California flooding, sea-level rise linked
SOPHIA BOLLAG in Capitol Weekly: "As officials in Washington try to repair the nation’s flood insurance program, scientists in California are grappling with a looming threat that will complicate flooding hazards in the state: sea-level rise."
"Creeping ocean waters are already flooding coastal areas more frequently and eroding sea cliffs more rapidly. They’re also worsening damage from extreme weather events like high tides and torrential rains."
"Scientists can’t predict exactly how much sea levels will rise over time because there are too many unknown factors, particularly how much more climate-warming greenhouse gas humans will produce, said Gary Griggs, a geologist at UC Santa Cruz who studies the coast."
Senate GOP intent on scrapping health mandate in tax bill
AP: "Senate Republicans are intent on scrapping the Affordable Care Act's requirement that Americans get health insurance, targeting a repeal of the individual mandate to help finance deep tax cuts in their tax overhaul."
"Sen. Orrin Hatch, chairman of the Finance Committee, confirmed late Tuesday he was revising the bill to include repeal of the insurance mandate "to help provide additional relief to low- and middle-income families."
"The surprise renewal of the failed effort to scrap the law's mandate came a day after President Donald Trump renewed pressure on GOP lawmakers to include the repeal in their tax legislation. It has sharp political stakes for Trump, who lacks a major legislative achievement after nearly 10 months in office."
READ MORE related to Death & Taxes: Senate plan would make individual tax breaks temporary while corporate cuts would be permanent -- LA Times' JIM PUZZANGHERA/LISA MASCARO; Oil price decline weighs on markets ahead of US tax vote -- AP; Senate plans to end Obamacare mandate in revised tax proposal -- NY Times' THOMAS KAPLAN/JIM TANKERSLEY; California Realtors attack GOP tax reform's homeowner provisions -- OC Register's JEFF COLLINS
Police seek witnesses to San Bernardino County prosecutor attacked while jogging in Newport Beach
City News Service: "Police are seeking the public’s help locating a witness to an August attack on a San Bernardino County prosecutor who was on a morning jog in Bob Henry Park in Newport Beach when she was beaten unconscious."
"The woman, whose name was withheld, was attacked about 5:40 a.m. Aug. 31 near 16th Street and Seagull Lane."
"Police would like to talk to a man who was seen riding a red beach cruiser bicycle in the area that day to see if he could provide any more details, said Jennifer Manzella of the Newport Beach Police Department."
SF supervisors postpone recreational pot legislation -- January 1st sales unlikely
The Chronicle's RACHEL SWAN: "San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday to kick its big cannabis debate down the road two weeks, making it almost certain that recreational sales won’t start in the city on Jan. 1."
"The point of contention was a proposal by Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Jeff Sheehy to grant temporary permits to existing medical cannabis dispensaries, cultivators and manufacturers, so that they could enter the recreational market in January."
"Supervisor Malia Cohen balked at the idea, saying it would provide a boost to people who already own cannabis businesses, leaving behind the low-income residents, people of color and victims of the country’s war on drugs that the supervisors say they want to help."
READ MORE related to Cannabis: We interviewed Whoopi Goldberg about getting into the weed game -- Herb's CAROLYN LIPKA
Are Jerry Brown's green state buildings worth their price?
Sacramento Bee's ADAM ASHTON: "One of Gov. Jerry Brown’s green-building directives drives up the cost of state construction projects while delivering an uncertain environmental benefit, according to a new study by the Legislative Analyst’s Office."
"The study assessed Brown’s 2012 executive order directing that all state departments design new buildings in such a way that they entirely offset their energy use."
"Those so-called “zero net energy” projects tend to include features that limit energy use as well as others that generate power, such as solar panels."
Locked out of school, Tehama County gunman shot at children from outside
Sacramento Bee's RYAN SABALOW/ANITA CHABRIA/DALE KASLER: "The sound of gunfire was in the air, and school officials ordered an immediate lockdown. Their decision most likely prevented what was already a deadly rampage in this rural hamlet southwest of Red Bluff from becoming a bloodbath on the scale of Sandy Hook in Connecticut."
"Apparently infuriated by a longstanding dispute with neighbors, a gunman armed with a semi-automatic rifle and two handguns shot four people to death in the tiny community of Rancho Tehama Reserve early Tuesday. Clad in a military-style assault vest capable of storing multiple rounds of ammunition, the man wounded at least 10 others before officers rammed into the stolen vehicle he was driving, shot him and killed him."
"The Tehama Sheriff’s Department said the number of fatalities might grow. Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston said officials are worried because they’ve had trouble locating several of the gunman’s relatives."
READ MORE related to HJ Res 40: Gunman wildly sprays school with bullets, and quick action prevents mass bloodhsed -- LA Times' PAIGE ST. JOHN, JOE MOZINGO, RUBEN VIVES; 5 dead, including gunman, in Northern California shooting rampage -- The Chronicle's MELODY GUTIERREZ/JENNA LYONS/STEVE RUBENSTEIN; Family of Rancho Tehama shooting suspect: 'Our hearts are broken for that community and the families' -- LA Times' RUBEN VIVES; Kevin Neal killed neighbors then continued rampage -- AP; Anaheim teen arrested on suspicion of threatening a shooting spree at several schools -- OC Register's SCOTT SCHWEBKE
Former Pimco CEO El-Erian among candidates for Fed vice-chair
OC Register's MARGOT ROOSEVELT: "Mohamed El-Erian, Pimco’s former chief executive and a Laguna Beach resident, is one of several candidates under consideration for vice-chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, according to a report Tuesday, Nov. 14 in the Wall Street Journal."
"El-Erian, who quit the Orange County investment giant in 2014 after a dispute with its co-founder Bill Gross, is an expert in monetary policy. He has a doctorate in economics from Oxford University, worked at the International Monetary Fund early in his career and, after leaving Pimco, published a book on central banks, “The Only Game in Town."
"Since his departure from Pimco, El-Erian has served as a part-time economic advisor to Pimco’s parent, the German insurer Allianz, and has worked assiduously to remain in the public eye. He writes a column for Bloomberg View, contributes to the Financial Times, and has cultivated a following of 1.5 million on LinkedIn and 170,000 on Twitter."
Alameda may hire firm in bid to attract tech companies to former base
East Bay Times' PETER HEGARTY: "Buildings that once housed U.S. Navy sailors could be transformed into a campus for a technology company under a city proposal."
"Known as the Bachelor Enlisted Quarters (BEQ), the buildings are on 21 acres and have been mostly vacant since the Alameda Naval Air Station closed more than 20 years ago. Efforts to use them for civilian housing have long stalled."
"Now city officials are hoping the buildings, which also have been routinely vandalized, can be turned into places where a tech company may want to locate, especially since the large aircraft hangars at the former base are already leased."
Wave of lawsuits blames PG&E for deadly California fires
Sacramento Bee's SAM STANTON: "Law firms from across the country have begun preparing and filing suits against Pacific Gas & Electric Co., blaming the utility for October’s massive firestorms and paving the way for what may result in billions of dollars in payouts if the company is found responsible."
"The first suits were filed in the week after the blazes erupted, and at least seven more were filed Tuesday in superior courts in San Francisco, Napa and Sonoma counties by a team of five California law firms, including Sacramento’s Dreyer Babich Buccola Wood Campora."
"Dreyer Babich previously sued PG&E over the 2010 San Bruno gas explosion that killed eight people and the 2015 Butte Fire that killed two people, destroyed 549 homes and burned more than 109 square miles, mostly in Calaveras County."
Southern California smog worsens for second straight year despite reduced emissions
LA Times' TONY BARBOZA: "Southern California smog worsened for a second straight year in the latest sign that progress in cleaning the nation’s most polluted air is faltering."
"The dive in air quality comes even though emissions are declining, forcing regulators to explain why returns are diminishing after years of progress battling smog."
"Ozone, the harmful gas in smog that inflames the lungs and triggers asthma attacks and other health problems, has violated federal health standards 145 days this year across the sea-to-mountains South Coast air basin, according to monitoring data from state and local air regulators."
READ MORE related to Environment: San Francisco's forgotten earthquake of 1957 -- The Chronicle's BILL VAN NIEKERKEN
Founder of Florida's biggest megachurch accused of molesting a 4-year-old
Miami New Times' TIM ELFRINK: "The call came from California. A woman told Coral Springs Police she had recently learned something terrible: A South Florida man had molested her daughter for years. It began when the girl was just 4 years old."
"An officer noted the information and called the victim, who was then a teenager. She confirmed the story in stomach-churning detail."
"The man had forced her to perform oral sex, she said. He would regularly "finger and fondle her" genitals, make her touch his penis, and "dirty talk" to her. The abuse lasted until she was a teenager, she told the cop. She'd never even told her family about the crimes."
READ MORE related to #MeToo: Will harassment allegations against Mendoza, Bocanegra cost them re-election? -- Daily News' KEVIN MODESTI; Reports of rape, assault and dating violence spiked at UCLA in 2016, data shows -- Daily News' BRENDA GAZZAR; Rose McGown to Ronan Farrow: Drug case could be linked to Harvey Weinstein allegations -- EastBayTimes' MARTHA ROSS; Cinefamily to close amid sexual misconduct investigation -- AP
LA County leaders urge reforms to prevent sexual assault in jails
Daily News' SUSAN ABRAM: "An effort to reform and bolster prevention of sexual assault and rape in Los Angeles County’s jails and detention centers was unanimously approved Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors."
"The motion was passed amid a recent wave of accusations of sexual misconduct that stretches from the halls of state capitals and within the entertainment industry to jails and juvenile camps."
"In September, a 31-year-old Los Angeles Sheriff’s deputy was arrested on suspicion of two counts of rape under the color of authority and two counts of oral copulation, also under the color of authority of two inmates at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood. Giancarlo Scotti, a 10-year-veteran of the department, has not been formally charged by the District Attorney’s Office. An additional accusation against him has surfaced, according to recent published reports."
Swamp deepens as Trump names former drug industry exec to be health secretary
LA Times' DAVID LAZARUS: "Alex Azar, President Trump’s pick to serve as Health and Human Services secretary, represents everything wrong with the incestuous relationship that often exists between government officials and the industries they oversee."
"This is a guy who, after being active in George W. Bush’s presidential campaign, landed a plum job with the Department of Health and Human Services despite being a lawyer with no background in healthcare."
"He’s a guy who, in the grand tradition of Washington revolving doors, jumped ship to become the top lobbyist for a drug company he previously regulated."
From GINGER ROUGH in USA Today: "Cards Against Humanity, better known as the world's most inappropriate adult-card game, put President Trump in its sights with its latest promotion on Tuesday."
"It pledged to give "six surprises" during the month of December to anyone who immediately donated $15 to its efforts — noting that backers of the so-called "party game for horrible people" were attempting to "save America."
"Not familiar with Cards Against Humanity? It's an easily played card game that costs $25 on sites such as Amazon.com. Players take turns reading a suggestion card/question and answering it with wildly inappropriate responses, which are listed on a series of cards drawn each round."
"On Tuesday, visitors to the game's newly created website (cardsagainsthumanitysavesamerica.com) were greeted with the news that its creators were attempting to block Trump's plans to build a wall along the U.S. and Mexico border by buying a piece of land in the vicinity."
If the US went vegan, emissions would drop. But there's a catch, a new study says
McClatchy's JARED GILMOUR: "If the entire United States went vegan, it could be great for the environment. But it’s a lot more complicated than advocates for an all-vegan country might hope, a new study found."
"Agriculture and forestry alone make up a quarter of the United States’ total greenhouse emissions, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — and animals produce roughly half of those agricultural emissions, Science Magazine reported."
"That means animal agriculture is a perennial target for those hoping to cut emissions and tackle global warming. So what would happen if all 320 million Americans went vegan, entirely eliminating animals from our diets — and from our farming and ranching practices?"
BART police probe slur-filled assault caught on video
The Chronicle's ANNIE MA: "BART police are investigating an incident on Monday night of a man delivering racial slurs to a passenger before repeatedly hitting him on a Warm Springs-bound train."
"Officials said that BART police received three calls around 10:10 p.m. Monday from riders reporting a man who appeared to be unarmed threatening another passenger. Police boarded the train at the Union City station, but officials said they believed the attacker got off the train before they arrived."
"Video of part of the encounter was uploaded to Facebook by Wiseley Wu, who recorded the footage while sitting nearby on the train."
Sessions denies lying on Russia, pleads hazy memory
AP: "A defiant Attorney General Jeff Sessions told Congress on Tuesday he never lied under oath about Russian interference in the 2016 election and said sleep deprivation and the "chaos" of the Trump campaign clouded his recollections of campaign contacts with Russians."
"Sessions sought to explain away apparent contradictions in his public statements by portraying President Donald Trump's campaign as an exhausting operation and said he could not be expected to remember specific encounters from more than a year ago."
"In all of my testimony, I can only do my best to answer all of your questions as I understand them and to the best of my memory," Sessions told the House Judiciary Committee. "But I will not accept, and reject, accusations that I have ever lied under oath. That is a lie."
READ MORE related to KremlinGate: Appointing a second special counsel could rattle Justice Department -- WaPo's DEVLIN BARRETT; Fox News' Shepard Smith debunks his network's favorite Hillary Clinton 'scandal,' infuriates viewers -- WaPo's FRED BARBASH
The fight over health coverage for children, pregnant women
Capitol Weekly's LISA RENNER: "Health insurance coverage for 1.3 million California children and pregnant women is at risk because of Congress’ delay in extending the Children’s Health Insurance Program."
"While the House recently approved a bill to extend the program for five years, the bill still needs approval by the Senate and a fight is expected about how to pay for the extension."
"CHIP serves low-income families. The 20-year-old program expired Sept. 30 and California may run out of funding by the end of the year or early January. The state receives $2.7 billion in funding a year for CHIP."
Expulsion from the US Senate is rare and severe punishment
LA Times' MICHAEL FINNEGAN: "Expulsion from the U.S. Senate is rare, but Roy Moore’s refusal to drop his run for an Alabama seat amid sexual assault allegations has led fellow Republicans to suggest kicking him out of Congress before the election even takes place."
"If he wins the Dec. 12 election to fill the seat vacated by Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions and winds up expelled, Moore would become the first senator bounced from office for sexual misconduct."
"Only 15 senators have been tossed out by their colleagues. The last expulsion was in 1862."
China sending envoy to North Korea following Trump visit
AP's CHRISTOPHER BODEEN: "Following President Donald Trump's visit to Beijing, China said Wednesday that it would send a high-level special envoy to North Korea amid an extended chill in relations between the neighbors over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and missile programs."
"Song Tao, the head of China's ruling Communist Party's International Department, will travel to Pyongyang on Friday to report on outcomes of the party's national congress held last month, the official Xinhua News Agency said."
"Xinhua said Song, as president and party leader Xi Jinping's special envoy, would carry out a "visit" in addition to delivering his report, but gave no details about his itinerary or meetings. It also made no mention of Trump's trip to Beijing or the North's weapons programs, although Trump has repeatedly called on Beijing to do more to use its influence to pressure Pyongyang into altering its behavior."
UCI receives huge art collection of rarely seen pieces valued at tens of millions of dollars
OC Register's ROXANA KOPETMAN: "UC Irvine will be the new home of a California art collection said to be worth tens of millions of dollars – a gift from a Newport Beach developer who squirreled away artwork that few have seen."
"Gerald Buck, who died in 2013, bequeathed more than 3,200 original works to the university, which plans to exhibit the art, along with other pieces, in a new museum to be built on campus."
"The collection, art experts said Tuesday, will make UCI a destination for art lovers."
As complaints mount, Sacramento will crack down on panhandling
Sacramento Bee's RYAN LILLIS: "Despite the raucous objection of homeless activists, the Sacramento City Council unanimously adopted a pair of ordinances Tuesday night aimed at cracking down on aggressive panhandling and unruly behavior in city parks."
"The new regulations were drafted in response to mounting complaints from business owners and tourism groups about aggressive behavior, mainly in the central city. City police had originally proposed harsher restrictions over the summer, but eased some of those controls in response to concerns from the public."
"Mayor Darrell Steinberg said supporting the ordinance was “a very close call for me,” calling the proposal “imperfect."
They've spent years building their ideal community. Now they just need the homes constructed
Sacramento Bee's ED FLETCHER: "More than two dozen people converged on a grassy field in Fair Oaks this month to symbolically dig into the ground beneath their future neighborhood."
"Unlike most groundbreaking ceremonies, they didn’t have matching hard hats emblazoned with a corporate logo. The shovels were a bring-your-own hodgepodge, and only one politician showed up. After posing for the requisite pictures, participants went to a nearby restaurant to celebrate and break bread."
"They’d better get used to sitting across from each other."
READ MORE related to Housing: Housing crisis can be good news, if you're a landlord -- LA Times' STEVE LOPEZ; Is there a Black Friday for the Bay Area housing market? Take a guess. -- Bay Area News Group's RICHARD SCHEININ
Hawaii escapee with 'serial killer traits' sought in San Jose
The Chronicle's LIZZIE JOHNSON: "A Hawaii psychiatric hospital escapee — who was charged with killing a woman in 1979 and has exhibited “classic serial killer” traits — is being sought in the San Jose area, officials said Tuesday."
"Randall Saito, 59, escaped from the Hawaii State Hospital near Honolulu on Sunday morning and flew to Maui. Officials suspect he caught a second flight to San Jose, where some of his family members live."
As more teens got smartphones, more started killing themselves. There might be a link.
AP's JEAN TWENGE: "Around 2012, something started going wrong in the lives of teens."
"In just the five years between 2010 and 2015, the number of U.S. teens who felt useless and joyless - classic symptoms of depression - surged 33 percent in large national surveys. Teen suicide attempts increased 23 percent. Even more troubling, the number of 13- to 18-year-olds who committed suicide jumped 31 percent."
"In a new paper published in Clinical Psychological Science, my colleagues and I found that the increases in depression, suicide attempts and suicide appeared among teens from every background - more privileged and less privileged, across all races and ethnicities and in every region of the country. All told, our analysis found that the generation of teens I call “iGen” - those born after 1995 - is much more likely to experience mental health issues than their millennial predecessors."
Charging carpool rules to three people draws jeers
East Bay Times' GARY RICHARDS: "Q: Changing the carpool to three passengers is insane. It will put more people in the regular lanes and very little in the carpool lanes. What are they thinking?"
"A: They are thinking ahead, but this move would hit South Bay drivers hard since the average occupancy rate is only around 2.1 people per carpool in Santa Clara County. But it’s higher on Interstate 880 in Alameda County. The only area with a three-person carpool requirement is Interstate 80 east of the Bay Bridge."
"Q: The problem with the HOV congestion is the one passenger “green cars.” Being a limo driver and driving up from the Monterey Peninsula, I get stuck in Highway 85 traffic all the time, and its the Prius or Tesla with just the driver clogging the roads."
LiAngelo Ball, UCLA teammates return home after shoplifting scandal in China
Daily News' THUC NHI NGUYEN: "Through a swarm of reporters shouting questions and snapping photos, UCLA basketball players LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill were shepherded into a black van on the departures level of LAX. After a 12-hour flight from Shanghai, they were still dressed in their official gunmetal gray UCLA Under Armour sweatpants with light gray hoodies and their blue UCLA backpacks. The door slid closed and the van drove away."
"The three freshmen returned to Los Angeles on Tuesday evening, one week after being arrested for allegedly shoplifting at a high-end shopping center in Hangzhou, China. ESPN reported that police had surveillance footage of the players committing the crimes at three stores in the shopping center next to their hotel, including at a Louis Vuitton store where they allegedly took sunglasses."
"Ball, Hill and Riley missed UCLA’s season opener against Georgia Tech in Shanghai while they were confined to the hotel under police surveillance for six days. They returned in time for the team’s home opener against Central Arkansas at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Pauley Pavilion, but their status with the team remains unclear."
In a first, scientists try changing a gene inside a human body to alter DNA
AP: "Scientists for the first time have tried editing a gene inside the body in a bold attempt to permanently change a person’s DNA to try to cure a disease."
"The experiment was done Monday in California on 44-year-old Brian Madeux. Through an IV, he received billions of copies of a corrective gene and a genetic tool to cut his DNA in a precise spot."
"It’s kind of humbling” to be the first to test this, said Madeux, who has a metabolic disease called Hunter syndrome. “I’m willing to take that risk. Hopefully it will help me and other people.”
Asian-American chefs are changing our palate
NYT's MATT STEVENS: "As an Asian-American born in Los Angeles and raised in Honolulu, I’ve thought a lot about what it means to grow up in multiple cultures at once — my Filipino mother’s, my British father’s, and my America. For a recent piece on how Asian-American chefs are changing the American palate, I spoke with some two dozen chefs and restaurateurs of Asian descent from across the country — many in California — who came to the U.S. as children or were born here to parents who were immigrants or refugees."
"The details of their biographies are different, but the sense of duality is shared. And for many, that sense was heightened, early on, by food. “When friends came over and it smelled like sour fishy things, it was weird,” said Chase Valencia, a Filipino-American who runs Lasa in Los Angeles with his brother Chad. Niki Nakayama, the Japanese-American chef of n/naka in Los Angeles, remembers lifting the lid of her bento box in the school cafeteria to find little neck clams staring up at her, “with eyes it felt like,” she said."
"Some chefs resisted the claims of their heritage. Corey Lee, the Korean-American chef of Benu in San Francisco, once threw out his mother’s painstakingly made stores of kimchi when he was a teenager. Now he ferments his own kimchi at Benu — then transforms it into a membrane-thin, crispy glass to hold a single bite of pork belly and oyster."