Updating . .
Rep. Rohrabacher wades into Google's firing of controversial memo's author -- Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) took Google to task Thursday for firing a male employee, James Demore, who circulated a memo within the company arguing women are biologically incapable of doing a man’s job in Silicon Valley. Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/10/17
Court orders tech billionaire to open up Martins Beach -- A Silicon Valley billionaire who locked the gates at a popular Northern California beach must open them open to the public, a state appeals court has ruled. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/10/17
More than half of L.A.'s 1 million poor households live in unaffordable or substandard rentals, study says -- Los Angeles and New York City top the list of U.S. cities with the most poor people laboring under heavy rent burdens, living in substandard housing, or both, according to a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Affairs study released Wednesday. Gale Holland in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/10/17
How does a progressive Democrat try to unseat a Republican? Step one: Don't talk about single-payer healthcare -- Congressional candidate Katie Hill was sitting around a kitchen table with a local activist group last spring when one of the attendees asked her a question: Will she have to “soft pedal” her stance on any issues to unseat Republican Rep. Steve Knight in the 25th District? Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/10/17
Cannabis dispensary rules in San Francisco create 'green clusters' -- Even by the standards of San Francisco’s famously fractious land use fights, last month’s Planning Commission hearing on a plan to open a cannabis dispensary in the Sunset District was extreme. J.K. Dineen in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/10/17
Community college transfer degrees speed graduation at CSU -- Early alumni of California’s community college transfer program are showing promising results for the 7-year-old law’s efforts to ease the path to a bachelor’s degree. Alexei Koseff in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/10/17
On first day of school, Bay Area districts still seeking teachers -- Facing an acute national teacher shortage, schools have aggressively recruited and offered creative incentives to attract applicants. Increasingly, districts facing the biggest teaching challenges are turning to lightly prepared candidates holding non-standard credentials. Sharon Noguchi in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/10/17
Reuniting families has driven U.S. immigration. What would ending that mean for Californians -- To Edwin Valdez, turning 21 this month meant a lot more than just meeting the legal drinking age. It meant he could finally sponsor his undocumented immigrant Mexican parents for legal residency. Hannah Knowles in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/10/17
Santa Clara County, Oakland top fat-pension ranking for public workers -- The San Francisco Bay Area, of course, is already up there near the top of many lists: best beaches, VC funding and tech jobs, median price of a home, most eclectic food-truck scene. It’s now hit another pinnacle: On the list of retired public employees in the CalPERS system with annual pensions of $100,000, Santa Clara County is No. 1, followed closely by the city of Oakland. Patrick May in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/10/17
Google’s Mountain View headquarters targeted in alt-right protest march -- Organizers pointed to Google’s sacking of software engineer James Damore for a controversial anti-diversity memo as the spark that ignited the protest march. But the alt-right has long held out Google and social media companies Facebook and Twitter as enemies of free expression, saying they promote a liberal agenda and censor conservative views. Ethan Baron in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/10/17
Quinn: California’s Attempt At “Massive Resistance” -- California’s decision to become a “Sanctuary State” and defy the federal government on immigration, likely to become law later this month, places California in the company of state’s rights extremists that once tried to stop public school integration by much the same means. Tony Quinn Fox & Hounds -- 8/10/17
Political advice for Zuckerberg: Keep writing the checks -- Word that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg just hired Hillary Clinton’s former top political strategist, Joel Benenson, to advise him and his wife, Priscilla Chan, on their philanthropic pursuits is being met with predictable overheated reaction in the political world: Philanthropy? Yeah, right. Zuck is running for president! Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/10/17
California Policy & Politics This Morning
Democratic Fight in California Is a Warning for the National Party -- Even at a time of overall success, state Democrats are torn by a bitter fight for the party leadership, revealing the kind of divisions — between insiders and outsiders, liberals and moderates — that unsettled the national party last year and could threaten its success in coming years. Adam Nagourney in the New York Times$ -- 8/10/17
California already may be paying for Trump’s hypothetical tax cuts -- Tax reform may not be much more than a glimmer in the eye of Republicans in Washington D.C., but their promise of lower rates and closed loopholes appears to be already jostling state and local finances. Ben Christopher Calmatters.org -- 8/10/17
Skelton: Gov. Brown is right about the 'sanctuary state' bill: Protect law-abiders and help boot the bad guys -- Gov. Jerry Brown again is trying to save Democratic legislators from their leftist selves. This time he’s stopping them from protecting criminals. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/10/17
Walters: California dodges Obamacare bullet, but GOP may fire another on taxes -- California dodged a big financial bullet when congressional Republicans deadlocked on overhauling or repealing the Affordable Care Act. Dan Walters Calmatters.org -- 8/10/17
To fix ‘unfair’ bail system, will California copy Kentucky? -- It’s rare that a California lawmaker seeking a policy model would turn to Kentucky. But with the Legislature on summer recess, that’s precisely what Sen. Bob Hertzberg is doing. Samantha Young Calmatters.org -- 8/10/17
FBI Searches Home Of Rep. Duncan Hunter’s Campaign Treasurer Amid Finances Investigation -- A federal investigation into the financial practices of Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, R-Alpine, ranges from alleged campaign finance irregularities to bank fraud, according to a search warrant that was made public Wednesday. KPBS -- 8/10/17
Rep. Hunter probe covers possible fraud involving video game charges -- Federal investigators probing campaign spending by Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, are looking for evidence of fraud, falsified documents and conspiracy in addition to improper personal spending of political contributions, according to a search warrant affidavit. Morgan Cook in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/10/17
Abcarian: Venice has become an epicenter of Los Angeles’ struggle over short-term rentals. Call it the Airbnb problem -- On any summer weekend, Venice Beach is the ultimate urban beach carnival: exhilarating, loud, funky and diverse. No wonder Ocean Front Walk is one of the state’s premier attractions: It’s amazing entertainment and it’s 100% free. Robin Abcarian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/10/17
Lopez: Jerry Brown talks a green game. So why isn't California tougher on these polluters? -- Do regulators in California have your back when utilities or industries run amok, or when there’s a threat to public health in your neighborhood? Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/10/17
Oroville Dam's Green Spot: Innocent Pool Or Big Problem? -- The failure of the Oroville spillway in February led people to notice a large green spot on Lake Oroville's dam. The spot has been there for years, but the questions remain as to whether it's a sign the dam is leaking. Bob Moffitt Capital Public Radio -- 8/10/17
Panel Weighed Oroville Spillway Failure in 2014 — and Called It Unlikely -- That finding, apparently based on inaccurate or incomplete information from the California Department of Water Resources about the condition of the dam’s spillways and the strength of the rock they were built on, has led some dam safety experts and DWR critics to question both the evidence the safety board reviewed and whether the review process itself is effective. Dan Brekke KQED -- 8/10/17
Authorities looked at nearly 1,800 homes for this convicted child predator, but none were suitable. He now lives in a motel -- Jeffrey Snyder, 61, was released Monday from Coalinga State Hospital and placed in the custody of Liberty Healthcare, according to the Fresno County district attorney’s office. Veronica Rocha in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/10/17
5 Transgender Troops Sue to Stop Trump Plan to Ban Them -- The lawsuit was filed Wednesday by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) in San Francisco and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) on behalf of five transgender active-duty service members. The plaintiffs currently serve in the Coast Guard, National Guard and the Army, including one who expects to be deployed to Iraq soon. Scott Shafer KQED -- 8/10/17
Should LA County youth prisons close? Here’s what residents think -- Shut them down. That’s how 61 percent of Los Angeles County residents surveyed feel about juvenile halls, according to the results of a statewide poll released Wednesday. Susan Abram in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 8/10/17
North Korea’s threats add urgency to annual protest in Livermore -- Every year, they come with hand-drawn signs and printed posters, with their children and their pets. They protest the past. They pray for peace, and remember the twin atom bombs that the U.S. dropped on Japan at the end of World War II. Lizzie Johnson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/10/17
San Francisco charity ousts longtime director following Chronicle investigation -- The head of a high-profile San Francisco charity has been forced out, following a Chronicle investigation that found the nonprofit had long deceived donors by funding the director’s posh lifestyle while spending relatively little on people with developmental disabilities it purported to serve. Karen de Sá, Cynthia Dizikes and Carolyne Zinko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/10/17
Taxes, Fees, Rates, Tolls, Bonds
Judge tosses suit challenging tourism marketing fee -- San Diego’s 2 percent hotel room fee that helps pay for marketing the city as a tourist destination has survived yet another legal challenge. Lori Weisberg in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/9/ 17
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
Trump’s immigration crackdown has U.S. companies wary of hiring foreign tech workers -- U.S. companies are thinking twice about hiring foreign tech workers amid uncertainty about immigration policies from the Trump administration, according to data released Wednesday by job searching site Hired. Queenie Wong in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/10/17
Google’s Firing of Engineer a Clear-Cut Legal Decision -- Google on Monday fired James Damore, the engineer who wrote a 10-page memo saying the gender gap in computer engineering is due to “biological” differences that disadvantage women. All of this has sparked a heated debate. But among many lawyers, Google’s action was clear-cut. Queena Sook Kim KQED -- 8/10/17
More CalPERS retirees are getting $100,000 pensions, report says -- The number of retired public employees in the CalPERS system with annual pensions of $100,000 or more grew 63 percent since 2012, according to a report released Wednesday. Jeff Horseman in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 8/10/17
Wells Fargo points finger at ‘third party’ for auto loans scandal -- Beleaguered Wells Fargo, under investigation for making hundreds of thousands of customers pay for car insurance they didn’t need, has apologized — and blamed a contractor. Ethan Baron in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/10/17
U.S. airlines are bumping passengers at historically low rates -- In the April-through-June quarter, the 12 biggest carriers reported denying passengers a seat at a rate of 0.44 fliers per 10,000 passengers, the lowest three-month rate since the U.S. Department of Transportation began tracking the data in 1995. Hugo Martin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/10/17
Delivery start-up Schlep & Fetch runs out of cash, shuts down and pays drivers fraction of what they're owed -- At its peak last fall, the Los Angeles courier start-up had 140 drivers fulfilling 15,000 orders a month from the Westside to downtown. The company, founded in 2011, had raised nearly $500,000 from wealthy individuals, including those in the investment group Tech Coast Angels. Paresh Dave in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/10/17
Hiltzik: The 'clawback': Another hidden scam driving up your prescription prices -- In July, a Marin County woman named Megan Schultz went to her local CVS drugstore to fill a prescription for a generic drug. She forked over $164.68, the co-pay designated by her health plan. Michael Hiltzik in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/10/17
Homeless
Stopping LA’s ‘aggressive’ panhandlers is delicate work. But a local leader is trying -- With confusion and frustration mounting among Valley business owners over what they say is growing and aggressive panhandling near their operations, there’s hope that a new city program installing no-loitering signs will help. Olga Grigoryants in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 8/10/17
San Francisco gets federal lot on Mission, to build units for formerly homeless -- A surface parking lot behind the federal courthouse at Seventh and Mission streets in San Francisco will become the site of the city’s largest housing development for formerly homeless people, thanks to a deal struck this week between city officials and the federal government. Dominic Fracassa in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/10/17
Housing
Efforts To Streamline Housing Developments Draw Scrutiny At California Capitol -- California lawmakers are weighing several ideas to encourage – or force – cities and counties to speed up the approval process for housing projects. Ben Adler Capital Public Radio -- 8/10/17
San Diego homeownership slips further out of reach -- San Diego was one of the most expensive regions for home buyers in California in the second quarter of this year, with just 26 percent able to comfortably purchase the median-priced house, said a report from the California Association of Realtors released Wednesday. Phillip Molnar in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/10/17
How much do you have to make to buy a home in Fresno? -- Fresnans have to make a little bit more money these days to buy the area’s median-priced home of $250,000. A buyer has to have an annual income of at least $50,000 a year, according to the second-quarter affordability report released Wednesday by the California Association of Realtors. That’s up by about $1,000 from the beginning of the year. BoNhia Lee in the Fresno Bee -- 8/10/17
Refugee Families Forced To Move; Too Many Living In Their Apartments -- Three large refugee families that a local nonprofit helped resettle at an El Cajon apartment complex are being asked to move because they have too many people living in their homes. They came forward after KPBS aired an investigation nearly two weeks ago about other refugee families who said the same resettlement agency — the International Rescue Committee in San Diego — put them into too-small apartments by encouraging them to sign leases that omitted the names of some occupants. Tarryn Mento KPBS -- 8/10/17
Education
As California Bilingual Education Grows, Teacher Training Is Key -- Zyanya Cazares, a sixth grade teacher who is starting a new assignment this fall teaching in a bilingual education program in Los Angeles, grew up speaking Spanish. But she was recently reminded that the casual, conversational Spanish she spoke at home is not the same as the formal form of the language she’s now being asked to teach. Adolfo Guzman-Lopez KQED -- 8/10/17
Cannabis
Sessions says he has 'serious concerns' about legal marijuana. Now states wonder what's next -- With thousands of jobs and billions of dollars at stake, it’s a burning question: Is Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions preparing to mess with voter-approved sales of recreational marijuana? It’s a question of prime importance in six Western and two New England states that have legalized marijuana use despite a federal law of the land classifying weed as a controlled, dangerous drug. Rick Anderson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/10/17
Immigration / Border
Deportation order splits Oakland family and highlights shift under Trump -- Although President Trump ran on a platform of rounding up and deporting “bad hombres,” Oakland nurse Maria Mendoza-Sanchez knew that she and her husband — who each lack legal status — would not be protected by their clean records. Hamed Aleaziz in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/10/17
Undocumented immigrant back home from ICE detention. He faces deportation in 3 months -- A day after being released by federal immigration authorities on Tuesday, Yuba City resident Baljit Singh ran his dogs along the river, played with his sons and started thinking about what may be his last three months in America. Anita Chabria in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/10/17
ICE in San Diego on pace to deport fewer people than last year, most without a criminal record -- As of June 30, ICE has deported 16,599 from San Diego and Imperial counties, according to a summary of removals provided by the agency. Last year ICE deported 23,719 individuals from the San Diego and Imperial region. Greg Moran in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/10/17
Health
UCR researchers find way to thwart ovarian cancer, plan to work with City of Hope -- A pair of UC Riverside researchers say they have found a mechanism for blocking the spread of ovarian cancer, one of the deadliest cancers for women. Mark Muckenfuss in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 8/10/17
Environment
Under pressure from regulators, San Diego cracks down on water pollution from construction sites -- Developers in the city of San Diego are facing tougher government enforcement at construction sites that have the potential to pollute rivers and streams — including fines and even stop-work orders. Joshua Emerson Smith in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/10/17
Sea lions wash ashore in California amid return of toxic blooms -- Scores of convulsing sea lions are washing up on Central California beaches after eating fish poisoned by a plume of toxic algae that could spread north toward the Bay Area and cause widespread problems, marine biologists said. Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/10/17
Environmentalists say proposed cannabis grow rules fail to protect wildlife -- Four environmental groups have faulted proposed state rules for commercial cannabis cultivation for failing to protect imperiled species, including the reclusive Pacific fisher, from rodent poison frequently used at unregulated grow sites. Guy Kovner in the Santa Rosa Press -- 8/10/17
Also . . .
Man charged with murdering brother of L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas in 1981 -- Authorities have arrested and charged a man accused of killing the brother of Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas 36 years ago in South L.A., the district attorney’s office confirmed Wednesday. Nicole Santa Cruz and Kate Mather in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/10/17
Betty Warner Sheinbaum, an independent woman with a Hollywood pedigree, dies at 97 -- She was an artist whose favorite president was FDR. She devoured books and newspapers and hosted events where people could discuss social causes and politics and raise money for their efforts. She hunted for the Ho Chi Minh trail and collected modern art. And she knew how to wield a blowtorch. Christie D'Zurilla in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/10/17
L.A. to pay nearly $1 million to family of man who died after police officers arrested him -- The city of Los Angeles will pay nearly $1 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the family of Omar Abrego, who died after a confrontation in South L.A. with police officers trying to arrest him. Cindy Chang and Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/10/17
If Yosemite lets people climb UP cliffs, why can’t he leap OFF them, BASE jumper asks -- Austin Carey says he loves to leap from Yosemite National Park’s towering granite cliffs. Even a near-deadly plunge in 2015 hasn’t stopped him from being a BASE jumper. Pablo Lopez in the Fresno Bee -- 8/10/17
POTUS 45
Nuclear experts are dumbfounded by Trump’s odd nuclear arsenal tweets -- President Trump tweeted a warning to North Korea on Wednesday morning. Pointing to his executive order to “renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal,” he said that arsenal is “now stronger and more powerful than ever before.” Aaron Blake in the Washington Post$ -- 8/10/17
Three Pinocchios: President Trump’s claim that low-skilled immigration placed ‘substantial pressure’ on U.S. workers -- President Trump has endorsed a sweeping Senate bill that would slash legal immigration levels by half over a decade: the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (RAISE) Act. Michelle Ye Hee Lee in the Washington Post$ -- 8/10/17
Beltway
Trump’s immigration policy raises old fears among Congress’s children of immigrants -- Many of the record number of Hispanic lawmakers this year — 45, from both parties — are first-generation Americans whose parents came to the United States from places such as Mexico and Cuba, as low-skilled workers, some speaking only Spanish. Elise Viebeck in the Washington Post$ -- 8/10/17
Why is the FBI so interested in Paul Manafort that agents were literally at his door before dawn? -- There are a couple reasons the special counsel's expanding Russia investigation might be so interested in former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort that FBI agents showed up at his door before dawn, unannounced, searched his home and seized documents, as The Washington Post reports. Amber Phillips in the Washington Post$ -- 8/10/17
-- Wednesday Updates
Health care workers union pushing dialysis bill looks to ballot -- SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West filed a pair of proposed November 2018 ballot measures Wednesday that would set staffing ratios at dialysis clinics and contain other provisions similar to pending union-backed legislation that faces an uncertain outcome in the Legislature. Jim Miller in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/9/17
Ethics commissioner had secret meetings with Democrats over recall election rules -- A former labor lobbyist who serves on California’s political watchdog agency met privately, talked on the phone and exchanged text messages with a lawyer working for Senate Democrats while advocating for the agency to flip a longstanding legal interpretation of campaign finance law in favor of Sen. Josh Newman. Taryn Luna in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/9/17
Google’s fired engineer gives first explanation of his inflammatory sexist memo -- The engineer fired by Google for his infamous memo claiming women were more neurotic and less suited than men for tech and leadership jobs has said he wrote it after attending a company diversity program. Ethan Baron in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/9/17
‘Critical’ evidence in near air-disaster at SFO erased -- It took at least 24 hours to report a near-disastrous collision at SFO, a delay that allowed a key piece of evidence — the cockpit voice recording from the jet that nearly landed on top of planes queuing to take off on a busy taxiway — to be erased. Matthias Gafni in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/9/17
FBI searched office of Rep. Duncan Hunter's campaign treasurer -- FBI agents searched the office of Alpine Rep. Duncan Hunter's campaign treasurer in February, seizing computer equipment and documents related to their investigation into whether Hunter misused campaign funds. Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/9/17
In California, ‘sanctuary state’ and other immigration bills face surprising opposition -- Soon after President Donald Trump’s election, California lawmakers began rolling out legislation to fight the president’s promised crackdown on illegal immigration. Katy Murphy in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/9/17
By firing engineer, Google shows what you can say — and what you can't — at work -- In a country known for its reverence of free speech, in a state strict with labor codes, in an industry steeped in libertarian and progressive ideals, if an employee has something to say, he should just be able to say it, right? Tracey Lien in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/9/17
State funds Bay Area groups to serve food to Medi-Cal’s poor, just like medicine -- Project Open Hand cooks 2,500 meals and provides 200 bags of groceries to sick patients every day, part of its mission to help them get healthier and stay motivated to battle their diseases. The organization has expanded beyond HIV to feed people with other chronic illnesses, including diabetes and kidney failure, and it also delivers food to adults with disabilities. Kellen Browning in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/9/17
‘Start low and go slow’ – 3 steps to safely consume marijuana edibles -- As California continues to emerge from marijuana prohibition, consumers will have a glut of new options beyond traditional flower to achieve the optimal high. But it’s easy for newbies to weed-infused foods, also known as edibles, to go overboard. Taryn Luna in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/9/17
Fox: Surfing to the Governor’s Chair on an Initiative -- To use an analogy that surfer (and assemblyman) Travis Allen might appreciate, can the ballot measure he champions to repeal the gas tax be the surfboard he needs to carve over the choppy waves of a governor’s race and get him safely to shore. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 8/9/17