Aaron Read
Edsource.org
Olson Hagel
Capitol Weekly
 
Maplight.org
CA Leg Analyst
 

Updating . .   

300-foot flames coming at us': The battle to save Mt. Wilson from the Bobcat fire -- This was the moment firefighters and observatory officials had been fearing: the fire striking a direct blow to the complex. Glowing red embers chewed through brush and trees, and thick smoke billowed into dark skies typically reserved for stargazing. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/26/20

Bracing for fire weather, PG&E notifies 100,000 customers, including some in Napa County, of potential blackouts -- Pacific Gas and Electric Co. on Friday expanded the area of potential fire-prevention power shut-offs for Sunday and Monday as hot, windy weather approached, notifying nearly 100,000 customers, including a handful in Napa County, that they could lose power. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Luke Money, Maura Dolan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/26/20

Can technology predict wildfires? New systems attempt to better forecast their spread -- When freak lightning storms passed over Northern California’s wine country last month and sparked hundreds of wildfires, a newly established network of remote weather stations, orbiting satellites and supercomputers spun into action and attempted to predict the spread of what is now known as the LNU Lightning Complex fire. Joseph Serna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/26/20

Street  

Video shows sheriff’s deputy striking person with shield as West Hollywood protest ends in 6 arrests -- Six people were arrested in West Hollywood on Friday night during a protest decrying the police killing of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Ky., with video posted on social media showing a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy striking a person with a riot shield while the individual was pinned to the ground. Alex Wigglesworth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/26/20

Elections  

Northern California county strikes back after conservative pundit implies ballot dumping -- Sonoma County election officials say they are setting the record straight after a popular conservative pundit suggested that they had dumped mail-in ballots ahead of the 2020 election. The county’s official social media accounts published a statement Friday saying that pictures circulating on the internet of election envelopes in dumpsters were actually from 2018 — not, as many Twitter users had claimed, 2020. Officials said the ballots pictured were empty and had been disposed of legally. Vincent Moleski in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/26/20

Virus on Campus  

Faculty sharply question Adela de la Torre’s handling of SDSU’s COVID-19 crisis -- Professors say she has shown poor judgment and failed to deeply involve the faculty in running SDSU. Gary Robbins in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 9/26/20

Virus at 30,000 feet  

Coronavirus: Airlines say flying is safe, but new study reveals potential for superspreader disaster -- How risky is it to fly during the coronavirus pandemic? For clues, consider the travel histories of two of the country’s top infectious disease experts, each with parents on the other side of the country. One hasn’t flown since January when the new coronavirus was just emerging as a global threat. John Woolfolk in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/26/20

Environment   

California mayor, Mexican governor launch war of words over cross-border sewage spills -- The mayor of Imperial Beach, Calif., and the governor of Baja California are engaged in an ongoing public feud over cross-border sewage spills, which have been a problem for years and resulted in polluting local communities in the United States and making people ill. Gustavo Solis in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/26/20

Education Dollars  

San Diego charter schools sue state seeking funding for thousands of students -- Thousands of students are leaving school districts for independent study charter schools, but state funding isn’t following them, charter leaders say. Kristen Taketa in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 9/26/20

Homeless  

Lopez: Column: She died on a sidewalk near where she grew up. She was L.A.'s 959th homeless death this year -- Sylvia Maglia, 63, was well on her way to becoming a statistic in a region where, each year, we break records for the number of people who die on our streets. She was deteriorating quickly in Granada Hills, anchored in her regular spot outside a real estate office on Balboa Boulevard, just south of San Fernando Mission Boulevard. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/26/20

Employers and Workers  

Wildfire, climate, virus pose triple-threat to key California tourism, wine industries -- -- In San Diego, tourism industry watchers are bracing for a bleak fall after a shut-in summer that has crushed that city’s businesses. Up the coast in Monterey County, once-optimistic wine growers now must contend with the smoky fallout of nearby wildfires and its effect on that county’s multi-million dollar industry. Darrell Smith in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/26/20

 

California Policy & Politics Saturday Morning  

California to create its own consumer financial protection agency -- California will create a state consumer financial protection agency to fill a void left by federal regulators, who have pulled back on oversight during the Trump administration. Alexei Koseff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/25/20

California NAACP president aids corporate prop campaigns — collects $1.2 million and counting -- Alice Huffman, who is both a professional campaign consultant and long-time NAACP leader, was especially sought after this year as political campaigns respond to the national reckoning over race. Laurel Rosenhall CalMatters -- 9/25/20

California prison employing 1,100 to close in 2021 — and Newsom wants to shut another -- Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration on Friday announced a plan to shut Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy within a year, following through on Newsom’s pledge to close one or more state prisons while he’s in office. Andrew Sheeler in the Sacramento Bee$ Don Thompson Associated Press -- 9/25/20

Gov. Newsom Signs Law To Grow Mental Health Coverage -- Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law on Friday that for the first time in California defines “medical necessity," a move aimed at requiring private health insurance plans to pay for more mental health and drug addiction treatments. Adam Beam Associated Press -- 9/25/20

How UC Berkeley handled a regent’s ‘inappropriate’ support letter to get student admitted --Documents released late Friday provided new details on how UC Berkeley handled what a recent state audit called an “inappropriate letter of support” from University of California Regent Richard Blum to get an applicant admitted despite the student’s “uncompetitive” ranking by admission readers. Teresa Watanabe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/26/20

SF public defender calls for firing of chief medical examiner -- Scrutiny of the San Francisco medical examiner’s office continued to heat up Thursday as Public Defender Mano Raju called for its department head to be investigated and fired, saying in a new complaint that the physician has mismanaged the office and given misleading testimony for high-stakes criminal cases. Megan Cassidy and Jason Fagone in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/25/20

Elections  

A dozen Bay Area school districts are asking for funding on election day -- More than a dozen Bay Area school districts will have their hands out this election day, asking voters to pay more in property taxes to fund facilities or, in some cases, to keep paying salaries. Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/25/20

Election 2020: A breakdown of the Bay Area’s police reform ballot measures -- After a summer of civil unrest over police killings of Black people, cities and counties across the Bay Area are attempting to reimagine what police reform should look like — and they’re testing some of these ideas at the ballot box this November. Megan Cassidy in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/25/20

CA120: California’s mail-in voting cranks up -- Vote-by-mail ballots have been sent to all registered voters in Amador County, with Solano reporting they will be mailing ballots today, while Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego counties — and maybe others – will be mailing next week. These counties are getting ahead of the Oct. 5 deadline for California counties to mail ballots. In other states, meanwhile, voting has been taking place for weeks. Paul Mitchell Capitol Weekly -- 9/25/20

Virus 

California could see 89% increase in hospitalizations next month, health official warns -- Short-term forecasts indicate that hospitalizations could skyrocket from the 2,578 patients now hospitalized to 4,864 by this time in October, said California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly during a Friday press briefing — a signal that Californians should stay vigilant as more parts of the economy open up. Fiona Kelliher in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/25/20

Labor Day coronavirus numbers are in: California officials see an uptick in cases -- Two and a half weeks after Labor Day weekend, California officials are seeing a “concerning” uptick in coronavirus cases and predicting a rise in hospitalizations through October, Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said Friday. Sophia Bollag in the Sacramento Bee$ Erin Allday in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/25/20

LA County reports coronavirus bump; state officials worry Labor Day surge may have arrived -- Friday's 1,401 cases was the biggest bump over two weeks, officials said. It comes as state officials warn of a near 90% increase in hospitalizations over the next month. Ryan Carter in the Orange County Register -- 9/25/20

California near 800,000 coronavirus cases, more than almost any country in the world -- The rate of new cases is decreasing and hospitalizations remain on the decline, but California is closing in on 800,000 total coronavirus infections in a span of less than seven months. Michael McGough in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/25/20

Southern California Officials Drafting Rollout Plans In Anticipation Of Potential COVID-19 Vaccine -- A fifth U.S.-backed COVID-19 vaccine candidate entered the final stage of testing this week but it’s unclear when or which one would be approved. Still, health officials, including in San Diego County are drafting vaccine distribution plans. Tarryn Mento KPBS -- 9/25/20

Sacramento’s Latino-Owned Businesses Not Receiving Pandemic Resources Now Fearing Permanent Closure -- Connie Herrera closed the doors to La Pantera at the start of the pandemic six months ago. Sarah Mizes-Tan Capital Public Radio -- 9/25/20

Reopen  

S.F. announces temporary permit program for outdoor music and entertainment -- San Francisco is enacting a new temporary permit program for outdoor entertainment and amplified sound, Mayor London Breed announced Friday, Sept. 25. The new Just Add Music permit, known as JAM, will cover entertainment in shared spaces and other outdoor locations that are seeing dramatically more activity during the pandemic. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/25/20

Orange County is headed to the even less-prohibitive orange tier. What would reopen then? -- With sustained declines in coronavirus metrics, Orange County is on track to spend the minimum three weeks in the red tier of coronavirus restrictions and move on to the even less-restrictive orange tier of the state monitoring system by Tuesday, Sept. 29. Ian Wheeler in the Orange County Register -- 9/25/20

Back to School   

As O.C. campuses bring back students, here’s how schools in other countries are handling reopening -- Schools in Orange County are beginning to reopen. For parents trying to gauge the safety of their school’s plan, it may be useful to put the county’s numbers and procedures in context with how places around the world have handled school reopenings. Ada Tseng in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/25/20

Street   

OC sheriff’s deputies who lied on reports testify that they didn’t know it was illegal -- Two fired Orange County sheriff’s deputies convicted of lying on their police reports testified recently before a grand jury that they didn’t know it was illegal to falsify the documents, transcripts show. Tony Saavedra in the Orange County Register -- 9/25/20

In an affluent Orange County neighborhood, echoes of a skid row shooting -- Big questions loomed Friday over the death of Kurt Andras Reinhold, who was fatally shot by Orange County sheriff’s deputies in the beachfront town of San Clemente. Richard Winton, Anh Do, Gale Holland, Maria L. La Ganga in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/26/20

Facial recognition tech used to build SFPD gun case, despite city ban -- San Francisco police investigators may have circumvented the city’s ban on facial recognition technology by building a gun case, in part, on facial recognition software used by another law enforcement agency, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Chronicle. Megan Cassidy in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/25/20

Smith: Black women know, there are fewer and fewer reasons to have faith in the system -- When people — understandably — have so little faith in our system of government to be fair that they resort to vigilante justice. Like the protesters on Thursday night who, rather than wait for the police officers who were supposed to be protecting them, piled into the back of a pickup truck and chased down the driver a Prius who had edged through the crowd. Erika D. Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/25/20

Protesters recount moment Hollywood driver ‘floored it,’ striking woman -- Vishal Singh has been to a lot of protests where motorists get a panicky look in their eyes as their vehicles become surrounded by demonstrators. He’s even seen a few lurch their cars forward, anxious to pull off but too boxed in to go far. Kevin Rector, Leila Miller in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/25/20

Feds: Man stashed guns, turned family’s California vineyard into disorder ‘training camp’ -- A Southern California man held on federal weapons charges stored weapons at his family’s Lodi vineyard — a personal training camp to prep for civil disorder, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Darrell Smith in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/25/20

Wildfire  

Bracing for fire weather, PG&E notifies 100,000 customers, including some in Napa County, of potential blackouts -- Pacific Gas and Electric Co. on Friday expanded the area of potential fire-prevention power shut-offs for Sunday and Monday as hot, windy weather approached, notifying nearly 100,000 customers, including a handful in Napa County, that they could lose power. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/25/20

Authorities lift evacuation orders for Bobcat fire in parts of Antelope Valley -- Authorities on Friday afternoon lifted evacuation orders for parts of the Antelope Valley that had been threatened by the Bobcat fire. Matthew Ormseth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/25/20

Butte County woman, 71, identified as last victim of North Complex fire -- Authorities released the name of the 15th victim of the North Complex fire Friday, meaning all those confirmed to have perished in one of California’s deadliest blazes have now been identified. Luke Money in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/25/20

100 firefighters from Mexico arrive in California to battle flames -- One hundred firefighters from Guadalajara, Mexico, arrived in California on Wednesday to help battle flames amid a record-breaking wildfire season that has left state firefighters fatigued and stretched. Amy Graff in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/25/20

Helicopter that can drop 3,000 gallons on Southern California wildfires is on its way -- The Orange County Fire Authority’s board this week unanimously approved funding from Southern California Edison that will help provide the air vessel, called a helitanker, to the area for 83 days, beginning Oct. 1. Alma Fausto in the Orange County Register -- 9/25/20

Education 

Welcome to Zoom University. That’ll be $500 -- Some University of California campuses are charging new students hundreds of dollars for orientation sessions even though they take place entirely online. Janelle Marie Salanga CalMatters -- 9/25/20

‘If it’s your family, it’s nepotism’: Former UC Regent Connerly blasts Blum over admissions news -- Former Regent Ward Connerly, who rose to national prominence opposing affirmative action decades ago, waded into the University of California’s admissions scandal Friday, saying a current regent like Richard Blum, who admits using clout to help a family member get into college, engaged in nepotism. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/25/20

Also . . .   

Homeless San Francisco artist dies just as he hits the big time with New York MoMA exhibit -- Even as he battled his demons of dope and homelessness year after year — sometimes winning, sometimes not — Ronnie Goodman never gave up on the one thing that drove him forward. Kevin Fagan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/25/20

POTUS 45  

Trump readies a debate onslaught — and Biden allies worry -- President Trump is gearing up to launch blistering personal attacks on Joe Biden and his family in the first presidential debate on Tuesday, while Biden is bracing for an onslaught and worried allies are warning the Democratic nominee not to lose his temper and lash out, according to people with knowledge of the strategies in both camps. Sean Sullivan and Josh Dawsey in the Washington Post$ -- 9/25/20

Beltway   

How the new Supreme Court could stymie a Biden presidency -- A larger, emboldened conservative majority would have the power to upend decades of precedent to block a Democratic president and Congress from fulfilling their agenda. Alex Guillén and Paul Demko Politico -- 9/25/20

 

-- Friday Updates   

PG&E warns 21,000 customers of potential outages as heat, wind are expected to boost fire danger -- The Pacific Gas & Electric Co. may cut power to about 21,000 customers in parts of Butte, Plumas and Yuba counties this weekend as dry, unseasonably hot conditions and strong winds are expected to increase fire danger in the region. Luke Money in the Los Angeles Times$ Michael McGough in the Sacramento Bee$ Lauren Hernández in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/25/20

Firefighter who died in El Dorado fire remembered as dedicated family man who loved his job -- Nearly 1,000 people tuned in for the live-streamed memorial service for Charles Morton, 39, at 11 a.m. at the Rock Church and World Outreach Center in San Bernardino, The service was streamed on the church’s website and YouTube page, and the San Bernardino National Forest’s Facebook page. Alex Wigglesworth, Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/25/20

‘Hidden cost’ of wildfire smoke: Stanford researchers estimate up to 3,000 indirect deaths -- More than two dozen people have died as a direct result of California’s devastating wildfires so far this year. But the actual number of lives lost because of them may have been much higher. Annie Vainshtein in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/25/20

Why we need redwoods to fight climate change -- Redwoods are capable of sequestering orders of magnitude more carbon from the atmosphere than other species of trees, making them important tools in the struggle to mitigate global warming. Gregory Thomas in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/25/20

Virus  

Coronavirus cases top 800,000 in California, highest in the nation -- The sobering figure comes as California has seen declines in both new cases and deaths over the last month after a summer spike that alarmed officials and prompted the reversal of some business reopenings. Dakota Smith, Colleen Shalby, Alex Wigglesworth, Stephanie Lai in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/25/20

UC San Diego launches smartphone-based COVID-19 exposure notification system -- This digital heads-up is made possible with smartphone-based exposure notifications. California recently gave UC San Diego the go-ahead to test the technology, and the La Jolla university launched its pilot program on Thursday. Students like Andrew were quick to try it. Lyndsay Winkley in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/25/20

Virus Workplace  

This L.A. company was hit with the state’s largest-ever COVID-19 fine. Some say it’s a model for worker safety -- In late July, Gloria Lopez, a weight checker at a frozen food processing plant in Vernon, noticed that a plexiglass divider was missing between workers on the production line. Two employees were left exposed to the coronavirus. Neither had said anything. Leila Miller in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/25/20

Virus Economy  

California International Marathon canceled this year due to the pandemic -- In Friday morning posts to the event’s website and social media, organizers said they “turned over every stone, working through all possible options and considerations” to go through with a socially distanced version of the race, but that there were “too many hurdles” to proceed this year given the contagious virus still being prominent statewide. Michael McGough in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/25/20

New commercial ramps up pressure on Newsom to reopen Disneyland -- A new commercial calls on Gov. Gavin Newsom to reopen Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm and other California theme parks as the major tourist destinations approach the 200-day mark of coronavirus closures. Brady MacDonald in the Orange County Register -- 9/25/20

Layoffs loom at Pebble Beach, Golden Gate Bridge, hotels -- Job cuts are being planned at the iconic Pebble Beach resort in Monterey County, while separate layoffs are in the works at Bay Area hotels as well as the Golden Gate Bridge District, with the employers blaming staff cutbacks on coronavirus-linked woes. George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/25/20

Here’s how many job seekers there are for every opening in San Francisco and San Jose -- There are 11.4 people searching for work for every job opening in the San Francisco metro area, more than eight times the level of competition at the start of the year when the Bay Area boasted one of the hottest economies in the world. Leonardo Castañeda in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/25/20

California’s rent strike: Who pays and how it works -- As the pandemic stretches into its seventh month, tenants and landlords have found themselves facing the same question: Who’s going to pay the rent if unemployment continues to hover north of 11%? Nigel Duara CalMatters -- 9/25/20

An Oakland events space openly defied coronavirus rules. Did the city do enough to stop it? -- An Oakland events space has hosted indoor weddings, birthday parties and wakes — sometimes exceeding 100 people — since July, according to the manager of the space, in violation of state and county pandemic restrictions about large gatherings. Sarah Ravani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/25/20

Policy & Politics 

California passes first-in-nation plastics recycling law -- In a move aimed at reducing huge amounts of plastic litter in the oceans, along roadways and other parts of the state, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a first-in-the-nation law requiring plastic beverage containers to contain an increasing amount of recycled material. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/25/20

Runway to roof: Chanel’s $35-million solar-power play to help low-income Californians -- If you’re a low-income resident of California with a new solar panel on your apartment-building roof and extra money in your pocket, you might have Chanel to thank. Adam Tschorn in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/25/20

City Hall scandal: Nuru used ‘unethical’ practice to solicit funds for S.F. department, controller says -- Disgraced Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru allegedly solicited donations from private sources and directed them toward a nonprofit that financially supported his department, according to a new report by the City Controller. The concern is that the arrangement allowed Nuru to quietly work behind the scenes to benefit his department. Trisha Thadani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/25/20

Fox: Can One Individual Tell Us What We Can Drive? -- An immediate reaction to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order that all new cars sold in California by 2035 must be zero-emission is how can one individual in a state of 40 million tell us what we all can drive? Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 9/25/20

 

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