As California burns, Congress plans to slash tax write-offs for fires and other disasters
LA Times' SARAH D. WIRE: "As California burns, Congress is planning to limit taxpayers’ ability to write off losses from future wildfires and other disasters."
"The disaster write-off is one of the many little-known deductions set to be mostly wiped out in the GOP tax plan, but it’s getting fresh attention because of the fires that have devastated parts of Southern California over the last week."
"The House tax bill entirely eliminates the deduction that allows people to claim uninsured losses after all types of disasters; the Senate version allows people to take the deduction only if the president declares a federal disaster."
READ MORE related to The West is Burning: New evacuations as huge SoCal fire flares up -- AP's CHRISTOPHER WEBER; Thomas Fire creating its own weather, expert says -- Daily News' BRIAN DAY; Southern California wildfires update: Fire, evacuation maps and latest info -- Sacramento Bee's KALIN KIPLING/NOEL HARRIS; Guiding LA through a crisis -- NYT's ADAM NAGOURNEY; California's record-smashing fire season sparks hunt for solutions -- The Chronicle's KURTIS ALEXANDER; Interactive map: Tracking the SoCal fires -- The Chronicle; At 230,000 acres, Thomas fire is now the fifth-largest wildfire in modern California history -- LA Times' MELISSA ETEHAD/RUBEN VIVES/HARRIET RYAN/ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN; Firefighters work to 'mop up' Creek fire as it nears full containment -- Daily News' ANDREW EDWARDS; Rye fire containment increases to 93 percent in Santa Clarita -- Daily News' ANDREW EDWARDS
LA Times' JOHN MYERS: "Renewing his criticism of President Trump’s stance on climate change as he traveled to Paris for an international meeting, Gov. Jerry Brown said on Sunday that the president’s agenda has a “reckless disregard” for the seriousness of the problem."
"Nature is not a political game. Nature is the ground on which we stand, it's the air which we breathe,” Brown said in an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS’ “60 Minutes.” “The truth of the case is that there's too much carbon being emitted, that heat trapping gases are building up, the planet is warming and all hell is breaking loose."
"The governor left on Sunday for an event marking the two-year anniversary of the Paris Climate Accord, a summit whose final agreement was praised by Brown but rejected by Trump this past June."
READ MORE related to Environment: Santa Ana posts hottest temperature in the US, Newport Beach breaks 93-year-old heat record -- OC Register's JORDAN GRAHAM
From the NYT: "A peaceful beginning to the workweek was shattered Monday after an explosion rattled through one of the busiest transit hubs in New York City, causing the authorities to evacuate hundreds of commuters and throwing the morning into chaos."
"The Police Department said that one person was in custody after the blast echoed through the passageway connecting the Times Square and Port Authority subway stations shortly before 7:30 a.m."
"The suspect was in serious condition at Bellevue Hospital. The Fire Department said four injuries had been reported."
Bonuses, pay deals send college executives' salaries soaring
The Chronicle's NANETTE ASIMOV: "The highest-paid college president in the nation quadrupled his pay in a single year to $4 million thanks to a hiring deal, according to a new survey of executive compensation at private universities."
"Nathan Hatch, president of Wake Forest University in North Carolina, earned slightly more than $1 million in 2014. He took home four times as much in 2015, the most recent year of data available, because a lucrative agreement kicked in — a $255,000 annual set-aside — that he would receive after 10 years on the job."
"The bonus sent his pay soaring beyond that of other scholarly tycoons in the loftiest ranks of academia — including the heads of Stanford University and the Ivy League schools — and reflects a spiraling up of executive pay that critics say is rarely linked to quality. Even those who negotiate such pay packages acknowledge that there are factors at work besides merit."'
READ MORE related to Education: How one California school district is leading the way on new science standards -- EdSource's CAROLYN JONES
Trump pressured Cambodia on deportations. Woodland man now fears imminent departure
Sacramento Bee's ANITA CHABRIA/STEPHEN MAGAGNINI: "Woodland resident Rita Wages received a devastating call Thursday afternoon from her husband, Sareang “Ryan” Ye, a Cambodian immigrant who has been detained by federal immigration officials since last month."
"Ye asked his wife to bring him a travel bag by 3 p.m. Monday because officials told him he is being deported."
"The ICE officer went in there ... and told him to have his family members pack a bag,” she said. “I feel so bad for my son. I don’t know what to say right now."
READ MORE related to POTUS45: Local Palestinian rights groups rally to tell Trump: Hands off Jerusalem -- LA Times' ANDREA CASTILLO; Trump Foundation funding of James O'Keefe was twice as much as previously reported, per new filings -- ThinkProgress' JOSH ISRAEL; Sirius XM faces celebrity backlash after Steve Bannon rejoins radio show -- CNN's JACKIE WATTLES
From BuzzFeed's CATHERINE GARCIA: "On Monday morning, 16 women who have come forward and accused President Trump of sexual misconduct will hold a press conference, calling on Congress to open an investigation into their allegations."
"The press conference will start at 10:30 a.m. ET, shortly after three of the women — Jessica Leeds, Samantha Holvey, and Rachel Crooks — are scheduled to appear on Megyn Kelly Today to share their own stories. Leeds said that during a flight in the 1980s, Trump groped her, and Crooks said in 2005, while working as a receptionist for a company with an office in Manhattan's Trump Tower, she introduced herself to Trump while waiting for an elevator and he forcibly kissed her. Holvey said while competing as Miss North Carolina in the 2006 Miss USA pageant, Trump came backstage to ogle the women, telling CNN she felt as though "we were just sexual objects, we were not people."
Crooks told CNN in November it's been tough to watch as men accused of sexual misconduct, like producer Harvey Weinstein, have lost their jobs, while Trump is still in the White House, seemingly untouchable. "I think it's just evidence of sort of the political atmosphere these days, we're forgotten by politicians who think it's more convenient to keep Trump in office, you know, have him just sweeping his indiscretions under the rug." Trump has denied all of the accusations.
Black voters are key to Democratic hopes in Alabama's Senate race. Will they turn out?
LA Times' MARK Z. BARABAK/MICHAEL FINNEGAN: "Two minutes into Sunday’s invocation, after blessing the sunshine and recent snowfall and its swift melting, the pastor turned to the political contest that has riveted the nation’s attention on the Deep South."
"He asked the Lord to lift up the country, from the White House to City Hall, and asked for deliverance of a new U.S. senator for Alabama who “will suit us best and is the one that will meet our needs."
"The minister, the Rev. Arthur Price Jr., didn’t say who he had in mind. But speaking to a predominantly black congregation in the basement of Birmingham’s historic 16th Street Baptist Church, he didn’t have to."
READ MOORE: Roy Moore in 2011: Getting rid of amendments after 10th would 'eliminate many problems' -- CNN's ANDREW KACZYNSKI
Stressed California dams often go years without repairs. Do 'little things' add up to danger?
Sacramento Bee's RYAN SABALOW/DALE KASLER: "When it comes to inspecting dams, California is second to none. A panel of national experts examined the state’s Division of Safety of Dams last year and declared it tops in the field, citing inspectors’ knack for flagging small problems before they turn serious."
"Getting dam owners to fix those flaws quickly is another matter."
"A Sacramento Bee investigation prompted by the nearly catastrophic failure of Oroville Dam’s flood-control spillway in February found that owners of some of California’s most important dams – those whose failure could cause residents downstream to lose their lives – often allow deficiencies to linger for years – even though these shortcomings get cited repeatedly in annual inspection reports."
All is not bucolic at Apple Hill, where a legal fight is now brewing
Sacramento Bee's SAM STANTON: "Apple Hill has been an autumn destination for decades for Northern California families in search of fresh fruits, Halloween pumpkins, Christmas trees and wine tasting."
"Now, it is at the center of a legal fight over who can use the name “Apple Hill” to hawk their farm goods."
"The dispute is between the Apple Hill Growers Association, which adopted the name “Apple Hill” in 1964, and the family that runs Boa Vista Orchards, one of the largest farm stand operations in the area just east of Placerville along Highway 50."
Yes, you'll be able to smoke weed legally in three weeks. But here are hard realities.
Sacramento Bee's JOE MATHEWS: "California’s transition to legal cannabis contains a mind-bending paradox: Ending prohibitions on marijuana will require newly aggressive law enforcement."
"When Jan. 1 rolls around, California will not merely be permitting adults 21 and older to use marijuana for recreational purposes. The state and its cities will be creating a new regime to regulate and tax cannabis."
"The stakes are high: Successful cannabis legalization in America’s largest state could help end the devastating drug war in the United States. But if this transition turns messy, the Trump administration, which is devoted to debasing California and promoting thoughtless “law-and-order” policies, could bogart everything, stepping up arrests and criminal penalties for drug violations."
READ MORE related to Cannabis: Smaller growers say regulators reneged on pot plot ownership -- The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI
The flow is receding, but Puerto Rican evacuees are still pouring into Florida
LA Times' KATE SANTICH: "Ashley Mendez arrived in Orlando before sunrise Thursday, her eyes red from crying, a single duffel bag holding all her worldly possessions. The 20-year-old already ached for her mother, left behind in Puerto Rico."
"She made her way through a special welcome center at Orlando International Airport set up by the state, proceeding stoically until she traded in her Puerto Rican identification card for a Florida ID, and a worker snipped the old one in half — a symbolic death to her former, familiar life. Then, the blood seemed to drain from her face."
"What if I want to go back?” she said."