California Policy & Politics This Morning   

California Senate candidates take aim at rival Isadore Hall's spending -- Assemblyman Isadore Hall III, the front-runner to fill a vacated state Senate seat, is facing criticism from competitors for his use of campaign funds to pay for expensive dinners, limousine rentals, luxury suites at concerts, and trips to resorts in Maui, Ojai and Pebble Beach. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/30/14

Darrell Steinberg recalls budget battles, FBI raids and gubernatorial gags -- After 14 years in the California Legislature, Sen. Darrell Steinberg’s tenure comes to an end on Sunday. The Sacramento Democrat, who served six years as Senate leader, reflected on his experience in the Legislature during an interview in a spartan temporary office inside the Capitol. Laurel Rosenhall in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/30/14

Zev Yaroslavsky, victim of term limits, reflects on decades in office -- A decade into his long, public career, Zev Yaroslavsky ruminated about his motivation for first seeking elected office. "To save the world," he told an interviewer in 1985. James Rainey in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/30/14

Election win puts rural San Benito County on anti-fracking map -- If you were plotting the epicenter of a daring trend or gathering the vanguard for a revolutionary charge, San Benito County might not be the first place you'd start. Julie Cart in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/30/14

Occidental students confront a reality of political campaigns: defeat -- In what is believed to be the only college program of its kind, the undergraduates in the Campaign Semester course spent at least 2 1/2 months, often seven days a week, 12 hours a day, working on behalf of candidates in contested states. None won. Jason Song in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/30/14

Black Muslim fraud case raise questions over government contracts -- As the Vallejo City Council was about to reject a deal with a private security firm in 2011 that had sought to guard a new ferry terminal, a man in a white, open-collared shirt and dark jacket stepped toward a microphone and went on a tirade. Thomas Peele in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/30/14

California jails see surge in drug smuggling -- Drug smuggling is up at many California county jails and one reason, sheriff's officials say, is that some parolees are getting arrested just so they can try to sneak narcotics behind bars. Gillian Flaccus Associated Press -- 11/30/14

Former lawmaker Anthony Adams charts different course -- Few, though, undergo as jarring a switch in life’s path as Adams’ transition from conservative legislator representing Southern California’s high desert to a public defender in the liberal North Coast. Jim Miller in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/30/14

Orange County's GOP women lead a national charge -- The state’s only female GOP member in the new Congress is from Orange County. So are two of the three female GOP state senators. Statewide, county boards of supervisors are 23 percent women – but Orange County has two women on its five-person panel, both Republicans. Martin Wisckol in the Orange County Register$ -- 11/30/14

Walters: California’s big projects still face money questions -- Jerry Brown occasionally suggests that a bullet-train system and twin water tunnels in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta were born during his first governorship. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/30/14

Garza: How a homespun Pacoima campaign upset a confident Assembly incumbent -- California Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra didn’t have anything to worry about on Election Day. Mariel Garza in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/30/14

Willie Brown: Modest proposal for making San Francisco a real city of lights -- The lighting of City Hall has to be one of San Francisco’s most wonderful traditions. It’s almost become a game to try to figure out the significance of the color combinations illuminating the grand building all the way up to the dome. Willie Brown in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/30/14

Controversial hospital chain owner poised to expand empire to Bay Area -- Ontario-based Prime Healthcare Services last month was awarded the bid to purchase the Bay Area-based Daughters of Charity Health System. The deal, which must still be signed off on by California’s attorney general as well as the Vatican, has alarmed critics, who say the hospital chain owner uses bare-knuckle tactics in his relentless drive for profits. Tracy Seipel in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/30/14

What next for local Ferguson protesters? -- San Diegan Stephanie Horton-Wilson calls herself a “product of the ‘60s,” so she’s been around long enough to know the difference between a moment and a movement. John Wilkens UT San Diego$ -- 11/30/14

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Pensions   

Mountain View May Raise Developer Fees to Fund Affordable Housing -- Mountain View is considering raising fees on new construction to fund affordable housing, a move developers say would shift projects to other towns. But City Council members say the move is necessary because of a decrease in government funding for the projects. Yuqing Pan KQED -- 11/30/14

How and why buyers from China are snatching up Bay Area homes -- When Linda Vida sold her house in the Oakland hills this summer, she was hoping for a buyer who would live there, put kids in the local schools and “give back or participate in the community,” she says. Kathleen Pender in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/30/14

Education

Online education run amok? -- Massive open online courses, first envisioned as a way to democratize higher education, have made their way into high schools, but Washington is powerless to stop the flood of personal data about teenage students from flowing to private companies, thanks to loopholes in federal privacy laws. Caitlin Emma Politico -- 11/30/14

Immigration / Border

Out of the shadows: Bay Area immigrants tell their stories -- For the half-million Bay Area residents who will benefit from President Barack Obama's executive action on immigration, emotions are running high with elation, hope and more than a little uncertainty. Julia Prodis Sulek, Erin Ivie, Matthew Artz, Joe Rodriguez and David E. Early in the Oakland Tribune -- 11/30/14

Environment

Muir Woods coho salmon vanish, fanning fears of extinction -- The cherished coho salmon that historically wriggled their way past beachgoers up Redwood Creek into Muir Woods vanished this year and are now on the verge of extinction, prompting a last-ditch attempt by fisheries biologists to save the genetically unique species. Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/30/14

Climate change lawsuits press county leaders -- The question of whether the region’s leaders are fully grappling with climate change as they shape long-range plans for land use, transportation and other development may be reaching a crossroads. Deborah Sullivan Brennan UT San Diego$ -- 11/30/14

After Almost 40 Years, California Coastal Trail Still a Work in Progress -- Think hiking in California. What comes to mind? Maybe the Pacific Crest Trail, thanks to the Cheryl Strayed memoir, “Wild,” and the upcoming movie starring Reese Witherspoon. But have you heard of the California Coastal Trail? Vinnee Tong KQED -- 11/30/14

Health

Cancer-causing flame retardants found in some people -- A growing body of evidence found an array of flame-retardant chemicals – many which are carcinogenic – in test participants, a potential health concern for firefighters and others exposed to the chemicals. Edward Ortiz in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/30/14

POTUS 44    

Obama and daughters hit bookstore for Small Business Saturday -- President Barack Obama and his teenaged daughters, Sasha and Malia, went to an independent book store in Washington to buy books as a way to promote Small Business Saturday, an event aimed at boosting small businesses. Elvina Nawaguna Reuters -- 11/30/14

GOP aide’s online dig at Obama daughters creates backlash -- The communications director for a Republican member of Congress ignited a firestorm this weekend after she criticized President Obama’s teenage daughters in a Facebook post that touched a nerve even for Americans accustomed to political mudslinging. Missy Ryan in the Washington Post$ -- 11/30/14

Beltway

GOP congressional majority likely to change way it crunches numbers -- The incoming Republican majority in Congress is preparing to give number-crunching a controversial twist, and the new math could make it easier for the GOP to cut taxes. Jim Puzzanghera in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/30/14

For GOP, demographic opportunities, challenges await -- The influence of ongoing demographic changes on politics is a familiar story. Given current voting patterns, the increasing diversity in the population is likely to work to the advantage of Democrats in future presidential elections. For Republicans, the question is not just how, but whether they can bend the curve. Dan Balz in the Washington Post$ -- 11/30/14

GOP's tech hurdle: They don't always get it -- Republican presidential prospects like Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio have tapped the tech industry’s fat wallets and mined its big-data expertise — but these 2016 hopefuls couldn’t be further from Silicon Valley when it comes to policy. Tony Romm Politico -- 11/30/14