A new federal water bill brings good news to California farmers and Southern California.
DALE KASLER and RYAN SABALOW with Sacramento Bee: "California farmers and Southern California cities were aghast last winter when much of the heavy rainfall that fell in Northern California washed through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and out to sea. In their view, it represented a lost opportunity to capture high river flows and pump water to arid regions south of the Delta."
"This winter could prove dramatically different. Upending a fragile, decades-long balance between human needs and the environment, Congress passed a wide-ranging water bill last weekend that is likely to result in greater pumping of Northern California water to farms and cities in the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California. The bill, co-authored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., passed with bipartisan support in both houses of Congress, despite furious opposition from Feinstein’s longtime Senate ally, fellow Democrat Barbara Boxer."
"With more storms heading toward Northern California this week, the bill could affect operations in the Delta right away if signed by President Barack Obama. The bill is designed to route more of the Sacramento River’s flows to the giant government-run pumping stations near Tracy, which deliver water to California’s dry interior and southern expanse via the State Water Project and Central Valley Project. That would mean less water in the rivers for fish and wildlife, and less flowing to the San Francisco Bay and out to the ocean."
READ MORE related to California Water Crisis: California drought: Project to retrofit one of Bay Area's largest dams doubles in cost, faces long delays -- PAUL ROGERS with Mercury News; California Drought: Six years in, how will the state keep saving water? -- TARA LOHAN with KQED
A probe into the Ghost Ship fire reveals an overloaded electrical system as a possible culprit for the blaze.
MATTHIAS GAFNI with Mercury News: "Federal authorities are expected to say Tuesday that the deadly inferno inside a warehouse art collective that killed 36 people on Dec. 2 was caused by overloaded electrical lines at the rear of the structure where investigators had focused attention, according to sources familiar with the matter."
"The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which has taken a lead role in assisting the Oakland Fire Department in the investigation, is expected to provide details at a news conference Tuesday morning."
"After ruling out arson, electrical engineers have looked hard at the art collective’s power sources — an ad hoc network of extension cords stretched through a maze of small dwelling units and studios, all fed from one line coming through a hole punched in the wall to a neighboring business, a person familiar with the wiring has said. Sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the investigation, said investigators may not be able to identify a specific appliance or device that overloaded the system. ATF officials ruled out a refrigerator, which was previously reported as a possible cause."
READ MORE related to Ghost Ship Fire: Crackdown on dangerous warehouses like th Ghost Ship will take detective work, money and commitment from city leaders -- STAFF with LAT
The feds resolved nearly 100 civil rights issues in state schools this year alone.
JANE MEREDITH ADAMS with EdSource: "The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights said it resolved nearly 100 allegations of civil rights violations – most of them alleging gender-based or disability-based discrimination – in California schools and colleges in fiscal 2016, as some conservatives signaled that aggressive civil rights enforcement under the Obama administration would be curtailed under President-elect Donald Trump."
"In California in fiscal year 2016, the office reached 99 resolution agreements with school districts across the state. Typically, districts resolve a case with no admission of wrongdoing and set up a plan for remedying an allegedly unfair situation."
"Federal investigators found that African-American and Latino students in the Lodi Unified School District were disciplined more severely than white students for similar offenses, aspecial-needs student from Oakland Unified School District was denied his education because of harassment and excessive punishment, and female and male athletes in the Los Angeles Unified School District must have access to comparable facilities."
An alleged Islamaphobic meme posted to retired US Army Lt. Col. Allen West's Facebook page is causing a backlash.
DYLAN STABLEFORD with Yahoo News: "Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Allen West sparked outrage over the weekend when an Islamophobic meme featuring retired Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to serve as defense secretary, showed up on the former Florida congressman’s Facebook page."
"The image was especially notable because West, who met with members of Trump’s transition team at Trump Tower last week, returned for more meetings there on Monday."
“We’ll see when I get up there,” he said when asked what prompted his visit."
Betsy DeVos is calling for 'local control' of schools.
LOUIS FREEDBERG with EdSource: "Using terminology entrenched in California’s school reform vernacular, Betsy DeVos called for “local control” of schools in her most extensive public comments since President-elect Donald Trump selected her to be his secretary of education three weeks ago."
"She also called for “finally ending” what she described as “the federalized Common Core” – the academic standards in math and English language arts adopted by California and 41 other states, along with the District of Columbia."
"DeVos, who has spent decades promoting the idea of “school choice,” which includes expanding access to charter schools and taxpayer-supported vouchers for private schools, did not spell out what she meant by local control. It is therefore impossible to know the extent to which the concept is similar to or in conflict with the push to give local school districts more decision-making powers in California."
The California Supreme Court has ruled in favor of travel companies, saying they're exempt from hotel occupancy taxation.
MAURA DOLAN and HUGO MARTIN with LAT: "In a loss for local governments, the California Supreme Court decided Monday that online travel companies such as Expedia Inc. are exempt from paying hotel occupancy taxes."
"The ruling came in one of several lawsuits filed by California cities and counties against the online firms, including Hotwire Inc. and Priceline.com."
"The local governments have been attempting to get the firms to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in back taxes."
Craig Newmark, owner of Craigslist.org, has contributed $1M to combatting fake news.
DOMINIC FRACASSA with The Chronicle: "Craigslist founder Craig Newmark is putting his money where his mouth is when it comes to fighting fake news."
"On Monday, The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, a nonprofit journalism education and advocacy organization, announced it had received a $1 million grant from Newmark’s San Francisco charitable foundation to create and fund a new initiative focused on promoting and standardizing ethics in journalism."
Former legislator Kristin Olsen sees a promotion to vice chair of the California Republican Party.
MELANIE MASON with LAT: "The California Republican Party has picked Kristin Olsen, a former assemblywoman from Modesto, to be its vice chair."
"It's the second new gig this year for Olsen, who was termed out of her Assembly seat this year and was recently elected to the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors. Olsen's six years in the Assembly included a 13-month stint as leader of the chamber's Republican caucus."
"My goal is to help build a viable and vibrant Republican party in CA, because improving the lives of all Californians depends on having a healthy, two-party system in our state," Olsen said in a statement. "
Local protestors are calling for the Electoral College to go faithless come next monday.
TARYN LUNA with Sacramento Bee: "Protesters at the California Capitol called on members of the Electoral College to honor the popular vote and reject Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States on Monday."
"Referring to themselves as “Defend Democracy,” the group read their own version of the Declaration of Independence. The declaration lists the group’s grievances with the President-elect, including that he “defended torture, racial and religious discrimination,” “boasted of sexual assaults” and “has chosen to appoint people who range from utterly unqualified to extremely dangerous."
“We’re distressed about the irregularities in the election and the menaces of the alleged president-elect,” said Rebecca Solnit, an author and activist leading the local protest. “We want questions answered about his conflicts of interest, his emoluments in violation of the constitution, his possible aid from a foreign power, and we want to know what happened in our election."
San Francisco is enacting legislation to expand the amount of diaper-changing tables available in the bathrooms of buildings.
HEATHER KNIGHT with The Chronicle: "For a city notorious for having the smallest percentage of kids of any city in the nation, San Francisco is at least in the forefront of making sure there are plenty of tables on which to change their diapers."
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