Updating . .
World needs ‘brain washing’ on climate change, Jerry Brown says at Vatican -- Gov. Jerry Brown challenged the world’s religious leaders to further engage as he minimized the negative effects of President Donald Trump on meeting the climate change challenge. Christopher Cadelago in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/4/17
Yes, Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Trump can be a 'good president.' There's a lot more to the story -- A handful of words about President Trump uttered by Sen. Dianne Feinstein over the summer personified her well-worn reputation as a measured veteran elected official. And they’ll also surely be the centerpieces of Democratic campaigns attempting to unseat her. Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/17
Nolte: San Francisco’s shiny future lurks just over horizon from fraying center -- It’s possible to visit two different cities in the same day in San Francisco: one old and a bit frayed around the edges, the other new and not quite born. Carl Nolte in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/17
Lopez: As renters struggle to pay the bills, landlords and speculators cash in -- Barbee and her family are among the thousands of losers in California's real estate economy, as rents rise way faster than wages, displacing low- and middle-income families and transforming neighborhoods in a way that one observer called "white flight reversal." But not everyone is losing. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/17
Volunteers collect acorns to restore oak groves lost in Wine Country fires -- Next to vineyards, Wine Country’s most treasured sight may be its oak trees, the stately green giants that brightened the hills and valleys of the grape-growing region, at least until last month’s devastating wildfires swept through. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/17
Trump’s year of anger, disruption and scandal -- On Election Night last year, Trump ripped up his speech and made a personal appeal for national unity. It was a glimpse of a presidency that might have been. Annie Karni and Elana Johnson Politico -- 11/4/17
Dems’ plan to tank Trump’s tax bill -- Democrats hope to replicate their successful Obamacare strategy — but it won’t be easy. Elana Schor and Heather Caygle Politico -- 11/4/17
Poised for West Coast Dominance, Democrats Eye Grand Agenda -- It is the stuff of liberal fantasies: a vast, defiant territory, sweeping along the country’s Pacific coastline, governed by Democrats and resisting President Trump at every turn. Alexander Burns and Kirk Johnson in the New York Times$ -- 11/4/17
Donna Brazile: I considered replacing Clinton with Biden as 2016 Democratic nominee -- Former Democratic National Committee head Donna Brazile writes in a new book that she seriously contemplated replacing Hillary Clinton as the party’s 2016 presidential nominee with then-Vice President Biden in the aftermath of Clinton’s fainting spell, in part because Clinton’s campaign was “anemic” and had taken on “the odor of failure.” Philip Rucker in the Washington Post$ -- 11/4/17
California Policy & Politics This Morning
California Republicans Decline to Join Push for Federal Aid After Deadly Fires -- The poisonous partisan divide within California’s congressional delegation was laid bare Friday when just one Republican signed on to a letter sent to President Trump requesting $7.4 billion in federal disaster assistance following the recent wildfires in Northern California’s wine country. Scott Shafer KQED -- 11/4/17
As midterm elections near, GOP promises fierce defense in Orange County battleground districts -- Fourteen Republican U.S. House of Representative incumbents in California will be campaigning for reelection next year as Democrats push to capture the seats as part of a national effort to retake the House. Republicans are warning Democrats should expect a battle. Mary Plummer KPCC -- 11/4/17
Fire survivors say Sonoma County’s alert system failed them -- If the well-known Amber Alert messages for suspected child abduction cases can ping phones across a region — a technology used in adjacent Lake County that night to warn its residents about the fires — why didn’t Sonoma County officials use it to warn people about a growing firestorm mere miles away? Julie Johnson in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- 11/4/17
North Bay fire lawsuits against PG&E create venue dispute -- A tug-of-war is brewing over whether Sonoma County or San Francisco courts should handle the thousands of wildfire lawsuits expected to emerge against PG&E. Paul Payne in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- 11/4/17
Kevin de León assails Trump’s ‘alternative facts’ on climate change at Vatican -- Kevin de León, in a speech to world-renowned climate scientists at the Vatican, assailed the “fake news and alternative facts spewing out of Washington” in arguing that California’s economy is thriving in large part because of its emphasis on enacting sweeping environmental legislation. Christopher Cadelago in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/4/17
Brown And De León Talk Climate Change At The Vatican -- Governor Jerry Brown speaks Saturday at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. But first, Democratic state Senate leader Kevin de León defended a signature climate-change program from criticism from the pope himself. Ben Bradford Capital Public Radio -- 11/4/17
Antonio Villaraigosa warns of growing economic disparity in California -- Villaraigosa noted that the state has the sixth largest economy in the world, but also the highest poverty rate in the nation. Much of the economic growth has been concentrated along the coast and in technology, he said. Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/17
GOP tax plan would decimate California's low-income housing funding, Chiang says in letter to Congress -- Under the GOP's tax proposal unveiled yesterday, part of a tax credit program that reduces what companies owe in taxes in exchange for investing in low-income housing projects would effectively be eliminated, and so would a federal bond program that also funds housing developments. Liam Dillon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/17
GOP tax proposal would gut affordable housing, state officials say -- Less than two months after California passed hard-fought bills to build more subsidized rental housing for the poor, affordable-housing advocates are reeling from a federal tax-reform proposal that could grind that momentum to a halt and wipe out an existing program that created roughly 20,000 such homes last year. Katy Murphy in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/4/17
Liberal Senate Dems embrace shutdown showdown over Dreamers -- The Senate Democrats’ hell-no caucus is saying hell yes to a shutdown showdown over Dreamers. Seung Min Kim Politico -- 11/4/17
Fox News pulls the plug on Tom Steyer’s pro-impeachment ad -- Fox News has decided to stop running San Francisco billionaire Tom Steyer’s pro-impeachment TV ad, and Steyer is accusing the channel of breaching a contract. The widely-viewed ad calling for the impeachment of President Donald Trump has been running nationwide for almost two weeks. Casey Tolan in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/4/17
Trump-tweet target Tom Steyer’s impeachment campaign tops 1.4 million signatures -- Tom Steyer was sitting on a plane waiting to take off from SFO to LAX last week when he got a text: The president had just tweeted about him. Casey Tolan in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/4/17
Justice Dept. enlists Fox News in threat over California sanctuary law -- In an escalation of the Trump administration’s war on sanctuary cities and states, the Justice Department sent a Fox News story to reporters that said the department was threatening to withdraw federal funds from California unless the state repealed a new law protecting some undocumented immigrants. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/17
California could have almost 12,000 legislators as backers of a bold ballot measure submit signatures for 2018 -- Supporters of an effort to create a California Legislature with up to 12,000 representatives of individual neighborhoods submitted voter signatures on Friday for their dramatic proposal to reshape the state's version of representative democracy. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/17
Feinstein, Harris sign on to online sex trafficking bill after tech industry signals support -- After some relatively minor changes, the Internet Assn., which represents Facebook, Google, Amazon and other major tech companies, also announced its support for the bill Friday. Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/17
State Senate steps up outreach for investigation into sexual harassment allegations -- The state Senate is ramping up efforts to look into sexual harassment in politics by asking women who signed the open letter decrying the culture of the Capitol to speak with an independent investigator. Melanie Mason in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/17
California Politics Podcast: The questions mount on sexual harassment accusations -- This week: A new public allegation against a sitting legislator takes center stage in the sexual harassment debate. Plus, we talk taxes in Washington and at the gas pump, and play political lightning round on the week's headlines. With John Myers and Melanie Mason of the Los Angeles Times and Marisa Lagos of KQED. Link here -- 11/4/17
State Sen. Toni Atkins says housing package is just the start to dealing with state crisis -- State Sen. Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) said Friday that the sweeping package of housing bills passed earlier this year is only the first step California must take to address its crisis. Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/17
California could have almost 12,000 legislators as backers of a bold ballot measure submit signatures for 2018 -- Supporters of an effort to create a California Legislature with up to 12,000 representatives of individual neighborhoods submitted voter signatures on Friday for their dramatic proposal to reshape the state's version of representative democracy. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/17
Barbara Boxer Speaks Out on Sexual Harassment in Congress -- Women across the nation have spoken out against sexual harassment in recent weeks, and now current and former members of Congress are joining them. Former California Sen. Barbara Boxer said that when she was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1980s, a male colleague made a suggestive comment about her while she was presenting a bill in committee. Katie Orr in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/17
Cycling activists create protected lane with their bodies near Ferry Building -- Among the group of about 50 — many of them from a group called the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, clad in yellow shirts that read "Protected Bike Lanes Save Lives" — were two women who have been hospitalized for injuries sustained while biking in the streets of San Francisco, one of them in the very bike lane the group was protecting. Filipa Ioannou in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/17
Taxes, Fees, Rates, Tolls, Bonds
The Republican tax bill's small-business problem — most won't benefit from the special new rate -- The typical small business, whether it's a sole proprietorship, partnership or limited liability company, doesn't pay taxes itself, but its owners do as individuals. And already about 86% of these so-called pass-through businesses pay no more than 25% under the individual code, the new top rate proposed for small-business income in the tax bill unveiled this week. So they won't get the legislation's much-hyped small-business tax cut. Jim Puzzanghera and James Rufus Koren in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/17
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
Qualcomm's stock soars on reports that Broadcom wants to buy it -- Broadcom Ltd. reportedly is mulling over a bid to acquire rival chip maker Qualcomm Inc., a deal that could top $100 billion and be the largest in the semiconductor industry. James F. Peltz in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/17
L.A. CEO found guilty of hiring alleged drug dealer in failed plot to kill business rival -- David Phillips, the 36-year-old former head of NKP Medical Marketing, was found guilty in Los Angeles federal court of arranging the murder-for-hire plot, according to defense attorney, Glen Jonas. James Queally in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/17
Homeless
Schaaf’s appeal for Oaklanders to shelter homeless faces legal obstacles -- Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf intensified her call Friday for city residents to open their houses to homeless people — even as landlords said there would be serious legal issues with the idea and the mayor herself said she had no immediate plans to offer up her own residence. Kimberly Veklerov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/17
Housing
Rent-control policies likely 'fueled' SF gentrification, Stanford economists say -- She explained that the expansion of rent control "would likely benefit current tenants, especially older ones who likely do not need to move very often," but in the long term, "the rental market will make all rents even more expensive by causing landlords to remove supply." Michelle Robertson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/17
Education
Ref Rodriguez won't step down. Now what? -- It’s been nearly two months since prosecutors charged L.A. school board member Ref Rodriguez with multiple felonies and misdemeanors, accusing him of political money laundering. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/17
UC Berkeley to tap academic funds to help bail out Memorial Stadium -- Although the source of the bailout funding hasn’t been identified, it is not expected to come from students’ tuition dollars or taxpayer-supplied state money, said campus spokesman Dan Mogulof. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/17
Environment
Stench of spoiled meat and decaying carcasses has long plagued these neighborhoods. Regulators vow relief -- After years of enduring the stench of spoiled meat and decaying carcasses from nearby rendering plants, residents of southeast Los Angeles County could finally see some relief under new rules approved Friday. Tony Barboza in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/17
Also . . .
California man's professional commercial to sell fiancee's 1996 Honda goes viral, rakes in eBay bids -- It's not easy to sell a used car — especially one that's over 20 years old. So Max Lanman, a writer and director, put his professional skills to use to help his fiancee Carrie sell her 1996 Honda Accord coupe. Alyssa Pereira in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/17
A Year Later, Still No Answers For Parents Of Missing Yolo Teens -- Elijah disappeared from Woodland on Nov. 4, 2016 — the day after his birthday. His friend Enrique Rios disappeared from Esparto 18 days before that, on Oct. 17. The last time Lola Rios Gutierrez saw her son Enrique he was going to bed in their home. The next day she woke up and he was gone from his bedroom. Sally Schilling Capital Public Radio -- 11/4/17
Zeigler: The siren call of horse racing to the ultra, ultra, ultra rich -- You start 20 miles south of the Del Mar race track at Lindbergh Field, across the runway from the commercial terminal, with the private jets parked on the tarmac, wing tip to wing tip, one after another after another, glistening sentinels of opulence and ostentation. Mark Zeigler in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/4/17
POTUS 45
Trump Campaign Adviser Met With Russian Officials in 2016 -- Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to the Trump presidential campaign, met Russian government officials during a July 2016 trip he took to Moscow, according to testimony he gave on Thursday to the House Intelligence Committee. Martin Mazzetti and Adam Goldman in the New York Times$ -- 11/4/17
Trump breaches boundaries by saying DOJ should be ‘going after’ Democrats -- President Trump on Friday repeatedly called on the Department of Justice and FBI to investigate his Democratic political opponents, a breach of the traditional executive branch boundaries designed to prevent the criminal justice system from becoming politicized. Philip Rucker and Matt Zapotosky in the Washington Post$ -- 11/4/17
'Aloha also means goodbye': Trump lands in Hawaii to cheers and protests ahead of Asia trip -- President Trump on Friday kicked off a nearly two-week Asia trip with a stop in Hawaii, visiting military and historic sites amid protests and growing concern over security threats in the state and U.S. Pacific territories. Jaweed Kaleem in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/17
Beltway
As Mueller picks up pace, capital roils with talk of pardons and firing -- The president tweeted furiously as the legal actions were unveiled, railing about the focus on the Russian interference story by the press and, by implication, the special counsel. His rage provoked speculation that he might seek to abort the DOJ investigation by firing Mueller or pardoning Manafort and others as a way of choking off the probe. Nina Totenberg NPR -- 11/4/17
‘It’s okay to be white’ signs and stickers appear on campuses and streets across the country -- Posters proclaiming “IT’S OKAY TO BE WHITE” have been appearing on college campuses and on city streets across the country this week, prompted by an anonymous chat-room comment that suggested the message would feed social unrest and sway white Americans to far-right ideologies. Janell Ross in the Washington Post$ -- 11/4/17
Bush 41 and Bush 43 Worry Trump Is Blowing Up the G.O.P. -- And both worry that Mr. Trump has blown up a Republican Party that they spent two lifetimes building, a party that was once committed to removing boundaries to trade and immigration, promoting democracy and civil society and asserting a robust American leadership role in the world, according to an author who has interviewed them. Peter Baker in the New York Times$ -- 11/4/17
Starbucks sneaking poop into drinks? Nope. But Google’s cashing in on fake-news website ads -- If you believe website Freedom Daily, Starbucks is surreptitiously adding human feces to some of its drinks. “HUGE U.S. Biz Has Been Sneaking Feces Into Their Products For Months — Here’s Disgusting Reason Why,” says the headline for a Nov. 1 story about Starbucks on the pro-Trump, anti-Muslim site. Ethan Baron in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/4/17
Fight looms over GOP plan to let churches endorse political candidates -- Congressional Republicans are proposing to allow churches and other religious institutions to endorse political candidates without losing their tax-exempt status, a plan supported by President Trump but hotly contested by many civil rights and religious organizations. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/17
-- Friday Updates
Climate change activists back Kevin de León in U.S. Senate race -- Climate Hawks Vote, an activist group focused on fighting global warming, on Friday announced its endorsement of Kevin de León in his intraparty challenge to Sen. Dianne Feinstein in next year's election. Chris Megerian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/3/17
California asks for $7.4 billion to help wildfire recovery -- California Gov. Jerry Brown joined lawmakers to request $7.4 billion in federal funding for wildfire relief and recovery efforts following a deadly cluster of fires that killed more than 40 people and left thousands without housing. Associated Press -- 11/3/17
Abcarian: Both children gone, parents still unaware: The unimaginable agony of the Shepherd family -- Kressa Jean Shepherd, a Ukiah High School junior who dreamed of becoming an artist, died here two days before Halloween. On Oct. 9, she and her family were fleeing the Redwood Valley firestorm when they were trapped by the blaze on the mountain near their home. Robin Abcarian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/3/17
California homeowners will get property tax relief after wildfires -- State law provides plenty of property tax protections for people who lose their home in a wildfire. Under Proposition 13, tearing down your old house and building a new one would normally result in a full reassessment of your property and therefore a higher tax bill. But after a disaster, those rules don't apply. Liam Dillon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/3/17
Wine Country Fires: The tough task of tracking down the missing -- The desperate battle to halt the flames raging through Wine Country last month overshadowed a remarkable, multiagency effort to locate thousands of people whose missing-persons status amid mass evacuations provoked fear that an already catastrophic death toll might surge into the hundreds. Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/3/17
Hiltzik: The GOP tax plan is filled with petty cruelties aimed at the vulnerable and the middle class --Not all these petty cruelties are easily discernible in the shadowy corners of the 429-page bill. Some are buried so deep that it will take a platoon of coal miners to bring them to the surface. But others are more thinly disguised. Here's a sampling, listed by general category. Michael Hiltzik in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/3/17
Trump Vowed End to Key Wall St. Loophole. G.O.P. Tax Plan Leaves It Intact -- The tax-overhaul plan unveiled on Thursday by House Republicans would leave intact a loophole that benefits hedge funds, private-equity funds and other investment managers, despite President Trump’s campaign promises to eliminate it. Tiffany Hsu in the New York Times$ -- 11/3/17
GOP tax plan would scrap deduction for big medical expenses -- The tax bill unveiled by House Republicans on Thursday would not, as had been rumored, eliminate the tax penalty for failure to have health insurance. But it would eliminate a decades-old deduction for people with very high medical costs. Julie Rovner in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/3/17
Fox: California Congressional Republicans Key to Tax Bill -- Whether the newly introduced congressional tax bill makes it out of the House of Representatives may very well depend on the votes of California Republicans. Recall that all 14 California Republican members of Congress voted for the budget bill that barely passed the House last week 216-212. A few Golden State GOP members changing their votes would have sunk the budget resolution. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 11/3/17
NYPD gathering evidence to arrest Harvey Weinstein, calls rape allegation 'credible' -- New York City police investigators say a 2010 rape allegation made against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is "credible," and they are gathering evidence to seek an arrest warrant. Associated Press -- 11/3/17
Sex assault accusations against ex-APA agent renew concerns about alleged abuse of minors in Hollywood -- For Jack Edwards, a 15-year-old British actor, it seemed like "the opportunity of a lifetime" — watching a play in London's West End with a Hollywood agent. Gus Garcia-Roberts in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/3/17
LAUSD’s Gonez is latest to blast Bocanegra’s sexual misconduct -- The chorus condemning Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra’s sexual misconduct grew Thursday when a Los Angeles Unified school board member from the same part of the San Fernando Valley called his behavior “criminal.” Kevin Modesti in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 11/3/17
Immigration authorities detain Sacramento Cambodians in nationwide sweep -- At least two Sacramento-area Cambodian men have been detained for deportation by federal immigration authorities in what advocates are calling a targeted national sweep of the South Asian community, prompting a federal class action lawsuit arguing the detentions are illegal. Anita Chabria in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/3/17
Housing costs push Californians around -- More than four in 10 California adults are seriously considering moving away from their part of the state because of the cost of housing, with the highest proportion in the coastal counties and the lowest in the state’s interior. A slight majority of those recently surveyed by the Public Policy Institute of California — 55 percent — are staying put. Nik Bonovich Capitol Weekly -- 11/3/17
Lee: Wells Fargo misses opportunity to abandon forced arbitration -- Congress may have preserved forced arbitration, but Wells Fargo will still have to tread carefully. What was once a routine clause in consumers’ contract with banks has morphed into a serious political and legal headache for Wells Fargo as it struggles to repair its reputation. Thomas Lee in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/3/17
California voters banned mountain lion hunting three decades ago, but the killing never stopped -- Victoria Vaughn doesn’t have a killer’s heart. The 59-year-old artist and former substitute teacher, whose eyes well with tears when she gets upset, loves animals. It’s why she started raising alpacas for wool for her weaving projects in the first place. Ryan Sabalow and Phillip Reese in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/3/17
California teachers feel more power and influence than peers in other states, survey finds -- California teachers, more than peers in other states, feel empowered to voice their opinions and say they have influence over decisions and policies in their schools. In increasing numbers, they say they are satisfied with the instructional materials they are using and the school based, peer-led training they are receiving. John Fensterwald EdSource -- 11/3/17
Abuse numbers rise for Sacramento foster kids. County can’t say why -- Sacramento County foster kids are being mistreated at a rate not seen since the recession a decade ago, the latest state data show, but the county has no immediate answers about what’s causing the increase in confirmed cases of abuse of children in its care. Anita Chabria and Phillip Reese in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/3/17