Aaron Read
Edsource.org
Olson Hagel
Capitol Weekly
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Cruise ship evacuee arrivals in California, Texas include 14 with coronavirus -- Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield is the new, temporary home to another group of evacuees from the coronavirus outbreak in Asia. A plane carrying American residents evacuated from a cruise ship in Japan arrived at the base late Sunday night. J.D. Morris in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/17/20

Amid coronavirus threat, study abroad programs in China canceled -- Last summer, Andie Yu arrived in Beijing for a yearlong program at Peking University. The UC Irvine computer science student from Las Vegas was eager to improve her Mandarin and gain experience to be a more competitive job candidate in China. Nina Agrawal, Anh Do in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/17/20

Money pours into crowded race for Bay Area Senate seat -- Big money from labor unions, real estate agents, tech executives — and even one candidate’s mother — is pouring into an open state Senate race on the Peninsula ahead of a fiercely contested March primary. A crowded field is vying to replace Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, who is termed out after eight years representing the 13th Senate District, a wealthy suburban stretch from Brisbane to Sunnyvale. Alexei Koseff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/17/20

Jim Beall’s open Senate seat draws heavyweight contenders -- Four prominent South Bay politicians are jockeying to succeed termed-out state Sen. Jim Beall and they’re armed with hundreds of thousands in campaign funds donated by influential special interest groups ranging from labor unions to the oil industry. Thy Vo in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/17/20

Bloomberg Endorses Measure to Revise Prop. 13, Raise Commercial Property Taxes -- Stepping up his presence in California ahead of the March 3 presidential primary, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg threw his weight behind a proposed ballot measure to remove tax protections on commercial property currently enjoyed under voter-approved Proposition 13, the landmark anti-tax measure approved by voters in 1978. Scott Shafer KQED -- 2/17/20

Lorena Gonzalez introduces anti-'poor door’ housing legislation, density bonuses -- An attempt last year to separate low-income renters from market-rate renters in an East Village apartment building elicited a lot of anger. Now, one lawmaker is trying to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Phillip Molnar in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 2/17/20

Slain Hollywood therapist had twice sought restraining order against ex-boyfriend -- The well-known therapist and author fatally attacked at her Hollywood Hills home this weekend had twice sought restraining orders against the former boyfriend arrested on suspicion of her murder. Harriet Ryan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/17/20

At Oakland’s airport, optimism reigns despite loss of JetBlue and Norwegian -- Oakland International Airport has hit some bumps. There are no more cheap flights to Rome. JetBlue, which flew to Boston, New York and Long Beach, will leave in April. Southwest, which accounts for a majority of the airport’s traffic and has been hurt by the grounding of Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft, is operating fewer flights. Mallory Moench in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/17/20

Bay Area: Living at the intersection of rich and poor -- Carmen Preciado has always been able to identify the precise spot along Middlefield Road that marks the end of her world and the beginning of another. “When I go to the other side, it’s just like: ‘Oh, this is a rich people area,'” said Preciado, a 31-year-old single mother and life-long Redwood City resident. “You can see the difference.” Erica Hellerstein in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 2/17/20

Pier 1 files for bankruptcy protection amid online challenge -- Home goods retailer Pier 1 Imports Inc. said Monday that it has filed for bankruptcy protection. The Fort Worth, Texas-based company, which was founded in 1962, has been struggling with increased competition from budget-friendly online retailers such as Wayfair. Dee-Ann Durbin Associated Press -- 2/17/20

U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions in California doubled in two years. But trend is slowing -- The U.S. Border Patrol last year apprehended the highest number of immigrants trying to cross from Mexico into California in nearly a decade, though the trend is already shifting following Trump administration policy changes meant to discourage asylum seekers from entering the United States, the latest federal statistics show. Phillip Reese in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/17/20

Local attorney seeks justice for Marine confined more than two years without trial or charges -- A Marine recruit arrested for allegedly striking a drill instructor at the service’s San Diego boot camp has spent most of the last two years in the brig and is now confined to a federal prison hospital. He has not had a trial, nor has he been charged with a crime, according to the Marine Corps and the man’s attorney. Andrew Dyer in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 2/17/20

So many languages, so few books: Libraries struggle to reflect places they serve -- Jennifer Songster roved the crowded aisles of the small mom-and-pop shop, riffling through books in Khmer, the official language of Cambodia. Outside, the streets of Phnom Penh bustled. The air was thick and humid. Beads of sweat trickled down her face. Dorany Pineda, Maria L. La Ganga -- 2/17/20

Taylor: Student, after taking lesson on homelessness to heart, learns about heartache -- I met Olivia Wynkoop, a sophomore at San Francisco State University, on Feb. 3 in a journalism class. I’d been invited to share reporting techniques, and I talked about covering homeless and underprivileged communities in the East Bay. Otis R. Taylor Jr. in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/17/20

 

California Policy & Politics This Morning  

Coronavirus cruise ship passengers head to California military base for quarantine -- The State Department chartered flights to transport U.S. citizens from the Diamond Princess, which has been docked off Yokohama since Feb. 3, to Travis Air Force Base in Solano County, officials announced Saturday. There are about 400 U.S. citizens aboard the ship, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, but it’s not yet known whether all of them have elected to return. Alex Wigglesworth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/17/20

Coronavirus Infection Found After Cruise Ship Passengers Disperse -- The cruise ship had been shunned at port after port for fear it might carry the coronavirus, but when the Westerdam arrived in Cambodia on Thursday, the prime minister greeted its passengers with flowers. Richard C. Paddock, Sui-Lee Wee and Roni Caryn Rabin in the New York Times$ -- 2/17/20

Skelton: There’s a new Proposition 13. It would send billions to California schools that need it -- Proposition 13 is the only measure on the March 3 state ballot — and its number is causing many voters to do double takes. Maybe we should retire certain proposition numbers like professional sports teams retire their superstars’ jersey numbers. It would eliminate confusion. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/17/20

Walters: Newsom’s spending more, saving less -- When Jerry Brown returned to the governorship in 2011, he faced what he called a “wall of debt” from years of severe economic recession and deficit-riddled state budgets. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 2/17/20

Multimillion-dollar SF taxi medallion case seeks resolution -- A $155 million lawsuit seeking to hold San Francisco financially accountable for selling pricey taxi medallions that have plummeted in value is slated for a court hearing on Friday. Carolyn Said in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/17/20

Should cars be banned on Broadway in downtown L.A.? -- Banning cars from downtown streets is beginning to catch on in major U.S. cities, with New York and San Francisco moving to free up space for transit vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists. But the trend hasn’t come to Los Angeles — yet. Laura J. Nelson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/17/20

California to apologize officially for historical mistreatment of Japanese Americans -- For decades, Japanese American activists have marked Feb. 19 as a day to reflect on one of the darkest chapters in this nation’s history. On that date in 1942, during World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt authorized the forced removal of over 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent from their homes and businesses. Gustavo Arellano in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/17/20

Scientists theorize that space aliens may already be here, but we don’t recognize them -- Stargazing scientists have recently begun to focus on the prospect of encountering intelligent extraterrestrials, and the more they think about it the more they realize the first meeting probably won’t be with little green men in flying saucers. Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/17/20

Privacy advocates alarmed by Amazon’s Ring partnerships with Bay Area police -- An Amazon-owned home security company has netted hundreds of police contracts — including nearly a dozen in the Bay Area — that could help solve neighborhood crime. But critics say the quick spread of such partnerships has skirted public oversight, turned police departments into corporate marketing machines and threatened the privacy of innocent people. Anna Bauman in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/17/20

Utah trial featuring a prominent member of polygamist sect and an L.A. businessman has wide implications -- On the surface it seems an odd partnership: a prominent member of a secretive Utah polygamist sect and the Armenian immigrant owner of a prosperous chain of Southern California truck stops. Rone Tempest in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/17/20

Family therapist Amie Harwick killed in Hollywood Hills, police say -- Amie Harwick, a well-known family therapist, was killed Saturday at her Hollywood Hills home by a former boyfriend, authorities said. The Los Angeles Police Department on Saturday afternoon arrested Gareth Pursehouse, 41, of Playa del Rey, for murder in connection with Harwick’s death, according to a release from the agency. He is being held on $2 million bail, according to county jail records. Ben Poston in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/17/20

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions  

Silicon Valley Heads to Europe, Nervous About New Rules -- Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s Sundar Pichai have journeyed to Brussels as the European Union drafts regulation for A.I. and the digital economy. Adam Satariano in the New York Times$ -- 2/17/20

Transit  

Abandoned, peed on by dogs: As SF scooters ramp up, complaints are rare but colorful -- Love them or hate them, scooters have hit their maximum in San Francisco. At least until October. On Saturday, San Francisco’s transportation agency began allowing four companies — Lime, Spin (owned by Ford), Jump (owned by Uber), and Scoot (owned by Bird) — to release 750 more scooters collectively to reach the city’s 4,000 limit. Mallory Moench in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/17/20

Homeless  

Finding patients where they live: Street medicine grows, along with homeless population -- The white van navigated streets lined by tents in downtown Los Angeles. From the back seat, Brett Feldman peered at the encampment’s residents scattered along the sidewalk. Soumya Karlamangla in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/17/20

As Homelessness Plagues Los Angeles, Success Comes for Veterans -- For nearly two decades, Bobby Shriver, the onetime mayor of nearby Santa Monica, would look at the sprawling Department of Veterans Affairs complex in the upscale neighborhood on the west side of Los Angeles and wonder why it could not house some of the homeless veterans who had been living in squalor in his beachside city for a generation. Many of the politicians, federal officials and wealthy residents he lobbied greeted the idea with derision. So in 2011, he sued. Jennifer Steinhauer in the New York Times$ -- 2/17/20

Housing  

Berkeley tries on a new movement: the quest to create housing -- Berkeley remains a city where the Campanile marks the skyline, Fourth Street feels like a genteel mall, and foodies line up to buy organic produce at Monterey Market. But these days, there’s another feature on the landscape: new buildings. John King in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/17/20

Wildfire  

PG&E trimming trees, but some residents aren’t happy with the operation -- Pacific Gas & Electric Corp.’s efforts to catch up on trimming down potentially dangerous trees near power lines have both fallen short of mandated targets and upset some Butte County residents who didn’t want their trees removed. Camille Von Kaenel in the Chico Enterprise -- 2/17/20

Education 

‘We are baffled:’ UCSD student body demands town hall, committee on ‘smart’ street lights -- UC San Diego’s student government has joined other community voices pushing back against the city’s use of camera-equipped street lights, and has submitted a list of demands its members hope will increase transparency about the technology’s impact on privacy and public safety. David Hernandez in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 2/17/20

Immigration / Border 

Immigration Advocates Call Sending Border Patrol Agents to Sanctuary Cities a Scare Tactic -- The Trump Administration is planning to send border patrol agents to large sanctuary cities across the United States, like San Francisco, to assist with immigration enforcement. But some immigration experts think this move is just a scare tactic. Michelle Wiley, Tiffany Camhi KQED -- 2/17/20

Guns 

Controversial Del Mar gun show approved for March -- The board that oversees the Del Mar Fairgrounds has approved the return of the Crossroads of the West Gun Show in March, despite new concerns raised by firearms safety advocates. NeverAgainCA founders Ira and Rose Ann Sharp of Del Mar told the fair board at its meeting last week that an increasing number of sales at the show are “ghost gun” kits that can be purchased and taken home the same day. Phil Diehl in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/17/20

Environment 

This man is hiking every East Bay trail -- No one has hiked every trail at every park in the East Bay counties. Come this spring, Mark Brauer is on pace to complete a five-year quest to complete this mission, hiking thousands of miles at roughly 100 parks in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Tom Stienstra in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/17/20

POTUS 45  

‘Something has to be done’: Trump’s quest to rewrite history of the Russia probe -- The U.S. intelligence community long ago produced evidence of Russia’s illegal interference in the 2016 presidential election to try to boost Donald Trump’s candidacy. Then the special counsel investigating the matter detailed myriad ways President Trump sought to stymie the probe. And then Robert S. Mueller III testified to Congress about Trump’s conduct — and warned of Russia’s continued interest in thwarting U.S. elections. But it is Trump who is trying to have the last word. Philip Rucker in the Washington Post$ -- 2/17/20

Beltway 

1,100 Former DOJ Employees Call On Barr To Resign After Intervening In Stone Case -- More than 1,100 former Department of Justice officials are calling on Attorney General William Barr to resign after his department lowered the prison sentence recommendation for Roger Stone, a longtime ally of President Trump, in a move that's led to accusations of political interference. Bobby Allyn NPR Katie Benner in the New York Times$ -- 2/17/20