Updating . .
Farmers say, ‘No apologies,’ as well drilling hits record levels in San Joaquin Valley -- Two years after Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill designed to limit groundwater pumping, new wells are going in faster and deeper than ever. Farmers dug about 2,500 wells in the San Joaquin Valley last year alone, the highest number on record. Ryan Sabalow, Dale Kasler and Phillip Reese in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/25/16
Bullet train route across Big Tujunga Wash meets growing opposition -- The Big Tujunga Wash, among Southern California’s most powerful and least developed rivers, is at ground zero of a growing political battle over the route the California bullet train would take as it enters the Los Angeles basin. Ralph Vartabedian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/25/16
Nursing home magnate rocks Humboldt County with plans to close three of the area’s six facilities -- In remote Humboldt County, where local controversies tend toward medical marijuana dust-ups and billboard blight, a furor has erupted around the fate of three nursing homes – and whether the state will intervene. Marjie Lundstrom in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/25/16
Self-driving trucks threaten one of America’s top blue-collar jobs -- At risk is one of the most common jobs in many states, and one of the last remaining careers that offer middle-class pay to those without a college degree. Natalie Kitroeff in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/25/16
Bay Area wages soaring — but still can’t keep up with housing prices -- The Bay Area’s wages are getting higher, far outpacing most of the country, but more residents are finding their paychecks can’t keep up with the region’s skyrocketing cost of living. George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury -- 9/25/16
After plea deal, attacker files defamation lawsuit against victim -- As Yee Xiong prepared to leave the sentencing hearing for a man who sexually assaulted her at an off-campus apartment when they were students, she felt ready to finally put the case behind her after four years. Then, she was handed a $4 million defamation lawsuit. Darcy Costello Associated Press -- 9/25/16
Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center is Ranadive’s high-tech vision sprung to life -- Vivek Ranadive is a creature of Silicon Valley. He built two successful software companies, wears an Apple watch and last year took his employees on a tour of Tesla’s electric car factory. He seeks advice from the man who designed the computer mouse for Steve Jobs. Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/25/16
Sinking Millennium Tower’s developer built strictly to code -- The glassy blue Millennium Tower on Mission Street cuts a sleek figure on San Francisco’s downtown skyline. But these days the 58-story building is noteworthy not so much for its $10 million penthouses but for something much less glamorous: its foundation. J.K. Dineen in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/25/16
No legalized pot: Walnut Creek council formally opposes recreational use initiative -- An unwillingness to make marijuana easier for young people to use and concern over rising traffic accident numbers in states where recreational marijuana has been legalized were two motivators for the City Council to formally oppose Proposition 64. Sam Richards in the East Bay Times -- 9/25/16
Scope of Trump's falsehoods unprecedented for a modern presidential candidate -- Never in modern presidential politics has a major candidate made false statements as routinely as Trump has. Over and over, independent researchers have examined what the Republican nominee says and concluded it was not the truth — but “pants on fire” (PolitiFact) or “four Pinocchios” (Washington Post Fact Checker). Michael Finnegan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/25/16
Hillary Clinton Struggles Most With Truth About Herself -- Politico fact-checked both candidates for a week. This is what we found. Kyle Cheney, Isaac Arnsdorf, Daniel Lipman and Daniel Strauss Politico -- 9/25/16
6 weeks to go, Clinton and Trump are tied -- The 2016 candidates walk into Monday’s pivotal debate locked in a margin-of-error race. Eli Stokols Politico -- 9/25/16
California Policy & Politics This Morning
Climate change law has reshaped California in 10 years -- Just past noon on a broiling Central Valley day, the strain on California’s electrical grid is rising with the temperature. David R. Baker in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/25/16
Coastal Commission to gain environmental justice member to represent low-income communities -- Brown signed a bill by Assemblywoman Autumn R. Burke (D-Inglewood) that requires one of the members appointed to the Coastal Commission by the governor to work directly with low-income communities in the state that are most burdened by high levels of pollution and other concerns. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/25/16
Political watchdog won't investigate Brown over 'Dirty Hands' report -- The California Fair Political Practices Commission will investigate donations made to the California Democratic Party by privately owned utilities and other energy interests. Jeff McDonald in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 9/25/16
Walters: U.S. Senate candidates Harris and Sanchez putting voters to sleep -- The duel between Democrats Kamala Harris and Loretta Sanchez is California’s first for a vacant U.S. Senate seat in 24 years, and also the first statewide race between two candidates of the same party under California’s top-two primary system. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/25/16
Abcarian: Will San Luis Obispo County follow the lead of Benicia and ban oil trains, or capitulate to Phillips 66? -- There were a couple of light moments Thursday at the San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission’s interminable, inconclusive public hearing about whether it should allow the fossil fuel giant Phillips 66 to send crude-oil trains across California to its Santa Maria Refinery. Robin Abcarian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/25/16
CHP: Motorcycle club associate fatally shot on I-80 in Truckee -- An associate of a “known outlaw motorcycle club” was shot and killed on westbound Interstate 80 Saturday afternoon, closing down the freeway to the state line. Anita Chabria in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/25/16
Why Backpage.com escort ads continue — in spite of law enforcement objections -- Five years after the National Association of Attorneys General urged classified advertisement website Backpage.com to remove its “escort” listings, law enforcement officials appear no closer to realizing their goal of eliminating what they consider thinly disguised solicitations for prostitution. Brian Rokos in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 9/25/16
Willie Brown: A quarterback put race in America front and center -- Hurray for Time magazine. For the first time in a long time, its cover is not one of the standards. This time, it’s our own quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, taking a knee. There’s a message: Race does matter. And it should clearly be discussed. Willie Brown in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/25/16
Vin Scully’s last home game: The unforgettable voice beloved by generations of Dodger fans -- The voice is unmistakable — a warm, velvety tenor, so rich in tone, so rhythmic in its pace — like the croon of a classic standard. In Los Angeles, a city of constant reinvention, where transience is a way of life, the voice has endured for nearly seven decades. “The soundtrack of summer,” it is so warmly labeled. Ryan Kartje in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 9/25/16
Taxes, Fees, Rates, Tolls
Pasadena will tax Netflix, Hulu and your city might be next -- California cord cutters may have escaped cable’s annoying commercials, but in some cities, including Pasadena, they won’t escape its tax. Jason Henry in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 9/25/16
Housing
New-home construction, sales soar as building permits forecast to be highest since '02 -- New-home construction in Orange County is on track this year to hit the highest level in 11/2 decades, a new forecast and new building permit data show. And there’s a huge appetite among buyers for all those new houses, townhomes and condos. Sales also are at a 10-year high-water mark. Jeff Collins in the Orange County Register -- 9/25/16
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
Alameda Corridor dream becomes financial nightmare for Los Angeles and Long Beach ports -- Sluggish trade from Asia through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has created financial peril for the once-heralded Alameda Corridor, the 20-mile train expressway designed to speed goods to market. Rachel Uranga in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 9/25/16
Wells Fargo could take back more than $50 million from embattled CEO -- Outraged senators castigated Wells Fargo & Co. Chief Executive John Stumpf this week for not seeking to take back some of the $100 million awarded to a retiring executive who oversaw the division at the heart of the company’s fake-accounts scandal. James Rufus Koren in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/25/16
Education
Brown Signs Bill Making CPR Training A Requirement For High School Graduation -- The CPR in Schools legislation would require schools to teach students hands-on CPR and how to use an automated external defibrillator. The law will go into effect during the 2018-2019 school year. Capital Public Radio -- 9/25/16
Cannabis
How Will Small Marijuana Growers Stay Competitive if California Legalizes It? -- For decades, small growers in Humboldt County have made a living cultivating and selling cannabis. But over the last 10 years or so, outsiders have been pouring in to the region trying to cash in on the “green rush” for commercial cannabis. Sam Harnett KQED -- 9/25/16
Health
Leprosy worries remain for some Jurupa Valley parents -- Lab tests have confirmed that a Jurupa Valley child has leprosy, or Hansen’s disease, which has some parents jittery. Suzanne Hurt in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 9/25/
Beltway
Poll: Clinton, Trump in virtual dead heat on eve of first debate -- Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will meet Monday night for their first debate in a virtual dead heat in the race for the White House, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, with the Democratic nominee’s August advantage erased after recent difficulties and the GOP nominee still facing doubts about his qualifications and temperament. Dan Balz and Scott Clement in the Washington Post$ -- 9/25/16
Poll: Trump closing gap in Pennsylvania -- Just two days before the first presidential debate, Donald Trump is narrowing the gap with Hillary Clinton in the key state of Pennsylvania, a new Morning Call/Muhlenberg College poll released Saturday shows. Rebecca Morin Politico -- 9/25/16
Meet the daughter of migrant workers helping Clinton defeat Trump -- It’s a long way from California’s Central Valley, where Amanda Renteria’s parents once toiled as migrant workers, to the political beehive in Brooklyn that serves as headquarters for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Their daughter is the Democratic candidate’s highest-ranking Hispanic staffer in an effort that has become – for her – personal as much as it is political. David Goldstein McClatchy DC -- 9/25/16
-- Saturday Updates
Dueling legacies in the race to replace Don Knabe on Board of Supervisors -- The political betting had U.S. Rep. Janice Hahn easily winning a Los Angeles County supervisor seat and taking her place on the dais where her legendary father, Kenneth Hahn, wielded power for decades. Abby Sewell in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/24/16
Gov. Brown signs bill allowing people to break into cars to rescue animals from heat -- The bill by Assemblyman Marc Steinorth (R-Rancho Cucamonga), Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) and others was introduced after a series of incidents in which dogs died after being left in closed cars on hot days. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/24/16
How the moon and big tides could be a trigger for big earthquakes -- It’s one of the most enduring mysteries in earthquake science: Why do small earthquakes stay small, while others grow into monsters? A group of researchers offered a partial, but tantalizing answer this month: The moon and big tides. Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/24/16
Rose Pak recalled as a Chinatown, and San Francisco, original -- Rose Pak was remembered for her tough love, dedication to Chinatown and voracious appetite for San Francisco politics at a funeral service Saturday that included speeches and appearances from the city’s movers and shakers, and, in true Pak fashion, a few jabs at her foes. Emily Green in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/24/16
As employees care for aging parents, few firms step up to help -- Teresa Briggs still had a 17-year-old son at home when her father was diagnosed with brain cancer. Marissa Lang in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/24/16
AltSchool wants to sell software to other schools -- Three years after it started, San Francisco’s AltSchool is slowly spreading across the country. It opened a school near Yerba Buena Gardens last month, bringing its total number of schools nationwide to eight, and two more will open next year, in New York City and Chicago. Wendy Lee in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/24/16
Redwood forest near Silicon Valley with rich history to be opened to public -- A century ago, the heir to a vast San Francisco mining fortune built a 50-room mansion in the hills just south of Los Gatos, with a huge Roman-style swimming pool, a palatial library, horse stables and 43 full-time gardeners who grew prize-winning dahlias, lilies and roses. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury -- 9/24/16
Flashlights on guns can cause cops problems -- It was a routine piece of police work that almost went horribly and tragically wrong. Greg Moran in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 9/24/16