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'Collateral arrests' by ICE amount to racial profiling, violate immigrants' rights, lawyers say -- They burst into View Park Automotive in South Los Angeles carrying semi-automatic weapons and wearing vests that simply read "police." Four men, including Juan Hernandez Cuevas, were handcuffed and taken away. Andrea Castillo in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/4/18

In Trump era, ‘Rapid Responders’ protect undocumented immigrants from ICE -- Alice and Jamie Lynch keep the small canvas bag near their front door, ready for when the couple suddenly dashes out of their quiet San Jose home. The bag, small and inconspicuous, carries a phone charger, a flashlight and a notebook — items the pair might need if they were to witness raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Tatiana Sanchez in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/4/18

Mexican program lets parents visit their children living illegally in U.S. after decades apart -- The round, wrinkled woman who stepped off the bus was not the mother Victor Castillo remembered leaving behind when he packed up his things 20 years ago and left their small Mexican town. Andrea Castillo in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/4/18

Women candidates hit a wall in California -- If 2018 is The Year of the Woman, nobody told California. In the biggest blue state on the map, the only woman running for governor, former state schools chief Delaine Eastin, is polling in single digits. London Breed, the interim mayor of San Francisco and the first black woman to hold the post, was bounced from her position last month by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She was replaced by a white man. David Siders and Carla Marinucci Politico -- 2/4/18

Winter shelter’s promise to find homeless people housing has mostly gone unfulfilled -- The city’s new winter “triage” shelter in North Sacramento was supposed to be a place where homeless campers would spend a few weeks or months before moving into stable housing with the help of a team of service providers. But so far, the promise of relocating chronically homeless people into apartments and houses has mostly gone unfulfilled. Cynthia Hubert in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/4/18

Huge increase in arrests of homeless in L.A. — but mostly for minor offenses -- Los Angeles police found Reed Segovia slumped in a folding chair near the Venice boardwalk early one spring morning in 2016 and shook him awake. The officers handed the homeless street artist a ticket for sleeping on the sidewalk. Gale Holland and Christine Zhang in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/4/18

San Bruno blast neighborhood’s message to Wine Country: It’s a long recovery -- After a seemingly endless procession of bulldozers and carpentry crews grinding through the streets day after month after year, reconstruction of the San Bruno neighborhood that vanished in flames when a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. pipeline exploded more than seven years ago is almost done. Kevin Fagan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/4/18

For Venice property owners, the bills have arrived — but promised services have not -- Marlene and John Okulick had never heard of a "business improvement district" when the letter showed up in the mail. It touted the formation of a new group that would clean up alleys, improve safety and promote businesses in Venice Beach for five years. The price? A new charge tacked onto their tax bill. Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/4/18

Left bounced Breed for Conway ties. Turns out he invested in Farrell’s firm -- One reason progressive supervisors gave for terminating London Breed as San Francisco’s acting mayor was that she was too close to tech billionaires like Ron Conway — so it’s interesting to note that Breed’s replacement, Mark Farrell, has counted Conway as an investor in his venture capital firm since 2011. Matier & Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/4/18

Why is Big Sur’s weed legendary but still not legal? -- For decades, hidden in creases of the wild and rugged Santa Lucia Mountains, farmers have eked out a living growing some of the nation’s most esteemed cannabis, hanging onto the hope that someday they wouldn’t fear arrest. Lisa M. Krieger in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/4/18

 

California Policy & Politics This Morning  

There's a big problem for California Republicans, and it's this year's race for the U.S. Senate -- There is something worse than seeing your political party lose — yet again — the race for one of California's most prominent offices. It's when your party's voters simply don't show up on election day. And if enough of them simply sit out due to a lack of interest, it can endanger the party's power for years to come. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/4/18

Few political differences seen in first San Francisco mayoral forum -- When five Democratic mayoral candidates were asked Saturday whether they had ever suffered the myriad frustrations of being a victim of a car break-in, all five hands went into the air. Dominic Fracassa in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/4/18

Black women unite in quest for political office -- At a breakfast in Southeast San Diego on Saturday, trailblazing California Assemblywoman Shirley Weber said black women need to run for political office so “we can be in a position to tell our story.” Pam Kragen in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 2/4/18

East Bay Assembly Race Shaping Up as One of State’s Costliest -- When Assemblyman Tony Thurmond announced a run for State Superintendent of Public Instruction, it opened up a chance to represent one of the state’s most liberal districts, which stretches north from Oakland to Hercules, and includes the cities of Berkeley and Richmond. Guy Marzorati KQED -- 2/4/18

Who Is Devin Nunes? A Look At The Man Behind The Memo -- The controversy comes with the 44-year-old chairman of the House intelligence committee on a rocky, rapid rise to power in President Trump's Republican Party — an ascent that required something of an about-face. Once an aggressive critic of the GOP's populist right flank, Nunes has become a key Trump defender and champion of the party's most conservative wing. Kelsey Snell NPR -- 2/4/18

California Politics Podcast: Legislative officials reveal more than a decade's worth of sexual harassment investigations. Plus, we check in on the new campaign cash totals in the races for California governor and U.S. Senate. With John Myers and Melanie Mason of the Los Angeles Times. Link Here -- 2/4/18

Walters: Surging pension costs push more California cities toward bankruptcy -- From one end of California to the other, hundreds of cities are facing a tsunami of pension costs that officials say is forcing them to reduce vital services and could drive some—perhaps many—into functional insolvency or even bankruptcy. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 2/4/18

Willie Brown: About that secret memo: Why would anyone care? -- For all the hype, the not-so-secret “Nunes memo” will rank in historical significance right up there with the opening of Al Capone’s vault. The lead-up was entertaining, but ultimately there’s not much to see. Willie Brown in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/4/18

Officer punched, tensions flare at 'Patriot Picnic' at Chicano Park -- Tensions escalated at Chicano Park on Saturday as a small group of park critics waving U.S. flags and gathered for a “Patriot Picnic” faced off against a larger group of park supporters defending the park’s cultural heritage and community importance. Sandra Dibble and Kristina Davis in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 2/4/18

Community, state leaders say “No” to offshore drilling at rally -- More than 1,000 people, including local and state political leaders, marched along West Cliff Drive on Saturday morning to protest offshore oil drilling in California. A recent proposal by the Trump Administration would potentially open up new territories to oil companies for offshore oil and gas leasing. Joel Hersch in the Santa Cruz Sentinel$ -- 2/4/18

What former white supremacists will share at USC forum countering hate -- Days after the Anti-Defamation League reported that white supremacist recruitment on college campuses spiked more than 200 percent in 2017, two former white supremacists will visit the University of Southern California’s campus Monday, Feb. 5, for a conversation about their former lives and their current purpose — to counter hate. Deepa Bharath in the Orange County Register -- 2/4/18

Sparked by the Blaze Bernstein case, officials propose new legislation against hate crimes -- Prompted by the investigation into the killing of college student Blaze Bernstein, officials on Friday proposed a new bill that would expand hate crime laws in murder cases to include gay victims. Samuel Lincoln Woodward, 20, of Newport Beach has been charged with murder for allegedly stabbing Bernstein, 19, in a Lake Forest park last month. Authorities are investigating whether the case was a hate crime. Kelly Puente in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/4/18

It's going to be hot in Southern California next week, again -- The high temperature could reach 81 degrees on Sunday in downtown Los Angeles, cooling to 75 on Monday and Tuesday before potentially spiking up into the low 80s again Wednesday and Thursday, said National Weather Service weather specialist Stuart Seto. Sonali Kohli and Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/4/18

Bay Area temperatures break records -- It’s beach weather in February. Temperatures around the Bay Area are breaking records and hovering 15 to 20 degrees above average this weekend. Rain is nowhere in sight. Sophie Haigney and Jenna Lyons in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/4/18

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions  

Hiltzik: A gender discrimination case at the legendary Salk Institute exposes an ugly problem in science -- Few scientists could probably imagine a more idyllic place to work than the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Founded in 1960 by Jonas Salk, the institute occupies a landmark building in La Jolla designed by legendary architect Louis Kahn on 27 oceanfront acres. Michael Hiltzik in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/4/18

Housing  

San Francisco proposes turning Moscone garage into affordable housing, hotel tower -- The Moscone Convention Center parking garage would be redeveloped into a 320-foot tower with at least 650 hotel rooms and at least 100 affordable housing units under a plan being put forward by the city. J.K. Dineen in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/4/18

Designing a greener future: Local architect builds net-zero energy homes with salvaged materials -- Go big or go home. That has always been the American way — supersized indulgences and seemingly infinite expansion, often involving the exploitation of Earth's natural resources. Excavating and consuming our way across the planet, we have left a trail of massive, energy-hungry structures craving yesterday's fossil fuels. Nelly Lin in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/4/18

Wildfire  

PG&E power lines sparked two October fires in Santa Rosa, city says in first investigation -- Santa Rosa city fire investigators have determined that PG&E power lines buffeted by heavy winds the night of Oct. 8 ignited at least two small fires in city neighborhoods, marking the first public reports by government authorities into what caused some of the dozens of blazes that erupted that night and became the deadliest and most destructive wildfires in California history. Julie Johnson in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- 2/4/18

Education 

Swastika found on San Jose college campus -- A swastika and the words "Hitler did nothing wrong" were found in a bathroom stall on the campus of Evergreen Valley College in East San Jose on Friday morning. According to a report from the San Jose Evergreen Community College District police, the symbol and words were found in the 1st floor men's bathroom located in the MS3 Math, Science and Social Science building and reported to campus police. Drew Costley in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/4/18

Cannabis 

Can marijuana save this 'dying' town on the California-Arizona border? -- In this desert town on the California-Arizona border, where locals fear the economy is withering and the future is drying up, there is the seed of an idea to turn it all around: marijuana. Amy DiPierro in the Desert Sun$ -- 2/4/18

Immigration / Border 

Path to citizenship goes through City College for many in San Francisco -- The path to citizenship for Baudelio Burciaga began 12 years ago when, at 19 years old, he left Zacatecas, Mexico, for Oakland, seeking political asylum as a gay man. Five years ago, he got a green card. Saturday, he stood outside a City College of San Francisco classroom holding a completed naturalization form, ready to submit it after one final review. “I’ve been waiting ... for this day,” Burciaga said. Jenna Lyons in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/4/18

Water  

Major water projects hit funding barriers as California questions value -- In a remote canyon tucked into the East Bay hills, the glassy waters of Los Vaqueros Reservoir were nearly brimming last week, a welcome sight in a winter that’s been desperately short on rain. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/4/18

Environment 

How Climate Change Could Impact Your Wine and Beer -- Beer fun fact: It takes about 11 gallons of water to produce the hops for a single pint of beer. And the nation’s hops supply is susceptible to drought and increased temperatures from climate change. As a fan of hoppy IPAs, that doesn’t sound too good. Ryan Levi KQED -- 2/4/18

Also . . . 

Winning $20 million SuperLotto Plus ticket purchased in Fontana -- A winning SuperLotto Plus jackpot ticket worth $20 million was purchased at Miss Donuts & Bagel, 9920 Sierra Ave., the California Lottery reported Saturday night. The winning numbers were 10, 29, 41, 45, 46, with an additional 10 as the Mega number. It wasn’t immediately known who purchased the winning ticket. Jim Steinberg in the San Bernardino Sun$ -- 2/4/18

Warren Buffett on hand as Navy commissions newest warship -- The U.S. Navy on Saturday commissioned its newest warship, the USS Omaha, a futuristic, $440 million vessel named for the Nebraska hometown of billionaire Warren Buffett, who was on hand for the ceremony. The Omaha, a 218-foot-long littoral combat ship, was commissioned at its new home port in San Diego. Associated Press Carl Prine in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 2/4/18

POTUS 45  

Trump: Nunes memo 'totally vindicates' me -- President Donald Trump said Saturday that the controversial memo written by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and other GOP lawmakers "totally vindicates" him — a judgment shared by few but his staunchest defenders. Brent D. Griffiths Politico -- 2/4/18

The President’s Unparalleled War on Law Enforcement -- President Trump’s assault on the nation’s law enforcement apparatus is unlike anything America has seen in modern times. It has raised fears that Mr. Trump is tearing at the credibility of some of the country’s most important institutions to save himself. Sharon LaFraniere, Katie Benner and Peter Baker in the New York Times$ -- 2/4/18

Beltway 

Inside the FBI: Anger, worry, work — and fears of lasting damage -- In the 109 years of the FBI’s existence, it has repeatedly come under fire for abuses of power, privacy or civil rights. From Red Scares to recording and threatening to expose the private conduct of Martin Luther King Jr. to benefiting from bulk surveillance in the digital age, the FBI is accustomed to intense criticism. What is so unusual about the current moment, say current and former law enforcement officials, is the source of the attacks. Devlin Barrett and Matt Zapotosky in the Washington Post$ -- 2/4/18

Paul Ryan Deletes Tweet Lauding a $1.50 Benefit From the New Tax Law -- Speaker Paul D. Ryan faced a backlash on Saturday after he pointed to a secretary’s $1.50 weekly increase in take-home pay as a sign of the Republican tax plan’s success. Emily Cochrane in the New York Times$ -- 2/4/18

 

-- Saturday Updates 

Battling treacherous office chairs and aching backs, aging cops and firefighters miss years of work and collect twice the pay -- When Capt. Tia Morris turned 50, after about three decades in the Los Angeles Police Department, she became eligible to retire with nearly 90% of her salary. But like many cops and firefighters in her position, the decision to keep working was a financial no-brainer, thanks to a program that allowed her to nearly double her pay by keeping her salary while also collecting her pension. Jack Dolan, Gus Garcia-Roberts and Ryan Menezes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/3/18

L.A. faces skyrocketing costs for lawsuits over bike crashes -- On a clear morning in Porter Ranch, a 62-year-old man riding his bicycle along Reseda Boulevard struck a ruptured piece of pavement pushed up by a tree root, crashed and broke his neck, and became a quadriplegic. Another cyclist suffered a brain injury when he struck a pothole and crashed in Sherman Oaks. A third died in Eagle Rock after hitting a patch of uneven pavement and flipping over his handlebars. Emily Alpert Reyes, Laura J. Nelson and Ben Poston in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/3/18

Nunes challenger seizes on FBI memo uproar -- It’s been a rough week for House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, the California Republican at the center of a Washington firestorm after crafting a memo alleging bias and misconduct at the FBI and Department of Justice. But for Andrew Janz, the congressman’s Democratic opponent, things have never been better. Carla Marinucci and David Siders Politico -- 2/3/18

Democrats hope to make Nunes an election target. But it’s a long shot -- Nunes’ district includes much of Fresno and Tulare counties, as well as part of the city of Fresno and all of Tulare, Clovis (Fresno County) and Visalia (Tulare County). Republicans hold a 43 percent to 33 percent registration advantage, and Nunes was re-elected in 2016 with better than two-thirds of the vote. John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/3/18

Prison company seeks to open center for federal felons near Sacramento homes, schools -- One of the nation’s largest operators of private prisons is seeking to open a day facility for released criminal offenders in south Sacramento, but several community members are objecting to the proposal because the location is near multiple schools and disadvantaged neighborhoods. Ryan Lillis in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/3/18

You'll need to book ahead to see Yosemite's famous firefall this year -- For two weeks in February each year, Horsetail Falls on the east side of El Capitan glows a fiery orange at sunset. The annual event has gained such popularity among camera-toting visitors – it's known to attract over 1,000 sightseers a year – Yosemite has instituted a new reservation system this year to quell traffic jams and pedestrian safety problems. Michelle Robertson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/3/18

Trump's border wall prototypes triggered 10,000 OT hours for 356 employees of the San Diego sheriff -- San Diego Sheriff’s Department deputies, fearing large-scale protests over the construction of President Donald Trump’s border wall prototypes last fall, logged more than 10,000 hours of overtime in a three-month period before and after project construction. Greg Moran in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 2/3/18

San Diego wants to be more welcoming to immigrants -- While the federal government remains in a stalemate over immigration, the city of San Diego took the first steps on Friday to create a strategic plan to better welcome and support new arrivals locally. Kate Morrissey in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/3/18

Lopez: There's only one fix for L.A.'s traffic nightmare — we all have to pay up -- Twenty-five years after the first modern subway train rolled into Los Angeles, traffic is horrible, billions of dollars are being invested in more public transit, and ridership has been declining for years. Robert Gatica, 24, offers a clue as to what's going on. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/3/18

The U.S. government is set to borrow nearly $1 trillion this year, an 84 percent jump from last year -- Treasury mainly attributed the increase to the “fiscal outlook.” The Congressional Budget Office was more blunt. In a report this week, the CBO said tax receipts are going to be lower because of the new tax law. Heather Long in the Washington Post$ -- 2/3/18