Updating . .   

Hawaii officials mistakenly warn of inbound missile -- A push alert that warned of a ballistic missile heading straight for Hawaii and sent residents into a full-blown panic Saturday was issued by mistake, state emergency officials said. Audrey McAvoy and Jennifer Kelleher Associated Press -- 1/13/18

101 Freeway, overwhelmed by Montecito mudslide, to remain closed indefinitely -- The 101, a key north-south route in California, was tentatively scheduled to reopen on Monday, but cleanup efforts have proved more difficult than expected, Santa Barbara City Fire Chief Pat McElroy said on Saturday. Louis Sahagun, Matt Hamilton, Cindy Chang and Harriet Ryan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/13/18

Will plan to replace state-tax deduction with charitable donation fly? -- A bill that would let Californians circumvent the limit placed on state tax and local deductions under the new federal tax law was passed by a state Senate committee last week after a group of law school professors defended the idea in a paper. But the proposal still faces an uncertain future. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has called the idea “ridiculous.” The Internal Revenue Service reports to Treasury. Kathleen Pender in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/13/18

Why do Californians pay more state and local taxes than Texans? -- California was the birthplace of the 1970s tax revolt, but its residents still pay more in state and local taxes than those in most other big urban states. And many are asking why as they assess how a new federal income tax law that caps state and local tax deductions will shake out for them. John Woolfolk in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 1/13/18

L.A. lawmakers look to sue big oil companies over climate change — and the costs that stem from it -- Two members of the Los Angeles City Council called Friday for legal action against an array of petroleum companies, saying fossil fuel emissions have contributed to natural disasters and “abnormally intense weather patterns” that are proving costly for taxpayers. David Zahniser in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/13/18

9th Circuit to study workplace conditions in wake of Kozinski's retirement over sexual misconduct accusations -- A federal appeals court has assigned a committee to investigate workplace conditions in the wake of sexual misconduct charges that recently forced a high-profile judge to retire. Maura Dolan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/13/18

Coho salmon released in Marin County in effort to prevent extinction -- It is a desperate attempt to save a cherished run of fish that for thousands of years migrated yearly through this redwood-lined coastal watershed and then nearly vanished. The 3-year-old salmon were among the last survivors when they were plucked from the creek in 2015 and raised at the Warm Springs Fish Hatchery in the Sonoma County community of Geyserville. Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/13/18

Knight: How candidates for San Francisco mayor stack up -- San Franciscans, get ready. You have just 20 weeks to decide who should lead our economic powerhouse of a city, who should decide how its $10 billion annual budget is spent, and who should set the agenda on cleaning its filthy streets, rectifying its shameful homeless problem and ensuring that not just those whose trust funds have trust funds can afford to live here. Heather Knight in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/13/18

Is a public subsidy in the works for a Sacramento soccer stadium? -- Sacramento city leaders and the local ownership group seeking an expansion spot in Major League Soccer are discussing public contributions to a new $250 million soccer stadium planned for the downtown railyard – conversations that eventually may include a request for a direct public subsidy to the project’s construction. Ryan Lillis in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 1/13/18

Sharing the wealth: The push for workers to buy the companies that employ them -- The worker-owned model is nothing new, but it could have important implications as businesses try to get ahead of the challenges of operating in the Bay Area and as the wave of baby boomers — who own more than half of all privately owned businesses in the Bay Area — retire, sometimes without a succession plan for their business. Annie Sciacca in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 1/13/18

Lopez: The California deal: Accepting the calamity along with the splendor -- Yes, we have summer and at times a bit of winter, but the cycles in California follow a different calendar. From drought to flood, from fire to mud, California bakes, burns and floats, always on the brink of calamity. We are here by the millions in defiance of reason, lured to a bountiful garden that at times seems unfit for human habitation. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/13/18

Muir Woods visit by car or bus to require making reservation, paying fee -- Starting Tuesday, for the first time in its 110 years as a national monument, reservations will be required for nearly all public access to Muir Woods. This means visitors arriving by private car or public shuttle bus will need to have made a reservation in advance. Carl Nolte in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/13/18

World media struggle to translate Trump’s Africa insult -- President Donald Trump’s vulgar insult of Africa was a puzzle for many foreign media organizations, which didn’t have a ready translation of his epithet for their readers or listeners. Their answers ranged from “dirty” to, well, dirtier. Tom Odula Associated Press -- 1/13/18

Balz: Trump does more damage to himself than his opponents ever manage to do -- As the new year heads into its third week, President Trump remains on a personal political losing streak. None of his opponents — not the Democrats, not the Never Trumpers, not any of the others — can damage him as badly as he hurts himself. Dan Balz in the Washington Post$ -- 1/13/18

 

California Policy & Politics This Morning  

Trump’s words can be used against him in suit to block DACA order, judge says -- The federal judge who blocked President Trump from eliminating a program that protects nearly 700,000 young immigrants from deportation issued a follow-up ruling Friday saying the lawsuits challenging the president’s order can seek to prove discrimination, based on Trump’s disparaging comments about Latinos. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/13/18

Judge: Trump racism may have been key to ending DACA -- The federal judge who earlier this week ordered the reversal of President Donald Trump's decision to end the program protecting so-called Dreamers said in a new ruling Friday that it is "plausible" that Trump shut down the program for racial reasons. John Gerstein Politico -- 1/13/18

Death toll from Montecito mudslide rises to 18 -- Authorities said late Thursday that roughly 43 people were unaccounted for after heavy rains pounded the Thomas fire burn scar this week and unleashed a torrent of mud, boulders and debris that destroyed scores of homes. The number of missing had grown, officials said, after authorities combed through social media posts and message boards at evacuation shelters. James Queally and Louis Sahagun in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/13/18

Mudslide brings economic shock to area built on tourism -- The California mudslide that killed at least 18 people is causing distress miles from where the torrent of muck and boulders stopped, as a local economy that thrives on tourism and the lure of sun-soaked beaches was left reeling. Michael R. Blood and Krysta Fauria Associated Press -- 1/13/18

Montecito braced for fire, but mud was a more stealthy, deadly threat -- When the Thomas fire swept down from the Los Padres National Forest and took aim at this coastal town in December, the looming disaster was impossible to miss. Matt Hamilton and Joseph Serna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/13/18

Super PAC led by Obama, Clinton vets forms to help Villaraigosa in governor’s race -- A new independent expenditure committee formed Friday to help push Antonio Villaraigosa into the fall runoff for California governor. Veterans of campaigns for President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton formed the Villaraigosa Governor of California 2018 Super PAC. Its launch comes as public polls show Villaraigosa holding onto second place in the June primary, trailing fellow Democrat Gavin Newsom. Christopher Cadelago in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 1/13/18

Gas tax repeal appears headed for failure – but voters may get another shot -- Republican Assemblyman Travis Allen’s effort to repeal a controversial hike in the state’s gas tax appears to have hit a wall. Allen, a candidate for governor, faced a Monday deadline to turn in more than 350,000 signatures to county elections officials to qualify for the November ballot. County officials then have eight working days to conduct a raw count and report to the Secretary of State’s office. Christopher Cadelago in the Sacramento Bee$ Jonathan J. Cooper Associated Press -- 1/13/18

Environmental group urges federal prosecutors to take over CPUC criminal investigation -- A Northern California environmental group whose president is running for governor is requesting that federal prosecutors take over a criminal investigation into the state Public Utilities Commission. Jeff McDonald in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 1/13/18

New state contract allows Northern California fire debris removal to proceed -- Northern California’s massive government-sponsored cleanup of debris from the October wildfires is back on track after a new contract approved by state leaders allowed the effort to move forward, despite formal protests filed earlier this week against two previous federal agreements. J.D. Morris in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- 1/13/18

Massive North Bay Wildfire Debris Removal Project Hits Roadblock -- The task of hauling away the hazardous mess left behind by October’s deadly North Bay wildfires has stalled due to a contract challenge the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is facing. Sukey Lewis KQED -- 1/13/18

New Oakland bridge expected to be two years late, millions over budget -- A bridge in Oakland that was supposed to cost no more than $24 million could now come to well over $30 million, and the city says toxic dirt is mostly to blame. Kimberly Veklerov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/13/18

John Tunney, senator who worked for environmental protection and civil rights, dies at 83 -- Former U.S. Sen. John V. Tunney, who as a young lawyer and rising California political star toppled an entrenched Republican incumbent before facing his own defeat just six years later, has died. He was 83. Jean Merl in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/13/18

POTUS 45  

Trump is transforming the GOP against legal immigration. Will Congress follow? -- The furor over President Trump’s language about immigrants from “shithole countries” has partially obscured the substance of what he was demanding and the profound shift among Republicans away from opposing illegal immigration to pushing new limits on legal migrants, particularly of color. Lisa Mascaro in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/13/18

For black Americans, Trump's 'shithole' comment was an insult to their histories -- And beyond policy, for many black Americans, “shithole countries” was not just a diplomatic insult to several foreign nations. It was a deeply personal insult to the stories and histories of how their own parents and ancestors immigrated — or were kidnapped and forcibly trafficked — to the U.S. Matt Pearce and Jenny Jarvie in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/13/18

 

-- Friday Updates 

Pensions will be ‘on the chopping block’ in next recession, Jerry Brown says -- Gov. Jerry Brown this week predicted that his 2012 pension law will survive union challenges in court and blow a hole in the so-called ‘California rule’ that has restricted changes to public employee retirement plans for half a century. Adam Ashton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 1/12/18

Brown administration working to scale down $17 billion Delta tunnels project -- Faced with a shortage of money and political support after seven years of work, Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration is working on a plan to scale back one of his key legacy projects, a $17 billion proposal to build two massive tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to make it easier to move water from Northern California to the south. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 1/12/18

Villaraigosa supporters form super PAC to back his gubernatorial campaign -- Villaraigosa Governor of California 2018 can accept unlimited contributions from donors to support the former Los Angeles mayor’s attempt to catch up with front-runner Gavin Newsom ahead of the June 5 primary. Such independent expenditure committees cannot coordinate with candidates or campaigns. Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/12/18

Gavin Newsom calls on President Trump to resign over vulgar comment -- Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom called on President Trump to step down in response to reports that the president used a vulgar phrase when talking about immigrants from Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. “You're a joke and a racist, President Donald J. Trump. Resign,” Newsom wrote on Facebook. Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/12/18

The same elements that made the Thomas fire such a monster also created deadly debris flows -- The Thomas fire was halted on the steep slopes just above Montecito, sparing the enclave. But the same dramatic landscape that made the Thomas fire so hard to fight propelled rivers of mud and rock on a devastating rampage, toppling houses, tossing cars around like pieces of Legos and carrying 3-foot-wide boulders all the way to the beach. Bettina Boxall in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/12/18

Donald Trump and the porn star: How they met at a Lake Tahoe golf tournament -- News broke Friday that a lawyer for Donald Trump arranged a $130,000 payment to a former porn star one month before the 2016 election, reportedly in an effort to buy her silence about an alleged sexual encounter that occurred at a Lake Tahoe celebrity golf tournament in 2006. Martha Ross in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 1/12/18

Trump Lawyer Arranged $130,000 Payment for Adult-Film Star’s Silence -- A lawyer for President Donald Trump arranged a $130,000 payment to a former adult-film star a month before the 2016 election as part of an agreement that precluded her from publicly discussing an alleged sexual encounter with Mr. Trump, according to people familiar with the matter. Michael Rothfeld and Joe Palazzolo in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 1/12/18

Trump’s own words revive debate over whether he’s racist -- To Democrats and some historians, there is little dispute given the president’s own words and actions. His political rise was powered first by his promotion of lies about Barack Obama’s citizenship, then by his allegations that Mexican immigrants to the United States were rapists and murderers. Julie Pace Associated Press -- 1/12/18

Senator Insists Trump Used ‘Vile,’ ‘Racist’ Language -- Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, said that President Trump did use the term “shithole,” repeatedly, during a meeting on immigration — which Mr. Durbin attended. Mr. Trump had offered a vague denial about the language he used in the meeting with lawmakers. Eileen Sullivan in the New York Times$

Trump acknowledges ‘tough’ language but appears to deny ‘shithole’ remark -- President Trump acknowledged Friday that he used “tough” language during a meeting on efforts toward a bipartisan immigration deal but appeared to deny using the term “shithole” to refer to some countries. Anne Gearan and Ed O'Keefe in the Washington Post$ -- 1/12/18