The Lee Baca corruption trial ends in a deadlock; the former sheriff declares himself acquitted through mistrial.
AP: "Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said he wanted to set the record straight when he withdrew his guilty plea in a federal corruption case earlier this year and chose to go to trial."
"Baca wasn't fully vindicated at trial, but he hailed his mistrial as a victory Thursday after learning that the deadlocked jurors had voted 11-to-1 to acquit him."
"This is an extraordinary decision that I don't think too many people thought would happen, but I had faith" said Baca, who was accused of conspiracy and obstruction of justice. "This is what America really thrives on is jurors that really care. They're not caught up in negativity."
READ MORE related to Lee Baca Trial: Baca mistrial explained: What you need to know about the former sheriff's case -- VICTORIA KIM, JOEL RUBIN and SHELBY GRAD with LAT; Mistrial declared in trial of ex-Los Angeles County sheriff -- BRIAN MELLEY with AP
San Francisco figures out how to provide shelter to the large number of students who live in vagrancy.
STEPHANIE MARTIN TAYLOR with KQED: "When classes let out for the day at Bessie Carmichael Elementary in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood, Principal Tina Lagdamen high-fives each boy and girl and says the same thing, over and over again: “See you tomorrow."
"This seemingly simple phrase is an important reassurance for many of these kids, Lagdamen explains. Roughly 80 families at this school are homeless, which translates to more than 100 children here who are living in shelters, couch-surfing with family and friends, or even sleeping in cars."
"I always say, ‘See you tomorrow,’ so they know that there’s one person they know they can count on that they can see tomorrow,” Lagdamen says. “Because sometimes in their lives they have to get up from a shelter or they get evicted.”
DACA students fearing the deportation hardline of the incoming administration take their 'final opportunities' to utilize the programs afforded to them through their educational status.
ROXANA KOPETMAN and ALEJANDRA MOLINA with OC Register: "Concerned their legal status in the United States could be upended by Donald Trump, 25 college students and recent graduates who initially arrived here illegally left John Wayne Airport for Mexico on Thursday and will return before he becomes president."
"The students, most from California, saw the study-travel trip as a way to reconnect with their cultures and their families before Trump takes office and possibly eliminates the program that allows them to travel."
"There’s so much uncertainty,” said Raquel Zamora Gonzalez, 25, a Cal State Fullerton student. “I’m going to grab this opportunity while I can."
READ MORE related to Immigration: Trump presidency may dampen immigrant's driver's license requests -- MELODY GUTIERREZ with The Chronicle
A small victory for labor unions: Your break time is your time, according to the California Supreme Court.
AP: "Employers in California can't keep their workers on call during short rest breaks and must give up any control over how they spend that time, the state Supreme Court said Thursday in a case that pitted labor activists against business groups."
"The ruling came in a lawsuit by security guards for ABM Security Services Inc. The high court said the company's policy of requiring guards to keep their radios and pagers on and respond to needs such as escorting a tenant to the parking lot during their rest periods violates state law."
"Employers would have a “broad and intrusive degree of control” if they were allowed to keep employees on call during 10-minute rest breaks, Associate Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuellar said."
More and more moms are contributing to the financial security of their families, shattering the notion of the 'stay-at-home mom.'
DANIELLE PAQUETTE with LAT: "The days of stay-at-home mothers are behind us, says a new report from the Center for American Progress, which analyzed national labor data and found that, across the country, the share of moms who financially support their families continues to grow."
"Nearly two-thirds of American moms these days (64.4%) are breadwinners, the researchers found. That's a hop from 63.3% in 2012, the year of the last analysis, and a leap from 1970, when roughly a quarter could claim the title."
"Long gone are the days when the majority of middle- and upper-income women stayed home to raise families full time," the authors wrote. "Instead, in most families, either both parents work or the household is headed by a single parent."
An english teacher traveled across California for a year and observed numerous teachers in their 'natural habitats' -- and a book shortly followed.
JOHN FENSTERWALD with EdSource: "Besides having a great time doing this, why did you write the book?"
"I was involved in teacher-leadership projects and networks and building up a mental database of really skilled, talented, dedicated people. At the same time, the public discourse around schools and teaching was turning more negative – or that was my perception of it – due to an accumulation of stories, legal actions, ballot propositions. I felt that it might help – certainly help my sanity – and maybe other people if I could find a way to share some of what I know."
A judge has rejected a pollution cleanup order directed against Paramount.
PAUL GLICKMAN and REBECCA PLEVIN with KPCC: "A judge has rejected a request from Los Angeles County and regional air regulators for an order directing a Paramount metal processing firm to immediately reduce its emissions of hexavalent chromium, a carcinogenic pollutant."
"Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Joanne O'Donnell denied the request from the county and the South Coast Air Quality Management District for a temporary restraining order against Anaplex Corp. O'Donnell ruled that the AQMD's independent hearing board has primary jurisdiction in this case, the air district said."
"The ruling "provides much needed clarity to the process" of protecting the health of the community and of the company's employees, said Anaplex spokesman Adan Ortega."
Sonoma County could see a new specialized health center in the North Bay, paid for with $2.5M of state funds.
MARTIN ESPINOZA with Press Democrat: "The state has earmarked $2.5 million for construction of a specialized health center in the North Bay that would serve disabled residents living at the Sonoma Developmental Center, which is slated for closure in 2018."
"The closure will leave about 350 medically fragile patients without crucial specialty medical, dental, mental and adaptive services, said state Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg. The state funds are expected to be used to build a “health care hub” for those services at a local community health center, he said."
"The state agency that oversees the Sonoma Developmental Center will put out a request for proposals by the end of December, hoping to attract interest from one of several federally qualified health centers in the North Bay, McGuire said."
Donald Trump took to Twitter to discuss foreign policy and sweeping changes he desires to implement.
KAREN DEYOUNG with WaPo: "Before lunchtime Thursday, President-elect Donald Trump said he would expand the U.S. nuclear arsenal, upending a reduction course set by presidents of both parties over the past four decades, and called for the United States to veto a pending U.N. resolution that criticized Israel’s settlements policy."
"The policy prescriptions, communicated in morning tweets, followed calls since last month’s election to reconsider the arms-length U.S. relationship with Taiwan and to let China keep an underwater U.S. vessel seized by its navy. Trump declared within hours of this week’s Berlin terrorist attack that it was part of a global Islamic State campaign to “slaughter Christians” and later said it reaffirmed the wisdom of his plans to bar Muslim immigrants."
"Late Thursday, Trump suggested in another tweet that the U.S. military’s years-in-the-making plans for a new stealth fighter, Lockheed Martin’s F-35, might be reconsidered, saying he had “asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet!”
READ MORE related to POTUS 45: Trump won votes promising to protect veterans, but major veterans groups are rattled by his plans -- EVAN HALPER with LAT; Obama planning farewell speech in Chicago next month -- NATASHA KORECKI and DANIEL STRAUSS with Politico
California's ban on publicy funded travel to states with anti-LGBT laws could prove difficult for many of the state's public universities.
ADAM ASHTON with Sacramento Bee: "California cops and tax auditors can follow their investigations wherever they lead, but the Bruins and Golden Bears may need to think twice before scheduling an out-of-state football game."
"That’s the gist of how California’s ban on publicly funded travel to states with laws seen as discriminating against LGBT people could unfold."
"California’s ban has exemptions for just about every kind of serious state business, allowing state employees to testify in lawsuits, or the state’s two tax boards to travel for audits. Police, too, can run down leads in banned states."
A prison riot in the state prison at Susanville involved nearly a hundred inmates left some injured.
AP: "California officials say four inmates were hospitalized following a riot involving about 100 prisoners at the California Correctional Center in Susanville."
"The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Thursday that one inmate was shot in the buttocks as guards attempted to stop the fighting. Three were injured by other inmates."
"The riot broke out Tuesday afternoon in a medium-security block of the prison in northern California."
READ MORE related to Public Safety: Two 'deadliest' police departments in US to be investigated in California -- OLIVER LAUGHLAND and JON SWAINE with The Guardian
The finalizing of the environmental review could mean construction for the Delta tunnels begins some time in 2018.
RYAN SABALOW with Sacramento Bee: "After years of planning, officials have finalized all 97,000 pages of environmental documents to support Gov. Jerry Brown’s controversial plan to build two massive tunnels through the heart of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta."
"In spite of a recent call for a scaled-down version of the project from a prominent nonpartisan California water think-tank, state officials are moving forward with the original plan for what they call California WaterFix. The $15.5 billion project would tunnel two pipes 40 feet in diameter for 35 miles under the fragile ecosystem that serves as the hub of the state’s water-delivery network."
READ MORE related to Delta Tunnels: State releases report on disputed twin tunnels water plan -- PETER FIMRITE with The Chronicle
Santa Rosa is the latest Californian city to be a site for sanctuary activism.
J.D. MORRIS with Press Democrat: "Some 30 community members joined artist Maria de Los Angeles on a march Thursday from Roseland to Santa Rosa City Hall, demanding the city establish itself as a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants facing possible deportation under President-elect Donald Trump’s administration."
"The demonstrators gathered at the Roseland Village Neighborhood Center on Sebastopol Road and marched peacefully for more than a mile, some carrying suitcases, wearing red tape and holding signs with calls for Santa Rosa to become a sanctuary city, and messages such as “Trump doesn’t represent California” and “we refuse to inaugurate hate."
"While she grew up in Santa Rosa, de Los Angeles lives in New York City now but said she felt compelled to help organize the Thursday demonstration to spur the kind of discourse about defending undocumented immigrants she has seen elsewhere."