The murder earlier this month of Kathryn Steinle, shot to death in San Francisco by a recently-released repeat criminal who had illegally entered the United States after being deported five times, is spurring furious debate in congress over “Sanctuary” cities. Many Republicans and some Democrats are urging changes. Seung Min Kim in Politico:
“A growing chorus of GOP lawmakers, and Democrats such as California Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, are mulling a legislative push to target sanctuary cities — locations where officials refuse to cooperate with federal immigration orders…
“On Tuesday, the GOP-led House Appropriations Committee voted to block sanctuary cities from getting certain federal grants as part of a broader bill funding the Department of Homeland Security. Meanwhile, key Senate Republicans signaled they would soon take up sanctuary cities legislation.
“And House Republicans used an oversight hearing Tuesday to repeatedly push Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on the issue, demanding that he force sanctuary cities to comply with federal immigration requests….
“The killing of Steinle has galvanized proponents of stricter immigration laws who say the suspect, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, should have never been released from custody and should have been deported to his native Mexico. Lopez-Sanchez, who pleaded not guilty to the charges last week, had already been removed from the United States five times and had a lengthy criminal record.”
Steinle’s parents yesterday appeared on Bill O’Reilly’s show, endorsing “Kate’s Law,” which would mandate prison time for immigrants convicted of entering the United States illegally after deportation. Janie Har, AP:
“[Jim Steinle and Liz Sullivan]… told host Bill O’Reilly the measure would be a good way to keep their daughter’s memory alive. O’Reilly is collecting signatures for a petition supporting the proposal, which would impose a mandatory five years in federal prison for people who are deported and return, and 10 years for people caught a second time.”
A news study from United Way calculates that nearly a third of California households live in poverty. Dan Walters at the Sacramento Bee:
“The study relies on what the organization calls a ‘real cost measure’ that goes well beyond the Census Bureau’s official poverty measure, which dates back to the early 1960s and pegs California’s rate at just half of what the United Way’s study found.
“The organization’s methodology is, however, similar in thrust to an alternative poverty measure that includes all forms of income and is adjusted for the cost of living. By that measure, nearly a quarter of California’s 39 million residents are living in poverty…”
“Over half of Latino families fall under the United Ways poverty measure, as well as 40 percent of black families. White families (20 percent) and Asian-American households 28 percent) are better off.”
Congressional Republicans and Democrats rarely agree, but for once, they are on the same page: the federal agency that oversees pipeline safety is doing a crappy job. Kevin Freking and Michael Blood, AP:
“The federal agency that oversees the safety of the nation's pipelines failed to follow through on congressional reforms that could have made a difference in a May break that created the largest coastal oil spill in California in 25 years, a House committee chairman said Tuesday.
“…Republicans and Democrats on the Energy and Power Subcommittee expressed frustration with inaction by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which has yet to complete more than a dozen requirements outlined in a 2011 federal law.
“Among the unfinished work is revising regulations to establish specific time periods for notification of authorities after an accident is confirmed. The new rule would require notice as quickly as possible and always within an hour.
“The owner of the California line, Plains All American Pipeline, has been criticized for taking about 90 minutes to alert federal responders after confirming the spill near Santa Barbara.”
And speaking of unsafe pipelines, a measure that would block PG&E from writing off the cost of the fines for the penalties incurred over the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion will be heard in a senate committee today. Lisa Pickoff-White, The California Report:
“State Sen. Jerry Hill and Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, both Democrats whose districts include San Bruno, introduced SB681, which would prohibit PG&E from deducting the fine. The bill needs to pass a state Senate committee on Wednesday morning, and eventually a two-thirds vote of the Legislature.
“In April, CPUC President Michael Picker wrote to the IRS and state tax boards, stating that the full fine was meant to be punitive.
“’We also want to express our hope that any attempt by PG&E to deduct any of these costs will be disallowed on the basis of their punitive nature,’ Picker wrote. ‘Every dollar the commission ordered that shareholders pay in this final decision was intended to penalize PG&E for its egregious actions and legal violations.’”
A coalition of labor unions, community activists and church leaders has come together to form a new labor campaign organizing service sector workers in Silicon Valley. Beth Willon, KQED:
“In East San Jose’s Mayfair Neighborhood, a young Cesar Chavez first started mobilizing farmworkers to get them better wages and working conditions. The area was then known as Sal Si Puedes, meaning “get out if you can.”
“It was the 1950s, and Chavez often drove a bus to the fields in Santa Clara County and brought back the fruit pickers to Mayfair’s Our Lady of Guadalupe Church to talk about labor organizing and voting.
“It was no coincidence that a new labor campaign was launched at the same church in February. This time the issue is the low wages of service workers who clean, cook and stand guard at the sprawling campuses of Silicon Valley’s tech giants.
“Called Silicon Valley Rising, this coalition of labor unions, faith leaders and community-based organizations is orchestrating a campaign to raise families out of poverty by pushing for a livable wage, affordable housing and corporate responsibility. They are now highlighting the plight of service workers, the majority of which are immigrants.”
Opponents of the recently-signed law to mandate vaccinations for most California schoolchildren have begun collecting signatures on a ballot measure to repeal the law. Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times:
“Led by former assemblyman and Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly of Twin Peaks, the opponents must collect the signatures of 365,880 registered voters on petitions by Sept. 28 for the referendum to qualify for the ballot.
“A majority of voters would then have to vote yes on the referendum, in favor of the new law, during a November 2016 election, or it would not go into effect.”
One to watch: Water Deeply, a new website that covers California’s water crisis, has launched. From their About Us:
“Water Deeply is an independent digital media project dedicated to covering California’s water crisis. Our team, a mix of journalists and technologists, aims to build a better user experience of the story by providing news and analysis in an easily accessible platform. Our hope is to add greater clarity, deeper understanding and more sustained public engagement at a critical moment in water policy.”
It’s no Maven’s Notebook, but then, what is?
And just when you think you can’t get any more cynical comes this story about a cemetery worker stealing gravestones to use as construction materials in his home projects:
“[At] a veterans cemetery in Rhode Island, an employee who was supposed to be taking care of the graves pillaged more than 150 granite headstones, many of them still inscribed with the names of the veterans. Then he took the markers home to build a floor for his carport.
“When investigators arrived at Kevin Maynard’s house in Charlestown, R.I., this spring, they come upon an eerie scene, according to a federal affadavit: The grave markers, most with the inscriptions face down, were serving as the foundation for two makeshift carports held up by aluminum poles and plastic tarps.
“In one carport, Maynard’s red, late-model Ford truck was parked on top of the stones. The rest were scattered about the property…. Authorities suspect that Maynard had been taking the headstones from a secured area on cemetery grounds since 2009, a few stones at a time.”