FBI raids at DWP, LA City Hall related to fallout from billing debacle
LA Times's DAKOTA SMITH/DAVID ZAHNISER/ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN/LAURA J NELSON: "FBI agents fanned across the Los Angeles area on Monday, serving search warrants at multiple government offices, including the Department of Water and Power, as part of an investigation into how the city responded to the disastrous rollout of a new customer billing system."
"Wearing suits and navy blue FBI jackets, investigators searched the DWP headquarters on Hope Street and the offices of City Atty. Mike Feuer a few blocks away at City Hall. Search warrants were also served in two other locations — one in Beverly Hills, the other in an office tower that houses multiple city agencies."
"An FBI representative would not describe the nature of the investigation. However, Rob Wilcox, Feuer’s spokesman, said the warrants served at the city attorney’s office were connected to the city’s settlement of a class- action lawsuit filed over the inaccurate DWP bills that resulted from the launch of the new billing system in 2013."
California housing market officially now 'weak.' Is it an early warning of recession?
Sacramento Bee's TONY BIZJAK: "The once red-hot California housing sales market is officially now “weak,” state analysts say, but the year-long flattening does not necessarily suggest the state is headed toward an economic downturn."
"In a brief report issued Monday, the state Legislative Analyst’s Office weighed in on the latest California home sales trends, noting that homes sales statewide in June were down from the same month last year, and notably lower than historic norms."
"Home sales were on a clear downward trend during the second half of 2018 and the beginning of 2019,” analysts wrote. “Sales seem to have stabilized in recent months and are no longer declining from month to month."
READ MORE related to Homelessness & Housing: Mayor's affordable housing czar to step down -- The Chronicle's DOMINIC FRACASSA; San Bruno seeks housing, then rejects it: 'I don't know what you can get passed' -- The Chronicle's JK DINEEN; Oakland homelessness surges 47% -- per-capita number now higher than SF and Berkeley -- The Chronicle's SARAH RAVANI
Missouri firm with Silicon Valley ties faces Medicare billing scrutiny
LAUREN WEBER/FRED SCHULTE in California Healthline: "In many ways, Essence Group Holdings Corp. is a homegrown health care success story."
"Founded locally, it has grown into a broader company backed by a major Silicon Valley investor. Essence now boasts Medicare Advantage plans for seniors with some 60,000 members in Missouri and across the Mississippi River in Illinois. It ranks among the city’s top 35 privately held companies, according to the St. Louis Business Journal. And market research firm PitchBook Data values the company at over $1.64 billion."
"But a recent audit by the federal Health and Human Services inspector general, along with a whistleblower lawsuit, have put the St. Louis health care standout under scrutiny. Medicare officials also are conducting a separate audit of Essence."
OP-ED: Let's get plastic out of our food -- now
ASHLEY BLACOW-DRAEGER in Capitol Weekly: "You’ve probably heard the phrase, “You are what you eat” a thousand times. It’s a motto usually used to encourage skipping the fries or chips for the recommended servings of veggies and fruits. But lately this phrase has a taken on an alarming new meaning."
"We are eating plastic. We are exposed to microplastics and the chemicals that leach out from our food packaging in alarming amounts. The one true solution to this problem is stopping plastic at the source, which two bills in the California Legislature — Senate Bill 54 and Assembly Bill 1080 —are attempting to do."
"A recent finding estimates that an average person could be ingesting approximately 5 grams of plastic every week — that’s equivalent to the weight of one credit card!Tests of honey, salt, seafood and even beer have detected the presence of microplastics. While the impacts of plastic exposure to public health is an emerging field of understanding, we know enough to realize the repercussions could be significant and not worth the risk."
Caltrain maps out big growth and how to pay the $25B tab
The Chronicle's RACHEL SWAN: "Caltrain, the Peninsula commuter rail that started chugging when Abraham Lincoln was president, may look a lot more like BART in the coming years."
"Officials are putting together a long-range “service vision” for the next several decades designed to triple the number of riders, from 60,000 a day to 180,000. In the future, Caltrain would trade its diesel-belching locomotives for electric cars, with 10-car trains arriving at stations every 7½ minutes."
"That zippy, mass-transit-style rail system would accommodate a rapidly growing population, drawn to new housing and tech campuses along the corridor. It comes with a hefty price tag: $25 billion."
Watch as Ridgecrest earthquake shatters desert floor in stunning before-and-after images
LA Times's RONG-GONG LIN II: "Millions felt the shaking from the Ridgecrest earthquake."
"But new satellite images offer a dramatic and instructive view of the immense power of the magnitude 7.1 quake, showing how California’s biggest earthquake in nearly two decades caused the ground to break."
"Animated slides show how the quake permanently jolted a huge block of earth northwest while the other side of the fault moved southeast."
Migrant moms await due dates and court dates
California Healthline's HEIDEI DE MARCO: "A growing number of expectant mothers are among the migrants pouring in daily from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador — even Haiti — to more than 30 already overflowing shelters in Tijuana, Mexico."
"More women are arriving pregnant or with babies,” said pastor Gustavo Banda of the Embajadores de Jesús (Ambassadors of Jesus) church, which operates a shelter in Cañón del Alacrán (Scorpion’s Canyon) on the outskirts of Tijuana. “We have a lot of Haitian women and some Central American."
"Some women also get pregnant while they wait."
Deal sealed on federal budget, ensuring no shutdown, default
AP's ANDREW TAYLOR: "President Donald Trump and congressional leaders announced Monday a critical debt and budget agreement that's an against-the-odds victory for Washington pragmatists seeking to avoid political and economic tumult over the possibility of a government shutdown or first-ever federal default."
"The deal, announced by Trump on Twitter and in a statement by Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, will restore the government's ability to borrow to pay its bills past next year's elections and build upon recent large budget gains for both the Pentagon and domestic agencies."
"I am pleased to announce that a deal has been struck," Trump tweeted, saying there will be no "poison pills" added to follow-up legislation. "This was a real compromise in order to give another big victory to our Great Military and Vets!"
UC admits largest and most diverse class ever of Californian freshmen
LA Times's TERESA WATANABE: "The University of California opened its doors to the largest and most diverse class of Californians ever for the fall semester of 2019, according to preliminary data released Monday."
"The system’s nine undergraduate campuses offered seats to 71,655 California freshmen, nearly 600 more students than last year. Overall, UC admitted 108,178 freshmen among 176,695 freshman applicants. It also admitted 28,752 transfer students from a pool of 41,282, including the largest-ever class from the California Community Colleges."
"Overall, the system admitted 991 more students from underrepresented groups, increasing their proportion among California freshmen to 40% from 38% last year. First-generation students made up 44% of those admitted and low-income students 40%."
READ MORE related to Education: California Teachers Association names interim executive director -- EdSource's LOUIS FREEDBERG; Plan to expose all students to physics missing one element -- teachers -- EdSource's DIANA LAMBERT
Trump raises millions from Californians, but not as much as these Democrats
McClatchy's EMILY CADEI: "housands of Californians, including hundreds of Central Valley residents, gave to President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign this spring, campaign finance records show."
"California remains one of the president’s favorite punching bags. The state has now sued his administration more than 50 times. But many Californians continue to support the president, donating approximately $2 million to his campaign between April and June of 2019. That brings Trump’s total 2020 fundraising from the state to more than $3.5 million."
"Campaigns are not required to disclose donor information for contributions of less than $200, so the sum of Californians’ donations to the president’s campaign is likely much higher."
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Homeland Security's cuts in counterterrorism programs assailed
LA Times's DAVID WILLMAN: "A senior House member said Monday that he will explore legislation to prevent the Department of Homeland Security from diverting funds from critical research and programs on tracking nuclear material that could be used in a terrorist attack."
"Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), who heads the House Intelligence Committee, said that the gutting of programs intended to thwart potential terrorist attacks involving weapons of mass destruction over the last two years was a “dereliction of duty” and has put the nation at greater risk of potential catastrophic attack."
"A recently published Times investigative report revealed that multiple WMD-related programs have been cut back sharply or eliminated since 2017 at Homeland Security, which has primary domestic responsibility for helping authorities identify and block chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats."
How to see if you're entitled to part of the Equifax settlement
The Chronicle's SOPHIA KUNTHARA: "Equifax is expected to pay up to $600 million in a settlement for a 2017 data breach that exposed the information of about 147 million people."
"Up to $425 million of the settlement will go toward restitution for consumers who were affected by the breach, which occurred from mid-May through July 2017 and was revealed several months later."
"States will receive $175 million as part of the settlement, with California getting about $18.7 million in penalties, state Attorney General Xavier Becerra said this week. California had the most consumers’ information exposed, with about 15 million people affected, according to Becerra’s office, which said the company will not have to acknowledge any wrongdoing under the settlement."
Tue, Jul 23 2019