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Esper says Trump ordered him to allow SEAL to keep status -- Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday that President Donald Trump gave him a direct order to allow a Navy SEAL accused of war crimes to retire without losing his SEAL status. Robert Burns Associated Press -- 11/25/19

Boat on which 34 died in fire was exempt from latest Coast Guard safety rules, records show -- The Conception dive boat, on which 34 people died in a Labor Day fire, had been exempted by the U.S. Coast Guard from stricter safety rules designed to make it easier for passengers to escape, documents and interviews by The Times show. Mark Puente, Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/25/19

Charles Schwab to give up SF headquarters in $26 billion TD Ameritrade deal -- Charles Schwab announced Monday it would acquire rival stock brokerage TD Ameritrade in an all-stock deal worth $26 billion. As part of the transaction, the combined companies expect to move their headquarters to the Dallas-Forth Worth area, where both already have some operations. Roland Li in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/25/19

EBay Sells StubHub to Viagogo for $4.05 Billion -- EBay Inc. is selling its ticket marketplace StubHub to European rival Viagogo for $4.05 billion in cash, allowing the company to focus on its main retail site and address pressure from shareholder activists. Liana Baker Bloomberg -- 11/25/19

Cash-poor Dems to Obama donors: ‘Give so much that it actually hurts’ -- Former President Barack Obama received a standing ovation at a Los Altos Hills fundraiser the other day, but the 100 donors in attendance heard something else that they didn’t cheer as loudly for — a really hard sell to “give until it hurts.” Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/25/19

At age 12, he watched his brother get killed. Now SF teen is accused of revenge slaying -- He was 12 years old when he watched his older brother get stabbed in the heart on a San Francisco sidewalk and then bleed to death during a car ride to the hospital. Evan Sernoffsky in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/25/19

The secret BASE jumpers of California -- Daniel Ristow toed a rugged precipice high above a narrow gully near the summit of Mount Morrison and spit into the thin mountain air. The wind carried his projectile left to right, indicating a slight quartering tail wind — maybe 5 to 8 mph. Not ideal, Ristow thought. Gregory Thomas in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/25/19

How scientists put a heart monitor on a blue whale in Monterey Bay -- Every year millions of people are given EKG tests to measure the health of their hearts. Taking the practice to an entirely new and amazing level, scientists have for the first time ever attached a heart monitor to a blue whale — the largest living animal on Earth — while it was swimming in the ocean. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/25/19

Taylor: BART ambassadors could de-escalate situations before they become violent. Time to hire some -- A few weeks ago, I was at the Powell Street BART Station and noticed a man wearing a stained gray sweatsuit bumping into people as they stood in line waiting for a train. A BART police officer watched as people scattered, but the officer didn’t stop the man from getting onto the train. Otis R. Taylor Jr. in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/25/19

Why PG&E gave some customers up to $250 credit after shutoffs and not others -- For the nearly 1 million customers who were inconvenienced by PG&E’s first massive planned power outage, the check for your troubles is literally in the mail this month. More precisely, a credit should have showed up in your November utility bill. John Woolfolk in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/25/19

Investigators scrutinize Giuliani firm and donations to Trump super PAC as part of broad probe -- The federal investigation into two associates of Rudolph W. Giuliani is exploring a wide range of potential crimes — including wire fraud and failure to register as a foreign agent — as prosecutors dig into the pair’s interactions with the president’s personal lawyer and the main pro-Trump super PAC, according to people familiar with the investigation. Devlin Barrett, Tom Hamburger, Rosalind S. Helderman and Josh Dawsey in the Washington Post$ -- 11/25/19

 

California Policy & Politics This Morning  

Pentagon chief fires Navy secretary over SEAL controversy -- Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Sunday fired the Navy’s top official, ending a stunning clash between President Donald Trump and top military leadership over the fate of a SEAL accused of war crimes in Iraq. Robert Burns Associated Press -- 11/25/19

Who Is Edward Gallagher, the SEAL the Navy Wants to Expel? -- The Navy and President Trump have been in a tug of war over Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, the Navy SEAL at the center of a highly publicized war crimes case. The Navy prosecuted Chief Gallagher and wanted to expel him from the SEALs, but the president, as commander in chief, has repeatedly intervened in the sailor’s favor. Dave Philipps in the New York Times$ -- 11/25/19

California’s Nunes, impeachment inquisitor, dodges question over alleged meeting with Ukrainian ex-prosecutor -- On Sunday, in a Fox News interview, Nunes declined to directly answer a question about that allegation, but threatened to sue CNN for reporting it. “Bottom line, were you in Vienna with Shokin?” asked Fox interviewer Maria Bartiromo. “I really want to answer all these questions,” Nunes replied. But the congressman said he was unable to do so “because there is criminal activity here; we’re working with different law-enforcement agencies.” Laura King in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/25/19

Devin Nunes Denounces Reports He Played a Role in Ukraine -- Representative Devin Nunes, an outspoken defender of President Trump in his impeachment hearings, said on Sunday that reports that he played a role in the effort to dig up damaging information on former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in Ukraine were part of a criminal campaign against him by a “totally corrupt” news media. Catie Edmondson in the New York Times$ Elise Viebeck and Felicia Sonmez in the Washington Post$ -- 11/25/19

Top Dem says ethics investigation into Devin Nunes likely -- The top Democrat on the House armed services committee said Saturday that Republican Rep. Devin Nunes is likely to face an ethics investigation over allegations he met with an ex-Ukrainian prosecutor at the center of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. Evan Semones Politico -- 11/25/19

Trump’s impeachment is former prosecutor Eric Swalwell’s biggest case yet -- Rep. Eric Swalwell spent nearly a decade prosecuting crimes including murders, human trafficking and domestic violence. But now, he’s in the middle of what may be the most momentous case of his career. Tal Kopan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/25/19

Skelton: California Democrats handed the GOP a win with law to force Trump to release his tax returns -- Politicians sometimes get too cute and make fools of themselves. Sacramento Democrats got too cute with President Trump over his taxes and were loudly booed last week by the California Supreme Court. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/25/19

How could a cop fired for dishonesty end up teaching criminal justice at a Bay Area university? -- A Newark cop with what his bosses called an “extremely problematic and troubling” record of making dishonest claims in his police work found another job after being slapped with a termination notice in 2016: teaching criminal justice students. Thomas Peele in the East Bay Times -- 11/25/19

Santa Clara Sheriff’s gun-permit process: public safety or politics? -- The Santa Clara County sheriff’s system for granting concealed weapons permits is so inconsistent — and the record-keeping so fragmented — that it is difficult to discern any public-safety rationale behind a process the District Attorney’s Office is investigating over allegations of political favoritism. Robert Salonga and Thy Vo in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/25/19

Questions loom as Union City police seek suspects in killings of 2 boys -- A line of shattered glass glittered in the parking lot of Searles Elementary School in Union City on Sunday morning, a reminder of the van where two boys were gunned down a day earlier. As police investigate the shooting, questions loom about who shot the boys — and why. Tatiana Sanchez & Megan Cassidy in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/25/19

Fatal stabbing plunges BART into another crisis. Does it need more help? -- A fatal stabbing aboard a train has thrust BART into crisis, focusing new attention on how the transit system is no longer a respite from social problems outside, but more and more the place where they play out. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/25/19

The Battle Over the Future of Prop 13 is Underway -- While some took the weekend as an opportunity to decompress from the workweek, others took it as a chance to get a jump start on what may be the largest political battle over state taxes in next year’s election: the future of Proposition 13. Julie Chang KQED -- 11/25/19

During blackouts, PG&E microgrids kept lights on — for a few lucky places -- As it plunged swaths of California into darkness in an extreme measure to prevent wildfires this year, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. also began experimenting with a way to keep the lights on in some places: small Main Street strips where residents could still have places to eat, fill up on gas and receive other essential services. J.D. Morris and Carolyn Said in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/25/19

Gavin Newsom wants to close a California state prison. It won’t be easy -- Closing a state prison is one of the few ways to truly save a lot of money in California’s correctional system, which has a budget of $15.8 billion this year, experts said. A closure also would represent a step toward rehabilitation and away from incarceration in the state’s criminal justice system, since it likely would involve releasing some low-risk inmates. Wes Venteicher in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/25/19

Bretón: That immigrant we shun could be our next councilman. Ask Eric Guerra, ‘a proud American.' -- Some of the most patriotic people I have met were undocumented immigrants when they first came to the Sacramento area. These citizens loved and embraced America even when America didn’t love or embrace them. They did this because when they arrived in the 1980s, they could secure legal status and – eventually – citizenship. Marcos Bretón in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/25/19

Schnur: Single-payer, better access are top priorities for CA health care in 2020, Influencers say -- One of the most highly-charged issues in the Democratic presidential primary campaign is the debate over expanding health care coverage to uninsured Americans. Not surprisingly, the same argument also rages among California’s leading health care experts, pitting those who support a faster move to a single payer government-run system against those who prefer a more gradual expansion of coverage. Dan Schnur in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/25/19

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions  

Plans for a luxury surf resort in an impoverished desert community spark inequity battle -- In the driest reaches of the California desert, a fight is brewing over a proposed luxury surf resort that would rise in a deeply impoverished part of the eastern Coachella Valley. Julia Wick in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/25/19

NFL stadium a catalyst for Inglewood rebirth, but some fear the community is losing its soul -- Locals feel squeezed out by dramatic makeover keyed by billions of dollars in new investment in a city once ‘devoid of hope’ Jason Henry in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 11/25/19

Housing  

Waiting for the cap on rents, California cities push back against ‘greedy’ landlords -- Starting in January, a new state law will prohibit millions of California tenants from facing double-digit rent increases and being evicted unless they violate their leases. But it’s not January yet. Liam Dillon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/25/19

Is California’s most controversial new housing production law working? -- The All Souls project is one of more than 40 around the state that have used SB 35 since the law went into effect in January 2018. The law’s ambitious goal was to ease the state’s chronic housing shortage, but it has sparked an outcry from some local officials upset by the state’s usurping of their control. Marisa Kendall in the East Bay Times -- 11/25/19

Education 

As faculty deliberate, UC Berkeley chancellor calls for ending the use of SAT and ACT -- While a special faculty task force considers whether the University of California should end requiring applicants for freshman admission to take the SAT or the ACT, UC Berkeley chancellor Carol Christ has come out strongly in favor of ending the practice. Louis Freedberg EdSource -- 11/25/19

Cannabis 

Is Weed Church Church? -- Every Sunday, about two dozen people gather at a green cabin along the main drag of Big Bear, Calif., a small mountain town known for its namesake lake. They go there for Jah Healing Church services, where joints are passed around. Arit John in the New York Times$ -- 11/25/19

Legal meets illegal as Vista’s first licensed marijuana dispensaries open for business -- On a recent weekday morning, customers trickled into the city’s first two licensed medical marijuana storefronts, while, just down the street, an unlicensed and illegal shop continued to flourish, sometimes drawing enough vehicles to require overflow parking. Paul Sisson in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/25/19

Immigration / Border 

ICE deports California gang member convicted of manslaughter on same day he’s released from prison -- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested and deported El Monte gang member Luis Gonzalez Friday, Nov. 22, after he was released on parole from state prison. ICE officers were able to verify his identity at the Calipatria State Prison, near the southern end of the Salton Sea in Imperial County, with the cooperation of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, according to a statement from Jamison Matuszewski, ICE deputy field office director in San Diego. Liset Marquez in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/25/19

Also . . . 

Orange County sheriff to appeal judge’s ruling that inmates not be shackled at courthouse -- Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said he will appeal a judge’s recent ruling ordering his department to stop its blanket policy of shackling inmates at the waist inside county courthouses, publicly attacking the move as a “significant judicial overreach.” Marisa Gerber in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/25/19

San Diego has highest jail mortality rate among largest counties, even with new data -- After the Union-Tribune published the “Dying Behind Bars” investigation in September, showing that San Diego’s jail death rate significantly exceeds the rate in California’s five other largest counties, Sheriff Bill Gore wrote an explanation. Lauryn Schroeder in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/25/19

Fourth boy dies in Paradise Hills murder-suicide shooting -- Police say 31-year-old Jose Valdivia shot his estranged wife, Sabrina Rosario, 29, and his sons — Zeth Valdivia, 11; Zuriel Valdivia, 5; and Enzi Valdivia, 3 — before turning the gun on himself. Only Ezekiel had survived the attack. Karen Kucher in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/25/19

DNA genealogical databases are a gold mine for police, but with few rules and little transparency -- In California, an innocent twin was thrown in jail. In Georgia, a mother was deceived into incriminating her son. In Texas, police met search guidelines by classifying a case as sexual assault but after an arrest only filed charges of burglary. And in the county that started the DNA race with the arrest of the Golden State killer suspect, prosecutors have persuaded a judge to treat unsuspecting genetic contributors as “confidential informants” and seal searches so consumers are not scared away from adding their own DNA to the forensic stockpile. Paige St. John in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/25/19

POTUS 45  

His White House Engulfed, Trump Keeps California in the Cross Hairs -- The state has been a political fixation since the early days of his presidency, but that was heightened this autumn. Mr. Trump has attended meetings, asked detailed questions at briefings and pressed aides to find ways to use policies to go after the most populous state in the union, according to three people familiar with the matter. Coral Davenport and Katie Rogers in the New York Times$ -- 11/25/19

Beltway 

Emails show an extensive effort to justify decision to block Ukraine aid -- A confidential White House review of President Trump’s decision to place a hold on military aid to Ukraine has turned up hundreds of documents that reveal extensive efforts to generate an after-the-fact justification for the decision and a debate over whether the delay was legal, according to three people familiar with the records. Josh Dawsey, Carol D. Leonnig and Tom Hamburger in the Washington Post$ Maggie Haberman and Annie Karni in the New York Times$ -- 11/25/19