Updating . .
County Fire rages to consume 70,000 acres in three days -- Firefighters attempted to protect homes Tuesday as the relentless inferno scorching the hills of Yolo and Napa counties continued to grow, officials said. The County Fire grew to 70,000 acres by late Monday night and was only 5 percent contained, according to Cal Fire. Sarah Ravani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Mark Gomez in the San Jose Mercury$ Joseph Serna in the Los Angeles Times$ Molly Sullivan in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/3/18
Five things you probably never knew about California’s wildfires -- As California’s largest wildfire of the new season picked up steam on Tuesday morning, growing in size to now cover 70,000 acres with only 5 percent containment, crews dug in for their fourth day at the front lines. Patrick May in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/3/18
After 'wake-up call' from Supreme Court, California unions face tough political choices -- Last fall, the California Association of Psychiatric Technicians added a $6.50 monthly assessment for members for the duration of President Donald Trump's first term in office. Alexei Koseff in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/3/18
A historic election shock gives a longshot the chance to topple L.A. County Sheriff Jim McDonnell -- Few, if anyone, expected Alex Villanueva to make Los Angeles County election history. The part-owner of a CrossFit gym was taking on Sheriff Jim McDonnell, one of the area’s most powerful local law enforcement figures who was elected four years ago by a landslide. Maya Lau in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/3/18
Gas taxes, cage-free chickens and a chopped-up California top fall ballot -- California voters aren’t just picking a governor and U.S. senator this fall — they’ll also be making decisions on ballot measures that range from rolling back a gas-tax increase intended to pay for road improvements to specifying how much room agribusiness must provide for hens, pigs and calves. Melody Gutierrez in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Bryan Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/3/18
Narrowed world: Traffic and pricey housing conspire to shrink our sliver of ‘paradise’ -- With California’s problems of affordability and congestion, many of us are paying a higher price for an ever-shrinking sliver of California paradise. Even those lucky enough to be able to afford a home often do so at the expense of some of the quintessential perks of life in the Golden State. Meghan McCarty Carino, KPCC via Calmatters -- 7/3/18
Viral video of woman's arrest sparks anger; LAPD says it did the right thing -- A viral video of several Los Angeles police officers training their firearms on an unarmed woman drew fierce criticism online Monday, but investigators said the footage actually depicted the arrest of a dangerous kidnapping suspect. James Queally in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/3/18
Defendants in deadly Ghost Ship fire agree to six- and nine-year jail terms -- A year and a half after a fire blazed through an East Oakland warehouse party, killing 36 people, two men are expected to plead no contest Tuesday to involuntary manslaughter charges and accept county jail terms of six and nine years. Angela Ruggiero, Matthias Gafni in the East Bay Times -- 7/3/18
California Revives 100-Percent Carbon-Free Energy Bill -- California lawmakers have revived a long-stalled proposal to set a goal of generating 100 percent of the state's energy from carbon-free sources. Jonathan J. Cooper Associated Press -- 7/3/18
Google, Tesla, Apple, Facebook rake in massive subsidies: report -- Amazon’s search for a second headquarters has produced eye-popping revelations about the subsidies and other benefits cities across America are offering to a company worth some $820 billion. Ethan Baron in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/3/18
Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a potential Supreme Court nominee, has defended overturning precedents -- Judge Amy Coney Barrett, one of President Trump’s top candidates for the soon-to-be-open Supreme Court seat, has been unusually frank in her support for overturning precedents that are not in line with the Constitution. David G. Savage in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/3/18
Abcarian: Proving to the DMV that you can drive when you are 89 years old is not for the faint of heart -- Visiting the Department of Motor Vehicles is never a totally pleasurable experience; usually the most you can hope for is an absence of pain. But waiting for a test in Culver City recently felt like torture. Robin Abcarian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/3/18
Trump orders flags flown at half-staff to honor Capital Gazette victims -- President Trump issued a proclamation Tuesday ordering flags flown at half-staff at federal buildings to honor the five victims of the Capital Gazette shooting in Annapolis, Md., the White House said. The decision follows a request over the weekend by Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley, which he said was initially not granted. John Wagner in the Washington Post$ -- 7/3/18
Patriotic California? Well, sort of -- A financial advisory firm called WalletHub recently issued a study listing the states according to how patriotic they are. Care to guess where California wound up? With July 4 loomimg, we thought we’d take a look. We’re 44th out of the 50 states. Chuck McFadden Capitol Weekly -- 7/3/18
California Policy & Politics This Morning
County Fire continues to grow, now at least 60,000 acres -- The County Fire in Northern California continues to gain ground, having grown to 60,000 acres by 6:54 p.m. Monday, up from a reported size of 44,500 acres Monday morning, according to Cal Fire. Julia Sclafani and Cassie Dickman in the Sacramento Bee$ Kevin Fixler, Randi Rossmann in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- 7/3/18
California lawmakers may change utility wildfire liability -- California lawmakers may make it easier for utilities to reduce liability for wildfire damage as the state braces for more severe blazes in the face of climate change. The changes would apply only to future fires, not the ones that swept across California’s wine country last year -- the most devastating in state history. Kathleen Ronayne and Jonathan J. Cooper Associated Press -- 7/3/18
Gov. Jerry Brown, California lawmakers announce plans to address growing wildfire problem -- Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders on Monday announced plans to improve disaster preparedness and develop policies to better deal with the wildfires that are plaguing California, citing the historic fires that hit the state last year. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/3/18
Congressman denied entry to California detention facility for children under age 14 -- The cry of a child could be heard just inside the nondescript, brown detention facility in Pleasant Hill, California, a San Francisco suburb, and Rep. Jeff Denham wanted to see for himself what was inside. Kate Irby in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/3/18
Protesters blockade federal courthouse, drape banner from hotel; 10 arrested -- Organizers condemned plans to bring a fast-track sentencing system — known in other parts of the U.S. as Operation Streamline — to San Diego to more quickly prosecute illegal border crossing cases, which have increased dramatically under the Trump administration's zero tolerance policy. Kate Morrissey in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 7/3/18
White House launches extraordinary Twitter attack on Kamala Harris -- Sen. Kamala Harris and the Trump administration tangled Monday in a Twitter war prompted by her recent call for rethinking the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency “from the ground up,” as the official White House account launched extraordinary attacks on the first-term California senator and a Democratic colleague. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/3/18
‘Occupy’ movement comes to San Francisco office of ICE -- Demonstrators pitched five tents, a small pavilion and a section of chain-link fence with barbed wire outside San Francisco’s U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services office Monday night — the latest in a string of “Occupy ICE” protests throughout the country. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/3/18
Carlsbad rethinking response to demonstration -- City officials are reviewing the “lessons learned” after last-minute signs and an intimidating letter failed to stop about 400 people from gathering at Cannon Park on Saturday for a peaceful protest of the nation’s immigration policies. Phil Diehl in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 7/3/18
Gov. John Cox? He’ll need gas — and maybe immigration — to beat Newsom -- John Cox wouldn’t be the first underdog Republican to beat a heavily favored Democrat. Just look at who’s in the White House. But Cox’s path to California’s governor’s mansion relies on unforeseen events and what-ifs that are highly unlikely at best, say academic observers in sizing up Cox’s Nov. 6 matchup with Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom in the state’s gubernatorial race. Jeff Horseman in the Orange County Register -- 7/3/18
Yelp does not have to remove users’ posts, California Supreme Court says -- Yelp doesn’t have to take down a posting that a judge has found to be libelous — an angry client’s denunciation of a San Francisco lawyer and her firm — because federal law shields internet service providers from liability for statements posted by others, a divided California Supreme Court ruled Monday. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/3/18
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
Feces, blood, syringes at California Capitol: Workers unprepared for clean up, OSHA says -- California safety inspectors have issued nine citations and fined the Department of General Services for failing to adequately prepare groundskeepers asked to clean up needles and fecal matter in Capitol Park. Caitlin Chen in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/3/18
Teacher’s union declares impasse in talks with LAUSD -- Accusing the Los Angeles Unified School District of turning its back on public education, the union representing the district’s teachers declared an impasse in labor talks Monday and demanded the appointment of a state-appointed mediator. The item is in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 7/3/18
Facebook’s disclosures under scrutiny as federal agencies join probe of tech giant’s role in sharing data with Cambridge Analytica -- A federal investigation into Facebook’s sharing of data with political consultancy Cambridge Analytica has broadened to focus on the actions and statements of the tech giant and now involves multiple agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to people familiar with the official inquiries. Craig Timberg, Elizabeth Dwoskin, Matt Zapotosky and Devlin Barrett in the Washington Post$ -- 7/3/18
Farm labor contractor fined over late wages -- A Coachella Valley farm labor contractor was ordered to pay nearly $647,000 in back wages Monday to more than 1,300 farm workers who did not receive their final paychecks on time. Geoffrey Mohan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/3/18
Shouting CEO, changing rules: inside Tesla's Model 3-building sprint -- A tense and short-tempered Chief Executive Elon Musk barked at engineers on the Fremont, California assembly line. Tesla Inc pulled workers from other departments to keep pumping out the Model 3 electric sedans, disrupting production of the Model S and X lines. And weekend shifts were mandatory. Alexandria Sage, Salvador Rodriguez Reuters -- 7/3/18
GM Puts Pieces in Place for Robo-Taxis in San Francisco -- General Motors Co. has created its own ride-hailing platform and quietly built one of the largest charging stations in the U.S. to get its Cruise self-driving car unit ready to enter the robo-taxi business next year. David Welch, Mark Bergen and Noah Buhayar Bloomberg -- 7/3/18
Water
New Groundwater Woes, and Regulations, in California Wine Country -- California's premier wine-growing region has been targeted for more regulation under the state’s new groundwater law, likely resulting in new fees and limits on water extraction for the industry. Matt Weiser Water Deeply via KQED -- 7/3/18
Cannabis
Los Angeles kicks off long-delayed licensing for pot growers -- Los Angeles will kick off the process for licensing marijuana cultivators and manufacturers on Aug. 1, but it’s likely to be many months before any of those companies open their doors for business. Michael R. Blood Associated Press -- 7/3/18
First Drug Using Cannabis Compound Gets Federal Approval, But Will California Docs Be Able To Prescribe It? -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration just approved the first-ever drug containing cannabidiol, also known as CBD. It’s an ingredient derived from marijuana plants, but it isn’t psychoactive like THC. The new CBD drug is called Epidiolex, and it’s now approved to treat two rare forms of childhood-onset epilepsy — Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome. Sammy Caiola Capital Public Radio -- 7/3/18
Is your favorite dispensary out of marijuana? Blame this new state regulation -- A newly-enacted state ordinance regulating cannabis products has forced multiple area dispensaries to close while others make do with a limited selection. Sunday marked the end of California dispensaries' grace period before new restrictions on THC limits, packaging and labeling took effect. Benjy Egel in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/3/18
Education
UC Berkeley settles conservative students’ free-speech lawsuit -- The campus chapter of a national conservative group, Young Americans for Liberty, had accused UC Berkeley of violating its members’ free-speech rights and sued the University of California in federal court in December. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/3/18
Contract extension for L.A. Unified inspector general falls through -- A deal to extend the contract of Ken Bramlett, L.A. Unified's inspector general, has fallen through after Bramlett declined to sign the contract. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/3/18
Health
Two California families awarded $253 million in lawsuit against dialysis corporation -- The family of a Chowchilla man who said he died of a cardiac arrest after treatment at a DaVita Inc. dialysis clinic has been awarded $127 million in damages by a federal jury. Barbara Anderson in the Fresno Bee -- 7/3/18
Silver Lake Medical Center to pay $550,000 settlement in patient-dumping case, L.A. officials say -- Los Angeles authorities have settled another case against a healthcare facility accused of illegally dumping homeless patients — the eighth such case to be settled in the last five years. Alejandra Reyes-Velarde in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/3/18
Also . . .
Margarita-loving bear takes a dip in a California hot tub -- Mark Hough had barely taken a sip of his Friday afternoon margarita when he heard twigs snapping and leaves rustling in his lush Altadena, California, backyard. At first he brushed it off as the sounds of his neighbor pottering next door, but the noise grew louder. Alina Hartounian Associated Press -- 7/3/18
Tech’s ‘Dirty Secret’: The App Developers Sifting Through Your Gmail -- Google said a year ago it would stop its computers from scanning the inboxes of Gmail users for information to personalize advertisements, saying it wanted users to “remain confident that Google will keep privacy and security paramount.” Douglas MacMillan in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 7/3/18
POTUS 45
How Trump is changing the face of legal immigration -- As the national immigration debate swirls around the effort to discourage illegal immigration by separating families at the border, the Trump administration is making inroads into another longtime priority: reducing legal immigration. Abigail Hauslohner and Andrew Ba Tran in the Washington Post$ -- 7/3/18
Trump’s Ancestral Village Abounds With His Relatives. Few Admit a Link -- Herbert Trump did not want to talk about it. Neither did Ilse Trump. Ursula Trump, who runs the Trump bakery in the next village, eventually relented, palms upturned, and sighed: “You can’t choose your relatives, can you?” Katrin Bennhold in the New York Times$ -- 7/3/18
Beltway
Trump Has a Bill That Would Blow Up the WTO. It’s Called the U.S. FART Act --Donald Trump hates the status quo system of global trade, multilateral institutions, and constraints on his authority. Thus, the World Trade Organization (WTO) — a multilateral institution that structures global trade by constraining the authority of nation-states — is a natural nemesis for the economic-nationalist-in-chief. Eric Levitz New York Magazine -- 7/3/18
-- Monday Updates
County Fire ‘growing a lot faster’ than past blazes, blankets Bay Area in smoke -- The inferno scorching the hills of Yolo and Napa counties grew nearly 10,000 acres overnight — surpassing the size of San Francisco — and threatened over 100 homes as fire crews attempted to get a handle on the blaze, officials said. Sarah Ravani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Julia Sclafani in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/2/18
As County Fire rages, what's the risk from breathing? Here's air quality info for the region -- Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District issued a Smoke Alert extending from Monday through Saturday, including the Fourth of July. Eastward winds are expected to carry the most smoke into Esparto, Vacaville, Winters, Davis and Woodland, but all parts of Yolo County and northeast Solano County are expected to be affected. Jordan Cutler-Tietjen in the Sacramento Bee$ Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/2/18
San Francisco’s appalling street life repels residents — now it’s driven away a convention -- In a move that is alarming San Francisco’s biggest industry, a major medical association is pulling its annual convention out of the city — saying its members no longer feel safe. Matier & Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/2/18
Bottled water tab at a California prison has hit $46,000 a month -- California's corrections department is spending $46,000 a month to buy bottled water for inmates and staff at a prison in Tracy where it opened a state-of-the-art water treatment plant eight years ago. Adam Ashton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/2/18
LA Protesters Handcuffed After Blocking Immigration Facility -- Protesters who were blocking the entrance to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in downtown Los Angeles have been led away in handcuffs. A group of 17 protesters sat down in the street, blocking the entrance to the facility Monday morning. The group, which included faith and community leaders, locked arms and chanted, "Shut down ICE!" Associated Press -- 7/2/18
Harvey Weinstein is indicted again. The new charges could bring a life sentence -- Harvey Weinstein is facing new criminal charges. An indictment against the disgraced producer, revealed Monday, accuses him of sexually assaulting a woman and of committing a pattern of sex crimes. Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/2/18
Russia investigators likely got access to NRA's tax filings, secret donors -- For months, the National Rifle Association has had a stock answer to queries about an investigation into whether Russian money was funneled to the gun rights group to aid Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Greg Gordon and Peter Stone McClatchy DC -- 7/2/18
Fox: Weaponizing the Initiative Process -- Three ballot initiatives with enough signatures to qualify for the November election were pulled by the proponents when legislative deals were worked out satisfying the initiative sponsors. The initiatives were used as blunt instruments in forcing legislative compromise and in these three instances it worked. Expect to see more of that in the future. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 7/2/18