If any more Dems grab Assembly seats, the blue party will have the supermajority in California's lower house.
CPR's Ben Bradford writes: "Democrats in the California Assembly need to pick up only a couple of seats in the November elections to win two-thirds control of the chamber. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has performed terribly against Hillary Clinton in the last few California polls."
"In a normal election year, that would be a bad sign for Republicans running down-ticket. Typically, the most high-profile races drive turnout."
"But Republican political consultant Mike Madrid says Trump’s unpopularity may not hurt the party in down-ballot, state races."
Meanwhile, in the presidential campaign, the Huffington Post says Donald Trump's campaign is under scrutiny after the nominee's group has been discovered using donor money for the Trump businesses instead of 'cheaper alternatives'.
S.V. Date writing for HuffPost says: "On the night of this spring’s Florida primary, the pastor giving the invocation at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago victory party prayed: “Lord, give Mr. Trump the power to rise above the GOP establishment."
"Turns out the prayer worked. Not only did Trump win the Republican presidential nomination, but two months later, on May 18, Trump signed a deal with the Republican National Committee giving him access to a top-notch fundraising operation after not having had one at all through the primaries."
"That same day, Trump’s campaign, now set to receive tens of millions of dollars of other people’s money, finally sent five- and six-figure checks to Trump’s properties for events that had happened months earlier. Meaning that the GOP establishment had not only been defeated, it was now actually paying for that March 15 victory party attended primarily by members of Trump’s Palm Beach country club."
With 17 hot-button controversies on the ballot this year, 2016 could shape up to be one of the most important elections for California, ever.
N.Y. Times' Adam Nagourney says: "Pity the California voter."
"Seventeen voter initiatives are on the state ballot in November, a glut of citizen-lawmaking that could, among other things, end the death penalty, legalize recreational marijuana, impose a tax surcharge on the wealthy and place limits on prescription drug costs."
"And considering that there really is no race for president in this overwhelmingly Democratic state, this is where the action is going to be through Election Day. By the time voters make it to the polls, analysts say, they are likely to have endured close to $100 million in television advertisements making the yea or nay case for these measures, usually framed in the most alarming sort of way."
Plug-in hybrid car owners without a 'green sticker' may be disappointed to find out that lawmakers have stalled on an extension for the vehicle program.
East Bay Times' Gary Richards reports: "If you have a plug-in electric hybrid car like a Prius and want a coveted green sticker to drive solo in Bay Area carpool lanes, the news is not encouraging."
"The state Legislature took no action last week on Assembly Bill 1964, which would extend the driving perk beyond 2019 or allow more green stickers above the currently capped 85,000 limit."
"This year's legislative session ended Wednesday, and state officials say it's not known if the bill will be resurrected in the next session. There are now 6,500 drivers on a waiting list for the green decals."
Proposition 61 seeks to block price inflation from drug companies on medications by requiring that the state pay no more for a prescription than the Department of Veteran's Affairs does.
Tracy Seipel with Mercury News writes: "Counting on the growing public outrage over the soaring costs of prescription drugs -- and bolstered by the recent fury generated by huge price hikes for lifesaving EpiPens -- Proposition 61 proponents are gearing up for one of the most highly anticipated ballot measure showdowns this election season."
"The California Drug Price Relief Act would require the state to pay no more for prescription drugs than is paid for the same medication by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The federal agency negotiates drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, paying on average one-quarter less for drugs than other government agencies."
"Political observers are curious to see if widespread disgust with high drug prices will be enough to counter Big Pharma's deep pockets and what Proposition 61 supporters are calling the opponents' "scare tactics."
SEE MORE related to Prop. 61: Voters turn attention to drug costs -- Chuck McFadden with Capitol Weekly
A balcony collapse at UC Berkeley last summer that killed 6 people has prompted lawmakers to enforce stricter background checks on companies and their workers.
Daily Californian's Pressley Pratt writes: "Spurred by a Berkeley balcony collapse that killed six people last summer, state lawmakers sent a bill to Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday that would require contractors to report past felonies and other crimes involving construction defects to the Contractors State License Board."
"Senators Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, and Loni Hancock, D-Oakland, introduced SB 465, which also stipulates that the California Building Standards Commission must perform a study on recent exterior elevated structure failures and submit a report with suggestions for improvements to existing building codes."
"The city of Berkeley has already taken steps to help prevent future accidents. In June, a city report found that about one in five balconies inspected in the six months after the collapse required corrective work."
With a $59 billion road-repair deficit facing the state, a new pilot program aimed at taxing Californians for mileage accrued instead of taxing at the gas pump is starting to take off.
Meghan McCarty with KPCC writes: "Drivers in the state pay some of the highest gas taxes in the country but they haven't kept pace with rising construction costs. And increasing fuel efficiency means revenues will fall even more in the future."
"So state officials are testing out a new way to pay for road repairs: Charging people for the miles they drive instead of the gas they buy."
"The experiment, the California Road Charge pilot, kicked off in July. I signed up and just received my first bill (although I checked my progress on my smartphone earlier in August)."
U.S. Senate hopefuls Loretta Sanchez and Kamala Harris have their eyes on the prize, but have yet to actually agree on a time to debate one another over policy platforms.
Amita Sharma reporting for KPBS writes: "The race between two Democrats to succeed retiring U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer in California continues to be a sluggish one, but it may get even slower if the two candidates can’t agree on a debate schedule."
"California Attorney General Kamala Harris’senate campaign has agreed to two debates. The Sacramento Bee, KUVS Univision 19, KVIE, Capital Public Radio and Sacramento State havesponsored one debate for Sept. 20. Another, slated for October 5 in Los Angeles, is co-sponsored by KABC, the Edmund G. “Pat” Brown Institute for Public Affairs and the League of Women Voters."
"Harris’ opponent, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, said she can’t attend this month’s debate. She missed a deadline to respond to The Sacramento Bee's debate request and she has not committed to the October event. Sanchez said she has agreed, however, to other debate invitations — just not the ones Harris selected."
The State Board of Education is manuevering a way to adopt new school accountability measures as quality in education continues to be an important issue.
John Fensterwald in EdSource: "After months of drafting, revising and debating how best to measure and improve schools, the State Board of Education this week will adopt key elements of a new and distinct school accountability system."
"The series of votes on Thursday will meet the Legislature’s Oct. 1 deadline and will mark 2½ years since the state board suspended its simpler predecessor, the Academic Performance Index. The board expects to change components of the system in coming years."
"The new system shifts from a one-dimensional school rating under the API and the federal No Child Left Behind Act, based on test scores, toward a broader picture of what constitutes a quality education. It combines measures of underlying conditions, such as teacher qualifications and student suspension rates, and academic outcomes, including gauges of college and career readiness and standardized test scores."
SEE MORE in Education: State's role in building schools at issue in battle over Prop. 51 -- Jim Miller with Sac Bee
A shooting at the Fresno County jailhouse that left two deputies critically injured and fighting for their lives has prompted a restructuring of safety policies at the institution.
Barbara Anderson with Fresno Bee writes: "Armed officers were standing guard inside the lobbies of Fresno County jails on Monday, even as two correctional officers who were shot two days earlier continued to fight for their lives at Community Regional Medical Center."
"And other new safety precautions at the jail lobbies could be in the offing."
"The two critically injured officers – Juanita Davila, 51, and Toamalama Scanlan, 40 – were unarmed when they were shot by an felon who came into the Main Jail lobby. It had been the practice at the jail for correctional officers assigned to the lobby to be unarmed."
And now from a page out of our "Ol' Nessie" file ...
As it turns out, Scotland's legend of Loch Ness has an ancestor.
HuffPost: "There’s no scientific evidence for the famous Loch Ness Monster, but the fossilized remains of one of Scotland’s “real” monsters were recently unveiled in Edinburgh."
"National Museums Scotland showed off what one expert called “one of the crown jewels” of fossils found in the nation: a nearly complete ichthyosaur known as the Storr Lochs Monster."
"When it was alive in the Middle Jurassic period some 170 million years ago, the dolphin-like creature ― part of a now-extinct family of reptiles ― was about 13 feet long and had a mouth filled with hundreds of teeth. "