Aaron Read
Edsource.org
Olson Hagel
Capitol Weekly
CA Leg Analyst
Cal FPPC
Maplight.org
 
 

Updating . .   

Why cell phones failed in PG&E outages, and how to prevent a repeat -- As the lights flickered out and wildfires flared, PG&E’s blackouts also cut off thousands of Californians from cell phone service, leaving them unable to get emergency alerts or call 911. It exposed a troubling gap in the state’s readiness for mass outages that could, according to PG&E, keep happening for a decade. Mallory Moench in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/19

Kincade Fire nearly under control as Trump sparks new fight with Newsom -- Firefighters continue to gain control of the sprawling Kincade Fire, which nearly raged out of control across northern Sonoma County a historic windstorm. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/19

Law enforcement ‘vigilant’ against looters during Kincade Fire -- While firefighters worked this week to tame the raging Kincade Fire in Sonoma County, which forced 185,000 people to evacuate their homes, no fewer than 13 people were arrested for entering a closed disaster area, while looters successfully raided two abandoned homes and a school. Alejandro Serrano, Steve Rubenstein and Josh Koehn in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/19

L.A. suspends Uber’s permit to rent out electric scooters and bikes -- Following months of conflict over a controversial data-sharing policy, Los Angeles has temporarily suspended Uber’s permit to rent electric scooters and bicycles on city streets and sidewalks. Laura J. Nelson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/19

Apple pledges $2.5 billion to help with housing crisis -- Apple’s move, by far the largest such commitment by a tech company to date, follows similar announcements by Google and Facebook. Both companies recently released separate $1 billion plans to build affordable housing and otherwise ease the strained housing market in the region they call home. Shwanika Narayan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/19

10 million pot plants worth $1 billion destroyed in Kern County -- Investigators with the Kern County Sheriff’s Office seized the plants, which they estimate to have a street value of more than $1 billion, from 11 fields in the Arvin area on Oct. 25, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office. The seizure was first reported by the Bakersfield Californian. Alex Wigglesworth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/19

Trump team has a plan for national parks: Amazon, food trucks and no senior discounts -- At the urging of a controversial team of advisors, the Trump administration is mulling proposals to privatize national park campgrounds and further commercialize the parks with expanded Wi-Fi service, food trucks and even Amazon deliveries at tourist camp sites. Louis Sahagun in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/19

California conservatives leaving the state for ‘redder pastures’ -- Like many other Republican and conservative voters in California, the retired couple have decided to leave the state. A major reason, Stark and her spouse say, is their disenchantment with deep-blue California’s liberal political culture. Sarah Parvini in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/19

Quinn: A Few Good Questions for the Next Democratic Debate -- The Democratic National Committee has announced that UCLA will host the sixth Democratic debate in California in December. Given California’s outsized role in the Democratic Party, the candidates should be asked questions unique to our state. Tony Quinn Fox & Hounds -- 11/4/19

White California teacher wears blackface, raps like Common in class, on Halloween -- The staff member at Milpitas High School, just north of San Jose, was placed on leave after video of his actions was shared widely on Twitter, prompting outrage from students and parents. Colleen Shalby in the Los Angeles Times$ Mike Moffitt in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/19

This California firefighter nearly died. Then voters laid him off — in fight for lower taxes -- After leaving the hospital, Wager learned a tax assessment to raise money for his rural fire department had failed. Layoffs were coming. Wagner’s own neighbors had voted it down; the votes were counted even as he was risking his life. Ryan Sabalow in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/4/19

For Kamala Harris’ presidential hopes, Iowa is do or die -- In better times, Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign was full of flash: a launch rally that drew more than 20,000 people to Oakland, a five-day summer tour of Iowa on a luxury bus with her name blazing from the side in colorful capital letters, a robust multi-state operation headquartered in Baltimore. Now, the bus has been swapped for a nondescript black SUV. Melanie Mason in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/19

The Fisherman’s Secret -- This is something big so we should talk about it at the dock. Tara Duggan and Jason Fagone Photos by in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/19

 

California Policy & Politics This Morning  

Trump threatens to end federal aid to California in tweets slamming Gov. Gavin Newsom -- Trump, in a spate of postings on Twitter, lambasted what he called New\som’s “terrible job” regarding the state’s forest management practices, saying that the governor should stop listening to environmentalist “bosses” and “clean” the forest floors. And he also slammed Newsom for state water-management practices, suggesting that California must open up what he called “ridiculously closed water lanes.” Carla Marinucci Politico James Rainey in the Los Angeles Times$ Trapper Byrne in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/19

Calif. governor hits back at Trump over wildfire criticism, threat to cut aid -- Newsom later responded with his own tweet: “You don’t believe in climate change. You are excused from this conversation.” The governor’s criticism was a jab at Trump’s long-standing refusal to acknowledge the impact of climate change or the man-made factors that accelerate it. Kim Bellware in the Washington Post$ -- 11/4/19

Hunger moves to the suburbs -- Most people think of people lining up at food pantries and soup kitchens as an urban phenomenon. But in Alameda County, which has one of the highest rates of food insecurity in the Bay Area, an increasing number of people living in the suburbs are also having trouble affording food. That includes Livermore, a city in the Tri-Valley area that’s better known for its wineries. Tara Duggan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/19

Adam Schiff, a Trump Punching Bag, Takes His Case to a Bigger Ring -- These are heady but perilous days for Mr. Schiff, the inscrutable and slightly nerdy chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, who is leading the impeachment inquiry into Mr. Trump. Adored by the left, reviled by the right, he has become a Rorschach test for American politics. Depending on one’s point of view, he is either going to save the republic, or destroy it. Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Nicholas Fandos in the New York Times$ -- 11/4/19

Schnur: Partisan politics prevents legislators from solving big problems. It wasn’t always that way -- It used to be said that there is no Democratic or Republican way to fill a pothole, the implication being that certain core functions of government must be fulfilled without regard to partisanship. But the hyper-polarization that has poisoned American politics has now forced us to reconsider that old axiom. In 2019, it now appears that there are partisan ways to fight wildfires. Dan Schnur in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/4/19

Walters: Pension costs hitting home — hard -- Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District came into being 14 years ago when four small fire departments serving farms and small towns east of Modesto merged. The district now flirts with insolvency, a case study in how rapidly growing costs for pensions and other employee benefits are clobbering local governments. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 11/4/19

2020 Election Preview Podcast UCLA Extension’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute -- California has moved up its primary date from June to March—on Super Tuesday, March 3. Now, California will get a slice of early-state action. In this course, we delve into the fast-approaching 2020 California March primary as well as the November 2020 election choices. We hear from a number of guest speakers: reporters, politicians, political analysts, and public interest representatives. Link here -- 11/4/19

Wildfire  

California wildfires are mostly under control, but fire risk remains high -- The California wildfires that scorched thousands of acres and prompted mass evacuations across the state in recent weeks are largely under control, but experts warn that hot and dry conditions will continue to elevate fire risk throughout the week. Laura Newberry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/19

California blackouts will test regulators’ ability to rein in PG&E -- The power was out for hundreds of thousands of people in Wine Country, and state Sen. Bill Dodd was incensed. J.D. Morris in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/19

California’s wine country has become fire country, leaving devastation and fear -- The things that set California apart, for better or worse, were all there last Sunday afternoon: terrifying flames, wine country glamour and a rescue straight out of Hollywood. Captured via smartphone. Of course. Maria L. La Ganga in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/19

The Photographers Who Walk Into the California Fires -- For 12 hours the night the Kincade fire started, photographer Noah Berger kept his Nissan Xterra running. In the fire zone, Mr. Berger never turns it off. There might not be enough oxygen to start it again. Marc Vartabedian in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/4/19

Flames, gear and risks of photographing California wildfires -- It’s ironic, but momentarily forgetting some of my safety gear ended up saving my life. It happened as I drove late Thursday into the heart of a wildfire that had erupted near the city of Santa Paula, a two-hour drive west of Los Angeles. Marcio Jose Sanchez Associated Press -- 11/4/19

Education 

Parents flock to charter schools for home school, personalized education -- Dissatisfaction with brick-and-mortar public schools is helping drive thousands of families to dozens of California charter schools that offer personalized approaches to education, such as home schooling. Kristen Taketa in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/4/19

Which students perform better in school? A study says the better-looking ones excel -- A new study finds that good looking kids do better in school than their less striking peers. The research, by Barnard College economist Daniel Hamermesh and colleagues, finds that people whose looks are “one standard deviation above average” attain nearly five more months of schooling than an “otherwise identical average-looking individual.” Christopher Ingraham in the Washington Post$ -- 11/4/19

Should non-citizens vote in Los Angeles school board elections? -- The state’s largest school district is moving forward with plans to explore giving voting rights to non-citizen parents in the district. Michael Burke EdSource -- 11/4/19

Cannabis 

As cannabis entrepreneurs vie for L.A. licenses, politicians could have big sway -- Los Angeles politicians vowed that neighborhoods would not be overrun with marijuana businesses after the city started regulating and licensing pot shops. Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/19

Also . . . 

Alcohol breath tests, a linchpin of the criminal justice system, are often unreliable, a Times investigation found -- But those tests — a bedrock of the criminal justice system — are often unreliable, a New York Times investigation found. The devices, found in virtually every police station in America, generate skewed results with alarming frequency, even though they are marketed as precise to the third decimal place. Stacy Cowley and Jessica Silver-Greenberg in the New York Times$ -- 11/4/19

POTUS 45  

Trump's impeachment inbox -- President Trump doesn’t think House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry should get any media coverage. Meanwhile, he’s ravenously consuming news about the subject — primarily through a friendly lens. Daniel Lippman Politico -- 11/4/19

How an impeached Trump wins -- President Trump is showing how he could be impeached, survive and still win re-election, something never done before in American history. Trump officials think two things must unfold for this to happen: Republicans must stay unified, in votes and voice, and the economy must be strong, in jobs and market returns. The trends are strong on both fronts. Jonathan Swan, Jim VandeHei Axios -- 11/4/19

Trump inches closer to outing purported whistleblower -- President Donald Trump on Sunday reiterated his calls to reveal the name of the whistleblower behind the complaint that led to the House’s formal impeachment inquiry, mentioning unconfirmed reports about the person’s identity and possible ties to the previous administration. Rishika Dugyala and Sarah Ferris Politico -- 11/4/19

Beltway 

Whistleblower willing to answer questions from House GOP, attorney says -- An attorney for the whistleblower who filed a complaint about President Trump’s apparent efforts to pressure Ukraine for information he could use against political rivals said Sunday that Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee could submit questions directly to his client instead of going through the panel’s Democratic majority. Jacqueline Alemany, Paul Kane and Felicia Sonmez in the Washington Post$ -- 11/4/19

 

-- Sunday Updates 

Trump threatens funding for California forest fires that didn’t happen -- The big fires that hit Southern California last week burned expensive Los Angeles homes, swept through lush agricultural land, closed the 405 Freeway and threatened a presidential library. But they did not burn through large swaths of forests. Nonetheless, President Trump weighed in Sunday on Twitter with a new critique of Caifornia’s forest management practices. Shelby Grad in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/3/19

Trump tweets on wildfire aid to California: ‘No more’ -- President Trump repeated his vague threat to withhold federal wildfire aid to California over forest management issues, tweeting Sunday: “No more.” Trump said in a three-tweet string he had told Gov. Gavin Newsom that “he must ‘clean’ his forest floors” and added, “Every year, as the fire’s rage & California burns, it is the same thing — and then he comes to the Federal Government for $$$ help. No more.” Trapper Byrne in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/3/19

Power outages hit some of state’s poorest communities hard -- PG&E’s unprecedented blackouts over the past month have hit especially hard in some of Northern California’s poorest communities, stripping electricity from hundreds of thousands of people who can least afford to be without it, according to state data reviewed by The Chronicle. Joaquin Palomino and Cynthia Dizikes in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/3/19

Inside a wealthy L.A. man’s effort to help pilots fight wildfires from a remote mountain base -- Perched atop the Santa Monica Mountains, there’s a prime chunk of real estate with stunning ocean views that’s owned by a wealthy former radio executive. You won’t find a palatial mansion or an infinity pool there, however. Matt Stiles in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/3/19

Fire sparked as Edison turned power back on points to another hazard for utilities -- California utilities were already in a bind, between intense criticism when they shut off power and financial peril when they don’t during high fire hazard episodes. Now an announcement by Southern California Edison has introduced a third dimension to the dilemma: the risk of turning that power back on too soon. Doug Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/3/19

Sell a house? Cash in an IRA? You may be hit with a surcharge on Medicare premiums -- Susan Bullock and her husband got a shock last fall when they got a letter saying their Medicare Part B premiums for 2019 would be $433 each, up drastically from $134 per person in 2018. Kathleen Pender in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/3/19

Who owns Silicon Valley? -- These landowners got rich building Silicon Valley. Can they now fix the housing crisis? Leonardo Castañeda in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/3/19