California's anti-Trump 'resistance' bills: What passed, what didn't
Daily News' KATY MURPHY/CASEY TOLAN: "In a supercharged year marked by hard-fought victories on affordable-housing and climate change, California lawmakers pushed through a passel of legislation to thwart initiatives from the Trump administration — but also discovered that even their popular resistance has limits."
"Democratic legislators pushed through a bevy of bills aimed at shielding undocumented immigrants from deportation while they’re at work, at school or even in police custody, and the anti-Trump “resistance” sent Gov. Jerry Brown bills to protect climate data from federal censorship, guard against a Muslim registry and block future presidential candidates from the California primary ballot unless they release their tax returns — a direct swipe at the president, who broke with tradition by keeping his secret."
"But resistance proposals that spooked industry groups or raised alarms about cost — from internet privacy to single-payer health care to environmental protections — stalled in the Legislature this year, unable to overcome powerful lobbyists in opposition or skepticism from more moderate Democratic legislators."
From the Bee's JIM MILLER: "From family leave and clean-air cars to job applicants and the construction industry, organized labor left its stamp on the just-completed California legislative session."
"Unions’ efforts sent to Gov. Jerry Brown measures that give their leaders access to employees’ emails, restrict ports from expanding automation that could displace workers and expand prevailing wage requirements for housing construction."
"Labor is a major player at the Capitol, where Democratic lawmakers are sympathetic to its issues and some are former union members themselves. The party achieved two-thirds’ control of both houses of the Legislature last fall with the help of millions of dollars in union campaign contributions and get-out-the-vote efforts."
READ MORE related to State: Democrats trying to turn Orange County blue, one house at a time -- The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI; As long as Trump is president, California lawmakers will keep building a wall against his policies -- LA Times' GEORGE SKELTON.
Meanwhile, California rethinks how it remembers history.
Calmatters' SAMANTHA YOUNG in the Chronicle: "California has its own Civil War history, but it also has a painful colonization history — one that academics believe ought to be told more in schools. It’s a tale of a state founded by white colonists who wiped out much of the Indian population by bringing disease, forcing relocation, imposing starvation and carrying out what its more severe critics describe as a forgotten, state-sanctioned genocide of a people."
"And it’s one that many Californians haven’t heard — at least not the details or the extent of the state’s role as the “primary architect of annihilation,” said Benjamin Madley, an associate professor at UCLA and the author of “An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873.”
"Last year, California school officials adopted a new statewide history framework for K-12 schools that advocates describe as a more holistic approach. The framework no longer suggests fourth-grade students studying California history build a Spanish mission, a project that had been a rite of passage for years when learning about the settlement of California by missionaries. Rather, the guideline specifies that students should think about how life was for California Indians, look to maps to figure out why the houses Indians built varied so much and why natural resources were so critical to their way of life."
Is she, or isn't she? Will Dianne Fenistein seek a fifth term? She's not saying.
The Chronicle's DOMINIC FRANCASA: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein dodged questions Sunday on whether she is planning to mount a re-election run for a fifth term as a U.S. senator in 2018."
"During an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Feinstein, a former San Francisco mayor and the oldest U.S. senator at age 84, quickly sidestepped a question about whether she was “up for another” six-year term."
“Well, we will see, won’t we?” Feinstein told Dana Bash, the show’s host. “I’m not going to declare on CNN.”
This year's Emmys didn't even pretend not to be political
LA Times' LORRAINE ALI: "Subtext became text when issues of race, gender and national politics, long a part of Hollywood awards shows, took center stage at the 69th Emmy Awards telecast Sunday night."
"You can’t deny that every show was influenced by Donald Trump in some way,” said host Stephen Colbert in his opening monologue. “All the late night shows, obviously. ‘House of Cards.’ The new season of ‘American Horror Story.’” Pause. “And of course next year’s Latin Grammys, hosted by Sheriff Joe Arpaio."
"By tapping Colbert as host, the television academy all but guaranteed that the first Emmy broadcast of the Trump presidency would send a clear message — Colbert’s late-night career was resuscitated by his return to political satire. But it really wasn’t necessary. Sheriff quip aside, Colbert was barely joking."
READ MORE related to Emmy Awards: Stephen Colbert's funniest moments from the 69th Emmy Awards -- CBS; Host Stephen Colbert blasts Trump's obsession with the Emmys -- Hollywood Reporter's JACKIE STRAUSE; Emmys devolves into three hour celebrity anti-Trump rage fest -- Grabien; 2017 Emmy Awards: Inside the after-parties -- LA Times
LAUSD to try out sex ed classes for fourth-graders
Daily News' ANTONIE BOESSENKOOL: "The Los Angeles Unified School District will test new sex education lessons this year for children as young as 9 years old."
"Puberty: The Wonder Years,” a course authored by renowned health educator and nurse Wendy Sellers, is among the lessons that will be offered to fourth-grade students, as well as those in fifth and sixth grades at a handful of schools."
"Why is sex ed necessary for students who are so young? Because ignorance doesn’t help anyone, Sellers said."
After Hurricane Harvey, a family throws away their past, piece by moldy piece
LA Times' DAVID MONTERO: "The past piled up on the side of the road, stuffed into black trash bags stacked on top of soggy furniture and moldy mattresses."
"There was the still-crisp blue blazer and dress — with matching purse — that Corinth Williams got her grandmother for her birthday in July. Mold had crept into the sleeves. There was the dog figurine with puppies attached to its back. When Williams was a child, she used to play with it and break off each of the small dogs. Her grandmother, Evelyne Bowie, repaired it more times than she could remember."
"There would be no fixing it this time."
READ MORE related to Hurricane Season: How San Pedro schools came through for Texas hurricane victims -- Daily News' DONNA LITTLEJOHN
At $80 an ounce, it's not for everyone. But Iranian caviar is eyeing a comeback in the US.
LA Times' SHASHANK BENGALI/RAMIN MOSTAGHIM: "Nasser Meshkin Azarian took a careful nibble, letting the salty, grainy texture roll across his tongue. He smiled and washed it down with a sip of cool water."
"I give it an 82 or 83” out of 100, Azarian said. At the retail price of $80 an ounce in Iran, it was an expensive bite. But beluga caviar is for discerning palates."
"Iranian caviar has a fantastic reputation all around the world,” said Azarian, the chairman of Bahoo Caviar, a distributor in Tehran. “It is only going to grow."
Veteran cop IDd in fatal shooting of robbery suspect
The Chronicle's JOAQUIN PALOMINO: "An 11-year veteran of the San Jose Police Department was identified by authorities Sunday as the officer involved in the fatal shooting Friday of an armed-robbery suspect following a high-risk traffic stop."
"Officer Mike Pina shot and killed the 33-year-old man, who police officials described as a known gang member with a felony warrant for armed robbery. The shooting occurred just after 7 p.m. near White and Penitencia Creek roads in East San Jose when Pina attempted to pull the man over."
"The suspect, a San Jose resident whose name has not yet been released, eluded officers earlier in the day by driving erratically throughout the city and on a freeway, officials said. The suspect was known to be armed and aware that officers were searching for him, according to police."
Trump's first speech at UN will focus on sovereignty and calls for reform
LA Times' TRACY WILKINSON: "President Trump takes to the world’s largest stage this week. And many onstage are worried."
"Trump will deliver his first address Tuesday to the full United Nations General Assembly, an annual meeting that draws diplomats and leaders from 193 countries."
"Neither Russian President Vladimir Putin nor Chinese President Xi Jinping are coming this year. That gives even more running room to a celebrity president who has shaken global institutions with his “America first” policy and whom diplomats politely describe as unpredictable."
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