Gov. Brown, departing, talks candidly and eyes the future
From Capitol Weekly's CHUCK MCFADDEN: "California’s longest-serving governor will turn things over to incoming Gavin Newsom on Jan. 7, but during a recent public appearance Jerry Brown bathed in the upside of politics."
"Brown got a standing ovation from a capacity crowd at the Sacramento Press Club when he walked into the ballroom of the downtown Masonic Temple, (10 minutes late, to nobody’s surprise) and he got another one when he left a little more than an hour later...."
"I like sparring with the press, I like raising money, I like attacking my opponents, I like being attacked by my opponents.”
Eight federal judges on appellate court dissent over prayer-ban ruling
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "Eight conservative judges on the federal appeals court in San Francisco, including both of President Trump’s appointees, dissented sharply Wednesday from a ruling that prohibited a public school board from opening its sessions with a prayer."
"The case may be headed to the Supreme Court — and one Trump-appointed appellate judge said the high court should reconsider its longtime definition of the barriers between church and state."
"In Wednesday’s proceedings, a majority of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a request to reconsider a panel’s ruling in July that halted prayers and Bible readings at meetings of the Chino Valley Unified School District in San Bernardino County."
Read more on Brown and the law: Gov. Jerry Brown sets record for pardons, commutations in California -- BOB EGELKO, Chronicle
Firefighter unions gave Newsom a key endorsement. Will they get their pick at Cal Fire?
Sacramento Bee's ADAM ASHTON: "Who should lead the state department responsible for wildland fires? Someone who knows how to manage forests, or someone who knows how to put out the flames?"
"The union that represents California state firefighters is leaning on Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom to appoint a fire chief to lead the state’s fire department."
"Cal Fire Local 2881’s request reflects a split between the two main responsibilities for the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection."
LA Times's PATRICK MCGREEVY: "When Californians voted in 2016 to allow the sale of recreational marijuana, advocates of the move envisioned thousands of pot shops and cannabis farms obtaining state licenses, making the drug easily available to all adults within a short drive."
"But as the first year of licensed sales comes to a close, California’s legal market hasn’t performed as state officials and the cannabis industry had hoped. Retailers and growers say they’ve been stunted by complex regulations, high taxes and decisions by most cities to ban cannabis shops. At the same time, many residents are going to city halls and courts to fight pot businesses they see as nuisances, and police chiefs are raising concerns about crime triggered by the marijuana trade."
"Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, who played a large role in the legalization of cannabis, will inherit the numerous challenges when he takes office in January as legislators hope to send him a raft of bills next year to provide banking for the pot industry, ease the tax burden on retailers and crack down on sales to minors."
Prop. 13 is fair game in California
The Chronocile's JOE GAROFOLI: "Proposition 13 is untouchable."
"That’s been the thinking for 40 years in California. Politicians have feared for their careers if they dared suggest changes to the measure that capped property taxes, took a scythe to government spending and spawned antitax initiatives across the country."
"However, that is beginning to change. With Republican influence in California on the wane and ascendant Democrats making tax fairness an issue, advocates are confident that the time is right to take a run at some legacies of the 1978 measure."
For wildfire survivors, mental health can be a struggle
Sacramento Bee's MICHELLE SIMON: "Klyda Flanders held a stuffed toy monkey to her chest with one hand as she lay on a cot in an evacuation shelter in Gridley, near the town of Paradise. Her other hand was held by a Red Cross volunteer, Michelle Maki, who knelt by Flanders’ bed."
" Maki nodded as Flanders talked about fleeing her home in Paradise and the uncertainty of not knowing what lies ahead now that her old life is in ash."
“You cannot imagine what it’s like, and I’m one of the lucky ones,” said Flanders
DOW soars more than 1,050 points on its best day in history
WaPo's THOMAS HEATH: "Stocks on Wednesday climbed back from their epic Christmas Eve plunge as all three indexes posted big gains."
"The Dow Jones industrial average roared 1,086 points, or 4.98 percent - its biggest point gain in history - as stocks snapped a four-day losing streak that had placed the 10-year bull market on the edge of death on Monday."
"Wednesday's 4.96 percent climb in the S&P was its best Dec. 26 on record, replacing the 3.06 percent gain record set in 1973, according to S&P Dow Jones indices."
Drive, walk, ride a bike or a scooter? New California traffic laws might affect your ride
Sacramento Bees ANDREW SHEELER: "California drivers and bicyclists, get ready. There are a host of new rules of the road going into effect in California on Jan. 1."
"Here’s a sampling of laws set to go into effect in the new year."
"Gender identification: SB 169, sponsored by Sen. Toni Atkins, D-San Diego. This law allows applicants for a California driver license or state ID “to self-certify their chosen gender category of male, female or nonbinary in the application.” A nonbinary gender designation will appear as an “X” in the gender category on the ID."
LA Times's ELI STOKOLS/TRACY WILKINSON: "President Trump made a surprise visit Wednesday to a U.S. air base in Iraq to meet with American troops and commanders, and to dispel growing complaints that he had never visited a war zone in his first two years in office."
"Trump, accompanied by his wife, Melania, left a partially shuttered government in Washington just after midnight, flew all day and landed in the dark at the joint U.S.-Iraqi Asad Air Base west of Baghdad about 7 p.m. local time."
"Asked why he came, Trump told reporters before a meeting with military leaders on base: “It’s a place I have been talking about for many years — many, many years. I was talking about it as a civilian.”
READ MORE related to POTUS45: WH, Congressional Dems see no deal on shutdown -- AP's JULIET LINDERMAN/DARLENE SUPERVILLE
If you like a shirtless Russian leader, a 2019 Putin calendar could be for you
LA Times's SABRA AYRES: "Since Vladimir Putin became president of Russia in 2000, his image has adorned just about every type of kitschy souvenir imaginable. His face is on magnets, framed photos, coffee mugs, T-shirts and even chocolate bar wrappers."
"But no year would be complete without a Vladimir Putin calendar. There are many from which to choose, all glorifying the 66-year-old KGB officer turned autocrat in 12 photos."
"The latest calendars will not disappoint anybody looking for images that capture the many dimensions of the Kremlin leader, who has dominated international headlines this year with stories about Russia’s meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and accusations that his agents poisoned a Russian turncoat and his daughter in England."