A sweeping exposé has brought to light some dubious tactics of Tesla in California, a company touted as one of state's (and also the world's) most innovative entities, after a lawsuit revealed the systematically disparate working conditions suffered by an illegal labor force.
Bay Area News Group's Louis Hansen reports: "When Gregor Lesnik left his pregnant girlfriend in Slovenia for a job in America, his visa application described specialized skills and said he was a supervisor headed to a South Carolina auto plant."
"The unemployed electrician had no qualifications to oversee American workers and spoke only a sentence or two of English. He never set foot in South Carolina. The companies that arranged his questionable visa instead sent Lesnik to a menial job in Silicon Valley. He earned the equivalent of $5 an hour to expand the plant for one of the world’s most sophisticated companies, Tesla Motors."
November is expected to bring as many as 18 measures to the ballot for voters to jostle through -- the most on ballot since Clinton was president.
LAT's John Myers writes: "California voters this fall will likely wade through the longest list of state propositions since Bill Clinton was president, a sizable batch of proposed laws that is likely to spark a record amount of campaign spending."
"A review of election records and interviews with almost a dozen political consultants confirms that as many as 18 propositions — from legalizing marijuana to redirecting the proceeds of a fee on paper bags — will land on the Nov. 8 statewide ballot."
"I think it's overwhelming," said Cristina Uribe, state director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, a national nonprofit that advocates for politically progressive ballot measures."
California's schools find themselves in the arena fighting with local governments over control of the bond funds used for building and repairing schools.
Dan Walters in Sacramento Bee: "The seemingly mundane matter of issuing bonds to build and fix schools has suddenly morphed into a bubbling stew of highly contentious politics."
"The reason: School bonds and the projects they finance are a multibillion-dollar industry, and high-dollar issues often spawn conflicts."
"The most obvious example is a ballot measure that would authorize $9 billion in state bonds to help school districts finance construction."
As Barbara Boxer retires this year, many eyeball her open Senate seat with enthusiasm -- including Republicans,
John Wildermuth writes in The Chronicle: "For any of the three top Republicans running to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, finishing second would be an upset victory."
"Attorney Tom Del Beccaro of Lafayette, attorney Duf Sundheim of Palo Alto and high-tech businessman Ron Unz of Palo Alto are all running low-cost, long-shot campaigns to keep November’s general election from becoming a Democrats-only affair."
"Current polls show that a pair of Democrats, Attorney General Kamala Harris and Orange County Rep. Loretta Sanchez, are leading the field in a race where only the top two finishers, regardless of party, advance to the fall campaign."
As family-owned tow companies -- some going back more than a generation -- struggle to maintain a grip on the market, AAA continues to move in and take over.
Annie Sciacca at Mercury News reports: "For the past several years, Alberto Guzman's towing and auto repair company, North Main Tow in Martinez, has struggled to stay afloat -- a predicament he blames squarely on AAA and its dominating position in the emergency roadside service field."
"He's far from alone. The West Coast community of tow truck operators -- many of whom are multi-generation-run businesses -- is speaking out against Emeryville-based AAA of Northern California, Nevada and Utah (NCNU) in a battle now playing out in court."
"It's a battle with parallels to one being waged with Uber and other 'gig economy' companies that rely heavily on contractors. And some believe it may also be affecting the response motorists can expect when their cars break down and they turn to the ubiquitous AAA membership card for help."
Attention Star Wars Fans: George Lucas is looking at Treasure Island as his ideal location for the iconic story's Museum.
Matier & Ross in SFGate: "After a lobbying campaign by Mayor Ed Lee, “Star Wars” creator George Lucas is once again looking to San Francisco as a possible home for a museum housing his collection of illustrative art and Hollywood memorabilia — this time on a site already approved for development on Treasure Island."
"Lucas has renewed his interest in the city because his latest museum proposal — for a futuristic structure on the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago — is on life support. Open space advocates like those who helped spike his earlier plans for a Beaux Arts-style monument near Presidio’s Crissy Field have Lucas’ Chicago plan hopelessly entangled, legally and politically."
"Lee and Lucas have already met to talk about a move to Treasure Island, and now a preferred site has emerged on the west side, facing downtown. This week, the mayor plans to send a letter to the movie mogul formally inviting him to consider building his museum of narrative arts there."
And now for another page out of our "Spooky Mulder" file ...
A very large, oddly shaped object rotated and morphed about through the afternoon sky over the South Coast of the United Kingdom recently, and a bystander with a camera happened to capture the bizzarre incident on video.
Mirror.co.uk reports: "An intriguing video has captured the moment an odd-shaped UFO appears to hoverin the sky over the south coast of the UK - before disappearing into thin air."
"The man who recorded the video said the object was moving south east for around three to four minutes before it was lost."
"According to the commentary alongside the video, the UFO was spotted on May 15."
Time cue that 1950s sci-fi music....