While the rest of the world focused on the continuing fallout from Friday’s attacks in Paris, Capitol Weekly’s John Howard went over to the Treasurer’s office for a briefing and got a little scoop: State Treasurer John Chiang confirmed that he is “very interested” in running for governor in 2018.
“Chiang, who served two terms as state controller before being elected treasurer in 2014, is the latest in a number of prominent Democrats who have announced their intention to run for governor or are at least considering the job. Those include Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, hedge-fund founder and billionaire Tom Steyer and Steve Westly, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and former state controller.
“Chiang, 53, a former IRS tax attorney and member of the state Board of Equalization, made the comment about his future political plans in response to a question following a briefing in his office.”
Meanwhile, the current governor was caught up in post-Paris-attack politics, announcing that California will welcome refugees from Syria, breaking with governors of 26 other states who say they will not accept refugees from the failed state. Jeremy White, Sacramento Bee:
“Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday advocated preserving ‘America’s traditional role as a place of asylum’ but stressed the need for thorough vetting.
“Several U.S. governors have reacted to Friday’s deadly terror attacks in Paris by assailing President Barack Obama’s plan to have the U.S. absorb 10,000 Syrian war refugees over the course of the next year….
“Countering that hard line, Brown said in a statement that the United States should continue to be a haven to the oppressed. But he also stressed the need for vigilance.
“’I intend to work closely with the President so that he can both uphold America’s traditional role as a place of asylum, but also ensure that anyone seeking refuge in America is fully vetted in a sophisticated and utterly reliable way,’ Brown said in response to a query from the Bee. ‘You can be sure that we will do everything in our power to protect the people of our state.’”
BTW, Constitution 101 says govs don’t have a choice in immigration matters.
And, speaking of immigration matters, Sacramento Sheriff Scott Jones launched his bid Monday to unseat Congressman Ami Bera with a promise to secure America’s borders and get a handle on what he called “failed immigration policies.” Jim Miller, Sacramento Bee:
“Jones did not present any specific proposals for immigration fixes. Any plan, he said, has to secure the nation’s borders first. At that point, he said, lawmakers can begin discussing issues such as a pathway to citizenship for people in the country illegally.
“Jones dismissed as ‘untenable’ the idea of deporting the country’s more than 11 million undocumented immigrants. ‘But we have to know with some level of confidence who they are,’ he said.”
While Folsom Lake has hit its lowest level ever, there is good news regarding California water storage: the Sierra snowpack is well above normal for this time of year. Ed Joyce, Capital Public Radio:
"’Snowpack is well above normal for this time of year in the Sierra Nevada and parts of Nevada where drought has seemed intractable, Reno-Tahoe Airport recorded 4.2” of snow November 9-10 (including a daily record 2.4” on the 9th), and over a foot blanketed some areas northeast of the city,’ according to the U.S. Drought Monitor released November 12.”
The Department of Justice is sending mixed messages to tribes hoping to expand into the booming marijuana industry. Hilary Bricken, Above the Law:
“In 2014, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued an enforcement memo addressing how Native American Tribes should go about marijuana legalization. Though that memo neither legalizes marijuana for Tribes nor makes any changes to federal drug laws, it provides that Tribes will essentially be given a pass (like states) to legalize marijuana in accordance with current DOJ marijuana enforcement priorities…
“This memo sounds like the DOJ is open to working with Tribes that are willing to abide by the eight enforcement priorities set out in the 2013 Cole Memo. And so long as a Tribe first consults with the appropriate U.S. attorneys regarding its legalization plans and so long as those plans include the “robust regulations” required by the Cole Memo, the DOJ will allow that Tribe to legalize, just as so many states have done with both recreational and medical marijuana. But that has not happened in the real world.
“First, there was the Pit River raid in July of this year. In that case, federal government authorities, including the DEA and special agents with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), raided cannabis cultivation operations on the Alturas Indian Rancheria and the XL Ranch in Modoc County, California. According to the U.S. Attorney press-release, ‘[t]he search warrants are part of an ongoing investigation relating to the financing and management of the commercial marijuana-cultivation projects.’”
In these dark days it’s good to remember that there are heroes in this world, heroes who meet the world head on and refuse to be beaten. (With photos)
“After the outside of their pub flooded in Leeds, there was only one thing to do for John Kelly and Steve Holt...
“Embrace the rain, get wet and have a pint.
"The water came in pretty quickly and pretty heavily and once we realised, Steve (the pub's owner) drove off to get some sandbags," the manager of the Kirkstall Bridge Inn tells Newsbeat.
"’I stood and shouted at the water but it didn't seem to do much.
"’Then we realised it wasn't getting any higher and the damage had already been done, so we decided we might as well sit in the beer garden anyway and have a pint,’ said John…
"’It was remarkably cold. The first 15 minutes were a little bit uncomfortable but once we settled down it was surprisingly therapeutic, to sit not just by the river but in the river.
"’It was a little surreal but it just became normal,’ he adds. ‘It was nice.’
“John says there were no seats available inside the pub at the time. It was full of customers having Sunday lunch.
"’So it was either loiter outside or sit in the river,’ John explains. ‘We just thought we're not going to get beaten by a river, we're going to have a beer.”