Updating . .
Government jobs sprouting as legal pot looms in California -- Scientists. Tax collectors. Typists. Analysts. Lawyers. And more scientists. Recreational marijuana use becomes legal in California in 2018, and one of the things to blossom in the emerging industry isn't green and leafy - it's government jobs. Michael R. Blood Associated Press -- 9/30/17
CalPERS candidates say ballots aren’t secret, and they’re piling up at a Seattle warehouse -- Mail-in ballots for the CalPERS election that ends on Monday ask voters to sign them right below their choice, potentially revealing how people voted for two seats on the 13-member board that manages a $334 billion pension fund. Adam Ashton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/30/17
L.A. might limit who can appeal against a marijuana business -- Los Angeles might restrict who can lodge appeals when marijuana businesses get city licenses, blocking challenges from people who do not live, work or own property nearby. Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/30/17
Assembly hopefuls asking for Los Angeles votes on Tuesday -- A flood of candidates are seeking to fill the Assembly seat once held by Jimmy Gomez, who left the California Legislature to serve in Congress earlier this year, and Los Angeles voters have a chance to start sorting through them in Tuesday’s primary. Chris Megerian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/30/17
Is a hepatitis A vaccine shortage coming? -- On Friday, Merck & Co. Inc., manufacturer of VAQTA, one of two FDA-approved hepatitis A vaccines on the market, said in a short statement that it “anticipates working through some manufacturing constraints in 2017” as a result of unexpected demand for the product. Paul Sisson in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 9/30/17
Silicon Valley all in on tax reform -- No other policy issue facing tech companies in Washington — and there are many of late — stands to have as great an impact on their businesses. Steven Overly Politico -- 9/30/17
Cannabis harvest heats up in Sonoma County -- Just as grape growers keep watch for the moment of peak ripeness, cannabis farmers have for generations monitored the color of the bud’s trichomes, an aromatic crystal resin that transforms from clear to milky white, then gold to amber. Julie Johnson in the Santa Rosa Press -- 9/30/17
Lopez: This couple put art before income. But creativity doesn't pay the rent in today's L.A. -- In Arleta, a 64-year-old woman pays $1,100 a month — her entire income — for three meals a day and a bed in one-half of a converted garage. In Pasadena, a blind 59-year-old woman has lived without a functioning stove for years and is being forced out of her apartment because an upgrade will raise the rent to about 80% of her income. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/30/17
California Policy & Politics This Morning
California bullet train costs up $1.7 billion for Central Valley segment -- The California bullet train project is facing $1.7 billion in cost overruns on a 119-mile segment currently under construction through the Central Valley, a 27% jump over the original estimate, according to documents recently posted on the California High-Speed Rail Authority website. Ralph Vartabedian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/30/17
John Chiang lives on a public servant’s salary, his tax forms show -- Democrat John Chiang, a candidate for California governor in 2018, and his wife earned an average of nearly $185,000 a year in income and paid a combined tax rate of more than 23 percent, according to six years of returns reviewed Friday by The Sacramento Bee. Christopher Cadelago in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/30/17
Democrats line up for lieutenant governor race -- In California, the lieutenant governor’s job comes with little power, a tiny staff and a boatload of built-in ridicule, but that’s not stopping a passel of current and would-be politicians from making it one of the most sought-after posts on next year’s ballot. John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/30/17
San Francisco tech investor, Puerto Rico native pledges $10M for hurricane aid -- San Francisco software investor Orlando Bravo saw a Facebook post Wednesday from the mayor of a town in Puerto Rico, desperately asking for help. A week after Hurricane Maria swept through, the town of Lares was running out of water. Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/30/17
Arpaio’s DACA solution is ‘put them on an airplane, fast track them back’ to America -- Fresno Republicans drank in nearly an hour’s worth of riffs on immigration, gun rights, President Donald Trump and more from the polarizing former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio at their annual Second Amendment barbecue Friday night. Rory Appleton in the Fresno Bee Cindy Carcamo and Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/30/17
Arpaio says he’s no racist, talks about NFL protests, border wall, Obama birthplace -- Joe Arpaio talked about being accused of racism, his misdemeanor conviction in federal court, former President Barack Obama’s birth certificate, the proposed border wall with Mexico, NFL protests and other topics in an at-times rambling news conference prior to his speech to the Fresno County GOP on Friday. Lewis Griswold in the Fresno Bee -- 9/30/17
Progressives felt in deep-blue California -- Meet the progressives, an outgrowth of California’s Democratic political landscape. As Democrats began their dominance in California over 20 years, they saw their electoral success expand out of urban centers into wealthier suburban enclaves, such as Pasadena, Calabasas, and Walnut Creek. Nik Bonovich Capitol Weekly -- 9/30/17
Judge unpersuaded by claims of UC bias over Coulter visit — for now -- A UC Berkeley Republican group that sued the university over restrictions on a planned speech in April by conservative commentator Ann Coulter has failed — at least for now — to point to any facts showing discrimination by campus officials, a federal judge said Friday. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/30/17
Politifact CA: Has Gavin Newsom ‘flip-flopped’ on California’s high-speed rail? -- High-speed rail has wedged itself into the 2018 campaign for California governor, splitting the current top two Democrats in the race. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa recently claimed Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom — the frontrunner in the race — has essentially flip-flopped in his support for the state’s controversial and costly rail project. Chris Nichols Politifact CA -- 9/30/17
In the Playboy Mansion, Hugh Hefner created a house of hedonism that may not survive him -- The Gothic Tudor was one of many estates built for Los Angeles’ wealthy class during the boom years of the 1920s, an ornate European revival sitting slightly out of place in a Westside canyon. Corina Knoll, Benjamin Oreskes and Victoria Kim in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/30/17
Brown Brings Housing Bills Home -- Nobody at Friday’s signing ceremony said Gov. Jerry Brown has solved California’s housing affordability crisis by signing a package of 15 bills intended to drive costs down. The theme instead was: It’s a start. Ben Adler Capital Public Radio Kathleen Ronayne and Jocelyn Gecker Associated Press Guy Marzorati KQED Angela Hart in the Sacramento Bee$ John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/30/17
Will this affordable housing bill signed by Gov. Brown be a NIMBY-killer in LA? -- One of the bills signed by Governor Jerry Brown Friday as part of a larger housing package could fast-track certain affordable housing projects in Los Angeles, potentially bypassing a process that has allowed community groups to stonewall such projects in their neighborhoods. Elizabeth Chou in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 9/30/17
California Politics Podcast: More Housing, An Early California Primary -- This week: Gov. Jerry Brown signs a package of closely watched bills taking a bite out of California's housing crisis. And he agrees to shake up national politics by moving the state's primary to March. We also talk a Prop 13 inspired ballot measure, and an eye-catching poll number for Sen. Dianne Feinstein. With John Myers and Liam Dillon of the Los Angeles Times and Marisa Lagos of KQED. Link Here -- 9/30/17
Taxes, Fees, Rates, Tolls, Bonds
New sales tax kicks in Sunday to fund homeless services -- Money is about to start pouring in to L.A. County's most ambitious (and expensive) effort yet to tackle homelessness. The funding comes from a sales tax hike that kicks in Sunday, thanks to Measure H, which county voters approved in March. The 1/4-cent rise will go entirely to services and housing for homeless people. It's expected to generate as much as $355 million annually. Rina Palta KPCC -- 9/30/17
GOP tax plan would benefit super-rich the most, slightly raise taxes on upper earners, analysis finds -- The Republican tax plan would give the biggest benefit to the super-rich in coming years — and slightly raise upper earners’ taxes while reducing them for everyone else, according to an analysis released Friday by a nonpartisan think tank. Jim Puzzanghera in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/30/17
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
SoCal Gas accused of using energy-saving funds to thwart conservation -- Southern California Gas Co. used energy efficiency funds paid by its customers to delay or thwart the state's efforts to improve the efficiency of appliances and buildings, according to a report from the Office of the Ratepayer Advocates. Customers of investor-owned utilities pay more than $1 billion a year via their gas and power bills into utility-managed funds designed to promote energy efficiency in California. Sharon McNary KPCC -- 9/30/17
Valley business owners fear being uprooted by massive LA Metro transit project -- Business and property owners who could be uprooted by a mass transit project planned in the eastern San Fernando Valley are organizing in an effort to stay put. Brenda Gazzar in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 9/30/17
Homeless
Demystifying L.A.'s system of homeless shelters -- A shelter bed is the most fundamental homeless service, but in some ways the least understood. Shelters operate almost entirely out of public view, face little scrutiny, support themselves in myriad ways and adhere to different philosophies. There are those who think of shelters as the foundation of all homeless services and others who view them as part of the homeless problem. Doug Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/30/17
Power-washing a dirty job, but could say lives in hep A outbreak -- More than a few people took a second look at the trucks with flashing lights and men in hazmat suits spraying chemicals on sidewalks in several San Diego neighborhoods Friday. Gary Warth in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 9/30/17
LA leaders want to pay homeless to pick up trash from the streets -- A trio of Los Angeles City Council members from the Harbor Area and the San Fernando Valley proposed a plan Friday aimed at clearing away the mountains of trash that have cropped up on city streets, sidewalks and alleyways. And they are hoping the city’s homeless will step up to help clean it up. Elizabeth Chou in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 9/30/17
Education
Taking college classes in high school helps students earn degrees down the road -- The classes are known as dual enrollment courses, and the number of high school students enrolled in them has grown dramatically in the last decade as states such as California have passed laws to make it easier for public schools and community colleges to draft agreements to create the classes. Adolfo Guzman-Lopez KPCC -- 9/30/174
L.A. Unified students toss out $100,000 in food a day. A new state law could donate it to food banks -- That works out to about 600 tons of organic waste daily, according to a 2015 study. The district pushed for a new law to help change that — and this week Gov. Jerry Brown signed it. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/30/17
Enraged UC Riverside student grabs a Make America Great Again hat from classmate, calling it a symbol of 'genocide' -- A UC Riverside student asked campus police Friday to arrest a fellow Highlander who allegedly grabbed his Make America Great Again hat from his head and verbally attacked him with profanity-filled accusations of promoting "genocide." Teresa Watanabe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/30/17
Cannabis
Westfield San Francisco mall says there’ll be no cannabis chocolate shop after all -- San Francisco cannabis users hoping to pick up some pot-laced chocolate bars while holiday shopping at the mall may be out of luck. J.K. Dineen in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/30/17
With legal pot looming, California counties seize thousands of illegal plants -- Yolo County officials announced the seizure of $6 million worth of marijuana this week, continuing a string of enforcement actions in the Sacramento region. Brad Branan in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/30/17
Immigration / Border
Many arrested in recent immigration sweep were not violent offenders -- During a sweep this week targeting so-called "sanctuary cities," immigration officials arrested almost 500 immigrants, relatively few of whom were involved in violent crimes, according to federal numbers. Leslie Berestein Rojas KPCC -- 9/30/17
Immigrants line up to renew work permits ahead of DACA expiration -- The line stretches down the block before the sun rises in Los Angeles, made up of immigrants seeking help to renew their work permits under a program that has shielded them from deportation but is now nearing its end. Amy Taxin and Astrid Galvan Associated Press -- 9/30/17
Woman posing as an attorney stole immigrants' cash and dreams, prosecutors say -- Maria Bejar-Mejia arrived at the Citizenship and Immigration Services office in downtown Los Angeles with high hopes. She had come to the U.S. illegally years before and her attorney, Jessica Godoy Ramos, told her she would receive a coveted green card at her appointment with immigration officials, authorities said in an account of the meeting. Joel Rubin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/30/17
Health
Stem cell agency: $75 million for diabetes, brain cancer -- The California stem cell agency yesterday handed out $75 million, doubling down on a couple of efforts to develop a stem cell therapy and a stem cell tool, plus funding an expansion of its Alpha Clinic network with two new, Northern California sites. David Jansen Capitol Weekly -- 9/30/17
Environment
Sea otter population takes a dip off California coast -- Hungry sharks, skimpy kelp cover, algae blooms and disease are combining to keep the otters from staging a comeback to population numbers of the 19th Century, when fur traders practically drove them to extinction. Steve Rubenstein in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/30/17
Also . . .
LAPD pressured murder confession from teenager, court rules in overturning conviction -- A federal appeals court has overturned a teenager’s murder conviction, saying Los Angeles police violated his rights by denying his request for a lawyer and pressuring him into a confession. Associated Press -- 9/30/17
Second inmate dies in Los Angeles County jail in two days, officials say -- A deputy doing a security check Wednesday night at the Inmate Reception Center — the intake facility attached to Men’s Central Jail — found a man unresponsive and alone in his cell, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Alene Tchekmedyian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/30/17
Venice activists bemoan Snap's shuttle buses -- Traffic has been one of the chief complaints against Snap Inc. by local activists in Venice who say the social media company’s sprawling footprint is diminishing the neighborhood’s character. David Pierson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/30/17
Shepard Fairey's towering mural rises in Costa Mesa -- Designed by street artist Shepard Fairey — best known for his Obey art campaign and clothing line, and for designing the Obama “Hope” poster — the Baker Street mural is a towering work. Roughly 136 feet wide and 55 feet tall, it’s an eye-popping canvas of vibrant red, yellow, blue and black visible to drivers on the nearby 55 Freeway. Luke Money in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/30/17
POTUS 45
Lost weekend: How Trump’s time at his golf club hurt the response to Maria -- At first, the Trump administration seemed to be doing all the right things to respond to the disaster in Puerto Rico. Abby Phillip, Ed O'Keefe, Nick Miroff and Damian Paletta in the Washington Post$ -- 9/30/17
The swamp rises around an administration that promised to drain it -- The image of a top government official, a Washington fat cat, blowing taxpayer money to pay for private chartered airplanes is exactly what President Trump seemed to have in mind when he promised voters he would “drain the swamp.” Anne Gearan in the Washington Post$ -- 9/30/17
NSA warned White House against using personal email -- The National Security Agency warned senior White House officials in classified briefings that improper use of personal cellphones and email could make them vulnerable to espionage by Russia, China, Iran and other adversaries, according to officials familiar with the briefings. Josh Meyer Politico -- 9/30/17
VA chief took in Wimbledon, river cruise on European work trip; wife’s expenses covered by taxpayers -- Nearly three days into a trip to Europe this past July, Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin had attended a Wimbledon championship tennis match, toured Westminster Abbey and taken a cruise on the Thames. The 10-day trip was not entirely a vacation. Shulkin was in Europe for meetings with Danish and British officials about veterans’ health issues, so taxpayers picked up part of the tab. Jack Gillum, Alex Horton, Drew Harwell and Lisa Rein in the Washington Post$ -- 9/30/17
Beltway
GOP tax plan would provide major gains for richest 1%, uneven benefits for the middle class, report says -- The Republican tax plan would deliver a major benefit to the top 1 percent of Americans, according to a new analysis by a leading group of nonpartisan tax experts that challenges the White House's portrayal of its effects. Carolyn Y. Johnson in the Washington Post$ -- 9/30/17
-- Friday Updates
Jerry Brown signs new California affordable housing laws -- The housing bills provide new funding for low-income housing development, seek to lower the cost of construction, fast-track building and restrict the ability of cities and counties to block new development. Here’s a rundown of the bills in the package: Angela Hart in the Sacramento Bee$ Liam Dillon in the Los Angeles Times$ John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Jocelyn Gecker and Kathleen Ronayne Associated Press -- 9/29/17
Is bill on governor’s desk a ‘nail in the coffin’ to openly carrying guns? -- Assembly Bill 7, authored by Assemblyman Mike Gipson, D-Carson, would limit where California’s 6 million-plus gun owners can carry unloaded shotguns and rifles in urban areas not previously covered by a statewide ban on openly carrying handguns. Gipson’s bill passed the Democrat-controlled Legislature earlier this month. Ryan Sabalow in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/29/17
Malls, a struggling symbol of suburban America, could help ease the housing crisis -- In the San Fernando Valley, there are plans to level a nearly vacant mall and replace it with some 1,400 homes, boutique retail space and a concert venue. Andrew Khouri in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/29/17
L.A. County now has 58,000 homeless people. So why are there thousands fewer shelter beds than in 2009? -- “Live from skid row, it’s Tuesday night!” Pastor Dan shouted, beginning two hours of Christian music and prayer for worshipers arrayed on metal chairs in the spacious, white-walled chapel at the Union Rescue Mission. Once the playful service ended, worshipers folded and stacked their chairs and began to unfurl cots. There weren’t enough for everyone. Doug Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/29/17
Knight: 4 in 10 calls to San Francisco’s 911 aren’t emergencies -- City officials rightly deserve blame for ignoring the continuing crisis at the understaffed, slow-to-respond 911 call center. But San Franciscans, you’re on the hook here, too. Heather Knight in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/29/17
Microsoft buys north San Jose land, large complex eyed -- Microsoft, poised for expansion into north San Jose, has bought 65 acres of empty land along State Route 237 between Alviso and Milpitas, signaling that the site fits into its plans to widen its reach in cloud and internet technologies. George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/29/17
Taylor: Antifascist explains why she protests Trump fans -- As Sunsara Taylor stood on the steps of Sproul Hall on UC Berkeley’s campus Sunday, she held a protest sign high above her head. Police officers circled Taylor and two others, forcing them to the ground as Taylor and her companions chanted in unison. “No fascist USA. No fascist USA. No fascist USA.” Otis R. Taylor Jr. in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/29/17
Bretón: Sins of the father: The story of a Yolo County farmer whose dad was the ‘architect’ of the Vietnam War -- Vietnam and Craig McNamara, a walnut farmer who lives in Winters, are linked by blood and blood shed. As secretary of defense for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, his father, the late Robert McNamara, was the mastermind of America’s disastrous campaign to stop a feared expansion of communism in Southeast Asia. Marcos Bretón in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/29/17
Fox & Rice: Unusual Alliances Brought Success for L.A. School Construction -- At a time of toxic national polarization, a Los Angeles success story 20 years in the making was recently completed, because people with different political perspectives worked together to accomplish a goal — repair schools and build new schools efficiently and cost-effectively for L.A.’s students. Joel Fox and Connie Rice Fox&Hounds -- 9/29/17