California Policy & Politics This Morning  

PG&E blackout inspections revealed 218 problems that could have started fires -- When Pacific Gas and Electric Co. inspected the power lines it turned off during mass blackouts late last month, it found 218 cases of damage that could have started fires, the utility told a federal judge Friday. J.D. Morris in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/30/19

PG&E says blackouts limited fires despite 1 likely failure -- The nation’s largest utility said Friday that its distribution lines haven’t sparked any major wildfires since it began shutting off power to Northern California customers during periods of high fire risk. However, Pacific Gas & Electric is not ruling out the possibility that failed transmission equipment may have started a fire north of San Francisco that damaged or destroyed more than 400 structures. Don Thompson Associated Press -- 11/30/19

What is an atmospheric river and why should Southern Californians keep their umbrellas handy? -- A new storm fed by the first atmospheric river of the season is expected bring rain to Northern and Central California beginning Saturday, and cause significant travel delays and hazards for Thanksgiving travelers returning home on Sunday, the National Weather Service said. Paul Duginski in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/30/19

With state executions on hold, death penalty foes rethink ballot strategy -- California advocates of abolishing the death penalty got a jolt of momentum in March, when Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he would not allow any executions to take place while he was in office. Alexei Koseff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/30/19

Gavin Newsom’s climate order focuses on pensions and roads. What does it mean for taxpayers? -- Newsom’s order directs the state’s Transportation Agency, pension funds and the department that manages government contracts to reconsider how they spend the public’s money with an eye toward investing in projects that could help Californians prepare for climate change. Adam Ashton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/30/19

California DMV wants $2.2 million to register voters ahead of 2020 election -- California’s Department of Motor Vehicles is asking lawmakers for a budget boost of $2.2 million to help it register voters ahead of the state’s March 3, 2020 primary. It’s a fairly small sum, but it follows a $242 million increase in the DMV’s budget that Gov. Gavin Newsom granted the department in June. Bryan Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/30/19

Even with new election rules, San Diego area ‘get-out-the-vote’ efforts focus on grassroots -- The March primary will be one of the most complex elections in San Diego history with a record number of registered voters, new laws and voting districts, and with what’s projected to be very high turnout. Charles T. Clark in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/30/19

All the SEAL’s men: the Fox News campaign that made Eddie Gallagher untouchable -- President Donald Trump’s interventions in a San Diego-based Navy SEAL’s war crimes case disrupted the military justice system for months, culminating Sunday in the firing of the Navy secretary as controversy boiled over at the top of military leadership. The extraordinary interventions by the most powerful man in the country essentially made Navy SEAL Chief Edward Gallagher, who was convicted of posing with the body of a deceased ISIS fighter, untouchable, observers said. Andrew Dyer in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/30/19

The sea wanted to take this California lighthouse. Now, it’s part of a conflict between a town and two tribes -- It stood like a pretty sea siren atop the coastal bluff overlooking the rocky outcrops of Trinidad Bay. The cheery little lighthouse, with its cherry-red roof and bright white walls, beckoned countless painters and photographers. It was such a mainstay in Trinidad that its image is included in the city’s logo. Hailey Branson-Potts in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/30/19

Borderline Bar and Grill to reopen in Thousand Oaks; owners announce new saloon in Agoura Hills -- Owners Brian Hynes and Troy Hale made the announcement in a video posted Thursday on social media, adding that they have decided to open a new venue in Agoura Hills as they work on construction at the original location. They have not given any specific dates for the openings. Sarah Parvini in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/30/19

Bluff collapses in Del Mar within feet of train tracks -- Following heavy rains, a section of the Del Mar bluffs collapsed sometime around Friday morning within feet of the train tracks that regularly carry passengers between Los Angeles and San Diego. The cliff failure occurred south of Seagrove Park, in front of the Wave Crest condominium complex, according to observers. Joshua Emerson Smith, Gary Robbins in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/30/19

Big Sur highway to be closed — again — due to landslide risk -- Planning a weekend drive through scenic Big Sur? Caltrans says to wait a few days – or take a different route. With heavy rain boosting the risk of landslides, two stretches of the classic coastal Highway 1 will be gated, with locks. Lisa M. Krieger in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/30/19

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions  

Why downtown Oakland is booming -- For the first time in more than a decade, Oakland’s skyline has a new office tower — and many more to come. Roland Li in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/30/19

How a feud over two jobs tipped the West Coast longshore union toward bankruptcy -- A feud that could wind up bankrupting the powerful West Coast dockworkers union began like a scene from a B-grade gangster film, when two men met over a calamari lunch. Richard Read in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/30/19

New CHP task force busting retail theft rings -- Under a new law, three California Highway Patrol divisions in the state, including San Diego, have created task forces to go after crime rings that steal thousands in merchandise from retail stores. The San Diego team has already seen success, arresting members of three alleged crime crews, and going to work even before the task force’s official Nov. 4 start date. Teri Figueroa in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/30/19

Monterey lawsuit questions the definition of rent -- A lawsuit testing the enforcement process the city of Monterey uses to cite violators of its short-term rental ban can easily be summed up in one word: unique. Dennis L Taylor in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/30/19

Taxes, Fees, Rates, Tolls, Bonds 

Berkeley seeks voter approval of tax measures to pay teachers’ pay raises, new buildings, seismic retrofits -- The Berkeley Unified School District will ask voters to approve several hundred dollars’ worth of new parcel taxes and a bond to give teachers and groundskeepers a raise, pay for new buildings and seismically retrofit old facilities. Ali Tadayon in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/30/19

Education 

SF State’s new president: Lynn Mahoney makes peace on a fractured campus -- Morale at San Francisco State University has at times been as gray as the fog rolling in off the ocean. Strained relations between students and the administration. Tension among ethnic groups. Resentment within faculty. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/30/19

Parents allege hazing led to daughter’s death in lawsuit filed against a sorority and Cal State Fullerton -- A mother and father have filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Cal State Fullerton and a campus sorority, alleging that a night of alcohol-fueled hazing resulted in their daughter’s death. Sean Emery in the Orange County Register -- 11/30/19

Immigration / Border 

20 rescued from flooded drainage pipe at San Diego-Tijuana border on Thanksgiving -- Amid heavy rain, Border Patrol agents and firefighters rescued 20 people on Thanksgiving night who attempted to cross from Mexico into the San Diego region through a flooded network of drainage pipes. Joshua Emerson Smith in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/30/19

Environment 

Some Orange County beaches reopened after major sewage spill -- Orange County health officials reopened about six miles of beaches Friday after the city of Laguna Beach repaired a leaking pipe that had spilled raw sewage into ocean and bay waters. Sarah Parvini in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/19

POTUS 45  

Trump’s talk of Afghanistan cease-fire appears to surprise the Taliban, Afghan government -- President Trump’s confident assertion that the Taliban is ready and even eager for a cease-fire demanded by the United States in Afghanistan’s 18-year-old war may be more wishful thinking than reality. Karen DeYoung and Susannah George in the Washington Post$ -- 11/30/19

In Afghanistan, Trump Creates Confusion Over U.S. Policy on Taliban -- After abruptly axing nearly a year of delicate peace talks with the Taliban in September, President Trump put the negotiations back on the front-burner this week in a similarly jolting fashion by seeming to demand a cease-fire that his negotiators had long concluded was overly ambitious. Mujib Mashal in the New York Times$ -- 11/30/19

Beltway 

Trump has turned the suburbs into a GOP disaster zone. Does that doom his reelection? -- For decades, there was an unvaried rhythm to life in America’s suburbs: Carpool in the morning, watch sports on weekends, barbecue in the summer, vote Republican in November. Then came President Trump. Mark Z. Barabak in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/30/19