California Policy & Politics This Morning
California fires bring upheaval to utilities as they face massive liabilities -- The worst fires in recorded California history promise to reshape the state’s utilities as Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison face billions of dollars in potential liabilities and growing calls to overhaul their systems to better prevent wildfires. Matt Stiles in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/17/18
Trump talks about thinning forests as he lands in California to tour Camp Fire devastation -- President Donald Trump landed in Northern California Saturday to tour the damage wrought by the state’s worst-ever wildfire, vowing to press his argument that the state’s forests must be managed more aggressively to prevent future disasters. Alexei Koseff and Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/17/18
Fire deaths rise to 71 ahead of Trump’s California visit -- With the confirmed death toll at 71 and the list of unaccounted for people more than 1,000, authorities in Northern California on Friday searched for those who perished and those who survived the fiercest of wildfires ahead of a planned visit by President Donald Trump. Kathleen Ronayne and Sudhin Thanawala Associated Press Nicole Santa Cruz, Joseph Serna, Dakota Smith and Javier Panzar in the Los Angeles Times Tony Bizjak, Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks, Ryan Lillis, Alexei Koseff and Theresa Clift in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/17/18
The mystery Camp Fire ‘second start’: Was it captured on firewatch camera? -- Firefighter radio transmissions indicate that a possible “second start” of the Camp Fire was caught on a firewatch camera near the Concow reservoir, about a half-hour after the first flames were reported about five miles northeast near Poe Dam and Pulga. Matthias Gafni in the San Jose Mercury -- 11/17/18
California fire: If you stay, you’re dead. How a Paradise nursing home evacuated -- How do you evacuate a nursing home when the deadliest wildfire in California history is bearing down and there are 91 men and women to move to safety — patients in need of walkers or wheelchairs or confined to hospital beds, suffering from dementia, recovering from strokes? The fire is coming fast. Help is not. Maria L. La Ganga in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/17/18
Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom will join President Trump for California wildfire visit -- Both Brown and Newsom have been highly critical of Trump’s policies on the environment and immigration. But in a joint statement, they said they “welcome the President’s visit to California and are grateful for the quick response to our aid requests.” “Now is a time to pull together for the people of California,” Brown and Newsom said. Alexei Koseff in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/17/18
Trump and Brown vow to work together to help California after devastating wildfires -- President Trump and Gov. Jerry Brown are pledging the work together to help California in the wake of devastating wildfires, with the president scheduled to tour burn areas Saturday. The item is in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/17/18
Number of missing hard to peg in deadly California wildfire -- More than 1,000 people are unaccounted for after a deadly Northern California wildfire, but authorities warned Friday that the roster is fluid and contains “raw data,” including the names of people who are safe. Janie Har Associated Press -- 11/17/18
Cal-Stanford Big Game postponed because of wildfire smoke -- The annual Big Game between Stanford and California scheduled for Saturday was postponed two weeks because of the unhealthy air quality in the Bay Area from a wildfire some 150 miles to the north. Cal announced Friday that the game would be played Dec. 1 with a noon kickoff at Memorial Stadium. Janie McCauley Associated Press -- 11/17/18
Retired Chico police chief, school principal sue PG&E over Camp Fire -- The fire destroyed the couple’s home in the southern edge of the town of Paradise. They are alleging the utility’s negligent operation and maintenance of its power lines caused the Camp Fire, which has become the state’s deadliest and most destructive wildfire ever. Andre Byik in the Chico Enterprise-Record -- 11/17/18
Lopez: It wasn’t just the rich who lost homes in the Malibu area. Is fire California’s great equalizer? -- In the same week, millionaires, celebrities and fixed-income pensioners have all lost homes to fire in California. Miley Cyrus, Neil Young and Gerard Butler now own ashes in Malibu. Up north, people we never heard of lost homes, and lives, in Paradise. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/17/18
RIP, California GOP: Republicans lash out after midterm election debacle -- ‘There is no message. There is no messenger. There is no money. And there is no infrastructure,' says one top Republican. Carla Marinucci Politico -- 11/17/18
Going, going ... with midterm wipeout, California Republican Party drifts closer to irrelevance -- For a party in freefall the last two decades, California Republicans learned that it's possible to plunge even further. The GOP not only lost every statewide office in the midterm election — again, in blowout fashion — but Democrats reestablished their supermajority in Sacramento, allowing them to legislate however they see fit. Mark Z. Barabak and Michael Finnegan in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/17/18
Lara wins for state insurance commissioner—another loss for California right-of-center candidates -- Adding insult to the debilitating injury California’s Republican Party sustained on Election Day, Democratic state Sen. Ricardo Lara has beaten Republican-turned-political independent Steve Poizner to become the the state’s next insurance commissioner. Ben Christopher Calmatters -- 11/17/18
Bay Area's Lone Republican Legislator Is Defeated in Tri-Valley Assembly Race -- The Bay Area’s last remaining Republican legislator has been defeated. Republican Catharine Baker, R-Dublin, emailed her supporters on Friday to announce she was conceding the race to Democrat Rebecca Bauer-Kahan. Guy Marzorati KQED -- 11/17/18
L.A. district attorney probes potential straw donors to Sheriff's candidate Alex Villanueva -- For several weeks, close observers of the hotly contested sheriff’s election have zoomed in on a series of donations to Villanueva’s campaign from employees of a company owned by a supporter of Villanueva’s. Risling did not confirm that those donations are the subject of the review. Maya Lau, Adam Elmahrek and James Queally in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/17/18
Alex Villanueva's momentum continues in bid to replace Jim McDonnell as L.A. County sheriff -- In the latest vote tally by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, Villanueva is now ahead by nearly 58,000 votes, with nearly 423,000 ballots left to be counted in a race that will be decided on provisional, conditional, miscellaneous and late absentee votes. Villanueva had 51.3% of the vote compared with McDonnell’s 48.7%. Maya Lau in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/17/18
Congresswoman-elect Katie Porter says she will support Rep. Nancy Pelosi for speaker -- Porter, a law professor at UC Irvine, defeated two-term Republican Rep. Mimi Walters. The 45th District, covering inland Orange County, has never been represented by a Democrat. Maya Sweedler in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/17/18
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
Ski season underway at Tahoe resorts, where wildfire smoke is nowhere to be found -- Heavenly, Northstar and Squaw Valley all open their slopes Friday, and Kirkwood will open Wednesday, conditions permitting. Michael McGough in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/17/18
H-1B spouses: Eshoo, Lofgren introduce bill to protect work authorizations -- Two Bay Area congresswomen introduced a bill Friday that would protect thousands of Silicon Valley immigrants from a Trump administration move to strip their right to work. The bill, written by Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, and Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, would prevent the administration from revoking an Obama-era rule giving work authorization to certain spouses of H-1B visa holders. Casey Tolan in the San Jose Mercury -- 11/17/18
Homeless
Big city mayors to California lawmakers on homelessness: Go bold -- The mayors of Los Angeles, San Diego, Oakland and Sacramento called for bold state action to help the more than 130,000 Californians who are homeless, urging Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom to revive a controversial funding source for affordable housing and make it easier for cities to build shelters. Matt Levin Calmatters -- 11/17/18
San Francisco tests new approach to homeless addicts -- So far they’ve gotten 109 addicts off the streets and into homeless shelters, drug rehabilitation centers, sobering respite beds, hospitals and a range of other places where people ensnared by heroin or other hard drugs can fight for a second chance at life. Kevin Fagan in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/17/18
Immigration, Border, Deportation
Migrants won’t see armed US soldiers on border -- Instead they will see cranes installing towering panels of metal bars and troops wrapping concertina wire around barriers while military helicopters fly overhead, carrying border patrol agents to and from locations along the U.S.-Mexico border. Julie Watson Associated Press -- 11/17/18
Not the warmest of welcomes as migrant caravan arrives in Tijuana -- After traveling nearly 3,000 miles, enduring sweltering heat, tropical downpours, chilly evenings and endless stretches of mountains and desert during more than a month on the road, Ana Lidia Cruz acknowledged being somewhat deflated upon her arrival to this sprawling border city. Patrick J. McDonnell in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/17/18
Guns
As Doctor Debate With NRA Flares, New Study Sheds Light On California Background Check Policy -- Last week, representatives from the National Rifle Association told doctors who were advocating for gun safety to “stay in their own lane” when it comes to policy. Physicians quickly fought back on Twitter, arguing firearm violence is a public health issue. Under the hashtag #ThisISMyLane, they shared stories about mass violence victims, patients shot in gang crossfire and children killed while playing with guns. Sammy Caiola Capital Public Radio -- 11/17/18
Environment
Northern California fire brings worst air quality in the world to residents hundreds of miles away -- Smoke from the Camp fire — California’s deadliest wildfire in recorded history — has poured into communities hundreds of miles away, filling the sky with dangerous particles, grayish hues and a bitter odor. The smoke has also dropped temperatures as much as 10 degrees because the haze is blotting out the sun. It also has led to dangerous and unhealthy air quality. Melissa Etehad and Phil Willon in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/17/18
Camp Fire smoke forces Sacramento State to cancel all classes through Thanksgiving -- Sacramento State has not held classes since Friday, Nov. 9, the day after the Camp Fire began in rural Butte County. The academic schedule won’t be extended to make up for lost time, according to a university fact sheet. Benjy Egel in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/17/18
Also . . .
Lawsuit: Rohnert Park, Hopland Police Conspired to Steal Cannabis and Cash on Highway 101 -- A Texas man is suing the City of Rohnert Park and the Hopland Band of Pomo Indians, alleging police officers from both jurisdictions violated his civil rights during a Dec. 5, 2017, traffic stop on Highway 101 in Mendocino County. The lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court for California’s Northern District, alleges three police officers conspired to pull Zeke Flatten over, steal 3 pounds of marijuana from him and then sell it for their own personal gain. Sukey Lewis KQED -- 11/17/18
California inmate confesses to being serial killer, involvement in more than 90 deaths -- A man convicted of three California murders and long suspected in numerous other deaths now claims he was involved in about 90 killings nationwide spanning nearly four decades, and investigators already have corroborated about a third of those, a Texas prosecutor said Thursday. Associated Press via the Los Angeles Times -- 11/17/18
Member of Sac State faculty among two killed in plane crash near Redding -- One of the two people killed in the crash was Sacramento State nursing faculty Clay Abajian, according to social media posts from university president Robert Nelsen and the school’s nursing department. Nelsen said in a tweet Abajian was volunteering for an Angel Flight on Thursday. Claire Morgan in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/17/18
Cyclists’ dream of crossing Bay Bridge moves forward on slow, pricey roll -- The dream of riding a bicycle across the wind-beaten, 4.5-mile span of the Bay Bridge is inching closer to reality, as engineers roll out designs and advocates scramble to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in funding by 2022. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/17/18
POTUS 45
Trump actually admitted a mistake — mostly -- resident Trump on Friday made the rare step of admitting to a mistake — sort of. In an interview with “Fox News Sunday,” which will air this weekend but portions of which were released on Friday, Trump acknowledged that he “should have” visited Arlington National Cemetery for Veterans Day ceremonies on Monday, after returning from France the night before. Aaron Blake in the Washington Post -- 11/17/18
Trump plans to nominate Andrew Wheeler, former coal lobbyist, as EPA chief -- President Trump said Friday that he intends to nominate former industry lobbyist Andrew Wheeler as the Environmental Protection Agency’s next administrator, a move that would ensure a continued deregulatory push at the agency. Brady Dennis and Juliet Eilperin in the Washington Post -- 11/17/18
-- Friday Updates
California fires: Death toll in Paradise rises to 71; more than 1,000 unaccounted for -- The number of missing rose by nearly 400 since Thursday night. But officials said that there might be duplications on the list and that some of those listed might be alive but simply have not checked in with the people who reported them missing. The remains of eight additional people were found Friday. Javier Panzar and Joseph Serna in the Los Angeles Times Evan Sernoffsky in the San Francisco Chronicle Kathleen Ronayne and Sudhin Thanawala Associated Press Robert Salonga and Ethan Baron in the San Jose Mercury -- 11/16/18
Democrat defeats independent for California insurance czar -- Democratic state Sen. Ricardo Lara has defeated Republican-turned-independent Steve Poizner to become the state’s next insurance commissioner, according to new vote totals Friday. Don Thompson Associated Press -- 11/16/18
California voter turnout sets recent record for a midterm -- Preliminary projections Friday show nearly two-thirds of California registered voters cast ballots in last week’s election, a recent record for a non-presidential general election. County officials estimate that about 12.8 million ballots were cast by the record 19.7 million Californians who registered to vote. Sophia Bollag Associated Press -- 11/16/18
For California fire victims, it will be a long, tough road to rebuild -- Construction workers are in short supply. The costs of some materials are rising, thanks in part to President Trump’s trade war. “The individual homeowner just has a nightmare ahead,” said John Mulville, Southern California regional director for real estate research firm Metrostudy. Andrew Khouri in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/16/18
Power lines keep sparking wildfires. Why don’t California utility companies bury them? -- In fire-scarred California communities, that question is being posed, often angrily, as evidence mounts that the state’s traditional overhead electrical power grid is at times a liability, culpable for starting some of the state’s biggest blazes. Tony Bizjak, Sophia Bollag and Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/16/18
What prompted Trump’s trip to California wildfire sites -- The White House announced Thursday that President Donald Trump will travel to Northern California for the first time during his presidency on Saturday, and California Rep. Doug LaMalfa says it’s because of him. Kate Irby in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/16/18
Politifact CA: Examining Jerry Brown’s veto of California wildfire legislation and the criticism of it -- As deadly wildfires burned across California this week, a flurry of social media and blog posts called into question Gov. Jerry Brown’s veto of a wildfire management bill two years ago. The posts suggested the legislation could have reduced or even prevented the recent infernos — a contention strongly refuted by the Brown administration. Chris Nichols Politifact CA -- 11/16/18
Now Living Side By Side, Camp Fire Evacuees And Homeless Chico Residents Receive Aid -- It's been a week since the Camp Fire forced 52,000 people in Butte County into some phase of homelessness. Many of the people who got out ahead of the fire now find themselves in Chico living next to people who were already homeless. Now both groups are being helped. Bob Moffitt Capital Public Radio -- 11/16/18
Noxious air from Camp Fire chokes Bay Area as residents hunker down -- Early morning air quality reports for the North Bay, San Francisco and Oakland showed pollution has risen to the purple category, which denotes “very unhealthy” levels. Fine particles from wildfire smoke are considered hazardous to anyone, regardless of medical condition, as they can enter the lungs and irritate respiratory systems. Evan Sernoffsky and Gwendolyn Wu in the San Francisco Chronicle Alejandra Reyes-Velarde and Alene Tchekmedyian in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/16/18
California fires: How to measure smoke in your neighborhood -- After a week of unhealthy air across the Bay Area, the Sacramento Valley and much of California, schools and universities are closing, sporting events have been cancelled, people are rushing to buy face masks, and the relentless thick, choking smoke has turned scenic views into murky haze. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury -- 11/16/18
California’s hunt for political relevance -- On election night, California’s closely watched congressional races, viewed as crucial to Democrats’ attempts to capture the House, were largely irrelevant, after all. Democrats needed to pick up 23 seats nationally to reach a House majority and they got 26 before Golden State voters even weighed in — far short of the number predicted by numerous campaign strategists but still enough to give Democrats control. John Howard Capitol Weekly -- 11/16/18
After a month on the road, hundreds of caravan travelers find they’re unwelcome in Tijuana -- After traveling nearly 3,000 miles, enduring sweltering heat, tropical downpours, chilly evenings and endless stretches of mountains and desert during more than a month on the road, Ana Lidia Cruz acknowledged being somewhat deflated upon her arrival to this sprawling border city. Patrick J. McDonnell in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/16/18
Pelosi rolls out LGBT support in House speaker race -- House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi unveiled the support of more than 100 LGBT leaders and advocates Friday as she intensified her campaign to reclaim the speaker’s gavel. Tal Kopan in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/16/18
Justice Department says president can deny asylum to those who entered U.S. at wrong places -- Federal law allows undocumented immigrants in the United States to apply for political asylum no matter where they entered the country. But government lawyers told a federal judge in San Francisco on Thursday that President Trump has the power to deny asylum to the thousands who crossed the southern border at the wrong places — anywhere besides the designated, overcrowded ports of entry. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/16/18
200-bed homeless shelter opens in Santa Ana -- A 200-bed temporary homeless shelter opened Thursday in Santa Ana as part of an ongoing legal dispute launched by homeless advocates against several Orange County cities. The Link will house homeless men, women and families and provide various support services to connect them with permanent housing. Ben Brazil in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/16/18
California gains jobs, and unemployment stays at a record-low 4.1% -- California’s record-low unemployment rate held steady in October at 4.1% — the lowest rate in more than four decades — as payrolls grew, according to data the state Employment Development Department released Friday. Margot Roosevelt in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/16/18
Fox: End of Brown Era—Pat & Jerry --At the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs post election conference yesterday at Cal State LA, political consultant Mike Madrid declared that the Brown era of politics focused on building and infrastructure is over with the end of Jerry Brown’s fourth term as governor. He wasn’t referring to just the current governor but to his father, Pat Brown, as well. Both Browns focused on building from water works and highways to the bullet train. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 11/16/18
Jeffe&Jeffe: Far Left California? Not So Much -- California is undeniably a deep blue state, but that doesn’t mean the electorate is all that “progressive” (read: “liberal.” “left-wing,” or “Berniecrat”—your choice.) . The Golden State is Obama-Clinton-Jerry Brown territory, not the far-left bastion painted by national Republicans. This year’s mid-term election results underscored that reality. Sherry Bebitch Jeffe & Doug Jeffe Fox & Hounds -- 11/16/18