Updating . .
ICE raids spark fear, protests and questions about who will be swept up -- With a new round of ICE raids set to begin Sunday, hundreds protested in Southern California and immigrants targeted by the Trump crackdown braced for the federal action. Many elements of the raid still remain unclear, including exactly how many are being targeted and how much the new action will be different from regular ICE activities. Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Cindy Carcamo, Matt Stiles, Andrea Castillo and Wendy Fry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/13/19
Advance notice of ICE raids may push immigrants toward unauthorized legal help -- President Trump’s announcement of planned immigration raids in Los Angeles and other major U.S. cities beginning Sunday has heightened fears and anxiety in targeted communities, leaving many seeking legal help susceptible to scams, advocates say. Giulia MCDonnell Nieto Del Rio in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/13/19
How will the new wildfire insurance fund affect you? Here are some answers -- But the fund is not like any type of insurance that exists today. It won’t sell policies, and fire victims won’t be able to seek restitution from the fund; only utilities can seek reimbursement for wildfire-related judgments or settlements. Kathleen Pender in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/13/19
Ridgecrest earthquake packed the power of 45 nuclear bombs, but its impact was muted -- When the magnitude 7.1 earthquake ruptured the earth in the Mojave Desert, it packed the energy of 45 nuclear bombs of the type that fell on Hiroshima. Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/13/19
Earthquakes leaves dozens of homes unfit for living in Trona -- More than 30 homes have been red-tagged as uninhabitable and 51 were yellow-tagged due to serious damage in Trona and surrounding San Bernardino County communities following two large earthquakes last week, according to initial damage assessments by state and local officials. Paloma Esquivel in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/13/19
Ridgecrest aftershock prognosis: They won’t stop for years, and another strong one is possible -- A 4.9-magnitude earthquake in the Ridgecrest area early Friday drove home what seismologists have been telling Southern Californians for the past week: In the wake of two strong quakes July 4 and 5, that area is likely to keep shaking for years. Nikie Johnson in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/13/19
Earthquakes shake up Yucca Mountain nuke dump talk in Nevada -- Recent California earthquakes that rattled Las Vegas have shaken up arguments on both sides of a stalled federal plan to entomb nuclear waste beneath a long-studied site in southern Nevada. Associated Press -- 7/13/19
California lawmakers consider new rules for political ads -- Now, California legislators are considering a proposal by Assemblyman Kevin Mullin that would require groups buying such “issue advocacy ads” about legislation to identify themselves and major funders in the same sort of disclaimers required in election campaign commercials. Andrew Oxford Associated Press -- 7/13/19
Knight: Welcome home: Trips abroad put San Francisco’s chaotic streets in perspective -- But when he arrived at his South of Market condo on Clara Street, he couldn’t get in his own front door. A man who appeared homeless had dropped his pants to urinate against the entryway. When Hemphill asked him to move, the man shouted “F— off!” and continued using the door as a toilet. Heather Knight in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/13/19
Trump Is Poised to Sign a Radical Agreement to Send Future Asylum Seekers to Guatemala -- Early next week, according to a D.H.S. official, the Trump Administration is expected to announce a major immigration deal, known as a safe-third-country agreement, with Guatemala. For weeks, there have been reports that negotiations were under way between the two countries, but, until now, none of the details were official. Jonathan Blitzer The New Yorker -- 7/13/19
California Policy & Politics This Morning
Bay Area braces for weekend of threatened raids on immigrant families -- Mayors of Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose condemned the planned action, activists protested outside federal immigration offices, and civil rights groups advised immigrants to keep their doors — and mouths — shut if agents come knocking. Trisha Thadani, Michael Cabanatuan and Ashley McBride in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/13/19
Trump’s threatened ICE raids could hearten his base, and terrify immigrants -- When unconfirmed reports surfaced this week that the Trump administration had resurrected threats of nationwide immigration raids expected to launch Sunday, Roberto Suro, a public policy professor at USC, homed in on the number of targeted apprehensions: an estimated 2,000. Currently, there are about 1 million immigrants with final removal orders. Cindy Carcamo and Andrea Castillo in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/13/19
Thousands march in San Ysidro to protest ICE, immigrant detention centers -- Led by dancers and drummers dressed in the garb of the native peoples of Mexico, the long line of protesters marched east on Camino De La Plaza from Larsen Field, past Las Americas Premium Outlets and the west pedestrian crossing to Tijuana. As they marched, the protesters demanded the abolition of ICE and the closure of immigrant detention centers that some Democratic members of Congress and others have described as “concentration camps.” Alex Riggins in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 7/13/19
Thousands protest immigrant detention centers at ‘Lights for Liberty’ vigils in Southern California -- Dubbed “Lights for Liberty,” and organized by a group of the same name, there were more than 20 vigils across Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties — the local editions of a national drive that included an estimated 800 candlelight protests around the country. Roxana Kopetman in the Orange County Register -- 7/13/19
Ninth Circuit Court says it’s OK for feds to favor non-sanctuary cities in funding -- The Trump administration can tip the scales in federal police funding in favor of cities that cooperate with immigration agents and let them into local jails, a divided U.S. appeals court ruled Friday in a case with implications for “sanctuary cities” like San Francisco. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/13/19
Setback for L.A.: Police agencies may receive federal grants for helping nab immigrants, court rules -- When Los Angeles police officials requested $3.125 million in federal funds in 2017 to hire 25 officers, they said their focus would be on “building trust and respect” through community policing. Maura Dolan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/13/19
Duncan Hunter sends more Islamophobic campaign mailers in California -- Indicted Rep. Duncan Hunter is sending Islamophobic mail pieces to voters in his Southern California district, attacking his Democratic opponent, Ammar Campa-Najjar, for his deceased grandfather alleged ties to a 1972 terrorist attack. Laura Barrón-López and Zach Montellaro Politico -- 7/13/19
‘Step in the right direction’: Oakland City Council passes new policy on warrant-less searches -- When the Oakland City Council approved a new policy this week to limit warrant-less searches by police on parolees and probationers, Katie Dixon thought of her two brothers, both recently released from prison. Eduardo Medina in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/13/19
Body camera video appears to show 17-year-old pointing replica gun at officer before she is shot, police say -- A 17-year-old girl killed by a Fullerton police officer last week appears to have been pointing a replica handgun at the officer when she was shot, according to body camera footage released by the Police Department on Friday. The graphic 15-minute video, which also features emergency radio transmissions and statements from Fullerton police officials, provides the most complete account yet of the events leading up to the shooting of Hannah Williams along the 91 Freeway in Anaheim. Alex Wigglesworth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/13/19
Westminster City Hall saga: Acrimony, voting restrictions and recall bids for all -- In public meetings, elected officials have accused one another of nepotism, irresponsibility, dictatorship, slander and all manner of maleficence. A councilwoman tearfully threatened to sue one of her colleagues. The mayor summoned an emergency meeting to chide a councilman about a fiery Facebook post. And that just covers the past few months. Susan Christian Goulding in the Orange County Register -- 7/13/19
San Francisco law restricts restaurants from offering customers disposable foodware -- If customers would like chopsticks, napkins, beverage lids and sleeves, stirrers and straws, they will have to request them with their purchase. That goes for takeout, in-house dining and delivery options, but self-service areas are still allowed to continue carrying those items. Colleen Shalby in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/13/19
Jalapeño farmer wins $23.3 million in heated dispute with Sriracha maker -- After the collapse of a nearly 30-year partnership with the maker of the world-famous Sriracha sauce and a multimillion-dollar lawsuit with the company, Craig Underwood is still betting on his farm’s peppers. Alexa Díaz in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/13/19
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
Invasive oriental fruit flies found in Sacramento, may trigger new quarantine, officials say -- Two oriental fruit flies, an invasive species that threatens crops, have been detected near Sacramento’s Meadowview neighborhood and were confirmed Wednesday by the Sacramento County Agricultural Commissioner and state agencies. Caroline Ghisolfi in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/13/19
Unraveling the mystery behind one LADWP worker’s $313,865 in overtime pay -- So how, exactly, does a security officer earn overtime worth $313,865 in a single year? The Southern California News Group received a swarm of demands for an explanation after it published an analysis July 7 showing city and county governments spent twice as much on overtime in 2018 as they did in 2011. Teri Sforza in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 7/13/19
85,000 Kaiser Permanente workers head toward a strike vote -- Labor unrest is escalating at Kaiser Permanente, with unions for 85,000 of the healthcare giant’s workers saying Friday that they are taking steps toward a potential strike because talks on a new contract had stalled. James F. Peltz in the Los Angeles Times$ Cathie Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/13/19
F.T.C. Approves Facebook Fine of About $5 Billion -- The Federal Trade Commission has approved a fine of roughly $5 billion against Facebook for mishandling users’ personal information, according to three people briefed on the vote, in what would be a landmark settlement that signals a newly aggressive stance by regulators toward the country’s most powerful technology companies. Cecilia Kang in the New York Times$ -- 7/13/19
Homeless
Oakland reveals plan to remove large encampment by Home Depot in coming months -- Oakland will remove a large homeless encampment in front of Home Depot’s store in the Fruitvale neighborhood in coming months and offer its occupants accommodations in shelters or an RV parking site, city officials said. Sarah Ravani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/13/19
Opponents of Navigation Center Say City Taking 'Big Risk' in Starting to Prep Site -- A lawyer for opponents of a planned multiservice homeless shelter on San Francisco’s Embarcadero said Friday the city was “taking a big risk” by beginning to prepare the site for construction before a judge has ruled on a temporary restraining order that would halt the navigation center. Miranda Leitsinger, Matthew Green KQED -- 7/13/19
Housing
Los Angeles, Orange County rent inflation up 5.8%, biggest hike since 2008 -- So why is rental control a hot political topic? Just look at the local Consumer Price Index. The cost of renting in Los Angeles and Orange counties rose at a 5.8% annual rate in June vs. 4.7% a year earlier, according to CPI math. That’s the largest increase of any month since January 2008. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ CPI tracks rental costs by polling consumers vs. other measurements that come from surveys of landlords. Jonathan Lansner in the Orange County Register -- 7/13/19
Earthquake
Mayor Eric Garcetti challenges neighborhood leaders to train for earthquakes -- Garcetti called on the city’s 100 or so neighborhood councils to appoint “preparedness officers” to work with residents to come up with emergency response plans in case of a massive earthquake or fire. The mayor wants the preparedness officers to enroll in free, city-led classes on emergencies and disasters, then teach what they’ve learned to their respective groups at block parties or other events. Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/13/19
Wildfire
How Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new California wildfire fund for utilities will work -- Investor-owned utilities will receive at least $21 billion to pay for damage from such blazes, according to Newsom’s administration. Ratepayers will pay $10.5 billion into the so-called wildfire fund through a 15-year extension of an existing charge on monthly bills that was set to expire in 2021. Taryn Luna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/13/19
Will utility rates go up? What California’s $26 billion wildfire plan means for you -- The new law takes effect immediately, and is quite complex. But these are the most important things you need to know: Bryan Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/13/19
Town destroyed by PG&E fire loses 92 percent of its population -- On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that California will now classify the city of Paradise, which was largely destroyed by the PG&E-sparked Camp Fire in 2018, as a rural area after the town’s population dropped to less than 10 percent of what it was before the fire. Adam Brinklow Curbed San Francisco -- 7/13/19
Education
LAUSD isn't properly keeping track of $1 billion for high-needs students, complaint alleges -- The Los Angeles Unified School District is not giving the public enough information about how schools use more than $1 billion a year in state funding meant for high-needs students, according to a complaint filed Thursday with the California Department of Education. Sonali Kohli in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/13/19
Immigration / Border
Trump admin asks Supreme Court to allow military funds for border wall construction -- The Trump administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court to intervene and issue an order that would allow it to move forward and use military funds for a wall on the southern border. Jacqueline Thomsen The Hill -- 7/13/19
Pence views overcrowded, bad-smelling facility for detained migrants in Texas -- Some 384 single men were corralled behind metal fences inside the sweltering facility in McAllen, according to a pool reporter on the scene. The men did not have mats or pillows and some were sleeping on concrete. The cages were so crowded, according to the reporter, that it would have been impossible for all the men to lie down at the same time. Jeff Mason Reuters -- 7/13/19
Tijuana shelters overwhelmed by U.S. immigration crackdown -- With some shelters in Tijuana teetering on the brink of closure because of a lack of resources, Baja California officials are searching for a place to open a federally run facility to house about 3,000 migrants, according to state and municipal sources. Wendy Fry in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 7/13/19
Water
Administration Sidelines Federal Biologists Who Could Stand in Way of More Water for Calif. Farmers -- Just days before federal biologists were set to release new rules governing the future of endangered salmon and drinking water for two-thirds of Californians, the administration replaced them with an almost entirely new group of lawyers, administrators and biologists to “refine” and “improve” the rules, according to an email obtained by KQED. Lauren Sommer KQED -- 7/13/19
Health
California Could Reduce Welfare Payments To Parents Who Refuse To Vaccinate Their Children -- A proposal in California that would stiffen immunization requirements for children on welfare has quietly advanced in the Legislature, despite other vaccine proposals sparking protests at the Capitol this year. Scott Rodd Capital Public Radio -- 7/13/19
New California law protects nurses who blow the whistle about poor patient care -- In 2016, Teresa Brooke was fired from Aurora Santa Rosa Hospital, a psychiatric facility in Sonoma County, for reporting a “full-blown patient riot” and multiple instances of patient self-harm and sexual assault that she witnessed at the hospital. Caroline Ghisolfi in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/13/19
Environment
Chevron spills 800,000 gallons of oil and water in Kern County canyon -- California authorities said Friday that crews are beginning to clean up a massive oil spill that dumped nearly 800,000 gallons of oil and water into a Kern County canyon, making it larger — if less devastating — than the state’s last two major oil spills. The seep, which has been flowing off and on since May, has again stopped, said Chevron spokeswoman Veronica Flores-Paniagua, with the last flow Tuesday. Associated Press via the Los Angeles Times$ Ted Goldberg KQED -- 7/13/19
E.P.A. Plans to Curtail the Ability of Communities to Oppose Pollution Permits -- The Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to weaken rules that for the past quarter-century have given communities a voice in deciding how much pollution may legally be released by nearby power plants and factories. Coral Davenport in the New York Times$ -- 7/13/19
EPA to allow use of pesticide considered ‘very highly toxic’ to bees -- The Environmental Protection Agency approved broad new applications Friday for a controversial insecticide, despite objections from environmental groups and beekeepers who say it is among the compounds responsible for eviscerating the nation’s bee populations. Brady Dennis in the Washington Post$ -- 7/13/19
Also . . .
Great white sharks spotted near Half Moon Bay -- The sighting of what appeared to be great white sharks off the San Mateo County coast Thursday prompted warnings to beachgoers to watch their backs this weekend. The sharks were first seen by pilots flying near Half Moon Bay — and there may be more shark spotting on the way. Pete Grieve in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/13/19
California’s Aid In Dying Law Is Mostly Used By White People. Here’s Why -- In California, people who are terminally ill have choices about how to spend their final days. But patients from minority backgrounds might not know about all of the options. Roughly 88 percent of people using California’s physician-assisted death law are white, according to new data from the California Department of Public Health. Sammy Caiola Capital Public Radio -- 7/13/19
Bill that would exonerate black sailors of mutiny after Port Chicago explosion passed by House -- In tandem with the approaching 75th anniversary of the Port Chicago explosion — the deadliest home-front disaster of World War II — an East Bay congressman has added an amendment to a federal bill that would exonerate 50 survivors of the accident who were convicted of mutiny for refusing to return to work in unsafe conditions. Annie Sciacca in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/13/19
Friday morning in San Francisco, and the sound of pianos blossoms -- They were wiping the dewdrops off the pianos in San Francisco on Friday. Not just the dewdrops, but the pine needles, the flower petals, the bird droppings and a lot of other things that don’t usually find themselves getting wiped off pianos. Steve Rubenstein in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/13/19
Skateboarders fly down SF's Dolores Street at insane speeds in flash 'hill bomb' -- The impromptu gathering, organized by word-of-mouth and call-outs in social media, drew hundreds to take part in the "hill bombing" — skating down a street as fast as you possibly can for the ultimate adrenaline rush. Amy Graff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/13/19
POTUS 45
Trump killed the presidential weekly address, and no one noticed -- A few days after he was inaugurated as president in March 1933, Franklin Roosevelt revived a communications tactic he had introduced as governor of New York. Though even then many Americans didn’t have radios, Roosevelt gave an address from the White House that was broadcast over the radio airwaves. Philip Bump in the Washington Post$ -- 7/13/19
-- Friday Updates
Newsom authorizes $21 billion fund to protect utilities from fire costs -- Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the major wildfire bill he has championed into law Friday, taking his most decisive step yet to reduce some of the risks surrounding the state’s investor-owned electric companies and respond to a crisis he has been dealing with since the start of his term this year. J.D. Morris and Dustin Gardiner in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/12/19
California’s new wildfire plan: 5 things to know -- Is this a utilities bailout? Will it help prevent future fires? How will all this work? Here's a breakdown of the new plan California lawmakers are putting in place. Julie Cart Calmatters -- 7/12/19
California governor taps new top utilities regulator -- California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he is tapping Marybel Batjer to serve as the state’s top utilities regulator. Batjer will serve as president of the California Public Utilities Commission, which oversees power companies and other services. Associated Press -- 7/12/19
Trump called Oakland mayor a ‘disgrace’ for revealing ICE raids. Then he did the same thing -- When Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf tipped residents off last year that immigration agents would be conducting enforcement operations, President Trump called her actions a “disgrace.” Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/12/19
Family of Anaheim girl shot by an officer cries for ‘answers that we deserve’ -- On the evening she died, Hannah Williams jumped into a rental car to run an errand a few miles from her home. But without a driver’s license — the teen lifeguard had just applied for a learner’s permit — her family believes that it’s likely she didn’t know what to do when she ended up on an Anaheim highway. Anh Do in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/12/19
Lake Tahoe fills to the top as massive winter snows melt -- If you visit Lake Tahoe this summer, the beaches might seem a little smaller than they were a few years ago. It’s not an optical illusion. Large sections of them really are underwater. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 7/12/19
Miscarriage leave, a benefit no one wants to use, on the rise -- The day after the miscarriage, Julia and Jack Altman watched “Friday Night Lights” reruns and ordered a lot of restaurant takeout. Julia, who was then working part time as a nurse practitioner, called in sick for two more days. She was tired. Sad. The time off, she said, let her recalibrate. Melia Russell in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/12/19
L.A. County sheriff’s sex crimes detective admits assaulting girl in case he investigated -- The Ventura County district attorney’s office announced Wednesday that Neil David Kimball, 46, of Agoura pleaded guilty to a lewd act with a child and unlawful sexual intercourse. He is expected to be sentenced to three years in prison as part of a plea agreement and must register as a sex offender. Alexa Díaz in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/12/19
Battling rats at the CalEPA headquarters: poison, traps and hourly patrols -- By the end of June, CalEPA had ordered security guards to conduct hourly patrols of a courtyard where rats were breeding and burrowing and getting closer to the agency’s building at 1001 I Street. An agency undersecretary announced the measure in a June 28 email, the third in a series detailing an escalating infestation attributed to construction in the downtown area. Wes Venteicher in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/12/19
Is mass poisoning the only way to solve the Farallon Islands' overwhelming rodent problem? -- There are so many mice on the Farallon Islands that sometimes the ground appears to be undulating, a gently rolling tide of rodents. Katie Dowd in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 7/12/19
Bretón: This California leader has history of harassing women at CalPERS. It doesn’t seem to matter -- In many respects, Sacramento is one of the epicenters of the #MeToo movement. It was here, in the capital of California, that brave women such as lobbyist Adama Iwu challenged the toxic male culture festering under the state Capitol dome by telling their stories of abuse and harassment at the hands of influential men in state politics. Marcos Bretón in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 7/12/19
Exemptions Could Doom Dynamex Bill -- The Achilles heal of the bill to define workers role in the gig economy just might be a growing list of exemptions in the measure. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 7/12/19