Updating . .
One thing seems sure in Gilroy, the festival — and the city — will go on -- Gilroy, another city calling itself “strong,” put on its black Gilroy Strong T-shirts and made itself a promise. Nothing, say the citizens, is going to keep us from attending next year’s Garlic Festival. Steve Rubenstein and Tatiana Sanchez in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/4/19
After pair of mass shootings, Trump remains out of sight -- As the nation reeled from two mass shootings in less than a day, President Donald Trump spent the first hours after the tragedies out of sight at his New Jersey golf course, sending out tweets of support awkwardly mixed in with those promoting a celebrity fight and attacking his political foes. Jonathan Lemire Associated Press -- 8/4/19
All that noise coming from Washington turning Calif. voters numb -- The investigations and infighting in Washington this summer haven’t gone over well with voters — even in deep-blue California, where likely voters gave lawmakers an even lower approval rating than President Trump, a recent Public Policy Institute of California poll reports. Phil Matier in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/4/19
Don’t throw away that cup! S.F. pushes reusables, but it won’t be easy -- So many of us have done it: bought a drink in a plastic cup or bottle at an event, drained it and gotten another cup or bottle. San Francisco wants this habit to end. Elena Shao in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/4/19
Willie Brown: Democratic debates weren’t television — or politics — at its finest -- After sitting through both Democratic presidential debates, I have come to two conclusions: one is that the candidates are still not talking to the average voter, and two, I need my head examined for having watched it all. Willie Brown in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/4/19
‘Sue the suburbs’ group strikes again, attacking another Bay Area city over housing -- The four-person California Renters Legal Advocacy and Education Fund, or CaRLA, has one reason for being — to sue cities that reject housing projects without a valid reason. The litigious nonprofit with YIMBY roots struck again last month, suing Los Altos after the city rejected a developer’s bid to streamline a project of 15 apartments plus ground-floor office space. Marisa Kendall in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/4/19
Encinitas beach cliff collapse area is ‘still active’ -- Encinitas Lifeguard Capt. Larry Giles said Saturday the lifeguard tower near the scene was moved away from the area Saturday morning, and that officials have determined that “the area is still active.” He said a geologist assessing the scene was “concerned about the areas to the side of the current failure failing.” Kristina Davis, Teri Figueroa in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/4/19
Charity becomes a lifeline even for Americans with health insurance as deductibles soar -- Taking care of Bo — who was born with a unique combination of complex illnesses that have required 53 surgeries and more than 800 days in the hospital — is a full-time job for Carolyn Macan. Macan also spends a lot of time looking for money. Noam N. Levey in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/4/19
California Policy & Politics This Morning
At least 9 people killed and 16 injured after shooting in Dayton, Ohio; suspect also dead -- At least nine people were killed and 16 people injured after a shooting early Sunday in Dayton, Ohio, police said. The suspected shooter, who is believed to have acted alone, is also dead. Lieutenant Colonel Matt Carper told reporters the shooting took place at around 1:00 a.m. ET. Carper said the 16 people who were injured have been hospitalized. Their conditions are unknown. Yuliya Talmazan and Caroline Radnofsky NBC News -- 8/4/19
El Paso Walmart rampage marks 250th mass shooting in 215 days -- The gunfire that tore through a Walmart jammed with back-to-school shoppers on Saturday marked another bleak milestone in a nation pocked by gun violence: the 250th mass shooting of 2019. And the rampage in El Paso, which left 20 dead and 26 injured, notched an even darker statistic: It occurred on the 215th day of the year, meaning there have been more mass shootings than days so far this year. Susan Miller USA TODAY -- 8/4/19
Deadly violence heightens concerns about domestic terrorism and white supremacists -- When a gunman died after killing three people and injuring 15 others at the Gilroy Garlic Festival last weekend, authorities were left to discern a motive for his attack. Then, on Saturday, a gunman went on a shooting rampage at a shopping center in El Paso, killing at least 20 and wounding at least 26. Suhauna Hussain in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/4/19
The terrible numbers that grow with each mass shooting -- The places change, the numbers change, but the choice of weapon remains the same. In the United States, people who want to kill a lot of other people most often do it with guns. Bonnie Berkowitz, Denise Lu and Chris Alcantara in the Washington Post$ -- 8/4/19
Central American migrants are giving up on asylum; returning home -- If the Trump administration’s goal with its new immigration policy, Migrant Protection Protocols, is to encourage large numbers of migrants to abandon their asylum claims and return home, it appears to be working. A Mexican official estimated Friday that about half of those returned to Baja California like Mejia have also decided to go home. Migrants have been returning mostly through private bus companies making exact figures hard to track, he confirmed. Wendy Fry, Molly Hennessy-Fiske in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/4/19
Encinitas beach cliff collapse that killed 3 women part of larger California coast crisis -- The cliff collapse in Encinitas that killed three people Friday underscores the dangers of erosion on bluffs along the California coast. Cliff erosion has long been a danger in San Diego County and other areas. Alex Riggins, Gary Warth and Shelby Grad in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/4/19
Lawsuit: County child welfare discriminated, retaliated against foster parents -- Two foster parents are suing the County of San Diego for allegedly discriminating against them based on their sexual orientation and retaliating against them by taking their foster child after they complained about delayed adoption paperwork, according to the lawsuit. Morgan Cook in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/4/19
Some of the Bay Area’s biggest property owners don’t pay property tax -- When a company develops an office, housing or other commercial project in California, it generally has to pay one-time impact fees designed to offset the cost of additional public facilities and infrastructure it will require. It also pays property taxes each year, which helps fund continuing needs such as additional teachers, police and public services. Kathleen Pender in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/4/19
Students accused of sexual harassment sue California universities -- He was a University of California graduate student who said he dated another student twice — and was shocked when she accused him of stalking and sexual harassment in a Title IX complaint in 2017. Teresa Watanabe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/4/19
Census 2020: Making sure Latinos are counted accurately -- The 2020 census may not be the most glamorous topic, but it has huge ramifications for California and the rest of the U.S. That’s why it was one of the first topics discussed at the UnidosUS conference in San Diego that kicked off Saturday. Charles T. Clark in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/4/19
Walters: California’s two-tier society -- Thirty-four years ago, two researchers delved into California’s rapidly changing demographic and economic trends and saw “an emerging two-tier economy with Asians and better-educated non-Hispanic whites and blacks competing for the prestigious occupations while poorly educated Hispanics and blacks scramble for the lower status jobs…” Dan Walters Calmatters -- 8/4/19
Family of teen arrested in Rome officer’s fatal stabbing say public has ‘incomplete account’ -- The father of a former Marin County high school student accused of fatally stabbing a Rome police officer last month stood on the brick driveway of his San Francisco home Saturday night and said through a family representative that the public has an “incomplete account” of what occurred the night his son was arrested in Italy. Lauren Hernández in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/4/19
158 million opioid pills flooded into Ventura County. Here's where their journey started -- About 4.5 million hydrocodone and oxycodone pain pills were delivered to a family-owned Simi Valley pharmacy from 2006 to 2012 — nearly 1 million more than any other drug store in Ventura County, according to federal data. Tom Kisken in the Ventura County Star -- 8/4/19
Can new homes on the edge of San Diego stop wildfires? -- A local fire chief who supports the development in a "very high" fire risk area says yes. Other experts emphatically disagree. Gabrielle Paluch in the Palm Springs Desert Sun -- 8/4/19
Homeless
Lopez: Would forcing homeless people to move inside and off the streets work? -- Steve Saad, who has camped out in the Sepulveda Basin for eight years, had to find a new place to sleep last week after fire raged through his campsite. I asked if he’d prefer living in a shelter to being homeless, if a bed were available, and he said no. Some of those places have too many rules about coming and going, he said, and some of them separate couples. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/4/19
Education
SF high school students fan out into tech, City Hall internships -- It was a sunny, uncommonly warm, late-July afternoon in San Francisco. Across the city, thousands of kids savored the waning weeks of summer vacation, but Jaida Clark, 17, and Kaylani Kelley, 16, were back in class. The class is part of their paid summer internship at Airbnb. Dominic Fracassa in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/4/19
Immigration / Border
In Court Without a Lawyer: The Consequences of Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ Plan -- Outside one of the nation’s busiest immigration courts, dozens of migrant families streamed out of a pair of buses that had just pulled in from the Mexican border, all of them hoping to fight deportation and ask for refuge in the United States. They filed into two packed waiting rooms at the busy federal compound southeast of San Diego. Miriam Jordan in the New York Times$ -- 8/4/19
POTUS 45
Trump prepares a push to woo black voters -- President Donald Trump is looking to woo black voters — if he can make them forget about his tweets. The Trump 2020 campaign has been quietly reaching out to prominent African Americans about joining its latest coalition, intended to boost Republican support in the black community. Nancy Cook Politico -- 8/4/19
Impeachment summer? August town halls may decide next steps -- Freshman Democratic Rep. Andy Kim came face to face with impeachment fervor at a town hall in New Jersey. “Do your job!” shouted one voter. Several states away, a woman held up a copy of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report and told freshman Rep. Elissa Slotkin at a Michigan town hall she hoped she would “be the person that puts us over the top to start an impeachment inquiry.” Lisa Mascaro, Mike Catalini, Denise Lavoie and David Eggert Associated Press -- 8/4/19
Beltway
McConnell Promised to End Senate Gridlock. Instead, Republicans Are Stuck in Neutral -- Seven months into a new era of divided government, the Republican-led Senate limped out of Washington this week after the fewest legislative debates of any in recent memory, without floor votes on issues that both parties view as urgent: the high cost of prescription drugs, a broken immigration system and crumbling infrastructure. Sheryl Gay Stolberg in the New York Times$ -- 8/4/19