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California Policy & Politics This Morning  

PG&E Loses Challenge to Law Holding It Liable for Fire Damage -- PG&E Corp. has lost a challenge to a California law that holds it liable for property damage from fires related to its equipment, a win for wildfire victims seeking to collect billions of dollars in the utility’s bankruptcy. Judge Dennis Montali said Wednesday the principle of inverse condemnation applies to PG&E, rejecting an argument that the utility was attempting to invoke to limit the amount it owes for homes and businesses destroyed by the fires. Peg Brickley in the Wall Street Journal$ Michael Liedtke Associated Press -- 11/28/19

Ghost Ship families ask bankruptcy judge to clear path for claims against PG&E -- Families of the Ghost Ship warehouse fire victims are asking Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s bankruptcy judge to lift a rule that suspended lawsuits against the utility, allowing families to bring their case against PG&E to trial this spring alongside other defendants. Megan Cassidy and J.D. Morris in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/28/19

New LADWP commissioner works for a company that markets water and power -- Mayor Eric Garcetti’s latest appointee to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s board of commissioners is a top executive at a company that markets water and power and has a history of trying to make deals with government agencies in Southern California, including LADWP. Sammy Roth, Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/28/19

Wesson to step down as City Council president to focus on county supervisor campaign -- Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson said Wednesday he intends to step down from the council presidency in January and is pushing for Councilwoman Nury Martinez to succeed him in the post. David Zahniser in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/28/19

Why Did Fresno Police Create an ‘Asian Gang Task Force’ to Solve a Crime With No Clear Connection to Gangs? -- The Fresno Police Department’s response to the Nov. 17 shooting deaths of four people has caused confusion and alarm among Asian Americans from beyond the Central Valley city. Alexandra Hall KQED -- 11/28/19

Orange County sheriff, top public defender clash over severity of evidence mishandling -- Photos never booked into evidence by sheriff's deputies could affect outcome of criminal cases, alleges Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders. Tony Saavedra in the Orange County Register -- 11/28/19

Skelton: Michael Bloomberg’s chances to become president seem slim. But never say never -- Michael R. Bloomberg can’t possibly win the Democratic nomination for president, right? That’s the conventional wisdom. And it makes sense. But political wisdom has become pretty shaky in recent years. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/28/19

Lopez: Rains push L.A. trash into Ballona Creek. He plucks it out -- “This is gonna blow your mind,” Josey Peters promised, calling me down to the banks of Ballona Creek. “You’ll never be the same.” Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/28/19

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions  

Tariffs will boost prices on toys and smartphones — but not until next year -- Over the last year and a half, retailers have watched the dizzying pace of the U.S.-China trade war with a growing sense of trepidation. Samantha Masunaga, Priscella Vega in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/28/19

Anthem Blue Cross draws heavy fines in California over how it handles complaints -- The state Department of Managed Health Care hit Anthem Blue Cross with $9.6 million in fines from January 2014 through early November 2019, according to a California Healthline analysis of agency data. That is about 44% of the $21.7 million in penalties the department issued against full-service health plans during that period. Harriet Blair Rowan Kaiser Health News via the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/28/19

Oakland Airport loses two more international flights -- Airline spokesperson Anders Lindstrom confirmed to SFGATE that it will discontinue summer 2020 Oakland-Copenhagen and Oakland-Stockholm flights. In fact, Norwegian said it will discontinue all U.S. flights from both of those Scandinavian hub airports. Chris McGinnis in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/28/19

Too much snow to ski? Super storm closes some SoCal resorts -- Snow Valley was a ski marketer’s dream Wednesday: a ton of early snow for the resort’s opening day. Or maybe it wasn’t such a dream. Because Snow Valley had too much snow to open. Chris Erskine in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/28/19

First big Sierra storm of season pounds Tahoe -- As the Thanksgiving holiday unfolds, travelers and skiers heading to Tahoe will find snow at lake level and as much as 20 inches of fresh powder at ski resorts. A warning from the National Weather Service urges drivers from the Bay Area and Sacramento to delay their trips to Tahoe until after 4 p.m. Thanksgiving Day. Tom Stienstra in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/28/19

Apple’s iPhone sales went south ahead of holiday season: report -- A new report on the smartphone market says Apple is dealing with a worldwide decline in iPhone demand while its two-largest rivals continue to rack up sales at Apple’s expense. According to that report, from technology research firm Gartner, Apple’s smartphone sales in the third quarter of this year fell by 10.7% from the same year ago, to 40.8 million phones. Rex Crum in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/28/19

Sacramento firefighter dies of ‘occupational cancer,’ department announces -- Sacramento Fire Department announced late Tuesday the death of one of their own after a long battle with occupational cancer. Firefighter Tamara Thacher died Tuesday. She was 31-year veteran of the department. Molly Sullivan in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/28/19

Transit  

Crime on Muni drops by half, as agency beefs up security and makes key hire -- Muni is beefing up security at a time when crime is plummeting on the San Francisco transit system -- a stark contrast to its regional neighbor, BART. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/28/19

Homeless  

As Temperatures Drop, Bay Area Cities Scramble to Expand Limited Shelter Capacity -- Winter came early to the Bay Area this week, with cold rain pelting the region on Tuesday and temperatures dropping dramatically, dipping into the mid-40s overnight. Erika Aguilar, Matthew Green KQED -- 11/28/19

Housing  

California holds 73% of the nation’s priciest ZIP codes for home buyers -- Angelenos don’t need a study to know that homes are expensive in L.A., but here’s one anyway: According to a new report from real estate database PropertyShark, California has accounted for roughly 73% of the country’s priciest ZIP codes for home buyers this year. Jack Flemming in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/28/19

Lawsuits by developers challenge Windsor’s ban on natural gas in new homes -- Windsor’s fledgling natural gas ban is under legal fire from developers who argue its new mandate will increase costs for future homeowners and fails to account for the continued potential of widespread electricity shut-offs imposed by PG&E. Will Schmitt in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- 11/28/19

Education 

Growing Number of U.S. Students Seeking Higher Education in Mexico -- On most days San Diego High School graduates Rebeca Yanez and Arturo Vasquez are carpooling by 7 a.m. to make it to class on time across the border in Tijuana. As the two English-speaking business majors approach the border, there’s barely a line. That’s how it is on most days, and Yanez usually makes the trip in half an hour — but not always. Max Rivlin-Nadler KQED -- 11/28/19

Immigration / Border 

The new family separation: Migrant parents stranded on border send kids across alone -- When 10-year-old Honduran asylum seeker Jose Lopez approached U.S. customs officers on the border bridge between Matamoros and Brownsville this month, they allowed him to enter Texas as an unaccompanied minor. Molly Hennessy-Fiske in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/28/19

Guns 

Long Beach police have taken more than 940 guns off of the streets so far in 2019 -- Measure A funding led to the creation of the Police Department’s Prohibited Possessor Team, which has partnered with Los Angeles Superior Court employees to identify people through records who have not relinquished their firearms. Nathaniel Percy in the Long Beach Press Telegram$ -- 11/28/19

Water 

Huntington Beach desalination plant appears headed for a key approval -- A regional water board is proposing to grant Poseidon permits for a $1-billion desalting facility that would annually produce enough drinking water to supply 100,000 Orange County households. The board will not vote on the project until March and Poseidon still needs approval from the California Coastal Commission. Bettina Boxall in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/28/19

Also . . . 

Navy cancels remaining SEAL review boards after Trump intervention and Navy secretary’s firing -- Navy trident review boards for three of Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher’s senior officers are canceled, the service announced Wednesday, ending a long-running war crimes probe that started with accusations against Gallagher and resulted in the firing of Navy Secretary Richard Spencer on Sunday. Andrew Dyer in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/28/19

How 405 Freeway gridlock became the iconic image of an L.A. Thanksgiving -- If Norman Rockwell were living in Los Angeles in 2019, his artistic contribution to the Thanksgiving canvas might not be Grandma placing a giant turkey on the dining room table to the smiles of her extended family. Shelby Grad in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/28/19

Eastbound Highway 50 reopens five hours after cattle trailer crash spills cows onto roadway -- CHP dispatchers said eastbound traffic was closed at Smith Flat Road and westbound traffic was closed at Carson Road. The CHP dispatch log reported “wayward” cows in both directions of travel. CHP spokesman officer Andrew Brown said at least one of the vehicles involved in the collision was a two-trailer cattle truck, and the crash let loose its payload of bovine onto the highway. Vincent Moleski in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/28/19

Don’t Feed Wild Turkeys In California. And No, City Residents, You Can’t Shoot Them -- People who live in places like Midtown Sacramento or anywhere along the American River are familiar with the birds. They're active all year, they hold up traffic, destroy gardens and leave droppings everywhere. Ezra David Romero Capital Public Radio -- 11/28/19

Has OC Weekly’s last edition hit stands? -- When OC Weekly announced on Twitter that its Nov. 28 issue may be the alternative weekly’s last, it broke the news in a way readers have likely come to expect: with profanity. A tweet from the weekly’s official account on Wednesday, Nov. 27, said the owner of the 25-year-old paper, Duncan McIntosh Co., “has decided to shut us down. For the last quarter century, we’ve tried to bring good stories to Orange County. It’s been fun, but now we’re done.” Alicia Robinson in the Orange County Register -- 11/28/19

POTUS 45  

Witness testimony and records raise questions about account of Trump’s ‘no quid pro quo’ call -- Sondland’s recollection of a phone conversation that he said took place on Sept. 9 has emerged as a centerpiece of Trump’s defense as House Democrats argue in an impeachment inquiry that he abused his office to pressure Ukraine to investigate Democrats. However, no other witness testimony or documents have emerged that corroborate Sondland’s description of a call that day. Aaron C. Davis, Elise Viebeck and Josh Dawsey in the Washington Post$ -- 11/28/19

Beltway 

Giuliani was in talks to be paid by Ukraine’s top prosecutor as they together sought damaging information on Democrats -- President Trump’s personal attorney, Rudolph W. Giuliani, negotiated this year to represent Ukraine’s top prosecutor for at least $200,000 during the same months that Giuliani was working with the prosecutor to dig up dirt on former vice president Joe Biden, according to people familiar with the discussions. Rosalind S. Helderman, Tom Hamburger and Matt Zapotosky in the Washington Post$ -- 11/28/19

Kamala Harris aide bolts to Bloomberg campaign -- Kelly Mehlenbacher, who worked on operations for Kamala Harris’ presidential bid and recently informed colleagues of her plans to resign over frustrations with the organization, has accepted a job with Michael Bloomberg, sources said Wednesday. Christopher Cadelago Politico -- 11/28/19