Job help for felons

May 17, 2017

How hard is it to hunt for a job, when you're a felon? Capitol Weekly's CHUCK MCFADDEN tries to find out, and explores how an Assemblyman's bill -- the "Fair Chance Act" -- will try to ease assimilation and reintegration for ex-cons post-incarceration.


Capitol Weekly's CHUCK MCFADDEN: "Should someone convicted of a felony have to admit that on the first application for a job?"


"Assemblyman Kevin McCarty of Sacramento and a group of his fellow Assembly Democrats don’t think so. They are pushing a bill that would prohibit a public or private employer from asking a prospective employee, on an initial application for employment, if they had been convicted of a crime."

 

"It’s called the “Fair Chance Act.” Earlier iterations of the idea were called “Ban the Box,”referring to the box that would have to be checked on an application form if the applicant was a felon."

 

LA City Council's race is a wrap, and Incumbent Cedillo won reelection over Joe Bray-Ali in Tuesday night's vote.

 

LA Times' DAKOA SMITH/EMILY ALPERT REYES/NINA AGRAWAL: "Inncumbent Gil Cedillo handily won reelection Tuesday night over challenger Joe Bray-Ali in a heated runoff for a Los Angeles City Council seat representing a swath of northeast L.A."


"With 100% of precincts reporting, Cedillo had received more than 70% of the votes cast in District 1, which includes Westlake, Highland Park and Chinatown."

 

"In March, Cedillo was forced into a run-off by Bray-Ali, a Lincoln Heights resident and bicycle advocate who had been a vocal critic of the councilman’s positions on street safety, development and gentrification."

 

READ MORE related to Local: Election Results: LAUSD board President Steve Zimmer loses to Nick Melvoin -- Daily News' City News Service; Is Gavin Newsom's ex headed for the Trump White House? -- Sacramento Bee's CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO; Republican couple who lost a son want their GOP back, fewer guns, and a return of statesmanship -- LA Times' STEVE LOPEZ; Former La Cañada Flintridge mayor David A.Spence has died -- Daily News' City News Service; How Kimberly Guilfoyle went from San Francisco's first lady to Trump's short list for press secretary -- Mercury news' CASEY TOLAN

 

A recent report by San Francisco's Human Services Agency reveals that many eligible San Franciscans aren't taking advantage of government assistance that is available to them.

 

The Chronicle's TARA DUGGAN: "Since the election, fewer eligible San Franciscans are taking advantage of food stamp benefits because of fears about immigration crackdowns under the Trump administration, said Trent Rhorer, executive director of San Francisco’s Human Services Agency."


"The city is concerned by a recent spike of withdrawals from CalFresh, or food stamps, among eligible households with at least one noncitizen. According to Rhorer, the political climate has sparked a rash of questions from participants, ranging from whether their personal information would be released to the federal government to whether the administration will cut food stamp benefits to immigrants."


"The impact to those eligible families, and to the city, could be significant if trends continue."

 

READ MORE related to Economy: Counties are getting budget help for indigent adults, but is it enough? -- The Press-Enterprise's JEFF HORSEMAN; Jerry Brown can't get a pay raise today -- and it's his own fault -- Sacramento Bee's ALEXEI KOSEFF; Housing crisis causes legislative avalanche: 130 bills proposed in Sacramento -- Mercury News' RICHARD SCHEININ

 

An alarming warning from environmental scientists: reverse course on climate change or risk the extinction of half of California's salmon.

 

The Chronicle's PETER FIMRITE: "Nearly half of the salmon and trout species that live in California will be extinct in 50 years if nothing is done to improve water quality, protect wetlands and stream habitat, and fight climate change, scientists warned Tuesday in a wide-ranging study of native fish."


"The loss of so many species would be catastrophic for the ecosystem and have a profound effect on the state’s culture and economy, impacting everything from recreational fishing to people’s eating habits, according to the 106-page report by the nonprofit conservation group California Trout and the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC Davis."


"The report concluded that 52 percent of the salmon species and 30 percent of the inland salmonid species (mainly trout) in the state will be gone by 2067 if serious measures aren’t taken to help the fish, which spawn in rivers, streams and lakes and in many cases make long, perilous journeys from the ocean up increasingly degraded waterways."

 

READ MORE related to Environment: Trout, salmon and steelhead: A massive die-off coming for these California fish? -- Sacramento Bee's RYAN SABALOW; Gov. Brown clashes with environmentalists over fracking -- The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH; Trump's pick for a top Interior post has sued the agency on behalf of powerful California water interests -- LA Times' BETTINA BOXALL; 2 small earthquakes shake Santa Barbara area -- Daily News' STAFF

 

Kremlingate's controversy shows no signs of ceasing after another explosive revelation of President Trump's possible criminal obstruction of justice: asking then-Director Comey to 'let go' of his investigation into Michael Flynn.

 

WaPo's MATT ZAPOTOSKY: "Former FBI director James Comey's allegation that President Donald Trump pressed him to shut down the bureau's investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn provides the strongest support yet for a criminal obstruction-of-justice case against Trump, legal analysts say, though even more evidence would probably be required to warrant action."


"Comey wrote in a memo that Trump asked him to walk away from the Flynn probe, declaring that Flynn was a good man and asserting to his FBI director, "I hope you can let this go."


"That, legal analysts say, provides a plausible case that the president obstructed justice. The FBI is investigating Flynn's dealings, as well as possible coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin to influence the 2016 presidential election."

 

READ MORE related to KremlinGate: Trump's war with US intelligence agencies just got a lot worse -- LA Times' DAVID S. CLOUD; Not the tweets, the Russian issue or Comey's firing: So what will it take for Republicans to break with Trump? -- LA Times' LISA MASCARO; Trump asked Comey to end investigation of Flynn, report says -- LA Times; Why the Comey memo could be so explosive for Trump -- LA Times' JAMES QUEALLY; Comey memo says Trump asked him to end Flynn investigation -- NYT's MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT; Trump faces fallout over Comey appeal, intelligence sharing -- AP's ERIC TUCKER/CATHERINE LUCEY/JULIE PACE; Putin says Russia meddling furor is 'nonsense' -- AP

 

Cyberweapon WannaCry's destructive tendrils have reached computers the globe over, but the attack was predicted a month before it occured; why did no one listen?

 

LA Times: "Miisha Govshteyn and his colleagues at the cybersecurity start-up Alert Logic dropped all their projects about a month ago, except for one they deemed a graver threat than the rest."

"Someone had stolen never-before-seen hacking tactics from the National Security Agency and posted them online. Working in shifts for 36 hours straight, dozens of Alert Logic engineers in Belfast in Northern Ireland, Cardiff in Britain, and Houston devoted their attention to analyzing the leaked computer code."

 

"What they found could undermine the privacy of the crucial corporate files they protect for 4,000 media companies, retailers and app makers. They developed a way to stop their clients from falling victim to the spying and issued warnings to the public through blogs and social media."

 

READ MORE related to Public Safety: Chelsea Manning released after 7 years in military prison -- AP's JIM SUHR; He said blacks did better before civil rights -- now former sheriff is leaving bias inquiry -- Sacramento Bee's ED FLETCHER; Voters decisively back measure to rework discipline at the LAPD -- LA Times' DAVID ZAHNISER/KATE MATHER; Heavy security in court at arraignment of suspected shooters of brothers -- Sacramento Bee's DARRELL SMITH; 'Brutal beatdown' by Kevin Johnson for pie attack was justice to some jurors -- Sacramento Bee's DARRELLSMITH

 
Kamala Harris blasted President Trump and AG Sessions on Tuesday over their hardline stance on medical cannabis.

 

Sacramento Bee's SEAN COCKERHAM: "Sen. Kamala Harris of California used the year’s first big 2020 presidential spotlight Tuesday to rail against Trump administration drug policies and call for easing laws governing marijuana."


"Let me tell you what California needs, Jeff Sessions. We need support in dealing with transnational criminal organizations and dealing with human trafficking – not in going after grandma’s medicinal marijuana,” she said, referring to Attorney General Jeff Sessions."


"Tuesday’s Ideas Conference, put on by the influential liberal think tank Center for American Progress, was a widely watched testing ground for a Democratic Party that is desperately in search of new leadership. More than 100 reporters signed up to cover the event, with hundreds of spectators in the audience at a ballroom in the Four Seasons hotel in Georgetown."

 

READ MORE related to Health: Do best-selling drugs that calm stomachs damage kidneys? The answer's unclear. -- California Healthline's SYDNEY LUPKIN/PAULINE BARTOLONE; Nacho cheese-related botulism prompts lawsuit as potential cases climb -- Sacramento Bee's SAMMY CAIOLA; Kamala Harris to Trump: Leave grandma's marijuana alone -- Sacramento Bee's SEAN COCKERHAM

 

Undocumented residents living in fear of a harsher deportation crackdown are also gripped with the reality of what their deportation could mean for the wellbeing of their terminally ill children who rely on their aid to survive.

 

California Healthline's JOCELYN WIENER: "Every few minutes, Abril begins to choke. Diagnosed as a baby with severe cerebral palsy and epilepsy, the Santa Cruz, Calif., 8-year-old has never spoken, or walked or cleared her own throat."

 

"Dozens of times a day, her parents, Rafael and Sonia, use a special machine to suction out saliva and phlegm from their oldest daughter’s mouth. Because choking and seizures can strike Abril anytime, a parent is always by her side."


"Rafael and Sonia, both from Mexico, have lived in this country without permission for more than a decade. But only since the recent presidential election has a question haunted them: If they are deported, what will happen to Abril?"