A state of sanctuary?

Feb 6, 2017

California finds itself in Trump's crosshairs as he threatens to cut federal funding from the state if it declares itself a "Sanctaury State."

 

Sacramento Bee's SEAN COCKERHAM: "President Donald Trump is threatening to withhold federal funds from “out of control” California if the state declares itself a sanctuary state."


"If we have to, we’ll defund,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News host Bill O’Reilly before the Super Bowl. “We give tremendous amounts of money to California, California in many ways is out of control, as you know."

"Trump was responding to a question from O’Reilly about efforts by Democratic state legislators to make California a de-facto “sanctuary state” that would restrict state and local law enforcement, including school police and security departments, from using their resources to aid federal authorities in immigration enforcement."

READ MORE related to Muslim Moratorium 2017: Survival of Trump's refugee ban depends on how court sees it -- The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO; Yemeni girl's travel ordeal ends with US citizenship -- The Chronicle's EMILY GREEN; Immigrants alarmed as Trump uses crime fears to push policy -- The Chronicle's KIMBERLY VEKLEROV; In Trump era, Bay Area churches offer sanctuary to undocumented immigrants -- EBT's TATIANA SANCHEZ; Apple, FB, Google say Trump's travel ban would hurt business -- NY Times' CARLOS TEJADA/PAUL MOZUR

 

A rapid-fire pace of raids against Daesh cells in Turkey have been executed over the weekend, and more than 740 suspected extremists have been apprehended.

AP's SUZAN FRASER: "Turkey has now detained nearly 750 suspects in a police operation against the Islamic State group, authorities said Monday."


"Anti-terrorism police launched the security operation against people with alleged links to IS early Sunday, conducting simultaneous raids in 29 provinces, including Istanbul, Ankara and the border provinces of Gaziantep and Sanliurfa."


"The Interior Ministry released a statement Monday saying that 748 people have been detained in the police sweep, but did not give their nationalities. In addition, 72 other suspects were detained last week, it said."

 

Diabetes is an American epidemic that is now more costly, both financially and in wellness, than ever before.

 

Sacramento Bee's CLAUDIA BUCK: "With an estimated 30 million Americans struggling with diabetes, the disease is one of the nation’s most entrenched chronic conditions. It’s also one of the most expensive."

 

"Consider these facts:"


"In California, roughly 55 percent of adults either have diagnosed diabetes or blood-sugar levels that put them at high risk of developing the disease. That includes roughly 1 in every 3 adults ages 18 to 39 – a finding researchers call alarming."

Recent PG&E bills leave your wallet in the doldrums? Fear not, for you have commiserators. 

 

Sacramento Bee's RICHARD CHANG: "Customers of Pacific Gas and Electric Company are fuming after a double-digit rate hike produced dramatically higher winter heating bills."

 

"The 13 percent increase in natural gas rates took effect in August, but consumers didn’t feel the pinch until December, when residents turned up their thermostats in the face of a particularly cold and wet season. Electricity rates were raised three times in the past year. Combined, electricity and gas rates for PG&E customers are an average of 21 percent higher than they were a year ago, said utility spokesman Donald Cutler."


"My bill has never, ever been this high,” said Citrus Heights resident Linda Klein-Andrade, 61, of her natural gas charges from PG&E."

 

Kit Carson Middle School in East Sacramento will soon become a high school with a new identity and facelift.

 

Sacramento Bee's LORETTA KALB: "A tightly knit neighborhood in East Sacramento will see Kit Carson Middle School come of age this fall with a new name, a facelift and an expanded mission, offering a rigorous International Baccalaureate program serving students in grades 7 through 12."

"The transformation has been in the works since former Superintendent Jonathan Raymond urged the Sacramento City Unified School District to pursue innovative remedies to declining enrollment. Parents, community members and education officials helped shape the changes: Caleb Greenwood became the district’s first IB school for primary grades. A.M. Winn Elementary was designated a Waldorf-inspired school."

"Kit Carson pursued an IB program that would expand through the high school years. The school won IB authorization in 2015 for grades 7 through 10. And the Diploma program authorization is expected soon for grades 11 and 12, in time for next year’s first high school graduating class of 30 students."


And in one of the most intense, edge-of-your-seat upsets in recent sports history: The New England Patriots come back from a demoralizing, staggering score-gap against the Atlanta Falcons, traversing the abyss to victory in Super Bowl 51.

 

AP's BARRY WILNER: "They looked old and outmanned. Their star quarterback was frazzled, their stingy defense was a sieve."

 

"So what? Tom Brady and the New England Patriots shrugged and did what they always seem to do: Win the Super Bowl."


"Brady led one of the greatest comebacks in sports history highlighted by a Julian Edelman catch that was almost beyond belief. The Patriots pulled themselves out of a 25-point hole against the Atlanta Falcons to a 34-28 win for New England's fifth NFL championship. It was the first Super Bowl decided in overtime."

 

READ MORE related to Super Bowl 51/Sports: Airbnb follows Super Bowl ad with call to house 100,000 in need -- AP; Some ADs grumble about Pac-12 Networks' payouts, distribution -- The Chronicle's TOM FITZGERALD

With a bizzarre uptick in wrong-way freeway crashes comes an aggressive probe into safety solutions that reduce future accidents.

Sacramento Bee's TONY BIZJAK: "Alarmed by a spate of wrong-way freeway crashes, highway officials have loaded up a handful of freeway ramps in Sacramento and San Diego with blinking lights, six-foot-tall “Wrong Way” signs, red pavement reflectors and cameras warning drivers they’re about to hit the freeway in the wrong direction."


"California Department of Transportation officials said the test program was prompted by nine wrong-way fatal crashes in those two areas of the state in 2015, which made headlines and alarmed drivers."


"Four of them occurred in Sacramento, leaving 14 people dead in five months. All four involved intoxicated wrong-way drivers traveling at night, the state said. In San Diego, five such crashes left eight people dead."

UC Berkeley, the site of rioting last week, has a riot-safety approach that is less aggressive in direct confrontations. in order to reduce risk of bodily injury.

 

The Chronicle's MATIER & ROSS: "When it comes to its treatment of anarchist protesters like the ones who trashed Sproul Plaza the other night, UC Berkeley’s attitude amounts to this: We’d rather deal with broken windows than broken heads."


"The result was about $100,000 in damage to the campus — and a worldwide image of UC police standing by as “black bloc” protesters fired bottle rockets at them and used police barricades as battering rams to break the windows of the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union, where right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos was scheduled to speak."


"It wasn’t just the building that took damage. Some people who the anarchists concluded were there to hear Yiannopoulos were attacked, and one of the organizers of the Berkeley College Republicans, who were hosting the Breitbart News website editor, was splashed with red paint."

READ MORE related to Lawful Assembly: Is there a place for peaceful protest anymore? -- The Chronicle's OTIS R. TAYLOR JR.

If you've enjoyed the recent wet-snap the region has been experiencing, there's more to come. 

 

The Chronicle's EVAN SERNOFFSKY/JOHN KING: "Yet more rain is expected to keep the Bay Area damp this week, with the first in a new wave of modest storms arriving during Sunday’s Super Bowl."


"Steady rain is expected at intervals through Friday, boosting the precipitation figures for a season in which rainfall already is well ahead of average."


"It does look pretty wet in the coming days,” said Brian Mejia, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “There will be breaks, but we could see rain every day this week."

 

READ MORE related to Environment: Tackling Los Angeles' deadly smog -- NY Times' MIKE MCPHATE;  To The Editor: Drilling in Los Angeles -- NY Times


An Oakland chapter of Scott's Seafood Restaurant finds itself facing a near-million dollar fine over shoreline property rights and public access.

EBT's DENIS CUFF: "The popular Scott’s Seafood Restaurant in Jack London Square is fighting an $841,000 environmental fine in a case that has fanned debate about public access to the San Francisco Bay shoreline."


"Representatives of Scott’s Seafood Restaurant accuse the staff of the San Francisco Bay Development Commission of being overzealous for proposing such a high fine in response to additions to an outdoor pavilion the restaurant uses for parties, weddings, fundraisers and other events."


"Canvas walls were replaced with retractable metal walls; a metal door and storage unit was was added, and a roof was extended without a commission permit."


An altercation in Fremont has led to the death of one man and the wounding of an officer in the line of duty. 

 

The Chronicle's JOHN KING: "A man was killed and an officer was injured Sunday after police responded to an altercation outside a Fremont home."


"The incident began at 4 p.m. when officers responded to a call concerning a disturbance near Mowry Avenue and Sutter Drive, in a stretch of single-family homes between central Fremont and Interstate 880."


"The altercation continued after police arrived, and an officer was injured before the man was shot and killed, said Officer Mike Gilfoy of the Fremont Police Department."

 

READ MORE related to Public Safety: Oakland: Vigilant witness helps CHP arrest arson suspect -- EBT's ERIN BALDASSARI

 

California gets some crucial new desalination aquifers.

 

EBT's KEN MCLAUGHLIN: "California’s historic drought may be winding down. But water officials across the Golden State are increasingly exploring a hidden but promising way to add to the state’s water supply: removing salt from the billions of gallons of brackish — or distastefully salty — water that lies deep below the Earth’s surface."


"A new report by the Pacific Institute that explores the cost of potential water sources in California is spurring hopes that the desalination of brackish water could quickly become a vital tap in the state."


"There are places in California where there may be groundwater available, but it may not be fresh,” said Heather Cooley, director of the water program at the Oakland-based think tank. “Those are places where it’s possible to use brackish desalination at a much lower cost and with fewer social and environmental impacts than ocean desalination."

Contra Costa County's administration will remain in its downtown Martinez location, after all. 

 

EBT's SAM RICHARDS: "Contra Costa County’s main administrative operations will remain in downtown Martinez, according to the county Board of Supervisors, which last week approved a site across the street from the existing 12-story administration building."


"The supervisors, at a special retreat meeting in Pittsburg, approved the site for the future main county complex, on what is now a county parking lot between Marina Vista and Escobar Street, immediately north of the current 12-story administration building at Pine Street and Escobar. They had also considered two other locations for a new administration complex — immediately to the east of the current 651 Pine St. administration building, on what are also now parking lots, and on Arnold Drive just off Highway 4, a county-owned complex sometimes called the “Summit Center” where the county assessor’s offices are now."

"A downtown location had long been favored by county leaders and by Martinez city officials whose downtown restaurants and other businesses are sustained in large measure by workers from county offices. Downtown is also a hub for buses and trains, making getting there easier for many people."