Updating . .
Insurers make billions off Medicaid in California during Obamacare expansion -- Medicaid is rarely associated with getting rich. The patients are poor, the budgets tight and payments to doctors often paltry. But some insurance companies are reaping spectacular profits off the taxpayer-funded program in California, even when the state finds that patient care is subpar. Chad Terhune and Anna Gorman in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/17
Disputed alert system gets upgrade after Wine Country fires -- A potentially lifesaving emergency alert system that Sonoma County officials decided against using during the deadly fires that swept through the area last month will finally get a long-planned upgrade, after nearly a yearlong delay by the Trump administration. Carolyn Lochhead and Joaquin Palomino in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/5/17
Veritas, large SF landlord, to allow Airbnb rentals in 5 buildings -- One of San Francisco’s largest residential landlords, Veritas Investments, is joining forces with Airbnb to allow tenants in five Veritas buildings to offer short-term rentals of their apartments. At the same time, Airbnb is teaming up with a company called Pillow Residential to offer management and support to Veritas and other building owners that countenance Airbnb rentals. Carolyn Said in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/5/17
Bretón: California’s top Latino candidates face a tougher enemy than Trump: Fellow Democrats -- For all the self-congratulatory proclamations of California as a progressive haven, the state is not as cool as it thinks it is. The traditional paths to power in California have been closely guarded by a Bay Area pecking order heretofore off-limits to Latino candidates. Marcos Bretón in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/5/17
Jerry Brown's holy war on Donald Trump -- California has opened a new front in its war on Donald Trump — the Vatican, where Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday sought to enlist the Catholic Church in his effort to undermine the president’s climate policies abroad. David Siders Politico -- 11/5/17
In a rural Northern California valley, a development battle asks: Is a helicopter a tractor? -- The narrow, rocky road leads deep into the trees, to a grassy clearing in the Sierra Nevada where old horses graze and blackberries grow. Elisa Adler lives here. And she wants you to listen. Hailey Branson-Potts in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/17
‘It’s worse than a wrongful death.’ Family of brain-damaged man sues Sacramento police -- The family of a man left with the mental capacity of a preschooler after a March encounter with Sacramento police has filed an excessive force lawsuit against the city. Anita Chabria in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/5/17
Mueller Has Enough Evidence to Bring Charges in Flynn Investigation -- Federal investigators have gathered enough evidence to bring charges in their investigation of President Donald Trump's former national security adviser and his son as part of the probe into Russia's intervention in the 2016 election, according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation. Julia Ainsley, Carol E. Lee and Ken Dilanian NBC News -- 11/5/17
California Policy & Politics This Morning
GOP sees prospective gas-tax election fight as oasis in California desert -- When the price of gas went up 12-cents last week, thanks to a Democrat-backed state transportation bill, California Republicans responded with reproachful head shaking and murmurs of concern for those who will be paying higher prices. John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/5/17
Gov. Brown: Legislature taking seriously sexual harassment allegations -- Gov. Jerry Brown said he believes the California Legislature is taking seriously the growing calls for attention to widespread allegations of sexual harassment and assault around the Capitol. Christopher Cadelago in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/5/17
Political Road Map: Trump and gun investments spark debate for California pension funds -- For more than three decades, California's vast pension funds have routinely been urged to make investment decisions by applying a simple four-word mantra: Do the right thing. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/17
Anti- and pro-Trump protesters face off in downtown L.A. rally -- A protest against President Donald Trump drew a group of counter-demonstrators to downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, Nov. 4, with the two groups kept apart by police. The group Refuse Fascism started the demonstration at Pershing Square at 1 p.m. as part of an organized group of protests across the United States. Wes Woods in the Los Angeles Daily News$ James Queally in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/17
Peaceful anti-Trump demonstration, march directed at Union Square shoppers -- About 200 protesters of President Trump — joined by scores of police officers — held a noisy rally and march from Union Square on Saturday afternoon, starting next to a giant Christmas tree and holiday ice skating rink, with confused tourists watching the show. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/5/17
Watergate offers parallels, but doesn’t predict what will happen to Trump -- As Special Counsel Robert Mueller continues to investigate possible Russian collusion in the 2016 presidential race, there are distinct echoes of the Watergate scandal that cost Richard Nixon his presidency. Martin Wisckol in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 11/5/17
Willie Brown: Bailout gave Clinton right to take over Democratic National Committee -- Like it or not, political parties are private businesses. The DNC was broke, and Clinton bailed it out. And like any investor in a business being saved from bankruptcy, Clinton had the right to do want she wanted to do with the operation. After all, she was paying the bills. Willie Brown in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/5/17
Walters: Sexual harassment cases put heat on legislative leaders -- Some may have believed – or hoped – that the furor over sexual harassment in and around the state Capitol would soon fade away. Nope. Dan Walters Calmatters.org -- 11/5/17
Morain: Kamala Harris gets trolled – and puts Twitter, Facebook on notice about Russia -- Kamala Harris headed to the Hamptons in the summer to do what ambitious politicians do: make new best friends by raising money for allies and building her national fundraising base. Dan Morain in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/5/17
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
Marriott CEO says Trump policies may be pushing business travelers to Canada -- Another travel industry leader is criticizing President Trump, saying his policies and speeches may be pushing organizers of business meetings and conferences to consider going to Canada over the U.S. Hugo Martin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/17
Trump’s Twitter deactivation couldn’t have come at a worse political moment for the platform -- The deletion, which Twitter admitted was caused by a rogue employee on their last day of work, is the latest in a line of incidents that could raise concerns that the social networks have partisan biases. Kayla Epstein in the Washington Post$ -- 11/5/17
A glimpse inside the secret site where driverless cars undergo 20,000 tests -- There is a man in a straw hat who earns a paycheck here by crossing the street over and over again. Sometimes he stares down at his cellphone, often he wanders outside of the crosswalk, and he’s also known to ignore the traffic signal. What he does not do is pay any attention to the cars that barrel through the intersection. If he did, he would notice that they have no drivers. Ashley Halsey III in the Washington Post$ -- 11/5/17
Checkered past is no barrier to Checkr job -- If a person’s resume tells a story about their life — where they’ve been and what they’ve done — Annette Crespo’s reads like a novel. Marissa Lang in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/5/17
Homeless
Homeless set up camp at Berkeley’s Old City Hall -- Members of the group, which calls itself First They Came For The Homeless, have been camping since early 2017 on a grassy strip along Adeline Street and the BART tracks about a half-mile south of the Ashby station. Tom Lochner in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/5/17
Wildfire
As deadly fires burned Redwood Valley, delays, confusion about evacuation orders -- When the fire swept into Redwood Valley, Nick Ioimo was among the lucky. He happened to get up around 1:20 a.m on Oct. 9 to use the bathroom and saw the flames. He and his wife managed to escape, but the elderly couple who lived behind them died in their home. Paige St. John in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/17
Coffey Park residents wary of grand plans for their destroyed Santa Rosa neighborhood -- For Santa Rosa’s Fountaingrove community, a few local officials have asked publicly whether it makes sense to rebuild homes on a hillside that burned twice in the past half-century. But seemingly no elected leader wants to raise the banner for re-imagining Coffey Park, which lost about 1,300 homes, the greatest toll for any neighborhood in the historic firestorm. Robert Digitale in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- 11/5/17
Cleanup of Santa Rosa’s Coffey Park poses difficult questions for homeowners -- Okrepkie and other Coffey Park residents are trying to organize their community, even as neighbors face their first major test: how to clean up the largest concentration of burned properties in Sonoma County. No single neighborhood suffered greater devastation in the historic firestorm than this middle-class subdivision, home to police officers, teachers, firefighters and so many others that make the region run every day. Robert Digitale in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- 11/5/17
North Bay Fire Relief fund reaches $18 million in donations for victims -- Donations continue to roll in to the North Bay Fire Relief fund from all corners of the globe, as organizers look for ways to expand their reach, providing support to individuals who lost jobs and wages in the region’s wildfires. Eloísa Ruano González in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- 11/5/17
Lawyers converge on Santa Rosa for wildfire litigation -- With nearly the intensity of a fast-burning wildfire, lawyers from across the country have swept into Santa Rosa in search of clients who suffered losses in the recent blazes and want to sue PG&E, seeking billions of dollars in potential damages. Paul Payne in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- 11/5/17
Pender: For fire victims, replacing lost things can be long, painful process -- Many victims of the Wine Country wildfires are learning the same lesson — that even if your house is a total loss, the insurance company will not automatically write you a check for your policy limits. Kathleen Pender in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/5/17
Education
San Francisco teachers reach tentative contract agreement with district -- San Francisco Unified School District reached a tentative contract agreement with its teachers union Saturday, days before the union was scheduled to vote on whether to allow a strike. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/5/17
Immigration / Border
Build a park, not a wall: Group pitches plan for public access at U.S.-Mexico border -- About 14 miles west of the Trump administration's prototypes for a future border wall, a small group of San Diego-Tijuana border residents has begun championing a very different notion: removing the wall altogether. Sandra Dibble in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/17
McConnell wants changes to immigration system in any Dreamers deal -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Saturday that he is open to a deal that would codify protections for so-called DREAMers in exchange for improvements to border security or other changes to the immigration system. Brent D. Griffiths Politico -- 11/5/17
Also . . .
A Pulitzer-winning columnist took jabs at Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s weight and appearance. He then apologized. -- "Sarah Huckabee Sanders does not look like the kind of woman Donald Trump would choose as his chief spokesperson." So began the Wednesday morning column of Los Angeles Times writer David Horsey. Rachel Siegel in the Washington Post$ -- 11/5/17
Stadium Art Trend Continues With Sacramento Republic FC Bid -- Sacramento Republic FC is one of the finalists to join Major League Soccer when the league expands. The club would build a new stadium if selected. In September, it opened a design competition to the public and held a dozen workshops. Art is one of four key components designers have been asked to consider. Bob Moffitt Capital Public Radio -- 11/5/17
How did a California state-run park end up with the name Negro Bar? -- On the northern bank of the American River in Folsom, Calif., lies a pretty park with an outdated name, at least by today's standards. Mike Moffitt in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/5/17
After nearly 30 years patrolling together, these two LAPD officers end an epic partnership -- The cops have patrolled together for more than 28 years, one behind the wheel, the other riding shotgun, scanning the streets of northeast Los Angeles for signs of trouble. Cindy Chang in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/17
San Francisco Police Approved to Use Stun Guns Despite Opposition -- The San Francisco Police Commission has voted to arm police officers with electric stun guns in the wake of a deadly shooting. Friday’s 4-3 vote was met with shouts of “Shame!” from activists who contend that the supposedly less-lethal weapons can kill and could escalate rather than de-escalate confrontations, leading to deadly encounters. KQED -- 11/5/17
Finally, a place to call home. Refugee who fled fear in Middle East earns keys to new house -- After two kidnappings, the killing of his father and a trail of fear that drove his family out of three nations, Bassam Mezar’s American dream finally came true. On a drizzly Saturday morning in Rio Linda, he and his family received the keys to their Habitat for Humanity home. Stephen Magagnini in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/5/17
POTUS 45
Poll: Trump’s performance lags behind even tepid public expectations -- A majority of Americans say President Trump has not accomplished much during his first nine months in office and they have delivered a report card that is far harsher even than the tepid expectations they set for his tenure when he was sworn into office, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News survey. Dan Balz and Scott Clement in the Washington Post$ -- 11/5/17
White House attacks legacies of both Bush presidents after reports that they refused to vote for Trump -- Former president George H.W. Bush mocked then-candidate Trump as a “blowhard” and voted for a Democratic president, while the younger Bush worried aloud that Trump would destroy the idea of a Republican president in all but name, according to “The Last Republicans,” which is scheduled to go on sale later this month. Avi Selk in the Washington Post$ -- 11/5/17
Beltway
Manafort Explains Mysterious Phone, Why He Had Three Passports -- Paul Manafort, the indicted former campaign chairman of President Donald Trump, explained in a pre-trial court filing why he traveled to China and other countries with a mobile phone registered to an alias, and why he had three passports. Andrew M Harris and David Voreacos Bloomberg Politics -- 11/5/17
Top Clinton staffers hit back at Brazile -- Top staffers from Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign on Saturday hit back at Donna Brazile's description of the contest in her new book and her reported consideration of dumping Clinton from the party's ticket. Brent D. Griffiths Politico -- 11/5/17
-- Saturday Updates
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