Updating . .
USC gave nearly $1 million in exit pay to medical school dean linked to drugs -- The University of Southern California paid Dr. Carmen Puliafito, its former medical school dean, nearly $1 million in severance along with a bonus, according to tax filings disclosed this week. Puliafito was the subject of Times investigation in 2017 that revealed he used drugs and partied with young addicts while running the Keck School of Medicine. Matt Hamilton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/18/19
Raids, threats and a slander suit: Is the free press under attack in California? -- It’s the kind of stuff that would make Deep Throat cringe and President Richard Nixon smile. Police and powerful people taking action to keep journalists from doing their jobs. Breaking down doors. Threatening arrest. Filing lawsuits demanding millions. No, not in the age of Watergate. In California. Now. Thomas Peele in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/18/19
Few left unscathed in Arambula trial, which cleared lawmaker of child cruelty charge -- A Fresno jury rejected a charge of child abuse against Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula this week, but the case left Central Valley officials bitterly divided and could dog both the Democratic legislator and the local prosecutor for years to come. Taryn Luna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/18/19
Knight: Adachi leak: San Francisco ransacks its values with police raid on reporter’s home -- The political spectrum in this country isn’t so much a line from left to right, but a circle. The further left a person goes, the more in common he or she has with somebody on the far right. Take the shocking story of the San Francisco police bringing a literal sledgehammer to a journalist’s door — and a metaphorical one to the freedom of the press — on the morning of May 10. Heather Knight in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/18/19
Man drop-kicks former Gov. Schwarzenegger at South Africa sports competition -- Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was drop-kicked while taking a Snapchat video of a multi-sport competition he promotes as part of his Arnold Sport Festival in South Africa on Saturday, event organizers said. Lauren Hernández in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/18/19
Willie Brown: Kamala Harris’ campaign is hit and miss. And her staff is way too touchy -- The last few days have been a clear example of why Sen. Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign is wobbling. Let’s begin with the former district attorney’s visit to her home ground for the 75th anniversary celebration of the Sun Reporter, the town’s African American newspaper. Willie Brown in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/18/19
Wealthy Bay Area suburb gets housing religion: It’s allowing 11 affordable units -- All the town leaders in Danville and its state assemblywoman gathered the other day to eat cake and celebrate something that rarely happens in the wealthy Contra Costa County suburb: There’s an apartment building going up, one that will include units for lower-income tenants. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/18/19
Bay Area biohacker tells you how to edit your DNA. Does that make him a criminal? -- Oakland’s Josiah Zayner publishes a DIY gene-editing guide and once injected his own arm with DNA, while sipping Scotch, in a live-streamed event watched by nearly 150,000 people. Does that make him a criminal? Lisa M. Krieger in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/18/19
More California kindergartners are skipping required vaccinations -- As California faces its worst measles outbreak in years, some are paying attention to the rising number of children who skip required vaccinations, as permitted by state law. Kristen Taketa in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 5/18/19
Did San Jose State scholarship donations go for perks instead? University will investigate -- An independent auditor will conduct a financial review of San Jose State’s athletic donations in the wake of allegations that school officials misappropriated funds donated for sports scholarship and used them to pay for bonuses for coaches and staff, car allowances and other perks. Elliott Almond in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/18/19
Northern California almond, walnut, rice farmers face problems with persistent rain -- As the end of May nears, Butte County’s main agricultural drivers — almonds, walnuts and rice — will likely face some setbacks as more showers cause more precautions taken by farmers for the county’s multi-million dollar industry crops. Brody Fernandez in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/18/19
Lawsuit targets Sacramento for 84 arrests in ‘wealthier’ Fab 40s at Stephon Clark protest -- Attorneys for the marchers confronted by police during Stephon Clark demonstrations in East Sacramento are suing the city of Sacramento, Sacramento County and its police and sheriff’s departments in federal court alleging civil rights violations in the mass crackdown that netted 84 people in the March protest. Darrell Smith in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/18/19
Where women call the shots -- The nation’s first majority-female legislature is currently meeting in Nevada. Carson City may never be the same. Emily Wax-Thibodeaux in the Washington Post$ -- 5/18/19
California Policy & Politics This Morning
John Walker Lindh, ‘American Taliban,’ to be released from prison next week -- John Walker Lindh, the Marin County man convicted of fighting alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, will be freed from a federal prison Thursday. Federal Bureau of Prison records show Lindh, dubbed the “American Taliban,” will be released Thursday from the Terre Haute Federal Correctional Institution in Indiana. Tatiana Sanchez in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/18/19
Judge: AG Becerra’s office must turn over police misconduct records -- A San Francisco Superior Court judge handed a victory to First Amendment advocates Friday by issuing a tentative ruling that will require California Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s office to turn over misconduct records involving police officers and sheriff deputies across the state. Gwendolyn Wu in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Alex Emslie KQED -- 5/18/19
High-profile law firm plans to quit sexual assault case targeting Rep. Tony Cardenas -- Attorneys with Lisa Bloom, whose high-profile firm has represented women in multiple #MeToo cases, filed paperwork saying they cannot continue representing Angela Villela Chavez in her case against Cardenas, a Democrat who represents a large portion of the San Fernando Valley. David Zahniser in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/18/19
Alabama and Georgia passed abortion bans. California could make it more accessible -- As state legislatures in Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, Kentucky and Mississippi pass laws restricting women’s access to abortion services, California lawmakers are poised to vote on a bill that would expand that access on college campuses. Andrew Sheeler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/18/19
Utility, regulatory failures led to biggest US gas leak -- A blowout at a Los Angeles natural gas well in 2015 that led to the largest-known release of methane in U.S. history was the result of a corroded pipe casing, safety failures by a utility and inadequate regulations, according to an investigation report released Friday. Brian Melley Associated Press -- 5/18/19
PG&E sets meeting amid fury over wildfire woes, hefty executive paydays -- PG&E has set the date for its annual meeting of shareholders amid intense fury in the wake of years of wildfire catastrophes and disclosures of multi-million-dollar payments for top bosses at the disgraced utility. George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/18/19
Mongols biker club hit with hefty fine, but holds on to trademarked logo -- A federal judge Friday slapped the Mongols motorcycle club with a sizable fine and probation as punishment in a racketeering case, but rebuffed another attempt by prosecutors to strip the notoriously violent group of trademarks it holds on its logo. Joel Rubin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/18/19
Measles confirmed in Berkeley; infected person visited popular supermarket -- A case of measles has been confirmed in Berkeley, and officials are warning that the patient may have been infectious in public more than a week ago when visiting one of the city’s most popular supermarkets, Berkeley Bowl. The supermarket at 2020 Oregon St., known for its wide selection of organic produce, is less than a mile away from the edge of the UC Berkeley campus. Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ Lauren Hernández in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Natalie Orenstein KQED -- 5/18/19
Sacramento sheriff releases first internal records under new law. Files show deputy lied -- Sacramento Sheriff Scott Jones released his office’s first disciplinary records under a new transparency law Friday, a 10-year-old case involving the firing of a deputy for dishonesty. Sam Stanton and Molly Sullivan in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/18/19
Another horse fatality at Santa Anita; 24 thoroughbreds have died since Dec. 26 -- Santa Anita’s unprecedented run of six weeks without an equine fatality ended Friday morning when Commander Coil broke down during light training with a shoulder injury and was subsequently euthanized. John Cherwa in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/18/19
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
Fruit and nut farmers in California plead for Trump tariff relief: ‘It snowballed’ -- California lawmakers want the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide some relief to more farm industries that are affected by the Trump administration’s trade war with China, especially ones that employ thousands of people in the Central Valley. Kate Irby in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/18/19
Thousands Of Central Valley Jobs At Stake? Economist Says It’s Too Early To Tell With Latest California High-Speed Rail Setback -- California labor unions say thousands of Central Valley jobs may never be created after the latest setback for the state’s high-speed rail project. The Trump administration announced on Thursday it would take back $929 million in federal money, arguing the bullet train project has substantially changed since it granted its funds, and that California has failed to make enough progress. Chris Nichols Capital Public Radio -- 5/18/19
Banking while black: Bay Area man humiliated by Wells Fargo over check-cashing, lawsuit claims -- Retired cable car operator Daniel Knight walked into a Wells Fargo bank in Antioch with two checks to cash. He wasn’t a customer of the bank, but the check writer was, and Knight had several times cashed checks from the same man at Wells Fargo after showing the required two pieces of identification, he says. What allegedly happened next led to humiliation for Knight, and a lawsuit claiming the bank discriminated against him because he’s black. Ethan Baron in the East Bay Times -- 5/18/19
Dodgers in the Valley? Ballpark might have replaced mall — had the Angels not squashed the idea -- When baseball was king in America, the Hollywood Stars were royalty in Los Angeles. They were minor league in name only. Bing Crosby and Gene Autry owned pieces of the team. So did Cecil B. DeMille and Gary Cooper, and George Burns and Gracie Allen. Bill Shaikin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/18/19
Housing
Poll: Two-thirds of California voters back SB 50 housing bill -- Senate Bill 50, the proposal by SF-based State Senator Scott Wiener that would encourage taller and denser housing development near transit lines and job centers by pruning the types of zoning limitations cities can put on lots, ended up mired in Sacramento red tape Thursday and ineligible for a senate vote until 2020. A day later, California YIMBY, an advocacy group promoting housing development, released results of a poll conducted by Washington DC-based pollsters Lake Research Partners suggesting that the bill is popular among California voters, two-thirds of whom support it in the survey. Adam Brinklow Curbed San Francisco -- 5/18/19
Education
4 in 10 students would have their vaccine exemptions rejected, California estimates -- California public health officials estimate four in 10 children would be denied a waiver from vaccines required to attend school under a contentious bill to tighten medical exemptions in the state. Melody Gutierrez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/18/19
He couldn’t speak as a child. Now this autistic student is giving a commencement address -- When Bruno Youn was 3 years old, his mother noticed something was off about her firstborn son. He could parrot what he heard. He could remember and recite poetry. But he could not string together words to communicate his own thoughts. She brought him in for testing and learned the truth: He had autism. Teresa Watanabe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/18/19
UC Raises Tuition for Out-of-State Students -- The price tag on a University of California education just went up for out-of-state and international students. The UC Board of Regents voted Thursday 12-6 with one abstention to hike undergraduate nonresident supplemental tuition by $762, despite loud protest from students across the state. Vanessa Rancaño KQED -- 5/18/19
Parents opposed to comprehensive sex education pull children out of schools, stage rallies across Southern California -- Hundreds of parents opposed to California’s comprehensive sex education curriculum staged so-called “SeXXX Ed” rallies outside county education department offices across Southern California, Friday, May 17, demanding the state stop exposing their children to sexual content including conversations about homosexuality and gender fluidity. Deepa Bharath in the Riverside Press Enterprise$ -- 5/18/19
Sacramento parents, students join statewide rallies against new sex education approach -- More than 100 parents, students and community members marched Friday outside the Sacramento County Office of Education, protesting California’s controversial new framework for sex education adopted earlier this month. Sawsan Morrar in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/18/19
Chasing a dream: 80-year-old woman graduates from SDSU -- When the new Social Science graduates got their degrees Friday afternoon at San Diego State, Yasuko Fujii’s name was called first. That was fitting. She’d waited the longest. John Wilkens in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 5/18/19
Immigration / Border
ICE scouting locations across California for detention centers to hold 5,600 -- As the Trump administration scrambles to process record levels of migrants apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border, federal immigration officials are looking to add new detention centers across California. Tatiana Sanchez in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/18/19
Congress never rejected Trump’s border wall funding, US lawyer argues -- Congress never actually rejected President Trump’s request to fund his wall along the southern border, a Justice Department lawyer told an apparently skeptical judge in Oakland on Friday in the nation’s first court hearing on the legality of Trump’s attempt to re-steer billions of dollars for the project. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/18/19
Border Patrol flies migrants from Texas to California -- The U.S. Border Patrol said Friday that it would fly hundreds of migrant families from south Texas to San Diego for processing and that it was considering flights to Detroit, Miami and Buffalo, New York. Elliot Spagat and Colleen Long Associated Press -- 5/18/19
Court hears 2 cases against Trump’s plan for border wall -- President Donald Trump is moving fast to build a wall on the Mexico border with billions of dollars secured under his declaration of a national emergency, but he first must get past the courts. On Friday, a federal judge in Oakland heard arguments in two lawsuits seeking to block the White House from spending money from the Defense and Treasury departments for the project. Daisy Nguyen and Elliot Spagat Associated Press -- 5/18/19
Health
Dental board investigates a 4-year-old’s death after dentist’s visit -- The Dental Board of California is investigating the death of a young Oakland boy, Dũng Lý during a dental procedure last month. The 4-year-old lost consciousness after receiving anesthesia for dental work done at Youthful Tooth on Edgewater Drive in East Oakland, according to a relative’s GoFundMe page. He was pronounced dead at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital on April 25th. Cat Ferguson in the East Bay Times -- 5/18/19
As patients forced to wait longer in California ERs, more are leaving against medical advice -- Emergency room patients increasingly leave California hospitals against medical advice, and experts say crowded ERs are likely to blame. About 352,000 California ER visits in 2017 ended when patients left after seeing a doctor but before their medical care was complete. That’s up by 57%, or 128,000 incidents, from 2012, according to data from the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. Phillip Reese California Healthline in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/18/19
Also . . .
Google has been tracking nearly everything you buy online — see for yourself with this tool -- Google has been quietly keeping track of nearly every single online purchase you’ve ever made, thanks to purchase receipts sent to your personal Gmail account, according to a new report today from CNBC. Even stranger: this information is made available to you via a private web tool that’s been active for an indeterminate amount of time. You can go view it here. Nick Statt The Verge -- 5/18/19
‘Magic’ echo chamber discovered in San Francisco BART station -- Science is where you find it, and you can find it these days in the middle of the Montgomery Street BART Station, absolutely free of charge. A genuine echo chamber is located directly beneath a 15-foot-wide decorative dome that used to adorn a newsstand. The newsstand is gone. Steve Rubenstein and Kevin Fagan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/18/19
Who ripped out 2,000 cherry trees from former 49er player’s Brentwood orchard? -- Two thousand newly-planted cherry trees were plucked from their roots and snapped beyond salvation this week at a Brentwood orchard owned and operated by former San Francisco 49ers football center, Jeremy Newberry. Lauren Hernández in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/18/19
San Jose man goes free after 17 years in prison for wrongful conviction -- Lionel Rubalcava had spent the last 17 years behind bars, but around 7 p.m. Wednesday he walked out of Pleasant Valley State Prison and was greeted by about 20 of his family members, who were waiting with balloons to celebrate his release. Ashley McBride in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/18/19
California lawmaker discusses personal experience with abortion -- Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif.) opened up about considering an abortion when she had an unplanned pregnancy at age 18, as several states have advanced or passed legislation restricting abortions in recent days. Rachel Frazin The Hill -- 5/18/19
POTUS 45
Trump’s silence on Alabama abortion bill is golden for activists -- President Donald Trump has been silent on the recent wave of restrictive abortion laws adopted by several states. His most fervent anti-abortion allies couldn’t be happier. Gabby Orr Politico -- 5/18/19
Beltway
No Mueller, no McGahn and stalled investigations leave House Democrats frustrated -- An increasing number of House Democrats are frustrated by their stalled investigations into President Trump, with an uncooperative chief executive, their own leader’s reluctance about impeachment and courts that could be slow to resolve the standoff. Rachael Bade and Mike DeBonis in the Washington Post$ -- 5/18/19
Bernie's mystery Soviet tapes revealed -- Unseen by the public for three decades, a Politico reporter views hours of footage from his 1988 'honeymoon' to the USSR. Holly Otterbein Politico -- 5/18/19
Dem candidate Seth Moulton visits San Francisco, says Trump harder to beat than most think -- Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton may have jumped into the presidential race three weeks ago, but that doesn’t mean he’s confident about his chances of beating President Trump in 2020 — or those of any other Democrat. John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/18/19
-- Friday Updates
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