California Policy & Politics This Morning

In L.A., federal grant to combat extremism stirs up concerns about targeting Muslims -- Los Angeles lawmakers are wrestling with whether to accept a federal grant to counter extremism, a move that critics believe would lead to targeting Muslims. Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times$ Josie Huang KPCC -- 7/4/18

A 3-year-old was separated from his father at the border. Now his parents are dealing with his trauma -- In the living room of the one-bedroom Van Nuys apartment, the boy tried to explain, in the words of a 3-year old, what happened to his father. “Papá cae en piso,” he said, turning briefly from a game on his mother’s phone. Dad fell on the floor. Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/4/18

L.A. city and county officials expand legal aid for migrant children -- The Los Angeles City Council and county Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to allow a legal aid fund for immigrants to be used for the defense of migrant children separated from their parents under President Trump’s “zero-tolerance” border policy. Nina Agrawal and Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/4/18

A Day In The Life Of An LA Immigration Lawyer -- The Trump administration's shifting immigration policies are continuing to draw protests like the gathering of thousands in downtown Los Angeles over the weekend. But the changes in policy are also putting pressure on one particular profession: immigration lawyers. Emily Henderson LAist -- 7/4/18

Walters: Genteel extortion cancels three ballot measures -- California Penal Code Section 518 defines extortion as “the obtaining of property or other consideration from another, with his or her consent, or the obtaining of an official act of a public officer, induced by a wrongful use of force or fear, or under color of official right.” Dan Walters Calmatters -- 7/4/18

Newsom calls for ‘fundamental reforms’ for ICE -- Count California gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom as being in the “reform” but not the “abolish” camp when it comes to what should be done with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/4/18

Travis Allen’s big news: It’s not an endorsement of John Cox -- Orange County GOP Assemblyman Travis Allen, who finished a distant fourth in the June primary for California governor, promised for days that “a major announcement” was coming Tuesday. Typically, there’s only one major announcement a losing candidate can make, and that’s to endorse a winning candidate. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/4/18

Politifact CA: Pants On Fire: White House claim Sen. Kamala Harris ‘supporting MS-13’ -- The White House made an inflammatory attack on California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris this week, claiming on its official Twitter account that she is "supporting the animals of MS-13." Chris Nichols Politifact CA -- 7/4/18

Gov. Jerry Brown hints at new DNA testing in Kevin Cooper murder case -- Gov. Jerry Brown indicated Tuesday he was seriously considering ordering new DNA testing of evidence in four 1983 murders at the request of a condemned prisoner, who says the findings could clear him. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Mike Cruz in the Inland Daily Bulletin$ -- 7/4/18

L.A. City Council backs spending plan for $700-million office tower -- The Los Angeles City Council moved forward Tuesday with a construction and financing plan for a $708-million downtown office tower for city workers on the site of the Police Department’s former headquarters, Parker Center. Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/4/18

California Revives 100-Percent Carbon-Free Energy Bill -- California lawmakers on Tuesday revived a long-stalled proposal to set a goal of generating 100 percent of the state's energy from carbon-free sources. With other controversial and high-stakes energy legislation also moving forward, California lawmakers face an array of decisions with vast implications for the Western energy grid, the future of renewable power and consumers' electric bills. Jonathan J. Cooper Associated Press -- 7/4/18

Oakland Ghost Ship fire: Men plead no contest in deal with prosecutors -- Two men pleaded no contest Tuesday to involuntary manslaughter charges in the Oakland Ghost Ship fire case, averting what would have been a protracted, high-profile jury trial in favor of a deal with prosecutors. The no-contest pleas resulted in convictions on all 36 counts. Kimberly Veklerov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Paul Elias Associated Press -- 7/4/18

Preservationists call for historic status for Los Angeles Times buildings, threatening redevelopment plans -- Preservationists hope to secure city monument status for three historic Los Angeles Times buildings, which could hinder a plan to redevelop the downtown block where they stand. Roger Vincent in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/4/18

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions  

Lakers look to King James' golden marketing touch -- Like a Lakers’ fast break, the purple-and-gold marketing frenzy surrounding LeBron James already has taken off. James F. Peltz in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/4/18

WeWork, Elon Musk nonprofit bid for Fort Scott development in Presidio -- The nine teams competing to redevelop the historic Fort Winfield Scott campus in the Presidio include the World Economic Forum, the organizer of the annual conference in Switzerland for the global financial elite; OpenAI, a research venture backed by Elon Musk; and co-working space operator WeWork. Roland Li in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/4/18

Housing  

Could rent control be coming to San Diego? -- A statewide vote to allow more widespread rent control could have big implications for San Diego County if it passes. Phillip Molnar in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 7/4/18

Proposed San Diego law would prohibit landlord bias against people with federal housing vouchers -- Aiming to prevent discrimination against the poor and minorities in a tight housing market, San Diego is considering a new law that would prohibit landlords from rejecting tenants because Fthey use federal vouchers to help pay their rent. David Garrick in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 7/4/18

Transit 

L.A. will allow more dense development near five Expo Line stations -- The Los Angeles City Council approved plans Tuesday to allow taller residential and commercial buildings near five Expo Line stations on the Westside, setting a possible precedent for future decisions about development along the region’s growing Metro rail network. Laura J. Nelson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/4/18

Could driverless cars cause more congestion in urban cores? -- As the era of driverless cars looms, a new Boston-based study suggests the vehicles may increase traffic congestion in downtown areas as more people embrace ride-hailing services and abandon transit. Ashley Halsey III in the Washington Post$ -- 7/4/18

Water  

Meet the New Entity in Charge of California’s Water Tunnels Project -- California is about to embark on one of the biggest public works projects not just in its own state history, but in any state’s history. The $17 billion WaterFix tunnel project was approved by the state Department of Water Resources in June 2017 after a decade of study, and now moves into the nitty gritty of construction planning. Matt Weiser Water Deeply via KQED -- 7/4/18

Cannabis

Cannabis Businesses Describe 'Absolute Chaos' in Light of New State Rules -- Local business owners say the process for complying with the state's July 1 deadline for new regulations on testing, labeling, and packaging has been anything but smooth. Kathleen Richards in the East Bay Express -- 7/4/18

Education 

LA's schools are segregated. Can LAUSD do anything about it? -- The research is clear: children of all races learn better in integrated schools. Yet in more than half of the public schools in L.A., the student body is at least 90 percent black or Latino. Kyle Stokes KPCC -- 7/4/18

Trump administration rescinds Obama-era policies encouraging affirmative action and backs race-neutral school admissions -- The Trump administration on Tuesday rescinded Obama-era guidelines encouraging the use of race to determine admission to educational institutions, instead favoring a race-neutral policy that critics see as a move against affirmative action. Jaweed Kaleem in the Los Angeles Times$ Adam Harris The Atlantic -- 7/4/18

Immigration, Border, Deportation 

Anaheim nonprofit that serves immigrants, refugees seeks a new home -- Anaheim officials are on a short deadline to help Access California Services – a nonprofit group that serves immigrants, refugees and low-income families – find a new, bigger location. Alicia Robinson in the Orange County Register -- 7/4/18

Health 

California’s push to make people healthy—and save taxpayers money -- Diana Dooley may have led the largest agency in California’s government as secretary of health and human services for the past eight years, a job that led to her current post as Gov. Jerry Brown’s chief of staff—but she’s also a country gal from Hanford, in the Central Valley. David Gorn Calmatters -- 7/4/18

North County leaders say they fear impact of Tri-City psych unit closures -- One week after its board voted to shutter coastal North County’s only inpatient mental health facility, Tri-City Medical Center is getting some pushback from local leaders who say the alternatives should be identified before the plan moves forward. Paul Sisson in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 7/4/18

Obamacare Is Proving Hard to Kill -- As health insurers across the country begin filing their proposed rates for 2019, one thing is clear: The market created by the Affordable Care Act shows no signs of imminent collapse in spite of the continuing threats by Republicans to destroy it. Reed Abelson in the New York Times$ -- 7/4/18

Environment 

Surfrider says county's Tijuana River Valley Regional Park 'too dirty' for planned campground -- Environmental groups protested on Tuesday the county’s plan to upgrade the Tijuana River Valley Regional Park — a recreation area that’s located in a region routinely plagued by water pollution and flows of raw sewage. Joshua Emerson Smith in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 7/4/18

Heading to the American River this week? Here's where E. coli levels are high -- The latest tests of water samples near Tiscornia Beach, Discovery Park, Sutter's Landing Park and Steelhead Creek revealed E. coli levels that are higher than the standard set by the Environmental Protection Agency, said Adam Laputz, assistant executive director of the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board. Cynthia Hubert in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/4/18

Also . . . 

31,000 pounds of illegal fireworks confiscated in San Bernardino County resulting in more than $151,000 in fines -- Almost 31,000 pounds of illegal fireworks were confiscated and 121 citations totaling $151,250 in fines were written during a weekslong operation conducted by a multi-agency task force led by the San Bernardino County Fire Department. Brian Rokos in the San Bernardino Sun -- 7/4/18

POTUS 45  

Trump: Russia didn’t interfere in the election. GOP-led Senate panel: Yeah, it did -- A GOP-led Senate panel concluded on Tuesday that the US intelligence community’s 18-month-old conclusions about the 2016 presidential election — that Moscow meddled to hurt Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump— were “well supported.” Alex Ward Vox Martin Matishak Politico -- 7/4/18

In a Fox-Inspired Tweetstorm, Trump Offers a Medley of Falsehoods and Misstatements -- In the space of a few hours, President Trump on Tuesday took credit for averting a war with North Korea, charged without proof that President Barack Obama had secretly granted citizenship to thousands of Iranians as part of nuclear disarmament negotiations and appeared to suggest that customers of the motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson were psychic. Julie Hirschfeld Davis in the New York Times$ -- 7/4/18

Leading contender to be Trump’s Supreme Court pick faces questions from social conservatives -- An intensifying debate over Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, a front-runner in President Trump’s search for a Supreme Court nominee, gripped Republicans on Tuesday, with conservative critics highlighting past rulings and his links to GOP leaders while his allies — including inside the White House — forcefully defended him. Robert Costa and Josh Dawsey in the Washington Post$ -- 7/4/18

Trump biographer: Trump didn't write any of his books -- A biographer of President Trump hit back at Trump’s tweet touting himself as the author of “many best selling books,” saying that ghostwriters had written all of the president’s books. “President Trump didn’t write any of his books. Ghostwriters on all of them,” author Tim O’Brien tweeted Tuesday. Jacqueline Thomsen The Hill -- 7/4/18

Beltway 

New Supreme Court justice could weigh in on abortion quickly -- Legal experts agree that any abortion-related case that the justices accept could turn into a broader debate over Roe v. Wade. Jennifer Haberkorn Politico -- 7/4/18

The Supreme Court just quietly gutted antitrust law -- The decision was overshadowed by other blockbuster cases and the announcement of Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement, but the Supreme Court last week delivered the most significant antitrust opinion by the Court in more than a decade — one that made it extraordinarily more difficult for the government to rein in certain companies that abuse their market power. Lina Khan Vox -- 7/4/18

 

-- Tuesday Updates 

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