California's November ballot is so lengthy, it requires an equally impressive voter's guide just to navigate it. You probably got one in the mail already, and it's almost the size of a phone book. Better start reading.
JEREMY B. WHITE with Sacramento Bee: "If you’re planning on casting an informed vote in November, you’ve got some homework to do."
"Official state voter guides have started landing in mailboxes, though given the weight of a tome that spans 17 different ballot initiatives “voter guide” seems like a bit of an understatement. “Initiative encyclopedia” may be a more accurate description."
"The volume weighs in at 224 pages and 10.3 ounces, much of it devoted to explaining a dizzying array of policy proposals that include legalizing pot, ending the death penalty, expediting the death penalty, banning plastic bags, redirecting revenue from bag purchases, raising taxes on tobacco and top earners, and preserving a hospital fee structure of head-splitting complexity. "
Meanwhile, here's a statistic that will rattle your teeth: Just as 1% of Americans own over a third of the nation's wealth, so too do 3% of the population own a majority of the nation's firearms.
CHRISTOPHER INGRAHAM with The Washington Post: "Just 3 percent of American adults own half of the nation's firearms, according to the results of a Harvard-Northeastern survey of 4,000 gun owners."
"The survey's findings support other research showing that as overall rates of gun ownership has declined, the number of firearms in circulation has skyrocketed. The implication is that there are more guns in fewer hands than ever before. The top 3 percent of American adults own, on average, 17 guns apiece, according to the survey's estimates."
"The survey is particularly useful to researchers because it asked respondents not just whether they own guns, but how many and what types of guns they own. This makes for one of the clearest pictures yet of American gun ownership, showing the concentration of most guns in the hands of a small fraction of American adults."
Gov. Brown made a visit to Southern California where he signed new legislation into effect placing restrictions on 'super pollutants' as part of an effort to curtail global warming.
COURTNEY TOMPKINS with L.A. Daily News: "Gov. Jerry Brown Monday signed into law a bill imposing what he called the nation’s toughest restrictions on “super pollutants” such as black carbon, fluorinated gases and methane. If followed worldwide, these acts would help cut the projected rate of global warming in half by 2050."
"Cutting black carbon and other super pollutants is the critical next step in our program to combat climate change,” Brown said at the event, held near a Long Beach playground in the shadow of an oil refinery. “This bill curbs dangerous pollutants and thereby protects public health and slows climate change.”
"SB 1383, authored by Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, mandates a 50 percent reduction in black carbon, and 40 percent reduction in methane and hydrofluorocarbon from 2013 levels by 2030. The pollutants are generated by sources including waste-disposal, petroleum-based fuel, agriculture and synthetic gases used in refrigeration, air conditioning and aerosol products."
READ MORE related to Gov. Brown/Policy: Proposition 57 will reduce prison population; same say threatens public safety -- PAUL PAYNE with The Press Democrat
With the increase in cybersecurity threats across the nation, many states have taken measures to help prevent against vote count hacking/tampering. California, however, is confident there won't be a problem.
CHUCK MCFADDEN with Capitol Weekly: "Election count hacking has become a front and center fear during this presidential election cycle in at least two states, but it’s almost certain that Californians can rest easy."
"At least, that’s the word in California."
"Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump suggested that if he loses in Pennsylvania, it would be the result of voter fraud. Trump offered no evidence to back his statement. The FBI has warned state election officials of possible attempts to hack state election systems after breaches in Arizona and Illinois. The likely culprits were agents of the Russian government, the FBI said. Federal investigators also said Russians likely were behind the recent email hacking of members of Congress."
SEE MORE from Capitol Weekly: Capitol Weekly's John Howard and Tim Foster pay a visit to Sacramento political consultants Steven Maviglio and Ray McNally who just got back from Moscow -- Capitol Weekly
A lawsuit in California alleging teachers have too many special protections during evaluation has been rejected in court.
ADOLFO GUZMAN-LOPEZ with KPCC: "On Monday Northern California Judge Barry Goode denied the claims in the Doe v. Antioch Unified lawsuit – the second legal setback in recent months to education advocates who believe ineffective teacher have too many job protections."
"Lawyers who filed the suit on behalf of the parents of school children and California taxpayers claimed that the 13 districts, including seven in Southern California, blatantly violated the Stull Act by prohibiting the use of standardized test scores to evaluate teachers."
"The school districts countered that argument by submitting testimony from school district officials that described how student test scores were used at the central office to the school sites, including in how to evaluate teachers."
READ MORE in Education: California moves forward in an eight-state collaboration on social and emotional learning -- JANE MEREDITH ADAMS with EdSource
Despite anti-ACA language prevalent on the campaign trail, a recent study has shown that 'Obamacare' premiums, although increasing in price, are still cheaper than employer-sponsored alternatives.
CAROLYN Y. JOHNSON with L.A. Times: "People who warn that President Obama's healthcare law is in dire straits often point to rising health insurance premiums as proof. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has called premium increases on Affordable Care Act exchanges "astronomically high." Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), said premiums have "skyrocketed."
"But are these growing premiums actually high?"
"A new analysis from the Urban Institute found that the average unsubsidized premiums in the Affordable Care Act exchanges, commonly known as Obamacare, are actually 10% lower than the full premiums in the average employer plan nationally in 2016."
READ MORE related to Healthcare: How drugmakers used money and influence to shape the national response to opioid abuse -- AP in KQED
A recent study from Cal State San Bernardino shows that hate crimes against Muslim Americans have seen a dramatic increase since 2015.
JOE NELSON with Daily News: "Recurring terrorist attacks on U.S. soil along with racially and culturally divisive rhetoric on the campaign trail has fueled a 78 percent increase in hate crimes against American Muslims in 2015, a level unsurpassed since 9/11, according to a study by Cal State San Bernardino."
"Additionally, hate crimes against Arabs increased 219 percent, while hate crimes against blacks, Latinos, Jews and the LGBT community showed only minor increases or decreases by between 1 and 5 percent, with one exception: transgender people. Hate crimes against that group increased by 40 percent in 2015, according to the study by Brian Levin, director of CSUSB’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism."
"The study is based on data gathered from law enforcement agencies in 20 states, representing 53.5 percent of the nation’s population."
And a sweeping sex scandal plaguing the Bay Area's police departments sees three more officers facing felony punishments.
ALEX EMSLIE with KQED: "Three more peace officers were formally charged Monday in a case involving allegations of wide-ranging sexual exploitation at the hands of Bay Area law enforcement."
"All three face felony charges and are accused of engaging in sexual acts with the woman at the center of the scandal."
"Oakland’s hushed investigation into sexual exploitation and misconduct reportedly exposed by an officer’s suicide note led to increased federal scrutiny and appears to have instigated former Police Chief Sean Whent’s resignation in June. As the department’s crisis expanded, so did allegations of officer misconduct and criminal sexual exploitation in other jurisdictions. They all centered around the teenage daughter of an OPD dispatcher who appears to have been the victim of child sex trafficking."