The Death of Dreams

Sep 6, 2017

Congress gets hot potato as Trump ends 'Dreamers' program

 

The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH: "President Trump was quick to toss away the hottest of political issues Tuesday, telling Congress it’s now up to lawmakers to decide the fate of the nearly 800,000 young people who could face deportation with the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program."


"Congress, get ready to do your job — DACA,” Trump tweeted early Tuesday, hours before Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the program established in a 2012 executive order by former President Barack Obama “is being rescinded."


"The long-awaited decision, which won’t take effect until March 5, 2018, gives Congress six months to decide what to do with the so-called Dreamers, young undocumented residents brought to the country as children."

 

Read More related to DACA/Immigration: Deporting Dreamers an unlikely priority, but a real possibility -- The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO; Hundreds in Bay Area protest Trump's decision on DACA -- The Chronicle's KURTIS ALEXANDER/ALISON GRAHAM/STEVE RUBENSTEIN; California vows to sue US to protect immigrants now in jeopardy -- The Chronicle's MELODY GUTIERREZ; Trump appeals to his cheering base with end to 'special rights' for 'Dreamers' -- The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI; California vows to sue over Dreamers: 'Trump administration has violated the Constitution' -- Sacramento Bee's CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO/ANGELA HART; Federal government ends DACA program, but Sacramento 'Dreamers' aren't giving up -- Sacramento Bee's STEPHEN MAGAGNINI/ANITA CHABRIA; California's DACA students brace for uncertain future -- EdSource's CAROLYN JONES/LARRY GORDON/DANIEL J WILLIS; Thousands march through San Francisco to protest Trump's DACA decision -- East Bay Times' CASEY TOLAN

 

Antifa actions classified as 'domestic terrorist violence'

 

Daily Californian's ALICIA KIM: "The Department of Homeland Security has classified militant activities by Antifa, an anti-fascist organization, as “domestic terrorist violence,” according to documents obtained by Politico."

 

"Antifa members have been present at multiple violent protests that occurred in August, including the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, the “Free Speech” rally in Boston and the “No to Marxism in America” rallies in Berkeley."


"This decision on the federal level may have significance when it comes to the allocation of federal resources and the prioritization of federal efforts,” said UCPD spokesperson Sabrina Reich in an email."

 

'All there in the files' -- Oroville Dam investigators say inspectors missed clues

 

Sacramento Bee's DALE KASLER/RYAN SABALOW: "There was no shortage of red flags at Oroville Dam. It was a matter of knowing where to look."


"A team of independent experts charged Tuesday that the state and federal officials who inspected Oroville Dam relied too heavily on visual inspections, ignoring blueprints, construction records and other documented clues that could have warned them about the dam’s troubled flood-control spillway long before it fractured in February. The fracture led to near-catastrophe and the evacuation of thousands of residents."


"The team of forensic investigators, commissioned by the state Department of Water Resources to study the cause of the February crisis, said similar problems could be lurking at other dams in California and around the country because of an over-reliance on visual inspections."

 

Trump said he would turn the GOP into the party 'of the American worker.' How's that going?

 

LA Times' NOAH BIERMAN/BRIAN BENNETT: "Just over a month into his presidency, Donald Trumpstrode into a hotel ballroom for the annual assemblage of the most fervent Republican activists and conservative leaders in the country and declared his takeover of the Republican Party — on behalf of the “forgotten men and the forgotten women."


"The GOP will be, from now on, the party also of the American worker,” Trump said, to wild cheers. Among the changes: No more bad trade deals. Wall off immigrants. Avoid foreign wars."


"Fast forward six months."

 

California troops sue Trump administration over transgender ban

 

Sacramento Bee's ADAM ASHTON: "A pair of transgender California residents who have taken steps to join the armed forces and a group of four military service members are filing a lawsuit on Tuesday against President Donald Trump that aims to block his order banning transgender people from joining the armed forces."


"Their lawsuit, backed by the advocacy group Equality California, is the fourth legal challenge to Trump’s Aug. 25 directive prohibiting transgender people from joining the military and banning military healthcare plans from funding sex-reassignment surgeries."


"The plaintiffs in the new lawsuit include Aiden Stockman, 20, of Yucca Valley, who has identified as a transgender male since the eighth grade; and Tamasyn Reeves, 29, who first attempted to join the Navy when she was blocked by the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that banned gay people from serving openly in the military."

 

Second round of NAFTA talks ends with major issues unresolved

 

LA Times' PATRICK J. MCDONNELL: "Representatives of the United States, Mexico and Canada declared “progress” but unveiled no breakthroughs at the conclusion Tuesday of a second round of talks to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement"


"Still unresolved are a number of controversial issues, including Washington’s desire for expanded use of U.S.-made materials in automobiles and other products and disagreements about the mechanisms for resolving trade disputes and whether steps should be taken to raise salaries for Mexican workers."


"The future of NAFTA has become a major irritant in U.S.-Mexico relations. President Trump has repeatedly assailed the deal as a job killer for the United States and threatened to pull out. The 23-year-old trade pact is being renegotiated at the insistence of Washington, which seeks to reduce its more than $60 billion annual trade deficit with Mexico."

 

Living in a tent to save her flooded Houston home

 

LA Times' MOLLY HENNESSY-FISKE: "When Hurricane Harvey flooded Nikki Fields’ house last week, she knew she did not want to abandon her home of 16 years."


"Fields searched her house, and in a washroom found a red tent she had used for camping. She pitched it on her moldering front lawn in East Houston and stayed in it until Monday."


"Fields, 43, had grown up running the streets. She had come to this place to rebuild her life. She also wanted better for her four children. She fixed herself as she fixed the rented three-bedroom turquoise cottage."

 

READ MORE related to Hurricane Harvey: A 'catastrophic' Irma approaches Leeward Islands. Cuba, Florida still in its path. -- Miami Herald's CARLI TEPROFF; How much damage did Harvey inflict on Houston's cultural institutions? -- LA Times' SONAIYA KELLEY

 

Weiner not giving up on 4 AM closing time bill

 

The Chronicle's MATIER & ROSS: "State Sen. Scott Wiener is not ready to give up on his drive to extend bar hours for cities that want to party hearty till 4 a.m., despite having had his legislation 86’d last week."


"I’m absolutely not giving up on this bill,” Wiener, D-San Francisco, said upon his return to the state Capitol after Friday’s 11th-hour ambush of the bill by state Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, D-San Diego, chair of the Appropriations Committee."


"The bill would have given cities the option to stay open an extra two hours past 2 a.m. “It was a matter of local choice,” Wiener said."

 

READ MORE related to Policy: CA Senate passes bill to penalize state audit obstruction -- Daily Californian's HYUNKYU MICHAEL LEE

 

SF State tests benefits of workouts in virtual reality games 

 

The Chronicle's NANETTE ASIMOV: "You enter the boxing ring and face your opponent. He glares at you, his bulging pecs glistening under the arena lights. Pow! You nail him with a right hook to the jaw. He cross punches. You duck. You jab. He reels."


"Sweat drips down your face. Your heart races as the crowd roars — only there is no crowd, and you’ve never actually left home or suffered a blow. You’re standing in your living room, maybe your garage, playing a virtual-reality video game."


"And getting a great workout."

 

Ash covers Oregon cities, wildfire smoke chokes US West 

 

AP's GILLIAN FLACCUS/NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS: "A growing Oregon wildfire covered parts of Portland's metropolitan area Tuesday with ash and forced the shutdown of a lengthy stretch of highway through the state's scenic Columbia River Gorge."


"It was one of dozens of wildfires burning in western U.S. states that sent smoke into cities from Seattle to Denver — prompting health warnings and cancellations of outdoor activities for children by many school districts."


"The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, a federal agency that coordinates wildfire-fighting, said 80 large fires were burning on 2,200 square miles (5,700 square kilometers) in nine Western states."

 

San Jose ordered to pay $11.3 million to mentally ill man shot by cop 

 

The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "San Jose must pay $11.3 million to a mentally disturbed man who was shot in the back by a police officer while standing on his front lawn holding a knife, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday."


"Hung Lam, a Vietnamese immigrant in his mid-30s, survived the shooting but was left paralyzed and must use a wheelchair, said his lawyer, John Burris."


"The officer, Dondi West, testified that Lam had first held the knife to his own throat but then began walking backward in her direction, still holding the knife and causing her to fear for her life when she shot him. But the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the jury was entitled to believe another witness, a retired sheriff’s deputy, who said Lam made stabbing motions only toward himself and posed no threat to West."

 

A recording accidentally attached to an email is the latest twist in the world's biggest corruption scandal

 

LA Times' JILL LANGLOIS: "Brazil’s prosecutors broke the world’s biggest corruption scandal wide open with the help of one man."


"Joesley Batista, a billionaire who with his brother owns the world’s largest meatpacker, JBS, admitted in May to paying out more than $192 million in bribes to roughly 1,900 politicians in exchange for favors for his company."


"He also handed over an audio recording of a March conversation he had with President Michel Temer, who appears to approve the payment of hush money to Eduardo Cunha, a former congressman who was impeached and is now in prison for corruption, money laundering and tax evasion."

 

Looking for place to raise children? Survey says Sacramento isn't a bad option

 

Sacramento Bee's NOEL HARRIS: "Looking for a good city to raise a family? Sacramento is a decent option, according to a survey."


"Taking 150 American cities and using 41 key metrics to determine the best locations, Sacramento ranked 38th overall and eighth in California on WalletHub’s listings of Best and Worst Places to Raise a Family."

 

"Breaking down some main factors in Sacramento’s overall score of 59.23, the city’s top asset is “Family Fun Rank” – ninth overall. Los Angeles topped the list in this category, but was 92nd in the overall rating at 52.48."

 

Billions are drinking water contaminated with plastic -- and US has it the worst, study finds

 

McClatchy's JOSH MAGNESS: "If you drink tap water, you’re probably also ingesting potentially dangerous microscopic plastic fibers."


"And you’re not alone: That’s likely the case for billions of people across the world, according to a new study from Orb Media."


"The study, conducted with researchers from the State University of New York and the University of Minnesota, tested 159 tap water samples from five different continents, according to Public Radio International."

 

Audience size decreased for Ben Shapiro's UC Berkeley event

 

Daily Californian's ASHLEY WONG: "The Young America’s Foundation criticized UC Berkeley administration Tuesday for shrinking the number of seats allocated for conservative writer Ben Shapiro’s talk Sept. 14."


"In a press release issued Tuesday morning, YAF spokesperson Spencer Brown stated campus officials had notified event organizers that they would be lowering the maximum number of seats from 1,978 to 1,024. This latest development in Shapiro’s scheduled event follows controversies surrounding the nearly $16,000 security fee charged to YAF and Berkeley College Republicans for hosting Shapiro in Zellerbach Hall."


"This latest attempt by UC Berkeley to prevent students from hearing Ben Shapiro at this stop of the Fred Allen Lecture Series reeks of desperation and hypocrisy,” Brown wrote in the press release."

 

READ MORE related to Education: Proposal for state-run STEM school shifts in face of opposition -- EdSource's JOHN FENSTERWALD

 

Santa Rita Jail abuse: Deputies allegedly abused inmates

 

East Bay Times' ANGELA RUGGIERO: "Four Alameda County Sheriff deputies accused of abusing at least eight inmates at Santa Rita Jail, including choking one until he passed out and allowing feces to be thrown at inmates, were charged Tuesday by the district attorney."

 

"Deputies Justin Linn, 23, of Tracy, and Erik McDermott, 27, of Concord, are charged with felony assault under the color of authority, witness intimidation, and conspiracy to obstruct justice, according to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. Deputy Sarah Krause and former deputy Stephen Sarcos were charged with felony assault under the color of authority."

"McDermott is also alleged to have choked an inmate into unconsciousness."

 

Affordable housing crisis: Can Sacramento get it under control?

 

East Bay Times' KATY MURPHY: "

As home prices and rents soar to unthinkable levels, California lawmakers are working furiously to drum up the votes for a package of bills they hope will help contain the spiraling affordable housing crisis."

"With less than two weeks left in the legislative session — as lawmakers scramble to pass hundreds of bills dealing with everything from prescription drug prices to immigration enforcement — a vote on the housing package is coming down to the wire. But as of Tuesday afternoon, the only bill that would create a permanent funding source for affordable housing, Senate Bill 2, was still short of the votes it needs to pass."

 

“Every member of the Legislature knows that we’re in the midst of the most intense housing crisis that California has experienced in our state’s history and that we have to act,” Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, said Tuesday. “Hopefully in the coming days we’ll be able to take these up for a vote, but these things often take a bit longer than we expect."

 

OP-ED: Don't reverse Internet privacy safeguards

 

NANCY LIBIN in Capitol Weekly: "California has a responsibility to get Internet policy right. The state’s ranking as the sixth largest economy understates its influence on the world’s innovation economy. One-third of global venture capital is invested in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Los Angeles or San Diego."


"California is the test bed, launch pad and sand box for thousands of apps and Internet services which, if successful, are launched on the world."

 

"Right now, a bill is being rushed through the state Legislature using the highly suspect “gut and amend” process. It would reorganize the Internet app and data ecosystem – which has created hundreds of thousands of jobs – without a single public hearing."

 

READ MORE from Capitol Weekly: Texting, driving -- a deadly mix -- Capitol Weekly's MYRON LEVIN