Updating . .
Trump administration opens California to new oil drilling, possibly Bay Area, too -- The Trump administration’s latest effort to dramatically boost oil and gas production is landing in California, with the Interior Department on Friday opening up 720,000 acres between the Bay Area and Fresno to potential drilling. The move gives an immediate go-ahead to 14 drilling leases in San Benito, Monterey and Fresno counties, mostly projects near existing drill sites and pursued for years by fossil fuel companies looking to expand. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/4/19
The next big California vs. Trump fight is over water and endangered species -- The next few months will provide an answer, as Newsom is forced to take a stand on Trump rollbacks in a long-contested battleground — the Northern California delta that helps supply more than half the state’s population with drinking water and fills irrigation canals on millions of acres of farmland. Bettina Boxall in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/4/19
Judge in insurance case refuses to change ruling in favor of Lara donor -- For the second time in three months, a judge for the California Department of Insurance has refused to change or reconsider his ruling in a workers compensation case, despite direction from Commissioner Ricardo Lara or his special counsel. The case involves a subsidiary of a company whose executives gave thousands of dollars to Lara’s political campaign. Jeff McDonald in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 10/4/19
What California knows about Tom Steyer -- America will get a closer look at Tom Steyer when he makes his debut on the Democratic presidential debate stage Oct. 15. Here are five ways that California has shaped Steyer and how he — the state's largest mega-donor — has helped shape California. Ben Christopher Calmatters -- 10/4/19
Silicon Valley can’t escape the glare of the presidential race -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s treatise calling on California to crack down on gig economy companies probably did not surprise many executives in the corner of corporate America she derisively calls Big Tech. But a message on Twitter a few weeks later from former Vice President Joe Biden landed like a punch to the gut. Evan Halper in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/4/19
SF Mayor Breed appoints Suzy Loftus as interim DA following Gascón’s resignation -- The appointment, which is expected to be formally announced Friday, comes in the middle of a tight election race. It’s unclear if Breed’s move will help Loftus win the city’s top prosecutor job when voters go to the polls Nov. 5. Evan Sernoffsky and Dominic Fracassa in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/4/19
Phantom fentanyl deaths skyrocket in Southern California -- The good news, if there is any, is that opioid prescriptions and drug-related emergency room visits have declined in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties — as well as in California as a whole — since 2014. The not-so-good news — and there’s plenty — is that fentanyl-related deaths have skyrocketed over the past five years, especially in Los Angeles County, which far outpaces the state average. Teri Sforza in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/4/19
Eyeing a possible recession, California wineries cut back on production — and farmers suffer -- Paul Johnson farms 450 acres of wine grapes in Monterey County for his family’s Johnson Vineyard Co. Normally, a range of local wineries, under multiyear contracts, buy his Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes. But after last year’s harvest, Johnson began to worry when no winery clients renewed their contracts. Esther Mobley in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/4/19
Irvine food distributor that serves Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, Chipotle moving HQ to Texas -- The company, a logistics unit of food-industry supply giant Golden State Foods, runs a nationwide chain of 19 distribution centers that warehouses and distributes food and supplies to individual chain restaurants. The new headquarters will initially be home to between 30 and 45 workers, both relocations and new hires. It is expected to be open by January. Jonathan Lansner in the Orange County Register -- 10/4/19
Queen Mary’s operator could default on lease by month’s end, due to insufficient repair progress -- The operator tasked with repairing the Queen Mary in Long Beach has failed to make sufficient progress on that work — and could go into default by the end of the month. Hayley Munguia in the Long Beach Press Telegram$ -- 10/4/19
Now your Tesla can come pick you up. California says that’s not ‘driverless’ -- Tesla unleashed the latest twist in driverless car technology last week, raising more questions about whether autonomous vehicles are outracing public officials and safety regulators. Russ Mitchell in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/4/19
Payouts to SF bathhouse, Oakland school reveal behind-the-scenes look at housing deals -- To settle a lawsuit over developing 1,575 housing units in Bayview-Hunters Point, a developer has agreed to pay $100,000 to a Russian bathhouse and an additional $100,000 to Lincoln University, an East Bay school. The deal offers a behind-the-scenes look at San Francisco development deals. J.K. Dineen in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/4/19
Attorneys say disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes isn’t paying them -- Lawyers representing disgraced Theranos founder and accused fraudster Elizabeth Holmes said in a civil case claim she hasn’t paid them for more than a year and probably never will, according to court records, and they don’t want to be her lawyers anymore. Ethan Baron in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 10/4/19
Credible threat targeting ‘Joker’ screening forces Huntington Beach theater to close -- A movie theater in Huntington Beach showing the film “Joker” was closed late Thursday after a threat was reported to police, authorities said Friday. Hannah Fry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/4/19
Lopez: Column: This small Italian city might have an answer for L.A.'s homeless catastrophe -- Kerry Morrison had seen enough. She was not a clinician or policymaker, and she didn’t know what the answers were. But she knew she was looking at failure, and she knew she could no longer ignore it. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/4/19
LAX ban on taxi, Uber and Lyft curbside pickups irks passengers: ‘It’s inconvenient’ -- Mary Cate Haley was waiting for her hired car at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday morning after a flight from Dallas when she learned that the convenience of catching a ride at the terminal was about to end. Alex Wigglesworth, Laura Newberry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/4/19
After college payroll fiasco, Gavin Newsom signs law requiring UC to pay staff on time -- The law comes more than a year after UC employees, including many students, began reporting skipped or late paychecks as a result of errors attributable to the implementation of the new human resources system UCPath, which has cost the university system around $500 million to implement. Andrew Sheeler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/4/19
Prosecutors Will Retry Case of Ghost Ship Defendant Derick Almena -- Alameda County prosecutors say they will move forward with a retrial in the case of Derick Almena, who is charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of three dozen people in a 2016 fire that burned through a converted Oakland warehouse known as the Ghost Ship. Don Clyde KQED -- 10/4/19
Supreme Court takes first big abortion case since Kavanaugh joined the court -- The Supreme Court announced Friday that it will hear its first major abortion case with Justices Brett M. Kavanaugh and Neil M. Gorsuch on the bench, and decide whether states may enforce far stricter regulations on doctors who perform abortions. David G. Savage in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/4/19
Fox: California Lawmakers Upsetting Traditions of College Athletics -- Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 206 allowing college athletes to prosper from the use of their name, image and likeness. Perhaps in the end the law balances for some college athletes the potential side effects of the state’s travel ban that could undermine college teams from participating against certain rivals. For better and for worse, California lawmakers are upsetting a century of traditions in college athletics. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 10/4/19
California Policy & Politics This Morning
Political ‘deepfake’ videos banned in California before elections -- Ahead of what is expected to be a contentious election next year, California has made it illegal to distribute deceptively edited videos and audio clips intended to damage a politician’s reputation or deceive someone into voting for or against a candidate. Alexei Koseff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/4/19
PG&E wants to raise rates to offset San Francisco’s new tax to fund homelessness services -- Pacific Gas & Electric Co. wants to raise rates on San Francisco customers to cover the roughly $10 million added to the company’s annual tax bill under a 2018 measure that hikes taxes on the city’s biggest businesses to fund homelessness services. Dominic Fracassa in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/4/19
PG&E reaches $65 million settlement in record-falsification case -- Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has agreed to pay $65 million and implement a series of system reforms to settle an investigation from California regulators who said the company repeatedly falsified internal records about its underground infrastructure. J.D. Morris in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/4/19
You can register for PG&E shut-off alerts by ZIP code now -- Members of the public can now sign up for alerts about Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s power shut-offs even if they are not a customer at the location they want to monitor. J.D. Morris in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/4/19
SF District Attorney Gascón resigning before election, explores run in LA -- San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón announced Thursday he is resigning from office before his term concludes at the end of the year and moving to Los Angeles, where he’s exploring a run for the top prosecutor job. Evan Sernoffsky in the San Francisco Chronicle$ James Queally in the Los Angeles Times$-- 10/4/19
Two Prosecutors Were Shaped by 1980s Los Angeles. Now They Have Opposing Views on Criminal Justice -- Walking the beat as a cop in the Watts neighborhood of South Los Angeles in the 1990s, George Gascón found himself arresting multiple generations of black men from the same family. The experience shaped his views on mass incarceration and the devastation it inflicted on black communities, and guided him as he shifted from police officer to prosecutor and led reform initiatives to keep people out of jail as the district attorney of San Francisco. Tim Arango in the New York Times$ -- 10/4/19
Palo Alto: Joe Biden announces $15 million fundraising total and blasts Trump -- In a 30-minute speech and in answers to several donor questions, Biden didn’t talk specifically about the Ukraine controversy or the president’s latest comments Thursday asking China to investigate him. But he sounded upbeat about his chances against Trump. Speaking in a navy suit and striped shirt with no tie, Biden quoted his dad saying, “don’t compare me to the Almighty, compare me to the alternative.” Casey Tolan in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 10/4/19
Joe Biden doesn’t punch back at Trump in SF fundraiser -- Joe Biden’s campaign revolves around returning the country to the way it was before President Trump took office, which explains how he handled Trump’s latest groundless attack on him Thursday — by all but ignoring it. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/4/19
Ukraine? Impeachment? No, Elizabeth Warren sticks to the plan at San Diego rally -- The burgeoning impeachment proceedings against President Trump have knocked Washington and the political world off-kilter with new revelations by the hour. But as Elizabeth Warren rallied thousands of fans at a seaside San Diego park, there was little sign Trump’s scandals would upend her campaign’s core message. The words “Ukraine” and “China” — which have blared nonstop on cable news — went unmentioned. Melanie Mason in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/4/19
Elizabeth Warren tells San Diego crowd she’ll tax the wealthy to help middle class families -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, visited downtown San Diego Thursday night, where an estimated 8,500 people turned out to show their support. Morgan Cook in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 10/4/19
Locked up, left behind -- In a crackdown driven by fear, California sent thousands of teenagers to adult courts and prisons for crimes they committed as juveniles. Laws have since softened, but the fallout remains. Evan Sernoffsky and Joaquin Palomino in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/4/19
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
Despite complications and costs, SF to push ahead on public bank in wake of new state bill -- Advocates for a public bank in San Francisco are rejoicing over Gov. Gavin Newsom signing legislation that will allow them to create a local institution to finance priorities like low-income housing, public infrastructure and small businesses. Dominic Fracassa in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/4/19
$500 a month for free: Data shows how people spent the money -- The first data from an experiment in a California city where needy people get $500 a month from the government shows they spend most of it on things such as food, clothing and utility bills. Adam Beam Associated Press -- 10/4/19
US House panel taps defunct startup for Facebook files -- A U.S. congressional committee has requested a trove of internal Facebook documents that the company’s critics say will demonstrate how the social media giant unfairly leveraged its market dominance to crush or absorb competitors. Frank Bajak Associated Press -- 10/4/19
Zuckerberg: Traffic, housing woes hindering Facebook’s growth in Bay Area -- Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the social media company plans to expand offices more outside of the Bay Area than within it because of local infrastructure challenges like traffic and housing costs. Roland Li in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/4/19
Uber launches new app for linking temp workers with jobs -- Starting on Friday, Uber is going to try to make it easier for temporary workers to find work with companies that are, well, looking for temporary workers. Uber intends to do this through a new app it is launching called Uber Works. Rex Crum in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 10/4/19
Gump’s is coming back to San Francisco as a holiday pop-up -- Gump’s is coming home, but it may not stay long. On Monday its new owners, the Chachas family of New York, will open a pop-up Gump’s store at 250 Post St. in Union Square, a block away from where the more than 150-year-old retailer closed last year. Shwanika Narayan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/4/19
Transit
LAX to end curbside pickup by Uber and Lyft -- Starting on or about Oct. 29, travelers looking to hop on an Uber or Lyft will be taken by shuttle to a parking lot next to Terminal 1, where they can book their rides, said Keith Wilschetz, deputy executive director of the Operations and Emergency Management Division at Los Angeles World Airports. Drop-offs at terminals will still be allowed. Laura Newberry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/4/19
Ferry landing serving Chase Center opens Saturday for Warriors game -- A temporary ferry terminal in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood will open Saturday for fans attending the Golden State Warriors’ first game at the Chase Center, city officials announced Thursday. Alejandro Serrano in the San Francisco Chronicle Nico Savidge in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 10/4/19
Caltrain moving forward with plan for BART-like service that could ease Peninsula traffic -- The vision Caltrain leaders have laid out, which the agency’s board voted to adopt at a meeting Thursday, calls for offering as many as eight trains per hour in each direction between San Jose and San Francisco. Nico Savidge in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 10/4/19
Housing
California homeowners slashing asking prices at post-recession high -- It’s no blip. The frequency of price-cutting in Southern California, statewide and across the nation is running at or near post-recession highs. Jonathan Lansner in the Orange County Register -- 10/4/19
Wildfire
Sprinklers and gadgets won’t save your home from a wildfire. What your neighbor does might -- In wind-driven scenarios, protecting a home hinges on the little things — such as using the right building materials and maintaining a lush, manageable garden — over pricey projects such as sprinklers, Cohen said. Embers should be viewed as a contagion that can spread like an airborne virus. Joseph Serna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/4/19
Education
Police find loaded gun at school weeks after another weapon was carried near separate campus -- Los Angeles School Police officers have taken two people into custody in a little over two weeks after authorities said they were carrying loaded weapons on or near separate campuses. Colleen Shalby in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/4/19
A fence goes up to deter school shootings, and a neighborhood loses its park -- Joaquin and Jude Perez, like many children in their Long Beach neighborhood, learned how to ride their bikes on the blacktop at Fremont Elementary School. The school grounds have long been their de facto park, where they play with friends after school and on weekends while parents chat. Sonali Kohli in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/4/19
‘My own ego brought me down’: SF dad to be sentenced in college admissions scandal -- Prosecutors will ask a federal judge Friday to hand down the stiffest sentence yet in the “Varsity Blues” college admissions scandal to a San Francisco wine magnate who paid for a proctor to cheat on his daughter’s SAT test and sought to bribe a University of Southern California official to secure the child an undeserved spot on the water polo team. Matthias Gafni in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/4/19
Former UC Berkeley cheerleader says she was forced to perform despite concussions -- College athletes who regularly twist and tumble — divers and gymnasts, for example — have coaches, trainers and physicians watching them closely for signs of injury. The same should hold true for another set of high-risk acrobats, cheerleaders, but it doesn’t, say lawyers for a former UC Berkeley cheerleader now suffering possible brain damage from three untreated concussions. Bob Egelko and Erin Allday in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/4/19
Cannabis
SF counterculture capital Haight Street gets its first legal cannabis dispensary -- An ex-convict and former gang member who started selling drugs at age 12 in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood will open the first legal retail cannabis store on upper Haight Street, a landmark for both the former drug dealer and the western stretch of the street that’s most associated with illicit cannabis sales in the city. Ed Murrieta in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/4/19
Immigration / Border
ICE arrests two Cambodians in SF as advocates protest deportations -- About 50 community advocates and Cambodians rallied at ICE headquarters in San Francisco Thursday, joining groups across the nation to protest the ongoing arrests of refugees who fled the country decades ago. Tatiana Sanchez in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/4/19
Health
Kaiser says data breach exposed information on nearly 1,000 Sacramento-area patients -- Kaiser Permanente said Thursday that a data breach had left personal information on 990 Sacramento-area patients exposed to an unknown and unauthorized individual for about 13 hours. Cathie Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/4/19
Environment
Top State Lawmakers Question Chevron Oil Spill Fine -- The heads of the state legislative committees that oversee much of California's oil and gas industry are questioning whether a fine issued by state regulators against Chevron this week, for a massive uncontrolled release of crude petroleum in a Kern County oil field, will be effective. Ted Goldberg KQED -- 10/4/19
Saving SF Bay may mean filling parts of it in, agency says -- The state agency created in 1965 to protect San Francisco Bay voted Thursday to do something that might seem counterintuitive — to prepare for the threat of sea level rise by making it easier to fill in portions of the bay. The unanimous vote by the Bay Conservation and Development Commission is part of a larger effort to create marshes and restore habitat that can serve as a buffer against rising sea levels. John King in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/4/19
What we’ll lose at the water’s edge -- Chronicle reporter Ryan Kost spent four days along the bay. He didn’t have a plan, but he had a map showing future flood zones — and a desire to know what would be lost under all the blue. Ryan Kost in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/4/19
How to cope with ‘eco anxiety,’ according to mental health professionals -- Most of Jennifer Machado’s clients bring up climate change — and all the associated impacts — during their sessions with her. Machado, a Bay Area psychotherapist, says she really started to notice the anxiety about global warming last summer. Ryan Kost in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/4/19
Simi Valley man gets a month in jail for fatally shooting mountain lion P-38 -- Alfredo Gonzalez, 60, must also complete at least 240 hours of community service at an animal shelter and pay an undisclosed amount of restitution, according to the Ventura County district attorney’s office. Laura Newberry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/4/19
Why you’ll see electric Tesla semis rolling out of Modesto’s Frito-Lay plant soon -- Modesto’s Frito-Lay plant is buying electric Tesla semis as part of a project to replace its entire fleet to near zero-emission vehicles. Marijke Rowland in the Modesto Bee$ -- 10/4/19
A ‘Chilling Message’: Trump Critics See a Deeper Agenda in California Feud -- President Trump’s political feud with California has spread collateral damage across more than a dozen other states, which have seen their regulatory authority curtailed and their autonomy threatened by a Trump administration intent on weakening the environmental statutes of the country’s most populous state. Coral Davenport in the New York Times$ -- 10/4/19
POTUS 45
Trump wanted Ukraine’s president to launch investigations before face-to-face meeting, State Dept. texts show -- House investigators released numerous text messages late Thursday night illustrating how senior State Department officials coordinated with the Ukrainian president’s top aide and President Trump’s personal lawyer to leverage a potential summit between the heads of state on a promise from the Ukrainians to investigate the 2016 U.S. election and an energy company that employed the son of 2020 Democratic candidate Joe Biden. Karoun Demirjian, Rachael Bade, Josh Dawsey and John Hudson in the Washington Post$ Rebecca Ballhaus, Siobhan Hughes and Dustin Volz in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 10/4/19
Trump Envoys Pushed Ukraine to Commit to Investigating Biden -- Two of President Trump’s top envoys to Ukraine worked on a statement for the country’s new president in August that would have committed Ukraine to pursuing investigations sought by Mr. Trump into his political rivals, according to three people briefed on the effort and documents released Thursday night. Kenneth P. Vogel and Michael S. Schmidt in the New York Times$ -- 10/4/19
U.S. diplomat thought it was 'crazy' to withhold Ukraine aid: texts -- A top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine thought it was “crazy” to withhold military aid for the country as it confronted Russian aggression, according to evidence presented on Thursday in an impeachment probe of President Donald Trump. Patricia Zengerle Reuters -- 10/4/19
Trump Publicly Urges China to Investigate the Bidens -- The president’s call for Chinese intervention means that Mr. Trump and his attorney general have now solicited assistance in discrediting the president’s political opponents from Ukraine, Australia, Italy and, according to one report, Britain. In speaking so publicly on Thursday, a defiant Mr. Trump pushed back against critics who have called such requests an abuse of power, essentially arguing that there was nothing wrong with seeking foreign help to fight corruption. Peter Baker and Eileen Sullivan in the New York Times$ -- 10/4/19
IRS whistleblower said to report Treasury political appointee might have tried to interfere in audit of Trump or Pence -- An Internal Revenue Service official has filed a whistleblower complaint reporting that he was told that at least one Treasury Department political appointee attempted to improperly interfere with the annual audit of the president’s or vice president’s tax returns, according to multiple people familiar with the document. Jeff Stein, Tom Hamburger and Josh Dawsey in the Washington Post$ Alan Rappeport in the New York Times$ -- 10/4/19
Trump team throwing sand in impeachment gears -- House Democrats are using every tactic in the book to speed up their impeachment investigation. President Donald Trump’s team is doing everything it can to slow things down. Darren Samuelsohn Politico -- 10/4/19
Trump throws an impeachment stink bomb into China trade talks -- President Donald Trump just tossed his most pressing economic issue into the morass of impeachment politics. Trump’s suggestion Thursday that Beijing should investigate a political rival, moments after threatening America’s “tremendous power” in the ongoing trade talks with China, exposes his long-running negotiations with the world’s No. 2 economy to new scrutiny and could cast a political shadow over the results. Adam Behsudi Politico -- 10/4/19
CNN won’t run two Trump campaign ads, citing ‘demonstrably false’ claims -- CNN said Thursday that it will not run two Trump campaign ads because they disparage the network’s journalists and make “demonstrably false” claims while discussing impeachment and pushing unsubstantiated allegations of corruption against former vice president Joe Biden. Hannah Knowles in the Washington Post$ -- 10/4/19
Beltway
Trump campaign to drop bomb on Biden in early voting states -- Starting this weekend, the reelection effort will air over $1 million in anti-Biden commercials in Iowa, South Carolina, New Hampshire and Nevada, according to two people familiar with the move. The spots focus on Trump’s claim that the former vice president and his son engaged in corruption in Ukraine. Alex Isenstadt Politico -- 10/4/19
Kamala goes small in Iowa -- Nine months ago, Kamala Harris launched her campaign in front of 22,000 fans — then followed up with town halls that spilled out of rooms. Now she's planning to have dinner with individual families in Iowa. Christopher Cadelago Politico -- 10/4/19
Biden raises $15 million in third quarter, putting him behind Sanders and Buttigieg -- Biden’s third-quarter haul puts him behind Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who raised $25.3 million during the same period, and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who raised $19.1 million. Buttigieg had been largely unknown on the national political stage until earlier this year. Felicia Sonmez and Michelle Ye Hee Lee in the Washington Post$ -- 10/4/19
-- Thursday Updates
PG&E bankruptcy attorney’s fees: $140 million and counting -- PG&E’s bankruptcy-related attorney fees have reached the $140 million mark, prompting a trustee in the case and a consumer group to question why lawyers have harvested a rising number of billable hours when the utility has yet to compensate many wildfire victims. George Avalos in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/3/19
Feinstein, Harris ask for probe of EPA notice against SF -- California’s senators have asked the Environmental Protection Agency’s watchdog to investigate whether the agency abused its enforcement powers when it accused San Francisco of improperly dumping waste into the ocean. Tal Kopan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/3/19
Federal appeals court upholds Santa Monica’s ban on short-term vacation rentals -- A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit of Appeals rejected a potential class-action lawsuit against the city, which passed the law in 2015 on the grounds that visitors who rent through Airbnb Inc. or other companies “sometimes disrupt the quietude and residential character of the neighborhoods.” Maura Dolan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/3/19
Who is Tushar Atre? CEO killed after being kidnapped from oceanfront Santa Cruz home -- A Santa Cruz tech executive was forced from his home in the middle of the night and then killed this week, leaving authorities with few clues but plenty of questions in the slaying. Alejandra Reyes-Velarde in the Los Angeles Times$ Jessica A. York in the Santa Cruz Sentinel -- 10/3/19
Attorney who paid $75,000 to rig daughter’s ACT exam sentenced to 1 month in admissions scandal -- Already disbarred and removed from his prestigious law firm, Gordon Caplan on Thursday received a final rebuke from the legal system he once sat atop when he was sentenced to one month in prison for conspiring to rig his daughter’s college entrance exams. Matthew Ormseth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/3/19
With new CA charter school rules official, here’s the latest on incoming K-12 laws -- Tough new charter school regulations have been signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, as expected, but other big K-12 proposals are TBD, including a statewide bond measure, maternity leave for teachers and a later morning bell. Ricardo Cano Calmatters John Fensterwald EdSource Dustin Gardiner in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/3/19
Joe Biden comes to Bay Area. If you want to see him, it will cost you -- Biden is choosing to spend his time here sequestered with wealthy donors at three fundraisers. His plans include lunch in Palo Alto (cheapest ticket: $1,500), a late afternoon fundraiser at the San Francisco home of Sen. Dianne Feinstein and her millionaire financier husband, Richard Blum (cheapest ticket: $1,000), and a third event in the Financial District in the evening. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/3/19
Union Square, SF’s shopping hotspot, struggles as stores close -- For more than a century, San Francisco’s Union Square has beckoned shoppers to high-end department stores and a riotous mix of fashion sellers able to pay the area’s sky-high retail rents. Shwanika Narayan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/3/19
Nipsey Hussle was killed next to a school. His death still haunts students -- Teens around Crenshaw and Slauson know the spot. Across the street from the Marathon Clothing store, through the gates of the high school, up the stairs to the south building balcony. That offers the clearest view of the spot where Nipsey Hussle was fatally wounded. Sonali Kohli in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/3/19
Can Young Kim Help Turn Orange County Red Again? -- She describes her life story as the “American dream” and would have been the first Korean-American woman in Congress. After losing a congressional race by a very thin margin, she is back for a rematch. Jennifer Medina in the New York Times$ -- 10/3/19
Nunes files $75M lawsuit over Esquire story about 'secret' Iowa dairy -- Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) has filed a $75 million lawsuit against Esquire magazine and political reporter Ryan Lizza, claiming a September 2018 article detailing the family’s dairy operation in Iowa was trying to damage his reputation. Morgan Gstalter The Hill -- 10/3/19
‘Basic income’ experiment offers Stockton residents a glimpse of the California Dream -- Stockton is halfway through an 18-month program that provides $500 a month to 125 people from low-income ZIP codes. Proponents say the program is a step toward economic equality; opponents say it’s unrealistic and enabling. Sammy Caiola Capital Public Radio via Calmatters -- 10/3/19
California boom is ending, Gavin Newsom warns as 2020 budget writing begins -- California’s longest-ever period of economic growth is slowing, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday, warning that next year’s budget may not be as flush as this year’s. “You’re already seeing the plane land in terms of the the slowdown,” Newsom told reporters. “I think it’s going to reflect in a more sober look at next year’s budget.” Sophia Bollag in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/3/19
The new face of Sacramento’s affordable housing crisis: College students forced to drop out -- After classes at Sacramento State, when others had gone home, Alvin Prasad would spend the night sleeping in his Honda. He couldn’t afford an apartment and was too tired to drive to his parents’ Modesto home. “In winter, you have a blanket, sometimes it’s not warm enough.” Tony Bizjak and Sawsan Morrar in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/3/19
Upholding FCC’s repeal of net neutrality rules, court opens door for California to enforce its own -- In a ruling Tuesday, a federal appeals court upheld the Federal Communications Commission’s controversial repeal of Obama-era net neutrality protections. But the substance of that ruling leaves the door open for states and local governments to write their own regulations. Suhauna Hussain in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/3/19
New Uber App Pairs Gig Workers With Employers -- The Uber Works app, which debuted in Chicago on Thursday, will match workers such as chefs and cleaners with companies looking to fill a temporary opening, the company said late Wednesday. Preetika Rana in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 10/3/19
Fox: Education Strategy Isn’t Working for Property Tax Increase Plan -- Education is intended to be the cutting edge of the blade to alter Proposition 13 with a ballot initiative in next year’s election. However, the just released Public Policy Institute of California poll indicates that strategy may not be as sharp as anticipated by the measure’s backers. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 10/3/19