Updating . . Sunday
San Francisco report weighs health risks raised by legal pot -- The challenge, authors of the report noted, will be warning new users about the hazards of cannabis consumption — like the possibility of overdosing or driving under the influence — without straying into fearmongering. Erin Allday in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/26/17
How radio responded to Wine Country fires -- As the wildfires in the Sonoma and Napa valleys began to be contained, thank-you signs and banners became a common sight, along roads and at freeway overpasses. Thanks, they said, to firefighters, to emergency medical workers, to the police ... and to KSRO. Ben Fong-Torres in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/26/17
Sacramento rushed to approve gun violence program – and then waited -- In late August, the city of Sacramento faced a crisis: Gun violence in certain neighborhoods seemed out of control. Anita Chabria in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/26/17
Pacific News Service closes, but lessons continue -- It will end nearly a half century of tenacious coverage, with a mission that started in Indochina but expanded to include unrest in Central America and immigration in California, and above all an increasing focus on producing youth media and news about underrepresented cultures. Peter Hartlaub in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/26/17
L.A. weighs a plan to allow denser developments near Expo Line stations -- Ridership on the $2-billion Expo Line has doubled since service began to the Westside 18 months ago, but the route would be an even better public investment if more Angelenos lived and worked near Metro stations, Los Angeles officials say. Laura J. Nelson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/26/17
McManus: Forget 'bad deals,' it's the GOP tax plan that'll make the trade deficit even worse -- There’s a time bomb inside President Trump’s economic policies, and almost every economist knows it. What they don’t know is when it will explode. Doyle McManus in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/26/17
The Wall Street-backed developer that reaped billions, went bankrupt and left slums across Mexico -- am Zell was looking for opportunities, and he found a winner in Mexico. Richard Marosi in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/26/17
How your data are shared and sold could be California's marquee ballot battle in 2018 -- There are pretty strong odds that California voters soon will be hearing a lot about how consumer data are bought and sold — products purchased, medical information, even religious affiliations — and are asked to do something about it. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/26/17
House tax bill is causing uncertainty in L.A.'s homeless housing program -- The House bill, passed this month, seeks to generate new revenue by eliminating tax-free bonds that provide low-interest funds for projects such as hospitals, schools and museums. Doug Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/26/17
GOP tax bills could shield multinationals’ future overseas profits -- Silicon Valley multinationals such as Apple and Google that are already sheltering hundreds of billions of dollars in overseas tax havens may pay little or no U.S. tax on future overseas profits under legislation Republicans are racing to enact. Carolyn Lochhead in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/26/17
Lopez: A new California gold rush for homeowners, the poorhouse for renters -- I lived in an apartment until I was 8, when my parents scraped together a down payment and bought a modest little house on a cul-de-sac, taking hold of a deed that was our ticket to the kingdom of suburban California royalty. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/26/17
Pender: Consider grabbing some tax deductions before GOP takes them away -- For example, the House and Senate tax bills would eliminate the itemized deduction for state and local income or sales tax starting next year. The Senate bill also would kill the deduction for property taxes, while the House bill would cap it at $10,000 per year. Kathleen Pender in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/26/17
Knight: San Francisco leaders get down in depths to clean up grimy corner of city -- Many San Franciscans wonder whether our political leaders truly see what we see: the filth, the garbage, the dirty needles, the drug use, the homeless people who sit at the same corner day after day clearly needing help. Heather Knight in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/26/17
Walters: State budget seems healthy, but it isn’t -- Mac Taylor, the Legislature’s top adviser on the state budget, delivered some superficially good news this month to his bosses. Dan Walters Calmatters.org -- 11/26/17
Willie Brown: America’s mistreatment of women doesn’t stop with Charlie Rose -- It’s not Charlie Rose parading naked in front of young female employees, or Rep. John Conyers firing a woman who wouldn’t have sex with him, or Roy Moore in his 30s cruising the mall for teenage girls that should be at the top of the American outrage list — disgusting as all those alleged actions are. The real issue we need to deal with is the overarching, fundamental absence of equality for women in America. Willie Brown in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/26/17
NAACP calls for ‘state of emergency’ to close achievement gap in San Francisco schools -- Despite years of targeted programs, San Francisco district schools have failed to close an achievement gap in which black students lag behind their peers and fall short of state learning standards. Jenna Lyons in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/26/17
Craig Coley, wrongly convicted and jailed for 39 years, spends first Thanksgiving free with detective who advocated for his release -- On his first day free in nearly four decades, Craig Coley sat at the head of a dining room table and dug into a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Andrea Castillo in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/26/17
Republicans say corporate tax cuts will boost workers' wages, but CEOs might have other plans -- Most economists agree that the Republican tax plan will boost business investments. And that should lead to more hiring, greater productivity and increased company profits that would, in theory, prompt employers to raise wages. In today's economy, however, experts said it's unrealistic to expect the kind of investment bonanza that proponents of the tax plan are banking on. Jim Puzzanghera and Don Lee in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/26/17
‘Comfort Women’ Statue in San Francisco Leads a Japanese City to Cut Ties -- The mayor of the Japanese city of Osaka has said he is cutting ties with San Francisco because of a new statue there, overlooking a small park downtown. Jacey Fortin in the New York Times$ -- 11/26/17
After marijuana, are magic mushrooms next to be decriminalised in California? -- Kevin Saunders, a mayoral candidate for the city of Marina, just south of the San Francisco Bay, has filed a proposal that would exempt adults over the age of 21 from any penalties over possessing, growing, selling or transporting psychedelic psilocybin mushrooms. Olivia Solon The Guardian -- 11/26/17
CNN fires back at Trump: It's your job to represent the US to the world -- CNN fired back at President Trump after he attacked the network in a tweet Saturday for representing the U.S. “very poorly” to the world. “It's not CNN's job to represent the U.S to the world,” the network’s public relations team tweeted. “That's yours. Our job is to report the news. #FactsFirst.” Avery Anapol The Hill -- 11/26/17
Inside Google’s struggle to filter lies from breaking news -- Facebook has a fake news problem. Google has an “evil unicorn” problem. Evil unicorns — a term some Google engineers once coined, according to a former executive — are unverified posts on obscure topics, full of lies. They pop up from time to time on the Web and find their way into Google’s search results. Mark Bergen in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/26/17
Does Race Matter in America’s Most Diverse ZIP Codes? -- The Original Red Onion sits in one of the country’s most racially diverse ZIP codes: 94591, in Vallejo, Calif. About 30 miles north of Oakland, it is the rare place in the United States where black, white, Asian and Hispanic people not only coexist in nearly equal numbers, but actually connect. John Eligon in the New York Times$ -- 11/26/17
Updating . . Saturday
Businesses leaving California hiring tax credits on the table -- Four years after Gov. Jerry Brown started his signature program to boost California jobs by awarding tax credits to the firms that create them, businesses have left two-thirds of those available credits unclaimed — a sign that most expected jobs have yet to materialize. Judy Lin in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/25/17
Running for state Assembly in 'Bernie Country,' a former Hillary Clinton aide faces a battle with local contenders -- Buffy Wicks was expecting the birth of her daughter on the same day she thought the country would be electing its first female president. Jazmine Ulloa in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/25/17
Problems lead to long delays, higher costs in rebuilding Oakland school -- An Oakland school construction project is way over budget, more than a year behind schedule and being built in part by contractors under federal indictment in an unrelated bid-rigging scandal. Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/25/17
Rush of pot grows splits rural California before legal sales -- The four young men had just started their marijuana harvest in rural Northern California when a dozen sheriff's deputies swooped in with guns drawn, arrested them and spent the day chopping down 150 bushy plants with machetes. Paul Elias Associated Press -- 11/25/17
Sexual harassment takes spotlight in California's capital -- It's been five weeks since nearly 150 women - lobbyists, lawmakers, Republicans, Democrats - signed a letter calling out a pervasive culture of sexual harassment in California's capital. One lawmaker has ended his re-election campaign, and a second is the target of multiple allegations. The Senate and the Assembly have pledged action to root out problems, but critics say cultural change requires far more. Kathleen Ronayne Associated Press -- 11/25/17
For Some, Wildfire Insurance Claims Are the Disaster After the Disaster -- Diaz said he only found out about the expedited claims process, which his insurer had signed on to, by calling the California Department of Insurance. Now, he says his insurer has agreed to give him the 4 months of living expenses. Sukey Lewis KQED -- 11/25/17
The Battle for Orange County in the Fight for the House -- Celina Estrada and Sam Zapata weren’t even born when Republican Ed Royce was first elected to Congress in 1992. Yet a year before the 2018 elections, the two students spent a recent evening knocking on doors in the hills of Orange County, California, to support the vulnerable congressman. Nathan L. Gonzales Roll Call -- 11/25/17
Multibillion-dollar water measures heading to state ballot -- With a five-year drought and then a winter of floods having exposed the limits of California’s vast network of reservoirs, dams and canals, voters are likely to have the chance next year to decide whether to pay for major upgrades to the state’s waterworks. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/25/17
Trump and Time magazine dispute Person of the Year plans -- President Donald Trump says he’s not playing ball with Time magazine as it decides its Person of the Year. The magazine counters that Trump has it all wrong. Associated Press -- 11/25/17
Newport council expected to nullify Banning Ranch approvals Tuesday -- The Newport Beach City Council is expected next week to reverse several approvals for the derailed Banning Ranch development. The council will take up the court-ordered repeals when it meets Tuesday. Hillary Davis in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/25/17
Updating . . Friday
LAPD chief expects more high-profile Hollywood sex crime allegations -- Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said he expects his department — which already is handling more than two dozen allegations of sexual misconduct by Hollywood figures — to investigate even more. Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/24/17
California attorney general investigating troubled San Francisco charity -- The California attorney general’s office has begun investigating a San Francisco charity that claimed to serve the developmentally disabled, after a Chronicle exposé that found the nonprofit veered from its mission for years, doing little more than funding its director’s high-society lifestyle. Cynthia Dizikes, Carolyne Zinko, and Karen de Sá in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/24/17
Housing activists raise alarm about turning over apartments for short stays -- Flanked by cameras, the activists marched into the glossy lobby of the downtown building and demanded to speak to the general manager. Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/24/17
Huge wildfires can wipe out California’s greenhouse gas gains -- Most years, the amount of greenhouse gases spewed by California’s cars, factories and power plants drops slightly — a hard-won result of the state’s fight against global warming. And in any given year, one big wildfire can wipe out that progress. David R. Baker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/23/17
Regulators fined utility for not reporting meeting, then argued it was legally permissible -- Four months after the Public Utilities Commission fined Southern California Edison millions of dollars over a secret meeting in Warsaw, Poland, about the failed San Onofre nuclear plant, lawyers for the regulators argued in sealed court filings that nothing improper happened. Jeff McDonald in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/23/17
Many college students going hungry, need donated food groceries and food stamps -- A nitro cold brew sells for $5, and a large mocha for $4.50 at a popular coffee and muffin bar in UC Berkeley’s student union. Downstairs, business is just as brisk at another food emporium. The provisions there are free. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/24/17
Colin Kaepernick visits Alcatraz to support a Native American protest -- Former 49ers quarterback and walking political flashpoint Colin Kaepernick received honorary eagle feathers as he attended the annual Indigenous People’s Sunrise Gathering on Alcatraz Island on Thursday. The event, also known as “Un-Thanksgiving Day,” celebrates the lengthy occupation of the infamous prison island by Native Americans between 1969 and 1971. Ethan Baron in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/24/17
Tech firms court workers’ parents with pingpong, selfies and swag -- an attempt to bridge the generation gap between employees and their parents, LendUp is among the Bay Area tech companies that host a Bring Your Parents to Work Day. These events are in a similar vein to Bring Your Kids to Work Day, where sons and daughters can see how their parents spend time out of the house. Trisha Thadani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/24/17
California clinics face deep cuts if Congress doesn't act soon -- It’s been nearly two months since Congress blew past its deadline to renew federal funding for community health centers. More than $600 million is on the line in California and clinics are nervously watching to see if that money is renewed before it runs out at the end of the year. Michelle Faust KPCC -- 11/23/17
San Francisco moves to ready the Embarcadero for earthquakes, sea level rise -- San Francisco is stepping up efforts to remake the Embarcadero in light of two very different threats, the ever-present danger of earthquakes and the long-term likelihood of sea level rise. John King in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/23/17
California birds nesting earlier to try to survive global warming -- The early bird not only gets the worm, but may stand a better chance of riding out global warming. A new study finds that birds in California are breeding up to 12 days earlier than they did a century ago, an apparent effort to maintain their optimal nesting temperatures as the planet warms. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/24/17
Thanksgiving help for the homeless: 'We haven't seen numbers like this since the Great Depression' -- Thanksgiving meals will be served to thousands of homeless and near-homeless individuals today on Skid Row and in Pasadena and Canoga Park amid calls for donations and volunteers for the rest of the year. The Midnight Mission will serve Thanksgiving brunch to nearly 2,500 homeless and near-homeless men, women and children, according to Georgia Berkovich, its director of public affairs. The item in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/23/17
Republicans push hard on GOP tax plan, but voters just aren't that into it -- Republicans are investing enormous amounts of political capital and dollars to pump up support for the GOP tax overhaul in a risky, last-ditch legislative undertaking ahead of next year’s midterm election. Lisa Mascaro in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/23/17
A Split From Trump Indicates That Flynn Is Moving to Cooperate With Mueller -- Lawyers for Michael T. Flynn, President Trump’s former national security adviser, notified the president’s legal team in recent days that they could no longer discuss the special counsel’s investigation, according to four people involved in the case — an indication that Mr. Flynn is cooperating with prosecutors or negotiating a deal. Michael S. Schmidt, Matt Apuzzo and Maggie Haberman in the New York Times$ -- 11/24/17
California Policy & Politics Thursday Morning
He spent 39 years behind bars for two murders he didn't commit. Gov. Jerry Brown just pardoned him -- At the time, police said it was the most heinous crime Simi Valley had ever seen. A young mother, Rhonda Wicht, was beaten, raped and strangled with a macrame rope in her apartment. Her 4-year-old son, Donald, was smothered in his bed, presumably because he might have identified his mother's killer. Alene Tchekmedyian in the Los Angeles Times$ Molly Sullivan in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/23/17
California attorney general bashes idea to raise entry fees for Yosemite and other national parks -- California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra and almost a dozen of his counterparts have denounced a National Parks Service proposal to increase entrance fees at 17 popular parks, including some in the state. Jazmine Ulloa in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/23/17
What new jobs? California program to entice hiring falls short -- Four years after Gov. Jerry Brown launched his signature program to boost California jobs by awarding tax credits to the businesses that create them, businesses have left two thirds of those available credits unclaimed—a sign that most expected jobs have yet to materialize. Judy Lin Calmatters.org -- 11/23/17
California Legislature denies another L.A. Times request for harassment records -- The California Legislature has refused to release additional information on sexual harassment complaints requested by the Los Angeles Times in the wake of widespread scrutiny on how the Capitol handles such matters. Melanie Mason in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/23/17
Walters: State Bar feeling heat from two new clashes -- The state agency that regulates California’s legal profession jumped out of the political frying pan this year, but is still feeling searing heat from two new conflicts. Dan Walters Calmatters.org -- 11/23/17
LAX is tops for flight delays during the Thanksgiving holiday -- Los Angeles International Airport, the nation’s second busiest airport, is expected to be No. 1 in an unfortunate category: the percentage of delayed flights during the long Thanksgiving travel crush. Hugo Martin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/23/17
Border wall prototypes become canvas for light graffiti -- A collaboration of artists and activists lit up the Trump administration's border wall prototypes on Saturday night with a ladder and other images critiquing the barriers. The first political activism that the prototypes have seen, the project was part art, part performance and part action, according to Jill Marie Holslin, one of the artists involved. Kate Morrissey in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/23/17
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
Here are the five officials who will decide the controversial changes to net neutrality rules -- The head of the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday released his detailed proposal to repeal net neutrality rules for online traffic, setting the stage for a vote next month. Jim Puzzanghera in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/23/17
Uber hacking cover-up triggers government probes -- Uber’s failure to act earlier could hamper the company in a range of ways, including through investor backlash, class-action lawsuits and investigations by authorities worldwide, including U.S. states and the Federal Trade Commission. Carolyn Said in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/23/17
Guns
Tens of thousands with outstanding warrants purged from background check database for gun purchases -- What that means is that those fugitives who were previously prohibited under federal law from purchasing firearms can now buy them, unless barred for other reasons. Sari Horwitz in the Washington Post$ -- 11/23/17
Housing
LA considers an affordable housing program for its disappearing artists -- The joke in Los Angeles' Arts District is there’s hardly any artists left because they’ve been priced out of the trendy neighborhood. To stem the further loss of artists from the city, two Los Angeles City Council members have proposed creating an affordable housing program for those in creative arts. Josie Huang KPCC -- 11/23/17
City Council approves plans aimed at guarding against gentrification in South LA -- The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved new plans for real estate development in South L.A. and Southeast L.A., after years of discussion with residents focused on guarding their neighborhoods against gentrification. Josie Huang KPCC -- 11/23/17
Pending home sales take another tumble across much of the Bay Area -- Pending home sales declined across the state in September, but they tumbled in the Bay Area as the region’s super-tight home supply and climbing prices apparently proved a turnoff to some potential buyers. Richard Scheinin in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/23/17
Wildfire
Families affected by the Sonoma County fires search for ways to cope this Thanksgiving -- Dan Cahill has arrived at the St. Vincent de Paul Society kitchen before dawn every Thanksgiving for the past five years to carve the turkeys he and other volunteers roasted a day or two earlier to serve the homeless. He’ll do it again Thursday despite losing his own home in last month’s firestorm. Eloísa Ruano González in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- 11/23/17
Their home lost to the Tubbs Fire, Calistoga family rebounds with a little help -- Once there were tubs full of Legos to play with. Bikes to pedal under the tall pine trees. Comfy beds to sleep in, and nothing but pretty forest for a front yard, every so often visited by gobbling wild turkeys. Kevin Fagan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/23/17
Bringing a Measure of ‘Peanuts’-Style Joy to a Community Devastated by Wildfires -- ate the night of Oct. 8, Jean Schulz got a call from a neighbor on the northeast outskirts of Santa Rosa. “You need to leave,” the neighbor told the wife of the late “Peanuts” creator, Charles M. Schulz, because of a fire on Mark West Springs Road. Dan Brekke KQED -- 11/23/17
Fires Leave Thousands of Sonoma, Napa County Residents Unemployed -- Officials in Sonoma and Napa counties are beginning to get an idea of the impact the North Bay fires had on the job market. Dana Cronin KQED -- 11/23/17
Education
State auditor finds top aides to UC President Napolitano interfered in audit, recommends reforms -- California State Auditor Elaine Howle wants University of California regents to consider disciplining university employees who repeatedly interfered with a state audit, tried to hide their actions, misled investigators and withheld requested information until threatened with court action, according to a private report by her office obtained by The Times. Teresa Watanabe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/23/17
Thanksgiving meal introduces UC Riverside international students to country, each other -- They’re thousands of miles from home, separated from nearly everyone they know. While most share Thanksgiving with family, these international students at UC Riverside gathered with each other to enjoy juicy turkey, fresh pumpkin pie and thankful conversations. Ryan Hagen in the Riverside Press Enterprise$ -- 11/23/17
Environment
After over-hunting, habitat loss and falling into La Brea Tar Pits, California’s wild turkeys are making a comeback -- Some skilled hunters shoot their own Thanksgiving turkey, as the number of wild turkeys in California climb to more than 250,000. Steve Scauzillo in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 11/23/17
Also . . .
‘No other morning like it in Sacramento.’ Thanksgiving charity race tradition is nation’s largest -- Before the third helping of stuffing, the second piece of pumpkin pie and the infinite regrets of overconsumption, thousands of Sacramentans will start their Thanksgiving Day by putting generosity before gluttony and indulging in a bit of charity: The Run to Feed the Hungry. Anita Chabria and Ellen Garrison in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/23/17
Desecrated in macabre ways, the ancestral remains of Catalina's Native Americans finally come home -- Nearly a century ago, an amateur archaeologist and showman named Ralph Glidden dug up Native American burial sites on Catalina and other Channel Islands off Southern California's coast. Louis Sahagun in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/23/17
POTUS 45
On Trump’s Thanksgiving menu: Grievances and calls for gratitude — for him -- This Thanksgiving, President Trump doesn’t seem to be thankful for very much — and seems frustrated that Americans aren’t expressing more gratitude for him. Jenna Johnson in the Washington Post$ -- 11/23/17
Trump, in Twitter Rant, Revisits Grievances Against Sports Figures -- President Trump began his first Thanksgiving vacation in office with an early-morning Twitter rage in which he again vented about some of his favorite targets: sports figures he thinks have defied him. Michael D. Shear in the New York Times$ -- 11/23/17
-- Wednesday Updates
California should be able to reduce public employees’ pension benefits, Jerry Brown argues -- Gov. Jerry Brown got most of what he wanted when he carried a proposal to shore up the state’s underfunded public employee pension plans by trimming benefits for new workers. Five years later, he’s in court making an expansive case that government agencies should be able to adjust pension benefits for current workers, too. Adam Ashton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/22/17
Political odd couple: GOP consultant advises Democrat’s bid for governor -- One wants to end the death penalty. The other thinks capital punishment is just. One campaigned for tax increases that the other opposed. One tried to put Hillary Clinton in the White House. The other helped elect President George W. Bush. Laurel Rosenhall Calmatters.org -- 11/22/17
Walters: Distorting ballot measure title undermines electoral system -- Efforts by Republicans to repeal California’s new gas taxes may be ill-considered, but they deserve a fair chance at persuading voters. Dan Walters Calmatters.org -- 11/22/17
California's ski season starts with good snowfall and higher lift prices -- The snow is falling but lift ticket prices are rising at many California ski resorts. November storms have already dumped heaps of snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains, including around Lake Tahoe, allowing a few resorts to open. Hugo Martin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/22/17
Judge rules that US must hold hearings for detained undocumented teens -- A San Francisco federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to hold immediate hearings for undocumented teenagers who were living with relatives or friends in the United States when they were arrested in gang sweeps and sent to lockups in distant states. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/22/17
Lopez: In L.A.'s misguided war on blight, an unpainted fence could cost you $660 -- It's the little things that beat you up in the end, the daily irritations and indignities. Mail from City Hall, for instance. You know, even as you draw blood with a paper cut while opening the envelope, that it can't be good news. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/22/17
California moves to block national park fee increases -- California moved Wednesday to block the Trump administration’s proposal to more than double entrance fees at popular national parks, including Yosemite and Joshua Tree National Parks, arguing the fee increases would limit public access for low-income people and communities of color. Angela Hart in the Sacramento Bee$ Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/22/17
BART’s big dig leading to a big fight in Silicon Valley -- The fear over turning downtown San Jose into a business-killing construction zone has transit agencies fighting over how to dig a 5-mile tunnel that will bring BART to the heart of Silicon Valley. Matier & Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/22/17
If California's gas tax is repealed, what would happen? -- Thanksgiving travelers are paying more in state fuel taxes this month as they fill up to hit the road, but voters could be asked next year if they want to scrap the increase. Meghan McCarty Carino KPCC -- 11/22/17
Fox: Other Revenue Sources Should Be as “Devastating” as Prop 13 -- You’ve heard the complaints and criticisms for four decades now on how Proposition 13 severally cut government finances. Yet, once again a report from a government agency itself says that just isn’t so. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 11/22/17
Even Rose Parade floats can’t afford to live in Pasadena -- When dozens of flower-covered floats roll down Colorado Boulevard in the Rose Parade on New Year's Day, it will mark the first time that not one of them was constructed in Pasadena. Thanks to high real estate prices, the giant warehouses where the colorful floats are built have has moved elsewhere. Sharon McNary KPCC -- 11/22/17
Black Friday loses its luster as people opt for alternatives -- Black Friday is losing its luster. As retailers stretch holiday discounts across November and December, the tradition of flocking to crowded stores on the day after Thanksgiving has begun to fade. At the same time, people all over the Bay Area are rejecting the practice of marathon bargain-hunting in favor of nonshopping alternatives. Annie Sciacca in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/22/17
Who’s actually going to see Tom Steyer’s impeachment ads in Times Square? -- Nestled between ads for the Express clothing store and a Broadway musical about SpongeBob SquarePants, for 10 seconds every minute, visitors to Times Square will see an ad calling for the impeachment of President Trump. You can see it on EarthCam’s live feed, just above the golden arches. Philip Bump in the Washington Post$ -- 11/22/17
Facebook will let some of its users see if they interacted with Russian propaganda -- Facebook said Wednesday that it would let some of its users see whether they liked or followed pages belonging to Russia-linked operatives that sowed political divisiveness around the 2016 US presidential election. A new page to be published on Facebook's help center by the end of the year will show whether some accounts interacted with the Russia-linked accounts, Facebook said in a blog post on Wednesday. Alex Heath Business Insider -- 11/22/17
Trump and congressional leaders to hold talks to avoid shutdown -- President Donald Trump and top congressional leaders will meet next week to try to hammer out a year-end agreement to avert a government shutdown, according to multiple sources, as Capitol Hill careens toward a legislative pile-up next month. Seung Min Kim, Heather Cagyle and Andrew Restuccia Politico -- 11/22/17