Updating . .
Report: Gas price hike could be due to manipulation -- California’s skyrocketing gas prices could be driven by “possible market manipulation” by a handful of well-known retailers, according to a new government analysis. In a memo to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, the California Energy Commission said at the end of April the difference between the state’s gas prices and the national average increased by more than a dollar — “the highest increase ever seen.” Adam Beam Associated Press -- 5/17/19
Legislature won’t have power over PG&E when it comes to raising rates on customers -- A proposal that would have given California lawmakers authority over PG&E rate hikes was effectively killed on Thursday, after a key budget committee decided to hold the bill. State Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, introduced Senate Bill 549 to protect ratepayers and prevent them from being put on the hook for wildfire damage the company caused. Bryan Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/17/19
Official ‘root cause’ of massive 2015 Porter Ranch gas leak is revealed -- The Southern California Gas Co. did not conduct detailed follow-up inspections or analyses after dozens of previous gas leaks at its Aliso Canyon storage facility in the hills above Porter Ranch, ultimately leading to the 2015 rupture of a well casing that was degraded by corrosion from contact with groundwater, causing a massive gas leak that forced thousands of people to flee their homes, state regulators announced Friday. Olga Grigoryants in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 5/17/19
20,000 drivers dodge toll road fees each week, despite new law -- As of Jan. 1, state law requires cars leave dealerships sporting temporary license plates with assigned numbers, but Orange County’s toll roads operator has found that thousands are still driving without them – and that means they aren’t paying tolls. Jeong Park in the Orange County Register -- 5/17/19
Your recyclables are going to the dump. Here’s why: -- Californians continue to fill recycling bins as they have for years, but more of it is ending up in landfills. The market for recyclables is tumbling, the diversion rate of trash headed to dumps is shrinking and trash bills are going up as the cost of recycling increases. Martin Wisckol in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 5/17/19
Guns, gas and soda – most California tax proposals died at the Capitol, but a few remain -- California lawmakers this year put forward new tax proposals that would have hit soda drinkers, bankers and gun owners — not to mention anyone with a car. Most of those proposals died this week in a major culling of bills, leaving only a handful of tax measures in place. Hannah Wiley and Bryan Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/17/19
San Diego to receive flights of migrant families from Texas Border Patrol for processing -- San Diego Border Patrol will take three flights per week of 120 to 135 people each from the Rio Grande Valley. Kate Morrissey in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 5/17/19
4,000 Kaiser mental health therapists give union OK to call indefinite strike -- Roughly 4,000 mental health clinicians at Kaiser Permanente have authorized their union, the National Union of Healthcare Workers, to declare an open-ended strike as early as June if they have not secured a new contract with their employer. Cathie Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/17/19
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti in Jerusalem: ‘I support the embassy being here’ -- Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti spent five days in Israel this week, chairing a visiting bipartisan delegation of American mayors. The trip, co-sponsored by the nonpartisan American Jewish Committee’s Project Interchange and the U.S. Conference of Mayors, aimed to boost U.S.-Israel relations at the municipal level. Noga Tarnopolsky in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/17/19
Google creates mega campus in north San Jose of 1 million square feet with new purchase -- Google has quietly assembled what would be one of the largest office campuses in the Bay Area with a fresh purchase of several office buildings in north San Jose near the Alviso community. George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/17/19
Is the DMV taking its sweet time with your vehicle registration renewal? If you mailed it in, you’re not alone -- It could take 4 weeks or more for the state to even open your envelope. Other options offer a quicker response. Teri Sforza in the Orange County Register -- 5/17/19
San Francisco’s homeless population breaks 8,000 -- The initial estimate of San Francisco’s most recent Homelessness Point-in-Time Count, conducted in January, reveals that SF’s homeless population swelled by more than 500 persons since 2017, for an overall estimate of more than 8,000. Adam Brinklow Curbed San Francisco -- 5/17/19
L.A. wary of adding money to legal defense fund for migrants and refugees -- The L.A. Justice Fund, a city- and county-backed program that was launched after President Trump took office, pays for attorneys for individuals and families who are detained or at risk for deportation. Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/17/19
California Policy & Politics This Morning
Dam failure could flood Disneyland and dozens of Orange County cities, engineers warn -- Federal engineers are raising alarms that a “significant flood event” could breach the spillway of Southern California’s aging Prado Dam and potentially inundate dozens of Orange County communities from Disneyland to Newport Beach. Louis Sahagun in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/17/19
California Regulator Threatens Trump With `Extreme' Auto Rules -- A top California environmental regulator is threatening to enact tough, new pollution rules -- including an unprecedented ban on cars burning petroleum-based fuels -- in response to a Trump administration plan to relax vehicle emission standards. Jennifer A Dlouhy Bloomberg -- 5/17/19
Levin introduces bill to end sales of gasoline-powered cars in US by 2040 -- Zero-emission vehicles, or ZEVs, may make up less than 2 percent of the nation’s car sales but a bill introduced on Capitol Hill by Rep. Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano, would require half of all sales of new passenger vehicles in 2030 be ZEVs, with the mandate ramping up 5 percent per year to 100 percent by 2040 — essentially eliminating the sale of gasoline-powered passenger cars in the U.S. in little more than 20 years. Rob Nikolewski in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 5/17/19
Trump administration cancels $929-million grant for California bullet train -- While loss of the money poses a potentially devastating hit to the project, state officials said, no immediate construction changes are planned because the federal government’s action could be reversed in future legal action. Ralph Vartabedian and Stuart Leavenworth in the Los Angeles Times$ Tony Bizjak, Bryan Anderson, and Tim Sheehan in the Sacramento Bee$ Kathleen Ronayne Associated Press Erin Baldassari in the San Jose Mercury$ Ben Adler Capital Public Radio -- 5/17/19
California’s hottest housing bill was just unexpectedly shelved. What you need to know -- Shock. Depression. Relief. Those were just some of the reactions as the year’s most controversial state housing bill met its sudden demise. But very few people—supporters, opponents, and even the author himself—can claim to have seen this coming. Matt Levin and Ben Christopher Calmatters Bryan Anderson and Hannah Wiley in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/17/19
In housing, privacy and more, a Capitol lightning round nixes controversial bills -- Some of the most contentious ideas California lawmakers were considering this year—to expand internet privacy protections and require denser housing development—were jettisoned Thursday as the Legislature culled hundreds of bills in a fast-and-furious annual procedural ritual. Laurel Rosenhall Calmatters -- 5/17/19
Asbestos in your makeup? Legislature rejects proposal to ban toxics from cosmetics -- Vivian Song of Sacramento tries to keep up with the latest makeup trends. While she pays attention to the ingredients in her beauty routine, she says others are clueless. Elizabeth Castillo Calmatters -- 5/17/19
California bill to expand privacy protections fails -- California’s senate blocked a bill on Thursday that would have expanded the ability of consumers to sue companies over their handling of personal data, a win for tech industry groups concerned about wide-ranging privacy lawsuits. Katie Paul Reuters -- 5/17/19
Government must ID companies getting national security letters, judge rules -- A San Francisco federal judge says the government must identify companies that received ultra-secret “national security letters,” requiring them to turn over the records of millions of customers, but have since had their gag orders lifted because they pose no security threat. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/17/19
Should police be able to recognize your face? California considers plan to ban the technology -- California lawmakers are considering a plan to prevent police departments from using facial recognition technology on body cameras. The proposal from Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, cleared the Assembly earlier this month, and San Francisco took a first step earlier this week toward banning the use of facial recognition software by all city departments. Bryan Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/17/19
Adachi leak: Lawyer for journalist fights ‘breathtakingly overbroad’ search -- San Francisco police illegally seized computers and other property during “violent and breathtakingly overbroad” searches of a journalist’s home and office while trying to figure out who leaked him a police report into the death of Public Defender Jeff Adachi, an attorney for the journalist wrote in a court filing Thursday. Evan Sernoffsky in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Sonja Hutson KQED -- 5/17/19
Ghost Ship Trial: Defense Accuses Fire Officials of Shielding City from Civil Liability -- Defense attorney Tony Serra on Thursday accused fire officials of attempting to shield the City of Oakland from liability in a civil lawsuit proceeding alongside the criminal case against Max Harris and his client Derick Almena for their roles in the Dec. 2, 2016 Ghost Ship warehouse fire that killed 36. Sam Lefebvre KQED -- 5/17/19
Assemblyman Arambula found not guilty in child abuse case. He returns to Capitol Monday -- The jury spent less than a day deliberating after the nine-day trial. Arambula’s wife, Elizabeth, burst into tears as the verdict was read. Family and friends let out several cheers. Rory Appleton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/17/19
Clergy Abuse Victims Caution Against Accepting Church Settlements -- Victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests cautioned Thursday against accepting a church-sponsored program to financially compensate them. At a news conference, several victims gathered with their lawyer and said the program does not hold the church accountable. The victims sat at a table with a banner featuring pictures of young victims and the words “stolen souls.” John Carroll KPBS -- 5/17/19
Prado Dam rated a ‘high urgency’ risk after spillway problems discovered -- Federal officials are working urgently to strengthen the spillway at Prado Dam near Corona to prevent it from failing in a major flood, which could imperil hundreds of thousands of people living downstream in Orange County. David Downey in the Riverside Press Enterprise$ -- 5/17/19
Life-saving Golden Gate Bridge net taking shape in Richmond construction yard -- Piece by piece, the net is coming together — a coarse web of steel that will dangle over the side of the Golden Gate Bridge, catching lost and disconsolate souls. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/17/19
Bay Area Counties Join Gov. Newsom's Push to Lower Drug Prices -- At a press conference at Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco on Thursday, Mayor London Breed announced that San Francisco, Alameda and Santa Clara counties would join Gov. Gavin Newsom's plan to collectively bargain with pharmaceutical companies for lower drug prices. Michelle Wiley KQED -- 5/17/19
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
Striking workers: UC Davis ‘trying to do a bait-and-switch’ with new Aggie Square hospital -- Picketing outside UC Davis Medical Center on Thursday, unionized workers again hammered home their displeasure over UCD’s plan to allow Kindred Healthcare to staff a new rehabilitation hospital planned for the Aggie Square development on the corner of Stockton Boulevard and Broadway in Sacramento. Cathie Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/17/19
’Come back home’: Gavin Newsom cites Alabama abortion ban to recapture the film industry -- Gov. Gavin Newsom is citing recent abortion bans in conservative states to argue that film companies should take their productions out of the South and back to California. In a Twitter video with Assemblywoman Luz Rivas, Newsom said California, which already gives tax breaks to films, is “going to do more” to entice productions to film in the Golden State. Sophia Bollag in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/17/19
Coalition of gig workers, businesses urge lawmakers to protect independent contractor status -- Some of those seeking an expansion of AB 5 want a variety of other workers exempted, including rideshare drivers, dietary consultants, engineers, lawyers, therapists, hair stylists and others who have advanced degrees, are licensed by the state or simply want to remain independent contractors. Kevin Smith in the Orange County Register -- 5/17/19
Pilot Program Could Help SDPD Officers Buy Homes In San Diego -- A proposed pilot program in San Diego aims to help police officers afford homes within the city, as high housing costs take a toll on the department's recruitment and retention efforts. Lynn Walsh KPBS -- 5/17/19
San Diegans’ personal income growth lags behind nation -- The personal income of residents in the San Diego metropolitan area grew by 2.3 percent, below the national average, from 2016 to 2017, said the Bureau of Economic Analysis. A reason for lower income is a higher price for goods, services and rent. Phillip Molnar in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 5/17/19
Homeless
Park rangers, police arrest 30 homeless in American River bike trail ‘warrant sweep’ -- A few dozen park rangers and Sacramento police officers arrested 30 people during a “warrant sweep” Wednesday at homeless encampments along an American River Parkway bike trail, authorities said. Michael McGough in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/17/19
San Francisco homeless population swells by 17% in latest tally -- Despite creating hundreds of new shelter beds and spending more than $300 million annually on homelessness, San Francisco has seen the number of homeless people in the city rise by 17% since 2017 — with a whopping amount of that increase coming from people living in vehicles. Kevin Fagan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Benjamin Oreskes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/17/19
‘It’s definitely not getting better:’ Homelessness up 43 percent in Alameda County -- The number of homeless residents in Alameda County has grown by 43 percent over the past two years, according to new data released Thursday — a dramatic increase that ratchets up the pressure on local officials to address the crisis. Marisa Kendall in the East Bay Times -- 5/17/19
Wildfire
Pelosi: Democrats may sweeten California wildfire relief with border money -- Democrats are open to attaching money for the crisis at the southern border to a disaster relief package being negotiated in Congress that includes billions of dollars for California wildfire recovery, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday. Tal Kopan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/17/19
Education
Teachers union delays strike at Sacramento City Unified -- The teachers union at Sacramento City Unified School District on Thursday night said it will delay its second one-day strike, which had been planned for May 22. No new strike date was announced, and Sacramento City Teachers Association President David Fisher said at a news conference Thursday the union hoped it would not need to schedule one. Sawsan Morrar in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/17/19
Cannabis
California lawmakers reject cannabis tax cut but advance bill requiring more pot shops -- California lawmakers balked Thursday at cutting taxes on cannabis to help the foundering legal market, while they moved forward a proposal to require more cities to allow pot shops but reduced the number of new stores required. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/17/19
Highly Potent Weed Has Swept The Market, Raising Concerns About Health Risks -- As more states legalize cannabis, the number of people buying and using the drug has spiked — and the strains they have access to have become increasingly more potent. That concerns scientists who study marijuana and its effects on the body, as well as emergency room doctors who say they're starting to see more patients with weed-associated issues. Rhitu Chatterjee KQED -- 5/17/19
Immigration / Border
Health Care Plans For Undocumented Californians May Be Scaled Back -- Two proposals to offer health coverage to all undocumented residents passed major hurdles at the Capitol on Thursday, but they may not have the financial backing to cross the finish line. Sammy Caiola Capital Public Radio -- 5/17/19
Environment
Despite sharp growth in electric cars, vehicle emissions keep rising -- It is tempting to employ any number of puns when considering California’s transportation future: The state is at a crossroads, its policies could run out of gas, dangerous curves lie ahead. Julie Cart Calmatters -- 5/17/19
Ships coming to Bay Area slowing down to avoid hitting, killing whales -- A campaign to slow ships steaming toward San Francisco and other California ports so they are less likely to injure or kill whales is beginning to pay off, with 22 local and international shipping companies agreeing to reduce speeds voluntarily, federal officials said Thursday. Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/17/19
California Weighs How to Lighten Its Plastic Problem -- A pair of ambitious bills currently making their way through the state legislature aim to stem the flood of plastic in stores, landfills and increasingly in the environment by placing aggressive new regulations on how plastics are manufactured and recycled in California. Monica Lam KQED -- 5/17/19
Also . . .
Victims blast new diocesan compensation plan for those abused by priests -- At a news conference Thursday, a lawyer and five survivors of childhood sexual abuse by priests had this advice for other victims: Don’t apply for the compensation plan announced this week by six Catholic entities in California, including the San Diego diocese and Los Angeles archdiocese. Peter Rowe in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 5/17/19
CHP cites almost 20,000 drivers in April for illegally talking on cellphones -- Law enforcement agencies have repeatedly waged education campaigns on the dangers of phoning while driving, but in April the California Highway Patrol still cited more drivers for failing to use hands-free devices than in the previous April. Brian Rokos in the Orange County Register -- 5/17/19
F-16 military fighter jet crashes into building in Riverside County -- An F-16 returning to March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley after a routine training mission crashed after its hydraulics failed and its pilot ejected, base officials said Thursday. Joseph Serna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/17/19
The loneliness problem in L.A. starts with traffic. Could it end with a walk? -- It’s hard to imagine how some people stave off loneliness in Los Angeles. Nearly a third of the city’s households consist of one person, according to the latest census numbers. They include young and old, rich and poor, and some particularly isolated modern city dwellers. Nita Lelyveld in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/17/19
KQED Political Breakdown: Kimberly Ellis -- Kimberly Ellis joins to discuss her 2017 loss in the Democratic party chair race, her childhood in a military family, the death of her brother from cancer, and her current bid to lead the state party. Link here -- 5/17/19
POTUS 45
Trump’s new immigration plan may be DOA — but it’s really about 2020 -- The president rolled out a new proposal that seems aimed at casting his hard-line immigration stance in a more pragmatic light for swing voters. Anita Kumar Politico -- 5/17/19
Beltway
Judge orders public release of what Michael Flynn said in call to Russian ambassador -- The transcripts, which the judge ordered be posted on a court website by May 31, would reveal conversations at the center of two major avenues of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. So far they have been disclosed to the public only in fragments in court filings and the Mueller report. Carol D. Leonnig and Rosalind S. Helderman in the Washington Post$ -- 5/17/19
-- Thursday Updates
Major California housing bill from Sen. Scott Wiener put on hold until 2020 -- A controversial measure to revamp local development rules in California by promoting denser housing around public transit and job centers will not move forward this legislative session. Alexei Koseff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Marisa Kendall in the San Jose Mercury$ Liam Dillon in the Los Angeles Times$ Bryan Anderson and Hannah Wiley in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/16/19
Jackie Goldberg’s win changes LAUSD equation for unions, charters and Beutner -- Jackie Goldberg began her first day after winning election to the L.A. school board making an appearance with schools Supt. Austin Beutner, all smiles and talking about a unified vision to fix the troubled school district. But the camaraderie belied what could be a rocky road ahead: They are two strong-willed titans of L.A.’s education universe with some fundamentally different views on crucial issues facing the nation’s second-largest school district. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/16/19
Paradise goes on as PG&E gets official blame for fire: ‘It doesn’t make me feel better at all.’ -- Everyone in town already knew. They had read reports from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. admitting it was likely responsible for the Camp Fire. They had cried with their neighbors and listened to newscasts about the blaze. They had kept their televisions on overnight when it happened, the drone of news making them feel more in control, even when events had decimated their hometown. They already knew. So in Paradise, life had to limp on. Lizzie Johnson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/16/19
California already reaping IPO rewards, but employees have to wait -- California saw a jump in personal income tax revenues last month thanks in part to initial public offerings by Lyft and Pinterest. Uber’s sale of shares to the public last week will swell May’s coffers. Kathleen Pender in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/16/19
Defiance in California after NLRB decision about Uber drivers’ contractor status -- Flying in the face of last year’s California Supreme Court ruling on gig-worker classification, a National Labor Relations Board memo on Uber drivers made public this week and a recent Labor Department letter make clear the Trump administration’s position: ride-hailing drivers are contractors, not employees. Now, experts and others say, it will be up to states to provide worker protections for drivers. Levi Sumagaysay in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/16/19
Report: San Jose State misused $6.3 million for sports scholarships -- A San Jose State University scholarship fund redirected donations to pay its sports coaches and staff, according to a report published Wednesday by the school’s student newspaper. Gwendolyn Wu in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/16/19
Big new mega village will be launched in Santa Clara -- When complete, the new village would dramatically reshape the north side of Santa Clara and potentially bring 25,000 jobs to Silicon Valley. The early stages of construction will begin this month on the 240-acre project, located near Tasman Drive and Lafayette Street. George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/16/19
Major revamp of Santa Ana’s MainPlace mall, including allowing up to 1,900 apartments, clears a hurdle in getting city approval -- A $300 million project to make over Main Place mall in Santa Ana with hundreds of apartments, more entertainment and a fancier food court boasting international flavors is moving forward, with City Council approval as the final hurdle. Alicia Robinson in the Orange County Register -- 5/16/19
Housing in San Francisco Is So Expensive Some People Live on Boats -- Homelessness has become such a big problem in the San Francisco area that waters outside the city are increasingly crowded with people living on makeshift boats. The homeless population floating off the coast of wealthy Marin County, just north of San Francisco, has doubled in recent years to about 100, according to authorities. Jim Carlton in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 5/16/19
Union workers strike again Thursday, saying UCD cuts them out of jobs at Aggie Square -- By partnering with a private-sector company to build a new rehabilitation hospital, UC Davis Health is subverting labor contracts with its employees and partnering with a company that has a record of suppressing the wages of health care workers, two unions allege in complaints to a California labor board. Cathie Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/16/19
Patt Morrison: Joe Biden discusses why he didn't run in 2016, the field for 2020 and drag-racing Colin Powell -- Election year 2016 was like no other year in American history, but it was 2015 that left its mark on the life and the heart of former Vice President Joe Biden. He was at the Los Angeles Times’ Ideas Exchange last week to talk about his book “Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship and Purpose,” the year of the illness and death of his son Beau, and of his long debate with himself about running for president. Patt Morrison in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/16/19
Excruciating: Travelers wait 2-3 hours in airport immigration lines -- In early May, frequent traveler Nancy Brown took a very long-haul flight to the U.S. from South Africa. Her journey started in Cape Town, connected in Amsterdam and ended at San Francisco International. Total time in transit was about 24 hours. Phew! Little did she know what awaited when she got off the plane and started walking down the long corridor toward immigration and customs. Chris McGinnis in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/16/19
Nearly 200 people rally to pressure Anaheim to make Angel Stadium discussions public -- Anaheim officials shouldn’t make a long-term deal for Angel Stadium – one of the city’s biggest public assets – in private, and any deal must benefit the city’s neighborhoods, union leaders and community activists said Wednesday, May 15. Alicia Robinson in the Orange County Register -- 5/16/19
Fox: Health Care Mandate: End Run Around a Two-thirds Tax Vote? -- Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to create health care subsidies by pushing a mandate requiring those who don’t carry health care insurance to pay a fee. Or is it a tax? The distinction matters because Newsom is trying to accomplish his goal of expanding health care with majority vote bills. A tax requires a two-thirds vote in both houses of the legislature. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 5/16/19
What Happened When I Tried to Surf an Artificial Mega Wave -- Down a dusty road in California’s agricultural belt is a man-made wave as powerful as any produced by the ocean. Designed by surf champion Kelly Slater, it’s one of a growing number of wave-making projects betting that people will embrace a new future for the sport. Dan Fitzpatrick in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 5/16/19