Who moves to California? The wealthier and better educated, mostly
LA Times's MARGOT ROOSEVELT: "High taxes. Stifling regulations. Exorbitant housing costs. Freeway gridlock. Fires and floods."
"Hand-wringing over an exodus of disillusioned Californians may be a Golden State pastime, the subject of political punditry and strung-out social media threads."
"But the latest data are far from dire. The U.S. Census Bureau, in its newly released surveys for 2017, shows that California’s net migration remained fairly stable. Since 2010, as the economic recovery took hold and housing prices skyrocketed, departures accelerated — but the number of newcomers rose steadily as well."
Gov. Jerry Brown sets record for pardons, commutations in California
The Chronicle's BOB E GELKO: "When Jerry Brown was governor from 1975 to 1983, he pardoned 404 convicted criminals, removing the convictions from their records, and granted one commutation, shortening a prisoner’s sentence."
"But during his past eight years in office, he has granted 1,189 pardons and 152 commutations, far more than any other governor in modern California history."
"The atmosphere, the gangs, the hopelessness, sentences that are so long ... the no-exit attitude has made it virtually impossible to have any strong rehabilitative atmosphere,” Brown said in an interview. “This has given me the interest, where I can, in instilling hope.”
READ MORE related to the governor: It's an easy A for Jerry Brown in his final two terms as governor of California -- LA Times's GEORGE SKELTON
California bullet train is pumping billions into the Valley economy. So why is it so unpopular?
Sacramento Bee's DALE KASLER/RYAN LILLIS/TIM SHEEHAN: "Vicente Ward had trouble finding work after leaving the Air Force — until California’s bullet-train project came along. Now he’s helping build a bridge that some day will carry rail passengers across the San Joaquin River between Madera and Fresno."
"It’s a sense of accomplishment; my kids can see this 20 years from now,” said Ward, 52, a carpenter from Clovis, during a break at the job site. “It’s providing jobs for the community. We help stimulate the economy. ... Now my family has medical, has dental."
Fire-scarred Wine Country critical of planned PG&E blackouts
The Chronicle's J.D. MORRIS: "Just before Pacific Gas and Electric Co. intentionally turned off power to prevent fires for the first time ever two months ago, one sheriff learned the utility had potentially life-saving information."
"On Oct. 13, the day before power was cut to parts of his region, Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin discovered PG&E had contact information for local residents who require access to energy for health reasons, such as being on life-support equipment."
"Martin wanted to use the list so he and his deputies could help the utility check whether those vulnerable residents knew they could lose power and had planned accordingly, he recalled."
In a town of unanswered questions, Paradise tries to imagine its future
LA Times's THOMAS CURWEN: "Rain was falling as evacuees returned to their beloved town in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Traffic slowed as drivers beheld the devastation."
"Five weeks earlier, an inferno swept through these wooded neighborhoods, exacting a terrible toll. Of the 86 people killed in the Camp fire, most lived here. Of the more than 14,000 structures lost, 12,000 were from here. Ninety percent of the town was lost, officials say."
"Shortcomings in the state’s education systems are a major contributor to California’s increasingly stratified society, with people of color experiencing the greatest negative impacts. Opportunities are abundant for people with CTE certificates, associate and bachelor’s degrees."
OP-ED: Let's establish a cradle-to-career education policy
LENNY MENDONCA/PETE WEBER in Capitol Weekly: “Our role begins when babies are still in the womb and it doesn’t end until we’ve done all we can to prepare them for a quality job and successful career.” Those were the words Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom used to describe his “cradle-to-career” education platform during the 2018 campaign."
"We agree. For both social and economic reasons, we need a paradigm shift to improve the state’s educational outcomes, one that starts before birth and extends through school, college and into the workplace."
Fleeing death threats, family joins record number crossing border in search of asylum
The Chronicle's JILL TUCKER: "In early November, Maria packed up her four children, paid a smuggler $12,000 and fled her small Guatemalan village, embarking on the long journey that a record number of families from south of the border are choosing to make."
"It would take her and the children, ages 2 to 11, a month to reach the Rio Grande and enter the United States."
"Maria, who arrived in the Bay Area less than two weeks ago, recounted the terrifying trip, the days without food, the cold, the endless nights of walking with children in tow and with hopes of receiving asylum — a story that is unfolding repeatedly along the border."
Recall deals blow to California's cannabis industry
The Chronicle's PETER FIMRITE: "The recall of tens of thousands of pounds of marijuana and other products after a Sacramento laboratory was caught faking pesticide test results has jolted a cannabis industry that has struggled for legitimacy in its first year facing a full-slate of state regulations."
"The action against Sequoia Analytical Lab last month was “yet another cut in the death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts scenario that is playing out for so many producers in the state,” said Hezekiah Allen, the chairman of Emerald Grown, a co-op made up of about 100 licensed growers mostly north of San Francisco."
"The regulated market will only thrive when producers and consumers have confidence in the labs,” he said. “Right now that confidence is something we don’t have."
Do you wash your avocados before eating? It's time to start, FDA warns
Sacramento Bee's DON SWEENEY: "A new federal Food and Drug Administration report advises consumers to wash avocados before preparing and eating them - even though the avocado peels are inedible."
"An FDA study found about 1 out of 5 avocado peels carry bacteria, including listeria, which can cause a serious food-borne illness, according to the report. Researchers also found salmonella on some avocado skins."
"While avocado peels are inedible, dirt and bacteria can be carried from the skin to the pulpy fruit inside by knives or hands, reported the FDA."
SCUSD at risk of government takeover. Here's what might happen
Sacramento Bee's VINCENT MOLESKI: "The possibility of a state government takeover looms over Sacramento City Unified School District following a despairing Dec. 12 financial report that warned of severe interventions if the district cannot solve its budget problems."
"The California Department of Education has wrested control from insolvent districts via emergency loans just nine times since 1990. Only five of those school districts have paid off all their loans and regained full autonomy, according to department records."
"Sacramento City Unified has announced that it will run out of funding by November 2019. If it is unable to reach fiscal solvency before that time, it may have to take on an emergency loan from the state to continue operations, which will also force a takeover by the Department of Education."
READ MORE related to Education: California teachers can pin students face down. Does the danger outweigh the benefit? -- Sacramento Bee's SAWSAN MORRAR/PHILLIP REESE
Trump would accept less money for border wall
AP's DARLENE SUPERVILLE: "A top White House official signaled Sunday that President Donald Trump is willing to accept less money than he's been demanding to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall, but a senior congressional Democrat said that, while their own offer could be sweetened, they still will not agree to a wall."
"The back and forth across the television airwaves did little to inspire hope that a Christmas season closure of some federal government operations would end later this week, when the House and Senate are scheduled to meet again."
"In fact, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney warned that the shutdown could stretch into January, when a new Congress is seated."
READ MORE related to POTUS45/KremlinGate/TrumpShutdown: Yosemite, other parks open during federal shutdown -- though some services cease -- Sacramento Bee's MARILYN CASTANEDA; Trump forces Mattis out early, names former Boeing exec acting defense secretary -- WaPo's PHILIP RUCKER/DAN LAMOTHE/JOSH DAWSEY