California Policy & Politics This Morning  

Gov. Gavin Newsom blocks parole for man convicted of 1989 Santa Cruz County murder -- Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday blocked parole for a man convicted of a 1989 murder in Santa Cruz County, arguing the convicted killer is still dangerous. The man, Lance Badgett, admitted he and his brother plotted to kill and dismember their friend, Michael Palmer, to prevent him from outing them to authorities. Sophia Bollag in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 12/1/19

Bay Area death toll from drug overdoses passes 10,000 -- More than 10,000 people have died across the Bay Area in the drug overdose epidemic, but the main killer hasn’t been prescription painkillers for several years — methamphetamine is now the biggest cause of deaths, and overdoses on the superpotent opioid fentanyl are spiking. Erin Allday and Kevin Fagan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 12/1/19

As Supreme Court decision looms, undocumented Asians say they must speak up or risk losing DACA -- Dean Santos arrived in the U.S. from the Philippines when he was 12 and quickly took to American culture. In his teenage years in San Bruno, he played sword and fantasy card games with other kids, watched “South Park” and joined the high school wrestling team. Anh Do in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/1/19

Walters: The GOP’s decline and fall -- The very rapid decline of California’s Republican Party — from near-dominance in the 1980s and early 1990s to its current irrelevance — has been one of the state’s most dramatic political events. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 12/1/19

Lawsuit says city utilities department leader was fired for exposing illegal activity -- A former Public Utilities Department leader has filed a lawsuit against the city of San Diego, claiming officials illegally diverted $1 million in water and wastewater funds to other city services and fired her for refusing to conceal the activity. Lauryn Schroeder in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 12/1/19

Federal-state split over cameras in courtrooms -- California’s Supreme Court has been televising its hearings for years, hoping to make the sometimes-obscure legal process more accessible to the public. So have the high courts of Canada, Great Britain and Brazil, and the largest U.S. appeals court, the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 12/1/19

Bay Area disability advocates speak out against paper-cup bans -- Concerned about climate change, some cafes are testing out rental programs for reusable glass jars, while others tell customers they can only sip their drinks for-here. Yet both options present issues for disabled folks with limited mobility or decreased sensation in their hands. Janelle Bitker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 12/1/19

LAPD officer shot in confrontation with suspect is released from hospital -- A Los Angeles police officer who was shot during a confrontation with a suspect in Boyle Heights was released from the hospital on Saturday, police said. Members of the LAPD’s gang unit were on patrol when they approached the suspect near Malabar and North Fickett streets shortly after 7 p.m. Friday, police said. The man pulled out a weapon and fired on the officers. Kiera Feldman in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/1/19

Willie Brown: Who can beat Trump? Michael Bloomberg deserves Democrats’ buy-in -- Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s late entry into the Democratic presidential sweepstakes is being dismissed by rival candidates, who call him just another billionaire trying to buy his way into the White House. Willie Brown in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 12/1/19

Education 

California higher education hangs in the balance as UC, Cal State search for new leaders -- In a rare confluence that will shape the future of California higher education, the state’s two top university jobs are open, high-profile vacancies that position its leaders as national pacesetters because of the size and status of the two systems. Teresa Watanabe, Nina Agrawal in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/1/19

Just how selective have UC schools become? Top students feel the pressure -- UC campuses accepted 78% of applicants in 2009. Last year, they opened the door to just 59%. The decline in acceptances was even steeper for California high school students: from 85% to 59% over the same period. UCLA had the lowest acceptance rate last year: 14%, down from 22% in 2009. Among California high school applicants, the campus accepted just 12%, down from 18% a decade before. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 12/1/19

Environment 

San Francisco Bay dredging fuels an unexpected concern: climate change -- What began as an unremarkable bid to deepen a shipping channel in San Francisco Bay, making it easier for cargo vessels to come and go, has become a flash point in the debate over climate change. Environmental groups are blasting plans by the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge 13 miles of waterways inside the Golden Gate because the work would benefit ships delivering oil to East Bay refineries. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 12/1/19

Margaret Mangan wants Californians to know — and love — their backyard volcanoes -- Margaret Mangan didn’t sleep well in the weeks following the Ridgecrest earthquakes. The July shaking triggered a swarm of smaller tremors in the nearby Coso Volcanic Field, a cluster of lava domes and cinder cones at the northern end of the Mojave Desert. And it was Mangan’s job to watch for a possible eruption. Julia Rosen in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/1/19

Also . . . 

Storm uncovers gold ring embedded in rock -- A perfect storm for beach treasure hunters last week yielded a long-lost gold ring partially embedded in rock. First the treasure hunter spotted the rock, apparently dislodged from a larger sandstone formation, and then he spotted the ring, which appears to be vintage Black Hills gold. Tom Stienstra in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 12/1/19

Hundreds vie for the chance to adopt rescued golden retriever puppies in Long Beach -- There were more people than puppies at spcaLA’s P.D. Pitchford Companion Animal Village and Education Center, lined up Saturday morning, Nov. 30 for the opportunity to take home one of three golden retriever puppies rescued earlier this year but only recently deemed healthy enough to adopt. Hunter Lee in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 12/1/19

Column One: She was a test case for resettling detainees of Japanese descent — and unaware of the risk -- On the windswept plains of eastern Colorado, dust storms rattled the barracks of the Granada War Relocation Center, driving grit through the cracks, bending sapling trees, blotting out the sun. It was 1944, and Esther Takei didn’t understand why she had to be languishing there, alienated by the only country she knew. Joe Mozingo in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/1/19

Why you won’t find Stanford’s secret sapling of the famed Newton gravity tree -- A sapling on the Stanford campus is heir to scientific aristocracy, the descendant of the tree that legend says inspired Sir Isaac Newton’s Theory of Universal Gravitation. Every day, this leafy apple tree witnesses the daily comings and goings of our next generation of deep thinkers. But its identity is shielded by the university, fearing vandalism by Newton fans or gravity groupies. Lisa M. Krieger in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 12/1/19

A thief evaded police. So a wealthy Sacramento-area community installed license plate readers -- There are few disturbances in Sierra de Montserrat, a community of estate-style homes perched on rolling hills in Loomis. So when two property crimes occurred about a year ago, some residents felt it warranted a response. Michael Finch in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 12/1/19

POTUS 45  

House Judiciary Panel Asks Trump if He Will Present Impeachment Defense -- The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee asked President Trump on Friday whether he intends to mount a defense during the committee’s consideration of impeachment articles, setting a deadline of next Friday for Mr. Trump and his lawyers to decide if they will present evidence or call witnesses. Michael D. Shear in the New York Times$ -- 12/1/19

Trump isn’t running in Britain’s election. That hasn’t stopped him from getting in the middle -- Donald Trump just can’t seem to stay away from British politics. He’s fired off comments on topics including Brexit, his low opinion of a British ambassador, and how his Trump-branded golf course in Scotland “furthers U.K. relations.” William Booth and Karla Adam in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 12/1/19

Beltway 

The Democratic presidential campaign has produced confusion rather than clarity -- The Democratic presidential candidates have been on the campaign trail for nearly a year. Confusion rather than clarity continues to be the story of their contest for the 2020 nomination. Dan Balz in the Washington Post$ -- 12/1/19