopes to unseat Rep. Dana Rohrabacher launches Impeach Trump PAC -- The Democratic candidate, Boyd Roberts, 57, is also vowing to work to impeach President Trump and has registered a federal political committee that he says will raise money to support other congressional candidates who back Trump's impeachment. Javier Panzar in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

Crime in San Diego drops to new lows -- San Diego ’s crime rate last year was the second-lowest in 47 years, city officials said Tuesday. The rate of violent crime dropped by nearly 5 percent, the lowest in four decades. Pauline Repard in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 2/15/17

LA leader fights to boost Porter Ranch health study, says gas leak settlement ‘ignores’ community -- Los Angeles City Councilman Mitchell Englander on Tuesday demanded that air quality regulars increase the amount of money for a health study included in the $8.5 million settlement of a lawsuit filed against Southern California Gas Co. over a massive methane leak at its Aliso Canyon storage facility above Porter Ranch. Gregory J. Wilcox n the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 2/15/17

Crews race to fortify Highway 37 as more rain looms -- The $8 million fix is not guaranteed to prevent flooding on the highway used by some 40,000 vehicles a day between Novato and Vallejo, but it is expected to immediately reduce the frequency and severity of flooding, officials said. Stephanie Weldy in the Marin IJ -- 2/15/17

Homeless  

Santa Rosa increases funding to get homeless off the streets -- The council, which last August declared a homeless emergency in the city, added $125,000 to this year’s budget for “rapid rehousing” funding. Kevin McCallum in the Santa Rosa Press -- 2/15/17

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions 

Yellen hints at rate hike next month while noting uncertainty in economic outlook -- Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet L. Yellen on Tuesday painted a largely upbeat picture of the economy, telling lawmakers that somewhat faster wage growth is in store for workers, even as she signaled that the central bank would consider raising interest rates as early as next month. Don Lee in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

Puppeteers allege Disney is closing show at California Adventure over union activities -- The Burbank entertainment giant’s decision to end the puppet show comes after a contentious two-year period during which the puppeteers joined a union, the American Guild of Variety Artists. And Vega and some of his fellow puppeteers allege that Disney is closing their show in retaliation for their decision to do so. Daniel Miller in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

Education 

One-fifth of L.A. public high school students said they'd been bullied last year -- Add fighting bullying to the long list of priorities for which the nation’s second-largest school system has good intentions but sluggish follow-through. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

How these high school reporters are covering Boyle Heights' most pressing topics -- Diego Flores went door to door. But nobody, it seemed, wanted to speak to a journalist. “Maybe I can leave my number for your manager and he can call me?” he asked one shopkeeper. Esmeralda Bermudez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

County health officials investigate death of Santa Monica High student amid norovirus concerns -- The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is investigating the death of an 18-year-old Santa Monica High School student. Sonali Kohli, Soumya Karlamangla and Melissa Etehad in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

OCC student who recorded instructor is suspended -- An Orange Coast College student who secretly videotaped his instructor making anti-Trump statements was suspended from school and told to write a letter of apology as well as a three-page essay about the incident. Roxana Kopetman in the Orange County Register -- 2/15/17

Cannabis 

Colorado governor says California faces challenges in legalizing pot -- Legalization requires urgent attention to multiple public health issues that include preventing impaired driving and making sure edible pot products are not made to be attractive to minors, Hickenlooper told California lawmakers Tuesday at a legislative hearing at the Capitol. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

California couples are gifting marijuana bouquets for Valentine's Day -- If you think flowers are overrated and overpriced, there's a different kind of bouquet you might be interested in. Alix Martichoux in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/15/17

Immigration / Border 

Deportation fears depress California Dream Act college aid applications -- Undocumented students in California are lagging far behind last year’s numbers in applying for state-funded financial aid for college, apparently because of fears that information on the forms could be used to possibly deport the young people and their families, officials say. Larry Gordon EdSource -- 2/15/17

First ‘Dreamer’ protected by Obama’s DACA order arrested in Trump immigration raid -- A young immigrant protected from deportation under an executive order issued by President Barack Obama because he’d been brought into the country as a child faces deportation following sweeping raids launched by the Trump administration. Franco Ordoñez McClatchy DC Matt Pearce and Kurtis Lee in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

Trump's asylum rule is already changing the border -- On a gray morning, a group of Haitian migrants chatted idly on a quiet corner in downtown Tijuana, near the U.S. border, speaking French and eating Creole and exchanging cellphone chargers to use later in a nearby Starbucks. Among them was Rene Raphael, a 28-year-old former medical student. Grace Wyler in the Orange County Register -- 2/15/17

Health 

Amid Obamacare uncertainty, insurance giant Humana plans to leave marketplaces in 2018 -- Humana Inc., one of the nation’s largest health insurers, will stop selling Obamacare health plans next year, the company announced Tuesday. The move threatens to rattle jittery insurance markets and further complicate Republicans’ push to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Noam N. Levey and Melody Petersen in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

LA, state politicians mull responses to Obamacare repeal -- California lawmakers are discussing how they will respond to a possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and Los Angeles County is poised to offer its own suggestions for how to deal with a cut in federal health care dollars. Rebecca Plevin KPCC -- 2/15/17

Quiet IRS change could undermine Obamacare, supporters say -- Following an executive order from President Trump to “minimize the economic burden” of the Affordable Care Act, the Internal Revenue Service said it is backtracking on its plan to reject 2016 tax returns that do not indicate whether the taxpayer complied with the act’s individual mandate. Kathleen Pender in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/15/17

Also . . . 

L.A. City Council rejects historical designation for Parker Center -- The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday rejected a plan to include the Welton Becket-designed Parker Center in L.A.’s list of historically significant buildings. Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

Bright light seen across Bay Area sky Tuesday morning was Navy missile -- The bright light with a large, glowing tail that slowly moved across the early morning sky Tuesday, seen from the East Bay to the Peninsula, was a Navy missile test, a military spokesman said. Matthias Gafni in the East Bay Times -- 2/15/17

POTUS 45  

Trump Campaign Aides Had Repeated Contacts With Russian Intelligence -- Phone records and intercepted calls show that members of Donald J. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and other Trump associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election, according to four current and former American officials. Michael S. Schmidt, Mark Mazetti and Mat Apuzzo in the New York Times$ -- 2/15/17

Flynn's ouster leads to more chaos in Trump world -- The resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn did little to calm the chaos at the White House, where staff spent Tuesday scrambling to deflect blame for the rising scandal about Flynn’s contacts with Russian officials — including who knew what about the conversations and when. Eli Stokols, Tara Palmeri and Annie Karni Politico -- 2/15/17

Boycotting companies tied to president new weapon in US politics -- What started out last year as a straightforward boycott of Donald Trump and his family’s businesses became a lot more complicated when the New York City developer was elected president of the United States. John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/15/17

Balz: In the early weeks of the new administration, the humbling of a president -- The presidential campaign was a heady experience for Donald Trump: months of triumph and, better yet, disproving all the so-called experts who said he never had a chance of winning. The early weeks of the new administration have been the opposite: the public humbling of a new president. Dan Balz in the Washington Post$ -- 2/15/17

Beltway 

Hemorrhoids and Nickelback are more popular than Congress, Schwarzenegger says in call for redistricting reform -- The former governor, who championed redistricting reform in California, said the politicians keep getting reelected because in most of the nation, they draw their district boundaries. “Gerrymandering has created an absurd reality where politicians now pick their voters instead of the voters picking their politicians,” he said, pointing to California. Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/15/17

 

-- Tuesday Updates 

Evacuation order lifted for residents near Oroville Dam -- Evacuation orders for 200,000 people in communities downstream of the Oroville Dam were lifted Tuesday afternoon, when officials announced they did not think the broken spillways presented an immediate danger. Mark Gomez in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/14/17

ICE rejects social media reports of immigration checkpoints in Van Nuys -- After a series of immigration raids across Southern California last week, social media has been buzzing about Immigration and Customs Enforcement checkpoints in Van Nuys. But authorities say there is no truth to the rumors. Wes Woods in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 2/14/17

Sheriff 'actively working' to get Oroville evacuees back in homes, but no timetable -- At a Monday afternoon news conference, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said authorities were working on a “repopulation” plan for evacuees, but there was no timeline for lifting the evacuation orders. He defended his decision to call for evacuations over the weekend. The item is in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

They helped build Oroville Dam, now they refuse to evacuate -- Russell Hanks’ family — his great-grandfather, grandfather, uncles and cousins — all helped build the Oroville Dam in the 1950s and have worked on it since. It’s one reason the entire family stayed put and ignored evacuation orders when the spillways began to fail. Julia Prodis Sulek in the East Bay Times -- 2/14/17

Oroville dam crisis: Could it have been prevented? -- As work continue to prevent disastrous flooding at Oroville Dam, one big question keeps occurring: How did we get here? Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

Reports of scattered looting surface as homes and businesses are evacuated -- Oroville police Lt. Gil Zarate said thieves have broken into a few homes as well as commercial properties, including Dollar Tree on Sunday night and Tony’s Liquor Store and Nick’s Stuff N Things on Monday. Police arrested a vandal at Tony’s Liquor Store, Zarate said. Mark Gomez in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/14/17

California Senate gives 10 percent raises to 71 employees to close gender pay gap -- Capping a yearlong assessment of pay equity among its ranks, the California Senate late last year gave 10 percent raises to 71 employees to shrink a lingering gap between what male and female employees earn. Alexei Koseff in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/14/17

Nunes and Schiff both call for investigations into the Flynn scandal, just different kinds -- House Select Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) told Bloomberg on Monday afternoon he expected President Trump's then-national security advisor Michael Flynn to keep his job and "it just seems like there's a lot of nothing there." At the same time, the ranking Democrat on the committee, Burbank's Rep. Adam Schiff, was calling for Flynn to step aside, at least temporarily. Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

State analyst warns about uncertainty over size of California's pot industry and a possible federal crackdown -- Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal to merge regulations of medical and recreational marijuana sales in California is a wise move, but officials should be careful in allocating large amounts of money to the new system, the state Legislative Analyst’s Office concluded Tuesday. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

Roadway updates: Highway 50 remains closed; westbound I-80 traffic rerouted at Highway 20 -- Highway 50 remains closed in both directions as crews work to clear three major mudslides across a 12-mile stretch in El Dorado County, according to the state Department of Transportation. The main route between Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe has been closed since Friday, and it won’t reopen Tuesday, Caltrans reports. The item is in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/14/17

Homeless man wins harassment settlement from San Diego police -- Zack Green, who has lived on the streets in and around Pacific Beach for decades, will get $7,500 and his lawyers will collect $7,500 in legal fees and other costs. The initial complaint sought $1 million in damages. Jeff McDonald in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

County voters to decide on quarter- cent sales tax for homelessness programs -- When Los Angeles voters overwhelmingly approved a bond measure in November to build apartments for the chronically homeless, long-frustrated advocates hailed the victory as a watershed in their efforts to provide permanent homes for thousands of people living on the city’s sidewalks and parkland. Doug Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

San Francisco educators still waiting for promised teacher housing -- Hilary Elfman is the kind of teacher San Francisco Unified School District needs to keep, but the odds of that happening decrease every time the special-education teacher surfs the Internet looking for housing she can afford. Heather Knight in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/14/17

Compton Community College regains local control after years of oversight -- The Compton Community College District, which has been managed by a state-appointed special trustee since it lost its accreditation more than a decade ago, has won back the authority to govern itself — a major nod to its efforts to rebuild, state officials announced Tuesday. Rosanna Xia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

Trump Knew for Weeks That Flynn Had Not Told Truth -- President Trump was informed more than two weeks ago that his national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, had not told the truth about his interactions with Russia’s ambassador, and the president eventually asked for Mr. Flynn’s resignation after concluding he could not be trusted, the White House said on Tuesday. Peter Baker in the New York Times$ Michael A. Memoli and Del Quentin Wilber in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

Democrats Demand Inquiry on Russia; G.O.P. Mostly Silent -- The stunning resignation of Michael T. Flynn as White House national security adviser less than a month after his appointment has emboldened congressional Democrats to demand a broader investigation into President Trump’s ties to Russia and the Kremlin’s role in the 2016 election. Jennifer Steinhauer in the New York Times$ -- 2/14/17

'Saturday Night Live' ratings soar thanks to Baldwin's Trump and McCarthy's Spicer -- NBC’s long-running late-night sketch comedy program is having its most-watched season in 22 years, thanks in large part to Alec Baldwin’s impersonation of the 45th president of the United States and, more recently, Melissa McCarthy’s devastating take on White House press secretary Sean Spicer. Stephen Battaglio in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/14/17

Talbot: Sheriff Hennessy takes the heat as San Francisco loses its black history -- But when word spread that Hennessy, acting on the eviction orders of Superior Court Judge A. James Robertson II, had locked out 100-year-old Iris Canada from the Fillmore district apartment she had occupied for over a half century, angry housing activists quickly descended on the sheriff’s office. David Talbot in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/14/17

Mayors Don’t See Eye to Eye on Infrastructure Fixes -- Can a Northern California big city Democratic mayor and a Southern California big city Republican mayor find common ground when it comes to infrastructure improvements? Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 2/14/17