New California tax on semi-automatic guns proposed by lawmaker
The Tribune's ANDREW SHEELER: "A California lawmaker will push for a new tax on sales of semi-automatic firearms, with the proceeds going to support community violence prevention programs."
"The gun tax will support the kind of interventions that make gun violence less likely in the first place which is exactly what we need to do,” Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-Greenbrae, said in a statement Wednesday."
"The new tax revenue would be routed through the existing California Violence Intervention and Prevention Program, overseen by the Board of State and Community Corrections, which send grants to cities and community-based organizations."
Cox declares victory after adding to lead over Valadao in last contested Congressional race
Fresno Bee's RORY APPLETON//LEWIS GRISWOLD: "Fresno Democrat TJ Cox increased his lead Wednesday over incumbent David Valadao in their race for California’s 21st Congressional District seat, and while the lead is a slim one at 529 votes it suggests Cox will win the contest when all votes are counted."
"Kings and Fresno counties each processed all of their remaining uncounted ballots on Wednesday. Cox now leads the Hanford Republican 56,634 votes to 56,105. Cox had moved into the lead Monday."
"The Cox campaign declared victory."
Nancy Pelosi has work to do to wrap up House speaker's job
The Chronicle's TAL KOPAN: "House Democrats overwhelmingly selected San Francisco Rep. Nancy Pelosi as the party’s nominee for speaker Wednesday, but she still has work to do to lock in the votes to reclaim the position she lost eight years ago."
"Pelosi won the yes-or-no vote by a far greater margin than when she last prevailed in a party leadership election two years ago. However, the number of Democrats who voted against her Wednesday was far more than Pelosi can afford to lose when the full House elects a speaker Jan. 3."
"Pelosi and her supporters said they were confident she can line up the support she needs over the next five weeks."
LA Times's MARK Z BARABAK/SARAH D WIRE: "When the House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Kevin McCarthy trooped with other Republican lawmakers to a splashy Rose Garden celebration, smiling alongside President Trump as they celebrated the moment."
"As majority leader, McCarthy had helped round up the votes to narrowly pass the hard-fought legislation, convincing 13 other California Republicans to go along, even though several faced tough reelection fights."
Camp Fire: Butte County officials name five more victims
The Chronicle's LAUREN HERNANDEZ: "Officials in Butte County named five more victims of the state’s most deadly wildfire on Wednesday night..."
“That’s a trend that we’re seeing in fewer and fewer remains being located,” said Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea in a Wednesday night press conference. “That’s positive because we’ve made good progress in covering the vast majority of the area.”
"The sheriff’s office has released a total of 32 victims’ names. On Tuesday, it released 16 names of victims."
READ MORE related to Camp Fire: List of names of those unaccounted for in Camp Fire -- Staff reports, Chico Enterprise-Record; Some Paradise evacuation zones could be reopened next week, officials say -- ANDRE BYIK, Chico Enterprise-Record; Some residents can likely return to fire-ravaged Paradise next week -- LA Times's CINDY CHANG/ANGEL JENNINGS
Lawmaker 'overly familiar' with staff member at California softball game
Sacramento Bee's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "A second Assembly investigation has found that Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia was “overly familiar” with a staff member at a legislative softball game in 2014, but that her drunken behavior was not “sexual."
"In a letter sent Wednesday to the Bell Gardens Democrat, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said Garcia’s behavior with Daniel Fierro had violated the Assembly’s sexual harassment policy and that “appropriate remedial action will be taken to prevent future similar conduct.” The letter did not specify what that would entail."
"The investigator concluded that “while in a state of inebriation, you encountered Mr. Fierro in the dugout, grabbed his arm for support, put your hand on his back and were overly familiar with him in a way that you would not have been had you been sober,” Rendon wrote. “However, the preponderance of the evidence did not support a finding that you touched Mr. Fierro on his buttock or genitals or that this was a sexual encounter."
READ MORE related to Sexual Misconduct: California Democratic leader seeks alcohol treatment amid sexual misconduct investigation -- Sacramento Bee's ALEXEI KOSEFF
Return possible for Oakland nurse whose deportation split family
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "A woman whose case drew national attention last year when immigration officials tore her from her children and her job as a nurse in Oakland and deported her to Mexico has a chance to beat the odds and return to the Bay Area, thanks to a lottery drawing and a recommendation from a U.S. consular officer."
"The final decision, though, is in the hands of a Trump administration immigration agency. The agency made a preliminary decision in the woman’s favor last month, but the administration has taken a hard line on undocumented immigrants."
"The woman, Maria Mendoza-Sanchez, has “become Exhibit A in the California-vs.-Trump immigration front lines,” said her immigration lawyer, Camiel Becker of Oakland."
Number of uninsured children climbs, reversing more than a decade of progress, report finds
LA Times's NOAM N. LEVEY: "The number of children in the United States without health insurance increased last year for the first time in more than a decade, according to a new report that highlights potentially worrisome backsliding in pediatric care."
"The erosion in health insurance came despite a robust economy, which in the past has helped fuel expansions in coverage."
"It likely reflects a number of steps taken by the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress that have targeted safety net programs such as Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program known as CHIP, note the authors of the new report from Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families."
Sacramento to spend $400K to clean up trash at homeless camps
Sacramento Bee's THERESA CLIFT: "The city of Sacramento will soon hire its first employees dedicated solely to picking up trash at homeless encampments."
"The City Council approved Tuesday spending $400,000 to fund the new trash collection crew, as well as several new pieces of trash disposal equipment, including a Gator-style utility vehicle to clean up human waste, a city staff report said."
"The crews will dispose of trash that police and organizations collect citywide as well as trash the Downtown Street Teams collect downtown and in the River District, said Jerome Council, a city public works official."
SF Giants principal owner Charles B. Johnson explains political donations
The Chronicle's HENRY SCHULMAN: "Charles B. Johnson, the billionaire Giants principal owner embroiled in a controversy over two political donations, defended himself Wednesday against charges that he is racist and criticized U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi for her “public hanging” comment."
"I think she was stupid,” Johnson told The Chronicle by phone from Palm Beach, Fla., in an extraordinarily rare interview. “She said stupid things, particularly in Mississippi. I think the comments she made about the hanging was offensive."
"Johnson, 85, also said the racist radio ad in Arkansas created by an organization to which he donated $1,000 was “unacceptable,” that he has made contributions to many African American office-seekers, most recently Utah congresswoman Mia Love, who lost her re-election bid, and that he is “a believer in racial harmony.”
SF supervisor wants Mark Zuckerberg's name removed from public hospital
The Chronicle's CATHERINE HO: "Citing Facebook’s mishandling of user privacy and its use of an opposition research firm to discredit critics, San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin is pushing to remove Mark Zuckerberg’s name from the city’s public hospital."
"The hospital was renamed Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital in 2015 after the Facebook CEO and his wife contributed $75 million to the hospital’s foundation."
"Peskin on Tuesday asked the city attorney to outline a procedure for removing Zuckerberg’s name from the hospital. (Though it formally bears Chan’s name, the hospital often calls itself just “Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center” in signage.) In his remarks, Peskin cited the Cambridge Analytica scandal — in which the political data firm obtained the personal information of as many as 87 million Facebook users without their consent — and revelations in a recent New York Times article about Facebook’s hiring of a political consulting firm to discredit activists critical of the company. The social network, according to the Times, sought to cast some criticism of Facebook as anti-Semitic, while Facebook’s consulting firm was also accused of tactics tainted with anti-Semitism."
LA Times's MAYA LAU: "Numerous Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials, including high-ranking executives at the level of chief and above, will be removed from their jobs once Sheriff-elect Alex Villanueva is sworn in Monday, his spokesman said."
"Those being relieved of duty include the undersheriff, the four assistant sheriffs, eight chiefs, a communications director and a community outreach director, said Danny Leserman, a spokesman for Villanueva. He said the department’s two constitutional policing advisors are being transferred to new jobs with Los Angeles County and will be replaced."
A FB Messenger wiretap? Feds tried to force it in Fresno MS-13 investigation, ACLU says
McClatchy's JARED GILMOUR: "Civil liberties groups are calling on a federal judge to reveal how the government tried — and why it failed — to force Facebook to wiretap the encrypted conversations of users during an investigation into the violent transnational gang MS-13."
"In August, the Justice Department tried to make Facebook break the encryption on its Messenger platform to allow law enforcement to listen in on Facebook voice calls as part of an MS-13 investigation in Fresno, California, Reuters reported. Facebook wouldn’t, and then the social media giant successfully fought off federal investigators in court when investigators tried holding Facebook in contempt for not cooperating, the Washington Post reported."
GOP cancels votes on judges amid standoff over Mueller bill
AP's MARY CLARE JALONICK: "The Senate Judiciary Committee has canceled a Thursday vote on more than 20 federal judge nominations amid a standoff between Republican Sen. Jeff Flake and GOP leaders over legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller."
"The Arizona senator, who is retiring from Congress, is a frequent critic of President Donald Trump. Flake has said he won't vote for any federal judges until Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell holds a Senate floor vote on the special counsel bill. The Judiciary panel, with an 11-10 Republican majority, doesn't have enough votes to advance nominees without Flake's support."
"Confirming more judges before the end of the year is a top priority for McConnell, but he hasn't budged in his opposition to the special counsel bill, which he says is unnecessary."
READ MORE related to POTUS45: 14 GOP senators break with Trump over US role in Yemen -- LA Times' TRACY WILKINSON/DAVID S CLOUD; Avenatti filed Stormy Daniels' defamation suit against her wishes, she says -- WaPo's FELICIA SONMEZ