Updating . .
California the world’s fifth largest economy? Look out, Britain -- Frustrated about unaffordable housing or clogged freeways? Think of it as the price you pay for living in one of the world’s largest economies. Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/14/17
In health care, PBMs are crucial — but not regulated -- They are called pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, and while relatively few people have ever heard of them, it turns out that they are a critical factor in the cost of medical care. Anna Frazier Capitol Weekly -- 7/14/17
Quadriplegic teacher is so successful that she could lose her caregivers -- Jenny Weast has taught math at Oakmont High School for 30 years and coached its cheerleaders to six national championships, but she soon may be unable to afford to get out of bed. Diana Lambert in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/14/17
Despite fears over Oakland fire, 'extremist arson' rare -- The bombs exploded before sunrise. The targets were two Bay Area corporations with ties to animal testing, quickly leading to speculation that activists already protesting company executives had decided to send a more extreme message. Kurtis Alexander and Cynthia Dizikes in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/14/17
California pension fund beats earnings target for first time in three years -- The California Public Employees’ Retirement System rode a strong year in the stock market and private equity investments to earn a return rate of 11.2 percent for the fiscal year that ended June 30, the pension fund announced Friday morning. Adam Ashton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/14/17
Three Marines from Southern California were among 16 killed in military plane crash -- The Pentagon identified 16 service members, three from Southern California, who were killed this week when their military cargo plane suffered a mid-air failure on a cross-country flight and crashed in a soybean field in rural Mississippi. W.J. Hennigan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/14/17
Former Russian military intelligence officer attended Trump Tower meeting -- Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Russian lawyer aimed at obtaining derogatory information about Hillary Clinton in June 2016 had another, previously undisclosed participant: a former Soviet military counterintelligence officer. David S. Cloud in the Los Angeles Times$ Desmond Butler and Chad Day Associated Press Eileen Sullivan, Kenneth P. Vogel and Adam Goldman in the New York Times$ Rosalind S. Helderman and Tom Hamburger in the Washington Post -- 7/14/17
United Airlines considers reselling seats to travelers who will pay more -- United Airlines is considering a program that pays passengers to give up their booked seats so that the carrier can resell them for a higher price to other fliers. Hugo Martin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/14/17
Hiltzik: Here are the hidden horrors in the Senate GOP's new Obamacare repeal bill -- Senate Republicans unveiled a new, “improved” version of their Affordable Care Act repeal bill Thursday, so the treasure hunt is on: the search for provisions so horrifically inhumane that they’ve had to be concealed deep in the measure’s legislative language and procedural maze. Michael Hiltzik in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/14/17
$75 million mansion is most expensive Tahoe house ever -- The massive mansion carved into the craggy banks of the north shore in Crystal Bay, Nev., is the most expensive house to ever be listed in the Lake Tahoe area, a title that was previously held by the famed Thunderbird Lodge that went on the market for $60 million in 1996. Amy Graff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/14/17
Winter's snow is disrupting this Sierra Nevada summer -- Trails, roads and campgrounds throughout the Sierra high country were hit hard by snow and runoff from one of the largest snowpacks in recorded history, leaving public agencies scrambling and summer visitors feeling lost. At Tioga Pass Lodge, established in 1914, loyalists’ hopes of kicking back on a sunny afternoon have taken a particularly tough wallop. Louis Sahagun in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/14/17
Governor Jerry Brown Likely To Face Decision On 100 Percent Clean Electricity -- A key vote this week in Sacramento has moved California closer than most people could imagine to a future in which all electricity — 100 percent of it — is produced without releasing more carbon into the air. When Senate President Pro Tem Kevin De León proposed the bill, many viewed it as aspirational. Now, it could actually become the law of the land. Ingrid Lobet KPBS -- 7/14/17
California Policy & Politics This Morning
BART directors view squalid reality in Powell Station visit -- BART directors usually meet twice a month in a clean, quiet, windowless board chamber in Oakland, but this time they took a field trip to Powell Street Station to view its “challenges” — homeless people sleeping in hallways, intravenous drug users, rundown conditions, dirty floors, and elevators and escalators used regularly as restrooms. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/14/17
Would Jerry Brown’s climate change law go too easy on Big Oil? -- Drive to the Bay Area from Sacramento, cross the Carquinez Bridge, and you might see it on your right – the Phillips 66 oil refinery in Rodeo, churning out millions of gallons of gasoline. This facility and other oil refineries in the state have become the flash point in a potentially combustible political fight in Sacramento over the future of California’s war against climate change. Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/14/17
Big student debt without a job? Trump blocks California’s fight against predatory colleges -- Students who rack up debt attending for-profit colleges were supposed to get some additional protections this month. If their school was found to have misled them into borrowing money to attend, a new rule would have simplified the process for seeking loan forgiveness. Alexei Koseff in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/14/17
Federal judge in Hawaii, in rebuke to Trump administration, expands travel ban exemptions for refugees and families -- A federal judge in Hawaii on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to vastly expand the number of people exempt from a controversial travel ban to include those who have grandparents and other non-immediate family in the U.S., as well as refugees without family ties to the country. Jaweed Kaleem in the Los Angeles Times$ Jennifer Sinco Kelleher Associated Press -- 7/14/17
BART’s police chief wants to improve system’s crime reporting -- The transit system’s police and administrators have been criticized over the past week for replacing daily police logs with an online crime map that offers no detailed information about crimes on BART, and for their continued refusal to release video footage of an April 22 attack on a train by as many as 60 young people who harassed and robbed passengers. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/14/17
Protesters gather in East L.A. to demand that Sheriff McDonnell support 'sanctuary state' bill -- Dozens of protesters gathered in front of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s East L.A. station Thursday evening to demand that the sheriff support the so-called sanctuary state bill, which would block local and state law enforcement from using resources to help federal immigration agents. Leila Miller in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/14/17
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck tells Senate Democrats 'all of us are less safe' with more aggressive immigration enforcement -- Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck told Democratic senators Thursday that increased random enforcement of immigration laws has caused fewer people to call 911, report crimes and come forward as witnesses. Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/14/17
Latest Senate GOP health-care plan gets mixed reviews in California -- As a growing array of competing health care proposals emerged from the U.S. Senate on Thursday, there was plenty of bad news for millions of Californians. Tracy Seipel in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/14/17
Air Canada plane flew for a quarter-mile over taxiway before anyone noticed -- A wayward Air Canada pilot did not abort his landing last week until his plane had already overflown an SFO taxiway for a quarter mile, passing a mere 100 feet above the first two of four fully-loaded passenger jets awaiting departure, according to preliminary data from Canadian investigators released Thursday. Matthias Gafni in the Santa Rosa Press -- 7/14/17
Borenstein: Legislature keeps patients in the dark about bad doctors -- Doctors win another round. Patients lose again. Secrecy prevails. Physicians on professional probation can continue hiding their status from patients after a Sacramento showdown this week between two Silicon Valley legislators ended — for now — with victory for the California Medical Association. Dan Borenstein in the East Bay Times -- 7/14/17
California Supreme Court Moves to Make Bar Exam Easier to Pass -- California has long had a reputation for having one of the most difficult bar exams in the country. Now, with passage rates sagging, the state will make it easier to pass the test, which is required to be licensed as a practicin g lawyer. Elizabeth Olson in the New York Times$ -- 7/14/17
Undocumented convict awaits trial in San Francisco slaying -- It's been two years since a woman was randomly gunned down on a busy San Francisco pier in a shooting that set off a fierce national immigration debate. But the man accused of killing Kate Steinle is still waiting for his murder trial to be scheduled. Paul Elias Associated Press -- 7/14/17
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
He impersonated a firefighter in a burglary. Then Cal Fire gave him a job -- Brandon Visyak used a stolen state firefighter badge in a ploy to rob a woman the first time he got caught impersonating a public safety officer. Two years later, he again claimed to be a Cal Fire firefighter while he tried to get out of a traffic arrest. Both incidents led to criminal convictions on charges that he illegally impersonated a California public safety officer. Adam Ashton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/14/17
Housing
CA affordable housing bills benefiting in political dealing over cap and trade -- California's proponents of affordable housing say they've never been so bullish about making a dent in the housing crisis as in the current legislative session. Josie Huang KPCC -- 7/14/17
Education
In wake of critical audit, UC regents take a close look at president's budget -- The University of California regents on Thursday stepped up their financial oversight of the president’s office, approving its $800-million spending plan only after engaging in deeper discussion and asking for more detailed data than ever before. Teresa Watanabe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/14/17
UC gets OK to ask some applicants for letters of recommendation -- High school students hoping to attend the University of California — but whose applications are less than academically stellar — may now have an extra opportunity to show why they should be admitted. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/14/17
Garcetti visits first wave of ‘Promise’ students to get year of free community college -- On Thursday, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti spoke to about 150 Pierce College students who are among the first recipients of free college enrollment under the Los Angeles College Promise program. The program was created to increase the number of community college graduates, university transfer and workforce-ready students throughout the region. The item is in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 7/14/17
Author shelves teacher tenure bill; surprise alternative emerges -- The latest attempt in the Legislature to lengthen the probation period for new teachers has stalled for the year. John Fensterwald EdSource -- 7/14/17
Immigration / Border
California could abolish the immigration-consultant industry to prevent fraud -- The stories of immigration fraud across California seem endless. A Central American woman lost her job after an immigration consultant, who charged her $4,500, failed to renew her temporary protected status that allowed her to work in the United States. Alejandra Molina in the Inland Daily Bulletin$ -- 7/14/17
Health
The fight over Orange County’s $3.4 billion healthcare plan could be about money, local control or revenge -- The California legislature and the Orange County Board of Supervisors are embroiled in a tug-of-war over who will oversee the county’s $3.4 billion public healthcare plan for its low-income, disabled and elderly residents, who account for one-quarter of the county’s population. Jordan Graham in the Orange County Register -- 7/14/17
Environment
White House sued over protections for West Coast whales, turtles -- An ocean conservation group is suing the Trump administration for withdrawing proposed regulations that sought to protect sea creatures off the West Coast, including turtles, dolphins and whales, from being killed inadvertently in mile-long drift nets. Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/14/17
Scenic meadows near Lake Tahoe preserved in land deal -- A breathtaking landscape of Sierra Nevada meadows, forests and wetlands larger than San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park — located 20 miles north of Lake Tahoe — will be preserved from development under a $10 million deal that closes Friday. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/14/17
Also . . .
Orange County family attacked on social media by actor James Woods -- An Orange County family has drawn attention from two renowned actors after posting a photo on a parenting blog and Twitter. Jody Collins in the Orange County Register -- 7/14/17
Fresno police add anchored leg shackles to interview rooms after murder suspect’s escape -- Fresno police added new security measures to prevent another escape from department headquarters in the aftermath of murder suspect Ibn Haqq’s flight a week ago, Chief Jerry Dyer said Thursday. Jim Guy in the Fresno Bee -- 7/14/17
Ex-Compton official and his wife plead guilty in $3.7-million embezzlement scheme -- Salvador Galvan, who spent more than two decades working for the city, was responsible for tallying the cash Compton received from residents paying their water bills, business license fees, building permit fees and trash bills, then depositing the funds at the bank. Alene Tchekmedyian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/14/17
LAPD officer accused of having sex with teen cadet is charged with weapons crimes -- Los Angeles Police Officer Robert Cain, who is accused of having sex with a 15-year-old police cadet, is now facing felony weapons charges stemming from a cache of more than 100 guns found at his Rancho Cucamonga home. Kate Mather in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/14/17
Body of Manhattan Beach hiker is found, 9 months after he went missing in the Sierra -- The recovery of the remains of Robert Woodie — a former butcher who ran a handyman business in the South Bay — marks a grim end to a search that began in October. Woodie, 74, was reported missing after he did not return from a four-day backpacking trek in Kings Canyon National Park. Matt Hamilton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/14/17
Six-time cable car bell-ringing champ regains his title -- The rules of the competition were strict: no musical accompaniment, no props, no assistants and no routine longer than two minutes. Alison Graham in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/14/17
Chinese Laborers Built Sonoma’s Wineries. Racist Neighbors Drove Them Out -- In Sonoma Valley about an hour north of San Francisco, there are many reminders of the immigrants who built California’s wine industry: tasting rooms that look like Italian villas or signs bearing French names. But you won’t see any vestiges of the group that made up an estimated 80 percent of the workforce that first put Sonoma vineyards on the map: the Chinese. Grace Hwang Lynch KQED -- 7/14/17
POTUS 45
Trump misstates details to paint pipelines as tool to fight Russia -- President Donald Trump misstated key details about an oil pipeline he approved to present the project as part of a strategy to undercut Russia. Ben Lefebvre Politico -- 7/14/17
Trump’s legal team faces tensions — and a client who often takes his own counsel -- The challenge for President Trump’s attorneys has become, at its core, managing the unmanageable — their client. Philip Rucker, Ashley Parker and Devlin Barrett in the Washington Post -- 7/14/17
-- Thursday Updates
No need for full border wall, Trump says -- President Trump, who made the building of a wall along the border with Mexico a central promise of his campaign, significantly scaled back the pledge Thursday. David Lauter in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/13/17
Airbnb host must pay $5,000 for canceling reservation based on race -- An Airbnb host who canceled the reservations of a woman because of her race has agreed to pay $5,000 in damages and take a course in Asian American studies, a state regulatory agency announced Thursday. Hugo Martin in the Los Angeles Times$ Michael Balsamo Associated Press -- 7/13/17
LAPD union joins national push for feds to help prepare police for contacts with mentally ill -- Los Angeles’ police union has thrown its support behind a national push for federal funding and other resources to help officers better prepare for interactions with people who are mentally ill. Kate Mather in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/13/17
‘Most important vote of your life’ coming on climate, Jerry Brown tells lawmakers -- Gov. Jerry Brown, pressing for support of a climate package slated for votes next week, held up the state’s cap-and-trade system as the most efficient and elegant way to reduce emissions from greenhouse gases, warning legislators Thursday that the alternative would be significantly more burdensome and massively expensive. Christopher Cadelago and Taryn Luna in the Sacramento Bee$ Katy Murphy in the San Jose Mercury$ Jonathan J. Cooper Associated Press Ben Bradford Capital Public Radio -- 7/13/17
California's senators vow to stop water bill that passed House on Wednesday -- Some of California’s decisions about how to use its water would be relegated to the federal government under a bill passed by the House on Wednesday. Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/13/17
L.A. took their water and land a century ago. Now the Owens Valley is fighting back -- A century ago, agents from Los Angeles converged on the Owens Valley on a secret mission. They figured out who owned water rights in the lush valley and began quietly purchasing land, posing as ranchers and farmers. Louis Sahagun in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/13/17
Adobe sets big San Jose expansion for 3,000 workers downtown -- Adobe Systems, in a dramatic expansion of its headquarters complex in downtown San Jose, said Thursday it will buy a property near its main offices where it could employ 3,000 more workers. George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/13/17
Study: Companies talk inclusion, but few walk the walk -- Companies today know it’s not enough to do the job they set out to do and call it a day. Increasingly, customers demand that corporations stand for something, a new study found, and work to make the world a better, more equal place. Marissa Lang in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/13/17
South: Is the top of the California ticket finally out of reach for Republicans? -- In the 2018 election for governor of California, surprised voters might well find only two Democrats to choose from in the general election – which would be a historical first in a governor’s race. Garry South in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/13/17
Without water lifeline, tiny town on Santa Cruz coast is running dry -- All across California, one storm after another dumped drought-busting rains last winter that put an end to water-saving emergency measures and the doomsday scenario of taps running dry. Except here. On the coastal bluffs just north of Santa Cruz, this hamlet is in danger of drying up because those storms were more than a 100-year-old water pipe could handle. Lizzie Johnson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/13/17
Murder suspect who escaped from Fresno detectives caught in Sacramento area -- Fresno police this morning captured a murder suspect who escaped from police headquarters a week ago. Ibn Haqq, 21, was caught in the Sacramento area by a fugitive task force that includes U.S. Marshals, along with Fresno officers, police Chief Jerry Dyer said at a news conference this morning. Jim Guy in the Fresno Bee -- 7/13/17
Fox: Not Just Enviros, Biz Also Split on Cap-n-Trade Bills; GOP Might Hold the Key -- Much has been made in news reports that the environmental community is not of one mind on the cap-and-trade bills produced by the governor’s negotiations. They are not alone. The business community is split as well. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 7/13/17
Robots delivering groceries, take-out roll into East Bay -- Autonomous robots bearing groceries, parcels and take-out soon will rove the streets of downtown Concord and, possibly, Walnut Creek. The squat, black-and-white “personal delivery devices” travel on six wheels and use nine cameras to navigate sidewalks and cross streets on their delivery runs. Lisa P. White in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/13/17
California still faces big cuts under revised Senate health bill -- The revised Senate health care bill released by Republicans on Thursday largely maintains the same dramatic cuts in federal Medicaid spending and premium subsidies as the previous version of the proposal — changes that experts say would lead to millions of poor Californians losing some benefits or paying more for insurance. Catherine Ho in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/13/17
Divided Senate Republicans unveil new version of Obamacare repeal bill -- Senate Republicans on Thursday unveiled revised legislation to roll back the Affordable Care Act as they labor to rally enough votes to formally open debate of their sweeping bill next week. Lisa Mascaro and Noam N. Levey in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/13/17