Updating . .   

Former Rep. Darrell Issa launching an exploratory committee for Rep. Duncan Hunter’s seat -- Former California Rep. Darrell Issa is likely to launch an exploratory committee Thursday in a challenge to embattled Rep. Duncan Hunter, according to a not-yet-unveiled website. Emily Kopp Roll Call Jeremy B. White Politico John Wagner in the Washington Post$ -- 8/29/19

Judge wants real name of fake cow before acting on Devin Nunes’ Twitter lawsuit -- A Virginia judge has asked Twitter to provide more information about the authors of two anonymous parody accounts that heckle California Republican Rep. Devin Nunes before deciding whether to dismiss the congressman’s lawsuit against the social media company. Kate Irby in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/29/19

Juul’s Marketing Practices Under Investigation by FTC -- The Federal Trade Commission is investigating the marketing practices of e-cigarette startup Juul Labs Inc., according to people familiar with the matter, ratcheting up pressure on a company whose products are blamed for a rise in vaping among teens. Jennifer Maloney in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 8/29/19

California’s attorney general calls EPA emissions rollback ‘a monumentally stupid decision’ -- The Environmental Protection Agency proposed abandoning federal rules that require the oil and gas industry to install technology that monitors and curbs methane leaks in wells, pipelines and other operational facilities. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said the rule is part of President Trump’s direction to do away with “unnecessary and duplicative regulatory burdens from the oil and gas industry.” Alexa Díaz in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/29/19

Seniors facing eviction fear homelessness and isolation as California’s housing crisis rolls on -- The threat of displacement and loss of community and routine can take a mental and physical toll. Experts say that’s especially true for seniors, who are perhaps the most vulnerable to California’s rising rents and evictions of any age group, and the fastest growing in the state. Andrew Khouri and Colleen Shalby in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/29/19

Late lobbying is fast and furious as California lawmakers decide who’s an employee -- Days before California lawmakers act on legislation to force employers to treat independent contractors as employees, questions remain over which industries will secure an exemption in what’s considered the most consequential labor bill of the year. Hannah Wiley and Sophia Bollag in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/29/19

Illegal cannabis farms still scarring public lands, two years after Prop. 64 -- Nearly all of these farms are the work of Mexican drug trafficking organizations, posing dangers not just for the environment, but to hikers and others who might encounter them. Piper McDaniel in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/29/19

Gavin Newsom made deals with four state unions. One is getting ready to hold out for more -- California state attorneys are prepared to keep working without a contract because they’re unimpressed with an offer from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration. Wes Venteicher in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/29/19

Kaiser Permanente workers to protest on Labor Day as strike nears -- Thousands of Kaiser Permanente workers in Oakland, Sacramento, L.A., Denver and Portland, Oregon, along with patients, clergy, elected leaders and community allies, are preparing to protest Monday, Sept. 2 over staffing shortages, wages they say are too low, and the high pay company executives are earning. Kevin Smith in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/29/19

Hiltzik: California’s fire insurance market reaches a crisis -- Steve Nielsen would not normally have considered himself a resident of California’s wildfire zone. But that ended in October 2017, when a fire swept through Coffey Park, his suburban Santa Rosa neighborhood, destroying his home and those of about 1,200 neighbors. Michael Hiltzik in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/29/19

Skelton: Require ethnic studies for California students. But first, rewrite the curriculum -- There’s a legislative move to require all high school students to take an ethnic studies course or they can’t graduate. And that raises three serious questions: George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/29/19

Bay Area home sales retreat with trade, stock market volatility -- Bay Area home sales slowed slightly in July, with last year’s record prices giving way to buyer caution amidst a volatile stock market and trade wars. Louis Hansen in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/29/19

As anti-Semitic crimes rise and Holocaust awareness fades, a survivor is always ready to speak -- Joseph Alexander lifted his left forearm to show the number. Nazi guards had tattooed it on him just after he and scores of other Jewish prisoners arrived by cattle car to Auschwitz concentration camp along with the bodies of those who didn’t survive the train ride. Hailey Branson-Potts in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/29/19

Biba dies at 82. Her restaurant introduced a dining renaissance with a welcoming soul -- Biba Caggiano, a seminal figure in the Sacramento food scene whose midtown Italian restaurant bearing her first name put the state capital on the culinary map, died Thursday morning at her Fabulous 40s home surrounded by her children, her husband Vincent and other loved ones. Marcos Bretón in the Sacramento Bee$ Bob Moffitt Capital Public Radio -- 8/29/19

 

California Policy & Politics This Morning  

A battle over California charter schools ends — for now — with a deal in Sacramento -- Warring factions of California’s K-12 education system have reached an agreement on legislation that would place new restrictions on charter schools and pause a long-standing battle at the state Capitol between politically powerful teachers unions and deep-pocketed charter advocates. Taryn Luna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- Dustin Gardiner in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Adam Beam Associated Press Ricardo Cano Calmatters Sophia Bollag in the Sacramento Bee$ John Fensterwald EdSource -- 8/29/19

‘Big numbers’ settlement reached in suits over SF’s leaning Millennium Tower -- A tentative — but still secret — settlement has been reached in lawsuits over the sinking and tilting Millennium Tower, a San Francisco Superior Court judge announced Wednesday. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/29/19

Rep. Duncan Hunter has almost depleted his legal expense fund -- Rep. Duncan Hunter has spent almost all of his money from a legal expense fund, a potentially bleak harbinger leading up to his fast-approaching trial in January for allegedly using campaign money for personal use, financial filings show. Chris Marquette Roll Call -- 8/29/19

Ousted GOP Rep. David Valadao to run for his old Central Valley seat -- Former GOP Rep. David Valadao made it official Wednesday, announcing that he would seek a November 2020 rematch with Democratic Rep. TJ Cox of Fresno, who won the seat last year in one of the nation’s tightest congressional races. John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Tal Axelrod The Hill Brianna Calix in the Fresno Bee -- 8/29/19

Republican closer to joining spouse as California lawmaker -- A Republican candidate seeking to join her husband in California’s Legislature will face off in a November special election against a Democratic opponent in a sprawling, Republican-leaning Northern California district. Democrat Elizabeth Betancourt had 39% of the vote to Republican Megan Dahle’s 36% after Tuesday’s special primary election for Assembly District 1. Don Thompson Associated Press -- 8/29/19

Assemblyman Bill Brough’s campaign expenses raise questions -- Over the first six months of this year, Assemblyman Bill Brough spent roughly $35,000 in campaign funds on travel, hotels, food, clothing and sports tickets. That included more than $15,000 to fly his family to Ireland, some $8,000 on campaign strategy meals, more than $2,000 on a deposit for basketball playoff tickets, and $400 for items at Boot Barn western clothing shop. Brooke Staggs in the Orange County Register -- 8/29/19

California vaccine activists rally at Capitol in last-ditch appeal -- Hundreds of vaccine-skeptical families made a last-ditch appeal on Wednesday to California lawmakers, asking them to kill a proposed law that would restrict vaccine medical exemptions for children attending schools. The odds are against them. Elaine Chen in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/29/19

California Health Workers Split On Whether To Be Independent Contractors or Employees -- California’s health care workforce is a scramble of independent contractors, part-time workers and full-time staff. Some people work directly for hospitals, while others work for medical groups that hospitals contract with. In clinical or group practice settings, anyone from a lab tech to a neurologist could be working independently. Sammy Caiola Capital Public Radio -- 8/29/19

Walters: Politicians mull the future of work -- The Legislature’s 2019 session will end in two weeks and no issue will have more impact on California’s workers and economic future than Assembly Bill 5 – even if it doesn’t pass. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 8/29/19

As California considers a fur ban, many in L.A. cling to their minks -- Decades before gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill, fortune-seekers flocked to California for its furs. Now the state is poised to become the first in the country to ban them — a legislative drama in which sunny Los Angeles, land of beach curls and flip-flops, is the unlikely star. Sonja Sharp in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/29/19

Craigslist founder Craig Newmark donates $250,000 for election security -- The San Francisco founder of Craigslist gave the money to the National Election Defense Coalition, a nonprofit group in Davis that focuses on making the machines that count the votes more accurate, more trustworthy and better able to resist hackers from inside or outside the country. John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/29/19

PG&E website forecasts blackouts meant to help prevent California fires -- Plenty of Californians are keeping an eye on forecasts for heat, humidity and Red Flag Warnings as fire season ramps up. Now you can do the same for power outages. Nico Savidge in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/29/19

Sikh community asks FBI to investigate stabbing death -- Members of the Sikh community on Wednesday asked the FBI to investigate the death of a 64-year-old man who was killed during a nighttime walk at a Northern California park. A candlelight vigil was held Wednesday evening for 64-year-old Parmjit Singh, who was wearing his traditional turban when he was fatally stabbed Sunday night in Gretchen Talley Park in Tracy, in the Central Valley east of San Francisco. Associated Press Bob Highfill in the Stockton Record -- 8/29/19

Killer of CHP officer fired at least 100 times, Riverside police say -- The man who killed California Highway Patrol Officer Andre Moye Jr. during a traffic stop fired at least 100 rounds before being shot to death by other officers, a police official said Wednesday, Aug. 28. Brian Rokos in the Riverside Press Enterprise$ -- 8/29/19

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions  

Trump says automakers are ‘crazy’ to side with California. They don’t need another fight -- The Trump administration has a plan to help the auto industry. It wants to obliterate a tough set of Obama-era greenhouse gas emissions requirements set to take effect in 2022, then shove California regulators aside and assert full federal control over how much pollution motor vehicles are allowed to spew. Russ Mitchell in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/29/19

Juul Introduces Checkout System to Combat Underage Purchases -- E-cigarette startup Juul Labs Inc., facing blame for a surge in teenage vaping, is offering more than $100 million in incentives to retailers to install a new electronic age-verification system intended to curb illegal sales to minors. Jennifer Maloney in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 8/29/19

Tesla heads down new road with car insurance in California -- Tesla owners in California can now buy insurance from the electric car company in what may be the first step toward the unconventional automaker providing coverage for a fleet of driverless taxis. The expansion announced Wednesday comes four months after Tesla CEO Elon Musk told analysts the company would branch into insuring its own cars for people who buy or lease them. Michael Liedtke and Tom Krisher Associated Press Rex Crum in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/29/19

Yosemite’s review of park concessionaire Aramark slams it for poor service -- The company that runs the hotels, restaurants, campgrounds and shuttle buses at Yosemite National Park is failing to meet the park’s customer service standards and faces possible financial sanctions, newly released park documents reveal. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/29/19

Anaheim council agrees on key stadium issues ahead of future meetings with Angels -- The details will be hashed out behind closed doors, but Anaheim officials seem to agree on several major negotiating goals as they approach an expected October start to discussions of a possible new stadium deal with the Angels. Alicia Robinson in the Orange County Register -- 8/29/19

Investors fell for a star-studded Netflix film. It was a $14-million scam, prosecutors say -- A Manhattan Beach man who allegedly scammed $14 million from investors by falsely telling them their money would be used to produce a feature film distributed by Netflix has surrendered to federal authorities. Alejandra Reyes-Velarde in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/29/19

99% of public workers who seek student debt relief don’t qualify. California wants to know why -- California is once again urging the United States Department of Education to explain why 99 percent of applicants for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program have been denied, according to a letter sent Wednesday by Attorney General Xavier Becerra. Hannah Wiley in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/29/19

Transit  

BART’s extension through San Jose chosen to receive $125 million federal grant -- BART’s long-awaited extension through downtown San Jose, meant to serve a new Google campus with up to 25,000 employees, is poised to get a $125 million windfall from the federal government to bring its construction plans into reality. Rachel Swan and Lauren Hernández in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Erin Baldassari in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/29/19

Are scooters too dangerous for LA’s streets? -- After checking the brakes, he pushes the throttle forward, jumping gingerly off a curb and into the crosswalk. On the other side of the street he accelerates onto the sidewalk, riding right over a stenciled message: “No e-scooter riding on sidewalk—it’s the law.” Elijah Chiland Curbed LA -- 8/29/19

Homeless  

Friends gather to recall the skid row guitarist who died when his tent was set ablaze -- Even after years spent bouncing in and out of apartments and back into homelessness, Dwayne Fields always found solace in his six-string, friends said. James Queally, Matthew Ormseth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/29/19

Case closed: Judge keeps restrictions on downtown L.A. homeless sweeps -- A legal settlement restricting the city from clearing homeless encampments on skid row has survived a court challenge, but the judge said business owners could file a separate claim if they can show that the agreement has adversely affected their property. Gale Holland in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/29/19

Housing  

Lawmakers tackle a severe housing shortage for renters who have federal vouchers -- The biggest federal housing program for low-income renters is failing to help many Californians because there aren’t enough landlords who accept Section 8 vouchers for rent. State lawmakers are considering two solutions, a carrot and a stick. Manuela Tobias, Jackie Botts Calmatters -- 8/29/19

More than 400 apartments coming to downtown Sacramento near the Capitol. Rents won’t be cheap -- A Washington state developer on Wednesday launched construction of the first of an expected 436 apartments in two mid-rise structures at Sacramento Commons, a residential site tucked a few blocks southwest of the state Capitol. Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/29/19

LA home prices smash all-time record—again -- Home prices in LA County surged to $635,000 in July, shattering an all-time record for the second month in a row. The county’s median sale price rose 2.8 percent since June and a full 5 percent since July 2018, a new report from real estate data tracker CoreLogic shows. That was the largest yearly gain since November. Elijah Chiland Curbed LA -- 8/29/19

More U.S. Homebuyers Say They Expect a Recession by Next Year -- More than 36% of 755 active buyers surveyed this month said they expect the next recession to begin next year, according to a survey released Wednesday by Realtor.com. That’s up from less than 30% in March. Prashant Gopal Bloomberg -- 8/29/19

Earthquake

Trona High’s once-mighty Sandmen fight to keep football alive in wake of earthquakes -- Only nine kids show up for football practice on a brutal afternoon in August, the sun lingering stubbornly over this desert town, keeping the temperature in triple digits. David Wharton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/29/19

Education 

UC Berkeley eyes changes to buildings found to be at higher risk of quake damage -- UC Berkeley officials are considering whether to limit the use of dozens of buildings on campus — including some that are architecturally significant and often packed with students — after a study determined they are far more likely to sustain major damage in a large earthquake than previously believed. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/29/19

Cal State Wants Incoming Freshmen To Have More Math. Opponents Fear It Will Only Widen The Equity Divide -- Earlier this year, the California State University system floated a controversial proposal to require high school students to take an extra year of math — or a related class, like personal finance or coding — to be considered for admission. The reactions from both critics and supporters were so heated that the system's trustees set aside three and a half hours for a public forum on Thursday at Cal State Long Beach. Adolfo Guzman-Lopez LAist -- 8/29/19

A path to college for kids in juvenile detention -- A unique program that enrolls kids in juvenile detention in college classes could become a statewide model. Vanessa Rancano, KQED via Calmatters -- 8/29/19

Immigration / Border 

Trump officials say children of some service members overseas will not get automatic citizenship -- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy that in some cases rescinds previous guidance stating that children of U.S. service members and other government employees abroad are considered “residing in the United States” and automatically given citizenship under a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Rafael Bernal and Morgan Chalfant The Hill -- 8/29/19

Report highlights unsanitary conditions, potential abuses at immigration detention centers -- Researchers at UC San Diego analyzed thousands of case files of asylum seekers who were in federal custody from October 2018 to June. Their data shows migrants reported being given spoiled food, dirty water and not having enough space to sleep. Gustavo Solis in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/29/19

Trump administration appears to violate law in forcing asylum seekers back to Mexico, officials warn -- Under the Migrant Protection Protocols — better known as Remain in Mexico — Trump administration officials have pushed 37,578 asylum seekers back across the U.S. southern border in roughly seven months, according to Homeland Security Department reports reviewed by the Los Angeles Times. One-third of the migrants were returned to Mexico from California. The vast majority have been scattered throughout Mexico within the last 60 days. Molly O’Toole in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/29/19

San Diego Judges Told to Speed Up Cases Under Controversial Immigration Policy -- Immigration courts along the southern border are giving first priority to the cases of people forced to wait in Mexico, alarming advocates who fear the Trump administration is moving to swiftly deny asylum to thousands of migrants who lack legal representation. Farida Jhabvala Romero KQED -- 8/29/19

Environment 

Environmentalists Slam Chevron, State Regulators Over Kern County Oil Releases -- Environmental groups are calling for increased scrutiny of California's oil and gas industry after learning that more than 50 million gallons of crude oil flowed out of the ground in an uncontrolled release near a Chevron facility in Kern County over the last 16 years. Ted Goldberg KQED -- 8/29/19

What’s Killing California’s Sea Otters? House Cats -- The state’s beloved sea mammals have been plagued by the deadly Toxoplasma parasite. They’re catching it from feral and pet cats. Francie Diep in the New York Times$ -- 8/29/19

Also . . . 

Lawyer: Slain immigrant likely didn’t understand police -- A Chinese immigrant fatally shot by a Southern California police officer as he hid behind a door during a raid on a marijuana growing operation didn’t speak English and likely didn’t understand he was being told to show his hands, lawyers for the man’s family said Wednesday in alleging the officer had no reason to open fire. Stefanie Dazio Associated Press -- 8/29/19

Cows invade upscale San Jose neighborhood -- For the past two months, cattle have been paying regular visits to Whitetail Lane in the Evergreen area. It’s not the mooing that has the residents up in arms, it’s what the cattle leave behind: torn up front lawns and large deposits of … cow pies. Jason Green in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/29/19

Mojave Desert memorial stands as a tribute to the fight for freedom -- In 2017, international artist Weiming Chen began filling the Mojave Desert parcel now known as Liberty Sculpture Park with art. Jennifer Maher in the Riverside Press Enterprise$ -- 8/29/19

POTUS 45  

Trump to visit favorite liberal target California in September -- President Donald Trump will hit one of his favorite political targets — California — with a mid-September fundraising visit to the liberal bastion of the San Francisco Bay Area, in addition to Beverly Hills and San Diego. Carla Marinucci Politico -- 8/29/19

Democrats alarmed by Trump’s promise of pardons to build border wall -- Through his pardons of political allies, conservative defenders and others convicted of federal crimes, President Trump throughout his term has sent indirect signals of his willingness to help those close to him escape punishment. Seung Min Kim and Mike DeBonis in the Washington Post$ -- 8/29/19

More Americans Say the Economy Is Declining, and They’re Blaming Trump -- For the first time since President Donald Trump was elected, more Americans say the economy is getting worse than getting better. A new Quinnipiac Poll shows 37% saying the economy is declining, compared with 31% who continue to see improvement. Only 30% say the economy is staying about the same, the lowest number on record. Gregory Korte Bloomberg -- 8/29/19

Beltway 

California workers have the power to help pick a presidential nominee. Will they use it? -- California’s most powerful labor unions will defer to their national leadership in deciding any 2020 presidential endorsement. But that doesn’t mean the state’s workers won’t have a say. Emily Cadei in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/29/19

Facebook Tightens Political Ad Rules, But Leaves Loopholes -- Facebook is tightening its rules around political advertising ahead of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, acknowledging previous misuse. But it's not clear if it will be enough to stop bad actors from abusing its system. Barbara Ortutay Associated Press -- 8/29/19

 

-- Wednesday Updates 

Gavin Newsom drops plan for California homelessness czar -- Gov. Gavin Newsom has abandoned a campaign promise to appoint the state’s first-ever homelessness czar and will instead rely on a task force and staff members to guide his response to the growing crisis in California. During his 2018 campaign for governor, Newsom said he would hire a “cabinet-level secretary committed to solving the issue, not just managing it.” Alexei Koseff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Sophia Bollag in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/28/19

Numerous complaints as CSU proposes tougher admission standards -- California State University officials want to require high school students to take an extra math, science or computer class to qualify for admission, a proposal that critics say will harm low-income students of color. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/28/19

Infighting threatens Westminster’s leadership and its Vietnamese American council majority -- Westminster residents waited decades for their City Council to become the nation’s first with a Vietnamese American majority. Now some are watching with growing frustration and anger as that majority threatens to implode. Anh Do in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/28/19

Deputy who allegedly faked being shot by a sniper is ousted from Sheriff’s Department -- Angel Reinosa, a probationary employee who had been with the Sheriff’s Department for a year, became the subject of a criminal investigation last week after he said he was shot by a sniper outside the sheriff’s Lancaster Station, a claim that officials said he later admitted was untrue. Richard Winton, Maya Lau, Hannah Fry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/28/19

Former L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca implicated in fraud scheme, court documents allege -- Several times, the witness heard the well-connected gas company owner on the phone or heading to meetings with “the boys.” The owner bragged that this network of law enforcement officials he began building in the late 1990s protected him while he played games with the Internal Revenue Service. Alene Tchekmedyian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/28/19

California should change law to give CHP officers smaller raises, report recommends -- Forty-five years ago, when California passed a law to give automatic annual raises to Highway Patrol officers, the pay structure might have made more sense than it does today, according to a new Legislative Analyst’s Office report. Wes Venteicher in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/28/19

East Bay lawyer smuggled witness ‘hit list’ out of jail. Now she wants her law license back -- A once-prominent criminal lawyer suspended by the State Bar in 2014 for smuggling out of jail a hit list of witnesses in the murder of Oakland journalist Chauncey Bailey, wants her law license back. Thomas Peele in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/28/19

BART police hiring up, overtime down, as department tackles rising crime -- Staffing levels at the BART Police Department are some of the highest they’ve been in years, with 40 new officers hired since January, as the agency combats rising crime, BART officials said Wednesday. BART began aggressively hiring new officers in the summer of 2017 with $15,000 hiring bonuses but only netted 16 new officers that year. The following year, it hired 24 officers, BART said. Erin Baldassari in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/28/19

Calling alimony ‘legal extortion,’ California man aims to reform the law -- Titled “Elimination of Open Ended Alimony,” the initiative would limit alimony payments to a maximum of five years. Current California law stipulates that for marriages of 10 years or more, alimony obligations may continue indefinitely until a judge decides otherwise. Susan Christian Goulding in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/28/19

Google gift bolsters Salvation Army’s San Jose affordable homes development -- Google has provided the Salvation Army with a $1.5 million gift to bolster efforts by the famed nonprofit organization to develop hundreds of affordable homes in San Jose, executives said Wednesday. George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/28/19

SF top Dem Campos wants Shanti to pull award to Dede Wilsey — cites GOP fundraiser -- The San Francisco Democratic Party chairman is calling on the Shanti Project to rescind its plan to honor socialite and philanthropist Dede Wilsey with a lifetime achievement award. The reason? She was listed as a co-host of a fundraiser for President Trump last month. Phil Matier in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/28/19

Can states change the electoral college ahead of 2020? Supreme Court may have to decide -- Heading into what looks to be a hard-fought presidential election, the Supreme Court will likely be asked to resolve a lingering but fundamental question about the creaky, little-understood electoral college system adopted in 1787. David G. Savage in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/28/19

Kirsten Gillibrand doesn’t know why she gets blamed for Al Franken quitting -- Many top Democratic donors are still angry at New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand for being the first to call on fellow Democratic Sen. Al Franken to resign nearly two years ago after eight women accused him of sexually inappropriate behavior. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/28/19

Fox: Business as the Bad Guy -- American popular culture is fond of labeling business executives and corporate greed as the source of what is wrong with this country. The idea is not confined to movies that frequently portray a big business exec as the villain but has taken over state and local lawmaking and some presidential campaigns, as well. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 8/28/19