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Los Angeles teachers go on strike for the first time in 30 years -- With umbrellas in one hand and picket signs in the other, Los Angeles teachers braved cold, drizzly weather Monday morning as they walked off the job in their first strike in 30 years to demand smaller class sizes, more support staff at schools and better pay. Howard Blume, Sonali Kohli and Hannah Fry in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/14/19
Stay in school or leave? Students debate what to do during LAUSD teachers’ strike -- Some students who made it to school are grappling with whether to stay or go. Two school police officers stood inside the doors of John Marshall High School in Los Feliz, advising students who walked up to the exit doors to check out the picket line that they should stay. Sonali Kohli and and Sam Omar-Hall in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/14/19
UTLA president calls for more money for teachers ‘in a city rife with millionaires’ -- UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl addressed a crowd of teachers and children through a bullhorn in front of Marshall High School on Monday morning, raising his voice over chants and honking cars as the first teachers strike in 30 years kicked off. Sonali Kohli in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/14/19
'A historic moment.' Kids picket alongside teachers in LAUSD strike -- The LAUSD strike on Monday left thousands of parents unsure of what to do with their children — take them to school, where they were likely be herded into large rooms without their teachers, or let them stay home? Suhauna Hussain in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/14/19
PG&E, facing staggering wildfires costs, says bankruptcy filing is coming -- Facing staggering financial pressure after California’s historically devastating recent wildfires, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and its parent company have declared their intent to seek bankruptcy protecion by the end of this month. J.D. Morris in the San Francisco Chronicle Levi Sumagaysay in the San Jose Mercury Cathy Bussewitz Associated Press Dale Kasler and Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee -- 1/14/19
PG&E Bailout Hopes Are Crushed With California Showing Little Interest -- Now that PG&E Corp. has said it plans to file for bankruptcy, analysts are seeing little chance that California lawmakers will step in anytime soon with a bailout for the beleaguered power provider. Jim Efstathiou Jr Bloomberg -- 1/14/19
FBI corruption probe of L.A. City Hall focuses on downtown development boom -- The rapid transformation of downtown Los Angeles’ skyline is being fueled in good measure by huge investments from Chinese companies eager to burnish their global brands and capitalize on L.A.’s real estate boom. Emily Alpert Reyes and David Zahniser in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/14/19
Digital First wants to buy fellow newspaper owner Gannett -- The publisher of USA Today has received a $1.36-billion takeover bid from a media group with a history of buying struggling newspapers and slashing costs. MNG Enterprises, better known as Digital First Media — owner of the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Daily News and about 200 other publications — said in a letter to Gannett Co. on Monday that Gannett’s leadership team has failed to show that it can run the company effectively. Associated Press via the Los Angeles Times -- 1/14/19
Campa-Najjar to run again in 2020 for indicted Congressman Hunter's seat -- Last fall, Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar lost a bid for Congress in conservative East County, but he’s ready to give it another go. Campa-Najjar, 29, will run for the 50th Congressional District again in 2020, promising a new message and renewed focus on financial stability, public safety and community service. Charles T. Clark in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 1/14/19
San Diego charity organization closes, cites new state law restricting feeding homeless people -- A small charity that usually feeds about 100 homeless people a week in downtown San Diego said it is dissolving because it cannot afford to comply with new state regulations. “It was the nail in the coffin,” Deliverance President Herbert Matcke said about a law that went into effect Jan. 1. Gary Warth in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 1/14/19
Mexican authorities prepare to close main migrant shelter in Tijuana -- Mexican authorities are preparing to close the largest Central American migrant shelter, known as El Barretal, located on the eastern outskirts of Tijuana. The closure signals a somewhat bittersweet end to the Caravana Migrante 2018 that became a national obsession with impacts still untold. Wendy Fry in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 1/14/19
Fox: Exporting California’s Redistricting Change -- It is an old adage that California is a bellwether for the nation. Policy changes that happen here often flow eastward from tax revolts to climate strategies. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 1/14/19
California Policy & Politics This Morning
PG&E Chief Is Out as Utility Faces California Fire Liability -- Pacific Gas and Electric Company announced the departure of its chief executive Sunday as it remained besieged by a financial crisis related to California’s historic wildfires. Ivan Penn in the New York Times J.D. Morris in the San Francisco Chronicle Katherine Blunt and Russell Gold in the Wall Street Journal$ George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury -- 1/14/19
Possible bankruptcy for PG&E: Company may notify employees Monday -- Employees of PG&E Corp. may be about to learn whether the San Francisco utility, which is facing billions of dollars in potential liability for its role in the 2017 and 2018 California wildfires, is nearing insolvency. Catherine Ho and J.D. Morris in the San Francisco Chronicle in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 1/14/19
Hueso and other lawmakers went to Maui with utilities while wildfires burned -- Sen. Ben Hueso, chairman of the state Senate’s Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee, was one of a dozen California lawmakers to join 60 utility executives and other paid sponsors at the Fairmont Kea Lani resort in Hawaii last November. Jeff McDonald in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 1/14/19
Skelton: With all Gov. Gavin Newsom has going for him, there’s little excuse for failure -- No California governor in modern times has entered office with more wind at his back and fewer obstacles lying ahead. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/14/19
Kamala Harris wraps up book tour in L.A. amid buzz of a White House run -- Felicia Jones drove from Montclair to Los Angeles in the pre-dawn darkness on Sunday to get a good spot in line to meet U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris at a book reading. It worked. Michael Finnegan in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/14/19
Kamala Harris criticises those 'sowing hate' but stays quiet on presidential run -- Californian Democrat sets out hypothetical stall, criticising Trump’s border wall plan as a ‘vanity project’ Charles Davis The Guardian -- 1/14/19
Measles case in L.A. County is confirmed and others may have been exposed, health officials say -- Health officials are warning that shoppers and diners in Los Angeles County may have been exposed to measles in late December. Soumya Karlamangla in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/14/19
4-year-old in Riverside County dies from flu -- A 4-year-old child in Riverside County has died of the flu, bringing California’s death toll from influenza so far this season to 52. Soumya Karlamangla in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/14/19
Judge freezes Trump administration contraception rule -- A federal judge in California blocked a Trump administration rule that was set to go into effect Monday — one that would have allowed virtually any employer to refuse to cover workers' birth control by citing religious or moral objections. Alice Miranda Ollstein and Victoria Colliver Politico Sudhin Thanawala Associated Press -- 1/14/19
Is Tehran spying on Southern California? Feds say O.C. waiter and ‘Chubby’ from Long Beach were agents of Iran -- They seemed an unlikely pair of spies. The older man, Majid Ghorbani, worked at a posh Persian restaurant in Santa Ana’s South Coast Village Plaza. At 59, he wore a thick gray mustache and the weary expression of a man who had served up countless plates of rice and kebab. Melissa Etehad in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/14/19
Fresno County sheriff attended meeting to oppose sanctuary law. So did alleged hate group -- Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims was among the attendees at an invite-only meeting last year whose purpose was to discuss actions cops can take to oppose the state’s controversial sanctuary law, documents show. Yesenia Amaro in the Fresno Bee -- 1/14/19
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
SpaceX Layoffs Include 577 Positions at California Headquarters -- SpaceX is taking the ax to its headquarters in California. Hours after launching its first rocket of the new year on Friday morning, the Elon Musk-led company told employees that roughly 10 percent of SpaceX’s workforce would be laid off. Dana Hull Bloomberg -- 1/14/19
Why SDG&E wants to get out of the business of buying electricity -- With California’s grid going through dramatic changes, San Diego Gas & Electric has approached the Legislature in Sacramento with a proposal that, at least at first blush, sounds pretty radical — it wants to get out of the business of buying and selling electricity. Rob Nikolewski in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 1/14/19
Education
It didn’t fix the L.A. teacher strike, but Newsom’s pension idea would help schools, anyway -- Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $3 billion plan to pay down California public schools’ pension obligations may not have been enough to prevent teachers in Los Angeles from striking. But it’s not nothing, school officials across California say. Ricardo Cano Calmatters -- 1/14/19
As teachers threaten to strike, Oakland Unified looks to higher teacher pay to improve student learning -- As Oakland Unified faces a possible teachers’ strike and braces for deep budget cuts for the 2019-20 school year, its leaders are asking themselves: “Which expenditures would give us the greatest academic returns on our investments?” Theresa Harrington EdSource -- 1/14/19
‘That was a nightmare.’ UC employees still reporting hardships from faulty payroll -- University of California employees continue to report missed or reduced direct deposit paychecks that they attribute to the university system’s troubled payroll system, UCPath. Andrew Sheeler in the Sacramento Bee -- 1/14/19
POTUS 45
Trump and GOP taking messaging hit on shutdown -- New polls indicate the American public is putting the brunt of the blame on Republicans. Marianne Levine and John Bresnahan Politico -- 1/14/19
Beltway
Trump’s Efforts to Hide Details of Putin Talks May Set Up Fight With Congress -- President Trump’s efforts to hide his conversations with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and new details about the F.B.I. inquiry into his ties to Moscow have intensified debate over his relationship with Russia, adding fuel to Democrats’ budding investigations of his presidency and potentially setting up a clash between the White House and Congress. Julian E. Barnes and Matthew Rosenberg in the New York Times -- 1/14/19
-- Weekend Updates
PG&E may notify its employees this week of potential bankruptcy -- PG&E Corp., facing billions of dollars in wildfire liabilities, may notify employees as soon as Monday that it’s preparing a potential bankruptcy filing, according to people familiar with the situation. Mark Chediak Bloomberg -- 1/13/19
What to know as LAUSD teachers prepare to strike Monday -- Third Street Elementary School will be open Monday, but it will hardly be business as usual at the Hancock Park campus: Teachers are expected to picket outside. Students will be herded by unfamiliar adults into big groups both outdoors and indoors. Sonali Kohli in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/13/19
As LAUSD teachers prepare to strike, one central question: Where's the money? -- The message has been clear for months from the president of the Los Angeles teachers union: Not only does the L.A. Unified School District have no deficit, it has a huge reserve, more than large enough to meet the union’s demands for higher wages, smaller classes and schools staffed every day with the supportive services they need. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/13/19
Support grows for giving part of San Francisco’s $181 million windfall to public schools -- When San Francisco learned in November it was getting an unexpected $181 million to spread around, the first instinct of the mayor and the Board of Supervisors was to spend it on homeless initiatives, child care and affordable housing. There was no talk of using it for teacher pay raises. Trisha Thadani and Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 1/13/19
Newsom bringing wife on board as “first partner” in Sacramento -- Siebel Newsom’s focus will be on gender equality and lifting up women and families. She will not be paid but will have an office just down the hall from the governor’s. Phil Matier in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 1/13/19
Davis officer’s killer says in note that he was being bombarded by ultrasonic waves -- Davis police investigators said they recovered evidence from the rental property of the man who shot and killed one of their officers Thursday, including a note they believe was written by the man and two guns that were not registered to him. Daniel Hunt in the Sacramento Bee -- 1/13/19
Candlelight vigil for slain Davis officer draws more than a thousand -- Well over 1,000 mourners turned out at a candlelight vigil Saturday night for Davis police Officer Natalie Corona, who was gunned down two days earlier after responding to a traffic collision. Vincent Moleski in the Sacramento Bee -- 1/13/19
Gov. Gavin Newsom embraces an untested idea on how California's rainy-day fund should work -- Four years after California voters embraced an effort to strengthen state government rules for cash reserves, a new kind of conventional wisdom is taking root in Sacramento about how that system works. Not all dollars, it turns out, may be equal. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/13/19
FBI corruption probe goes beyond L.A. Councilman Jose Huizar to include other City Hall figures -- An ongoing FBI investigation into Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar is part of a broader corruption probe in which agents are seeking possible evidence involving Councilman Curren Price and a senior aide to Council President Herb Wesson, as well as several other city officials and business figures, according to a federal search warrant. David Zahniser, Emily Alpert Reyes and Joel Rubin in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/13/19
Walters: We pay through the nose to live in California -- Gov. Gavin Newsom’s inaugural address was a bit too long and somewhat disjointed, but he did make some cogent points, including this one: Dan Walters Calmatters -- 1/13/19
Another blow to local journalism: East Bay Express editorial staff laid off -- Five of seven editorial staffers were laid off Friday, Editor Robert Gammon said. The newspaper, which is known for its investigative reporting as well as arts, culture and music coverage, will rely on freelance writers. Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/13/19
Kamala Harris, not yet a candidate for president, toys with warm SF crowd -- While Obama administration official Julian Castro launched his presidential campaign Saturday, California Sen. Kamala Harris merely lurched closer toward her rollout as she continued her presidential non-announcement announcement tour Saturday in San Francisco. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 1/13/19
Trump has concealed details of his face-to-face encounters with Putin from senior officials in administration -- President Trump has gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal details of his conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, including on at least one occasion taking possession of the notes of his own interpreter and instructing the linguist not to discuss what had transpired with other administration officials, current and former U.S. officials said. Greg Miller in the Washington Post -- 1/13/19
Americans blame Trump and GOP much more than Democrats for shutdown, Post-ABC poll finds -- By a wide margin, more Americans blame President Trump and Republicans in Congress than congressional Democrats for the now record-breaking government shutdown, and most reject the president’s assertion that there is an illegal-immigration crisis on the southern border, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. Scott Clement and Dan Balz in the Washington Post -- 1/13/19
‘In the White House waiting’: Inside Trump’s defiance on the longest shutdown ever -- The president who pitched himself to voters as a world-class dealmaker has proven to be an unreliable negotiator. Grappling for the first time with a divided government, Trump has contradicted himself, sent miscues and spread falsehoods. He has zigzagged between proudly claiming ownership of the shutdown and blaming it on Democrats, and between nearly declaring a national emergency to construct the wall without congressional approval and backing off such a legally and politically perilous action. Robert Costa, Josh Dawsey, Philip Rucker and Seung Min Kim in the Washington Post -- 1/13/19
With LAUSD teachers set to strike, union's call-in town hall asks parents for support -- Two days before a strike in the nation’s second largest school district, parents all over Los Angeles received automated phone calls encouraging them to connect to a teachers union town hall designed to answer questions and ramp up support. Sonali Kohli in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/13/19
Lopez: L.A. teachers’ strike: It’s not too late to avert disaster -- Memo to L.A. Unified, the teachers’ union and all concerned: Can a strike, which could begin Monday, be averted? Absolutely, and about half a million families in greater Los Angeles would be grateful. But the adults still have some homework to complete. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/12/19
Strike or no strike, pensions problematic for LA schools -- Strike or no strike, after a deal is ultimately reached on a contract for Los Angeles teachers, the school district will still be on a collision course with deficit spending because of pensions and other financial obligations. School systems across California are experiencing burdensome payments to the state pension fund while struggling to improve schools. Christopher Weber Associated Press -- 1/12/19
Gunman who killed Davis Officer Natalie Corona was ordered to surrender AR-15 rifle -- The gunman who shot and killed Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona Thursday night has been identified as Kevin Douglas Limbaugh, a 48-year-old man who was ordered last fall to surrender a semiautomatic rifle after he was convicted in a battery case. Sam Stanton in the Sacramento Bee -- 1/12/19
Gov. Newsom angers no one with budget, puts off big fights for another day -- Gov. Gavin Newsom threaded the political needle with his first proposed state budget, putting out a spending plan that’s both bold and cautious, ducking the type of pitched battles that many of his more grandiose campaign promises might have provoked. John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 1/12/19
Willie Brown: How Trump can win the wall: Stop calling it ‘the wall’ -- President Trump could get his wall in a minute. All he needs to do is stop calling it “the wall.” Politics is the art of ambiguity mixed with sleight of hand. Willie Brown in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 1/12/19
Why this California garlic farmer loves tariffs -- California farmers hate Trump’s tariffs. Except maybe one. Ever since President Donald Trump fired the first major shot in his international trade war, imposing a 10 percent tariff on Chinese garlic and other imports, Gilroy’s Christopher Ranch – America’s largest producer of fresh garlic — has experienced a surge in sales. Lisa M. Krieger in the San Jose Mercury -- 1/12/19
Junk, blight and problem businesses: South L.A. residents fume over code enforcement -- For more than a decade, complaints have rolled into the Department of Building and Safety about broken cars cluttering the street around an auto repair shop on West Adams Boulevard. Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times -- 1/12/19
Flight 662 backstory: Why Aeromexico took nearly five hours to release passengers from plane at Oakland airport -- It turns out, the Aeromexico flight from hell that languished on the Oakland airport tarmac for nearly five hours Thursday as sweaty passengers fainted, cried and screamed for help, could have been avoided. Matthias Gafni in the San Jose Mercury -- 1/12/19