Updating . .
California slashes emissions, hits major greenhouse gas goal years early -- In a major win for California’s fight against global warming, the state appears to have hit its first target for cutting greenhouse gases — and it reached the goal four years early. David R. Baker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/11/18
From Bedroom to Garage, Trade War About to Invade Your Home -- Trump’s initial tariffs on $34 billion of Made-in-China goods, which took effect on July 6, stayed clear of popular household products. But as he looks to penalize nearly half of the $505 billion the U.S. imported from China last year, it’s getting harder to shield the public. Bruce Einhorn and Angus Whitley Bloomberg -- 7/11/18
Lopez: He handed water to homeless people when temps topped 100. Some Silver Lake neighbors jeered, others cheered -- It was hot beyond reason. Not Friday hot, when temperatures topped nuclear, but Saturday hot — 100 degrees and above. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/11/18
Protesters demand removal of Central Valley official who advocated 'straight pride' month -- A newspaper column in which a Central Valley city official advocated “straight pride” and derided men for wearing “tinker bell wings” and “go-go boots,” has sparked outrage and calls for his removal from office. Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/11/18
More campaign money could flow to California legislative leaders under new bill -- Special interests could put more money directly into the hands of California legislative leaders, giving them greater influence over campaigns, under a bill unveiled last week as lawmakers left Sacramento for summer recess. Taryn Luna in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/11/18
Big crowd at San Francisco Civic Center sees London Breed sworn in as new as mayor -- Civic Center Plaza was filled with thousands of onlookers this morning for the inauguration of London Breed as San Francisco’s 45th mayor. The ceremony began at 11 a.m. and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom swore Breed in at 11:43 a.m. Dominic Fracassa in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/11/18
Battle for House Control Runs Through California's Orange County -- A fierce battle over a handful of congressional seats in the Southern California bastion of Republicanism could determine both the GOP’s future in the state and the outcome of the national battle for control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Christopher Palmeri Bloomberg -- 7/11/18
Number of California freshmen admitted to top UC schools drops -- The University of California offered admission to more undergraduate students than ever before, yet the number of California freshmen admitted to some of the system’s most elite schools, including UCLA and UC Berkeley, dropped slightly. Emily DeRuy in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/11/18
UC opens doors to record number of Californians, led by growth in transfer students -- The University of California opened its doors to a record number of Californians for fall 2018, led by growth in transfer students from across the state, according to preliminary data released Wednesday. Teresa Watanabe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/11/18
Oversight officials vote to dissolve agency accused of delivering discolored water in Compton -- Authorities voted Wednesday to dissolve the troubled Sativa Los Angeles County Water District after customers in Compton and Willowbrook complained of foul drinking water. Angel Jennings, Ruben Vives in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/11/18
California needs more mental health professionals – and the shortage will get worse, experts say -- California is suffering a shortage of mental health professionals – and it's expected to get worse in the next decade. In 2013, California had a shortage of 336 psychiatrists, according to national projections from the Health Resources and Services Administration, cited by the state Governor’s Office. Hannah Holzer in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/11/18
Pender: Apple, Tesla, Salesforce add huge sums to soaring Bay Area property rolls -- The assessed value of all Bay Area property soared to $1.72 trillion in 2018-19, up 7.8 percent from last year despite wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in Sonoma and Napa counties. Kathleen Pender in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/11/18
A former Democratic presidential candidate is suing California. He wants GOP votes to count -- The 2016 presidential election is over, but debate surrounding the fairness of the Electoral College rages on — with one major twist. Bryan Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/11/18
Cal Fire: County fire caused by improperly installed electric fencing -- The County fire that has consumed 90,288 acres in Yolo and Napa counties was 86 percent contained Wednesday morning, Cal Fire said. The fire started on Highway 16 in Yolo County’s rural community of Guinda. Winds pushed it south, burning down into Napa County near Lake Berryessa. Hannah Beausang in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- 7/11/18
Klamathon Fire containment improves to 60 percent -- The Klamathon Fire was 60 percent contained Wednesday morning — up from 40 percent contained the previous day — and remained at 36,500 acres in Siskiyou County, according to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. Sarah Ravani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/11/18
Arrest made in brutal beating of 91-year-old man -- Authorities have arrested a woman alleged to be involved in the assault of a 91-year-old man on the Fourth of July. Detectives arrested Laquisha Jones at 10 p.m. Tuesday, near 60th Street and Crenshaw Avenue, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Jones, 30, was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/11/18
Amid crisis, voters will confront housing options -- As California rents and property values continue to rise, it should come as no surprise that three housing-related measures will face voters on the November ballot, targeting veterans’ home loans, local rent control and housing construction for the homeless. All are a direct result of California’s soaring costs. Jessica Hice Capitol Weekly -- 7/11/18
Fox: Three States Legal Challenge Faces Hurdles -- I’m not a fan of the Cal 3 States initiative filed by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Tim Draper and I’m not a legal scholar but I wonder if a court would reject a lawsuit filed to take the measure off the ballot before voters decide the question. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 7/11/18
California Policy & Politics This Morning
PG&E Customers to Foot the Bill for Wine Country Fire Costs, Under Revised Bill -- Pacific Gas & Electric wants its customers to pay for the costs of the October 2017 wildfires that tore through northern California, destroying more than 8,000 buildings and killing 44 people. Under legislation now at the state capitol, PG&E customers would be charged an involuntary fee to help the utility company pay off settlements stemming from pending wildfire lawsuits. Amel Ahmed KQED -- 7/11/18
A Multibillion-Dollar Question Brings Wall Street to Sacramento -- In January, a team of Citigroup Inc. analysts left the comforts of their New York high-rise for a pilgrimage to California. The group of 30, including some of the bank’s investor clients, scarfed down a box lunch in Citi’s San Francisco office and then hit the road in a chartered bus, bound for the dusty cowtown-turned California capital Sacramento. Mark Chediak Bloomberg -- 7/11/18
Southern California water agency agrees to spend $11 billion on Delta tunnels - again -- The vote by the board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California keeps the controversial $16.7 billion project moving forward, although plenty of hurdles remain before construction can begin, including numerous court challenges. Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee$ Bettina Boxall in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/11/18
Drugmakers cancel some price increases after California law takes effect -- A handful of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies are canceling or reducing some planned price increases in the United States after California enacted a new drug pricing transparency law and amid political pressure over rising costs for medications. Benjamin Elgin, Cynthia Koons, Robert Langreth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/11/18
Bankroller of California Privacy Law Warns Industry Might Gut It -- It took Alastair Mactaggart two years and more than $3 million of his own money to get a ground-breaking data privacy law passed in California. Now he expects to spend much of the next two years making sure the legislation survives until it takes effect in 2020. Ellen Huet Bloomberg -- 7/11/18
First Black Female to Become Mayor of San Francisco -- London Breed is set to make history when she takes the oath of office and becomes the first black female elected mayor of San Francisco. Breed, who will be sworn in Wednesday, succeeds Mayor Ed Lee. His unexpected death in December prompted a special June election to serve the remainder of his term. Janie Har Associated Press -- 7/11/18
Walters: A supermajority that hinges on one seat -- Democrats captured two-thirds “supermajorities” in both houses of the California Legislature in 2012, lost them in 2014, regained them in 2016 and lost them again this year when several Democrats resigned amid accusations of sexual harassment. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 7/11/18
Young California Mayor Sees Value in Paying Poor to Rise Up -- A $500 monthly check for low-income residents, cash stipends for men most likely to commit violent crimes and $1,000 college scholarships for public high school graduates. These are the bold initiatives 27-year-old Mayor Michael Tubbs is launching in Stockton, California, one of the state's most financially strapped and crime-ridden cities. Kathleen Ronayne Associated Press -- 7/11/18
Sanctuary state battle rages on in Placer County after court ruling upholds law -- A federal court ruling upholding California's controversial sanctuary state law hasn't quieted a debate on the state's immigration policies that is playing out in the Sacramento area. Emily Cadei in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/11/18
Monsanto on Trial: Federal and State Courts Hear Cancer Claims -- A San Francisco jury heard opening arguments this week in a landmark case pitting a terminally ill Bay Area man against chemical giant Monsanto. Separately, but in the same city, a judge on Tuesday ruled that hundreds of lawsuits, which had stalled in federal court, also targeting the company, could proceed. Amel Ahmed KQED -- 7/11/18
Here’s how fast California’s elderly population is growing and where -- California tops the nation in people 60 and older and they increased by 1.5 million in the last five years from 6.71 million in 2013 to 8.22 million in 2018. Kurt Snibbe in the Orange County Register -- 7/11/18
Here's Why The Power Grid Had An Epic Fail This Weekend -- Been sweating bullets? More than 90,000 people lost power in greater Los Angeles during this weekend's heat wave. And as of Tuesday morning, the LAWDP said about 700 still didn't have it back. Wondering what happened? Here you go: Emily Guerin LAist -- 7/11/18
Should California Restrict The Felony Murder Rule? -- Several hundred people are estimated to be serving time in California prisons for murder even though they did not personally kill anyone. Marissa Cabrera, Maureen Cavanaugh KPBS -- 7/11/18
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
Daimler Embarks on Self-Driving Race With San Francisco Shuttles -- Daimler AG plans to offer autonomous shuttles on public roads in California from next year, adding momentum to the global race for self-driving vehicles with technology giants like Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo and rival BMW AG. Leonard Kehnscherper Bloomberg -- 7/11/18
Facebook to be fined £500,000 in Cambridge Analytica data scandal -- The social networking giant hit with its first penalty for data privacy violations, and many other probes are still under way. Mark Scott Politico Tony Romm and Elizabeth Dwoskin in the Washington Post$ -- 7/11/18
Google to Face Multibillion-Euro European Union Antitrust Fine -- The European Union’s antitrust watchdog is expected to find Alphabet Inc.’s GOOGL -0.01% Google illegally abused the dominance of its Android operating system for mobile phones, issuing a multibillion-euro fine and ordering changes to the company’s Android-related business practices, people familiar with the matter said. Valentina Pop and Sam Schechner in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 7/11/18
LA adopts new rules for banks wanting to hold the city's money -- After Wells Fargo was caught opening millions of accounts without consent from consumers, in part due to aggressive employee sales goals, Los Angeles officials began looking for another bank. David Wagner KPCC -- 7/11/18
Labor Shortage And Other Risks Confront San Diego Farmers -- Most farm-workers in San Diego County are residents who don't follow crops from farm to farm. But these workers are aging out, said Eric Larson, executive director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau, and he sees no appetite in Washington to address the problem with immigration reform or a guest-worker program. Maureen Cavanaugh, Pat Finn KPBS -- 7/11/18
Taxes, Fees, Rates, Tolls, Bonds
What happens to California road repairs if voters repeal the gas tax increase? -- The California Department of Transportation and local agencies say they would try to finish all active projects, but projects that haven’t started construction would have to be canceled, downsized or delayed indefinitely. Caitlin Chen in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/11/18
Homeless
Chargers headquarters, closed library eyed as possible sites for homeless property storage -- The old downtown library, the former headquarters for the San Diego Chargers and the rarely used Golden Hall are among buildings San Diego City Council members discussed Tuesday as possible sites for a new storage center that could be used by homeless people. Gary Warth in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 7/11/18
Transit
Bicycle Path for Richmond-San Rafael Bridge May Be Used for Cars -- Months before a planned bikeway on the upper level of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge is scheduled to open, Bay Area transit officials and Marin County politicians are talking about taking the separated bike lane away during peak demand periods. Alastair Bland in the East Bay Express -- 7/11/18
Water
On the Yuba River, Climate Change Means It’s Time for a Dam Makeover -- Yuba River floods have killed people – notably in 1955, 1986 and 1997 – and climate change is making such floods more likely. As the atmosphere warms, more winter precipitation falls as rain rather than snow. This boosts the amount of runoff coursing downhill in any given storm. Matt Weiser Water Deeply via KQED -- 7/11/18
Cannabis
California pot shops scramble to refill stash with lab-tested weed under new regulations -- Nicholas Hughes used to sell a cannabis treat fit for a king: The Elvis, a chocolate cookie infused with 1,000 milligrams of mind-altering THC – 100 times what is now the per-serving dosage limit in California. Amy DiPierro in the Desert Sun$ -- 7/11/18
Riverside permanently bans marijuana dispensaries, outdoor growing -- No marijuana dispensaries, no commercial marijuana cultivation and no outdoor growing of marijuana will be allowed in Riverside, the City Council decided Tuesday, July 10. The permanent ban is set to go into effect Aug. 24, about two weeks before the city’s temporary moratorium with similar prohibitions expires. Ryan Hagen in the Riverside Press Enterprise$ -- 7/11/18
Education
Native American tribes clash with UC over bones of their ancestors -- As tribal archaeologist for the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, Myra Masiel uses her UC Berkeley anthropology training daily. Her mission: track down skeletons of Native Californians extracted from gravesites over the last two centuries and shipped off to museums around the world, and return them to the tribe’s ancestral land near Temecula so they can be reburied with dignity. Felicia Mello Calmatters -- 7/11/18
Immigration, Border, Deportation
Child Faces Immigration Judge Without Her Parents In San Diego -- A five-year-old Guatemalan girl, Dailin Lopez, was listening to a court translator relay the messages of an immigration judge through headphones when she broke down sobbing. Her 24-year-old father, Noe Lopez, had been told he could not participate in her hearing. But when Dailin became inconsolable, the judge requested that Lopez be brought in to soothe her. Jean Guerrero KPBS -- 7/11/18
'They thought they'd die': Ice shackled women for hours in hot van, suit says -- Immigration authorities in California shackled nine women in a hot windowless van for hours, causing them to struggle for breath, faint and vomit, according to a new lawsuit that details claims of extreme suffering during a day-long journey last year. Sam Levin The Guardian -- 7/11/18
'You don’t love me anymore?': A son is separated from his father at the border, then comes a wrenching call -- On the day the government rushed to reunite dozens of families separated at the border, one immigrant father showed up to a federal appointment downtown fearful that he would be deported without his 6-year-old son. Esmeralda Bermudez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/11/18
Racial resentment is the biggest predictor of immigration attitudes, study finds -- White Americans’ negative attitudes toward immigrants are driven overwhelmingly by racial prejudices, not “economic anxiety,” according to a working paper by political scientist Steven V. Miller of Clemson University. Christopher Ingraham in the Washington Post$ -- 7/11/18
Government Told Immigrant Parents to Pay for DNA Tests to Be Reunited With Kids: Advocate -- Authorities separated families and took their documents, leaving genetic tests as the only way to verify who they are. And a secret contractor is doing the work. Justin Glawe, Adam Rawnsley The Daily Beast -- 7/11/18
Health
Trump Officials Slash Grants That Help Consumers Get Obamacare -- The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it was slashing grants to nonprofit organizations that help people obtain health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, the latest step in an escalating attack on the law that threatens to destabilize its insurance markets. Robert Pear in the New York Times$ -- 7/11/18
Hiltzik: In another act of sabotage, Trump slashes Obamacare outreach funding to the bone -- President Trump’s devoted Affordable Care Act saboteurs took another swipe at the program late Tuesday, slashing funds for outreach programs to a bare $10 million for 2019. Michael Hiltzik in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/11/18
Environment
Court rejects environmentalists’ lawsuit to drain Hetch Hetchy Reservoir -- A California appeals court has rejected a long-running attempt by environmentalists to drain Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park, a linchpin of the water supply for 2.6 million Bay Area residents. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/11/18
Also . . .
L.A. County officials approve $3.5 million in payouts over law enforcement misconduct -- The lawsuits were over the shooting of a mentally ill man by sheriff’s deputies and the sexual assault against a female teenager by a probation officer. Nina Agrawal in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/11/18
Alameda County Leads Region in Civil Rights Payouts -- There have been $15.5 million in civil rights settlements and judgments involving the sheriff's office over the last three years. Scott Morris in the East Bay Express -- 7/11/18
Woman suing United says she was groped, tormented on San Francisco-bound flight -- A Colorado woman is suing United Airlines, claiming she was sexually assaulted on a flight from Hong Kong to San Francisco in the summer of 2016, court documents indicate. Filipa Ioannou in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/11/18
POTUS 45
Trump Falsely Claims It’s ‘Impossible’ for American Farmers to Do Business in Europe -- Mr. Trump’s suggestion that it is “impossible” for American farmers to sell their products to the European Union is wrong. In fact, the 28 countries of the European Union are the United States’ fifth-largest export market for agricultural goods, like tree nuts and soybeans, totaling $11.5 billion in 2017, according to the Department of Agriculture. Linda Qiu in the New York Times$ -- 7/11/18
Beltway
Democrats' Senate dream slips away -- To win the Senate, Democrats need to keep all 10 seats they're defending in states that President Trump won in 2016 — plus pick up two more seats. That's not happening. A new Axios/SurveyMonkey poll of key states shows Dems would lose three of those red-state seats while picking up two GOP seats — still short of the majority. Alexi McCammond Axios -- 7/11/18
Democrats hope Obamacare fears will derail Kavanaugh as White House moves to soften his image -- As President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, made the rounds Tuesday on Capitol Hill, early contours of what is likely to be a bitter confirmation battle began to take shape. Sarah D. Wire, Noah Bierman in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/11/18
Congress has no plan to end immigrant child separation, says guidance needed -- Congress appears to be kicking the can on a fix to the separation of immigrant families, even as the federal government admits it will not be able to reunite separated immigrant children under age 5 with their parents by a court-imposed deadline Tuesday. Kate Irby McClatchy DC -- 7/11/18
-- Tuesday Updates
After decades of problems, new allegations surface of a secret clique within L.A. County Sheriff's Department -- For decades, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has struggled to combat secretive cliques of deputies who bonded over aggressive, often violent police work and branded themselves with matching tattoos. Maya Lau, Joel Rubin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/10/18
Why California’s fire season is off to the worst start in 10 years -- The reason behind this year’s ominous early trend is something many Californians thought was behind them: the 2012-2017 drought. The relentless drought, the most severe at any time since California became a state in 1850, ended with drenching rains in the winter of 2016-2017. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/10/18
Judge: Experts Can Testify That Roundup Linked to Cancer -- A U.S. judge in San Francisco says evidence seems weak that Roundup weed killer causes cancer, but experts can still make that claim at trial. Associated Press -- 7/10/18
Hate crimes rise in California for third straight year, state report says -- There were 1,093 reported hate crimes in California in 2017, a 17.4% increase, according to a report released Monday by the California attorney general’s office. Hate crimes have increased annually since 2014, jumping roughly 44% in that three-year span, records show. James Queally in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/10/18
Judge Who Denied Trump Policy Known for Immigration Rulings -- The Trump administration's effort to detain migrant families together for long terms collided with a formidable obstacle in a Los Angeles judge. Brian Melley Associated Press -- 7/10/18
Contra Costa severing contract for jailing immigration detainees in Richmond -- Contra Costa County will sever a contract to house immigration detainees in its West County Detention Facility in Richmond after months of protests, according to immigration officials who were informed of the decision this week. Hamed Aleaziz in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/10/18
Bay Area economy growing nearly twice as fast as rest of U.S. -- Were it a country, the Bay Area’s economy would be larger than Saudi Arabia’s, getting rich from its residents’ minds rather than minerals pumped from the ground, according to a new report. Roland Li in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/10/18
“Immense growth” makes the Bay Area the world’s 19th-largest economy, if it were a nation -- If the Bay Area happened to be its own independent nation, it would command the 19th-largest economy in the world, according to the Bay Area Council’s Economic Institute. And the nine-county region’s dynamic economy is still surging, the Economic Institute states. George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/10/18
L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services employee charged with distributing child pornography -- Carlos Enrique Castillo, 54, faces five felony counts of distributing child pornography and one felony count of possession of over 600 images of child or youth pornography, according to the criminal complaint. Castillo pleaded not guilty on Tuesday. Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/10/18
Newport Beach sues to halt what city calls a marijuana dispensary at Church of the Holy Grail -- Newport Beach officials are asking an Orange County Superior Court judge to block an operation that identifies itself as a church but the city says is a marijuana dispensary violating local law. Hannah Fry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/10/18
Lawsuit Aims to Get Effort to Split up California off Ballot -- Opponents of an initiative to split California into three states asked the state Supreme Court to pull the measure from the ballot, arguing it's too drastic a change to state government to go through the normal initiative process. Sophia Bollag Associated Press -- 7/10/18
Pressure builds to change how California measures student progress on state tests -- A group of education professors and dozens of student advocacy groups are urging California education officials to switch to a method that most states use to rate student progress on standardized tests. They say it will more accurately measure and compare schools’ performance than what they see as the flawed system the state uses now. John Fensterwald, Mikhail Zinshteyn EdSource -- 7/10/18
California and New York City: We’ll buy more electric cars. How about you? -- A coalition of states, cities and businesses determined to fight climate change announced a campaign Tuesday to buy more zero-emission vehicles for their own fleets and convince others to do the same. David R. Baker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/10/18