Who is the Gilroy gunman? Police identify 19-year-old Santino William Legan
Sacramento Bee's JAIMIE DING/SAM STANTON/CHARLES DUNCAN/ROB PARSONS: "The gunman who killed three people and wounded 12 others Sunday at the Gilroy Garlic Festival has been identified as Santino William Legan, a 19-year-old who was killed by police within minutes of opening fire, sources told the Associated Press Monday."
"Legan is the grandson of a former Santa Clara County supervisor, Tom Legan, who died last year, and police were searching his father’s home in a cul de sac less than two miles from the shooting scene."
"Family members could not be reached for comment Monday, but a neighbor said the area was a quiet neighborhood and that the family posed no problems in the past."
READ MORE related to Gun Violence Pandemic: Gunman promoted white supremacist treatise on Instagram -- The Chronicle's KURTIS ALEXANDER; Shooter lived quietly, almost unnoticed, in small Nevada town -- The Chronicle's DUSTIN GARDINER; Gunman in Gilroy mass shooting bought 'assault-type rifle' legally in Nevada, police say -- Sacramento Bee's JAIMIE DING/SAM STANTON; California's gun laws can't halt flow of firearms from other states -- Sacramento Bee's RYAN SABALOW/DALE KASLER; Gilroy shooting happened despite strict California gun laws. What more can lawmakers do? -- Sacramento Bee's HANNAH WILEY; Rapid Response: Gilroy shooting renews calls for stricter gun laws -- Sacramento Bee's BRYAN ANDERSON; Newsom blames Trump, Republicans for 'culture of gun violence' after Gilroy shooting -- Sacramento Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG; Trump calls killer 'wicked,' Dems urge more gun control -- The Chronicle's TRAPPER BYRNE; Shooter should 'rot in hell': Gun store owner speaks out over selling weapon to Gilroy gunman -- Sacramento Bee's SAM STANTON; Family mourns 'very loving' 6-year-old San Jose boy killed at Gilroy Garlic festival -- The Chronicle's GWENDOLYN WU/RACHEL SWAN; 25-year-old man killed at Gilroy Garlic Festival remembered as an athlete with a big heart -- The Chronicle's RACHEL SWAN; 13-year-old girl killed at Gilroy Garlic Festival: 'I can't tell you how much pain we feel' -- The Chronicle's GWENDOLYN WU/NANETTE ASIMOV; At Gilroy Garlic Festival sigils, residents pray for peace -- LA Times's RUBEN VIVES/LAURA J NELSON/MATTHEW ORMSETH/JACLYN COSGROVE; Charges filed against suspect in San Fernando Valley shooting rampage -- LA Times's GIULIA MCDONNELL NIETO DEL RIO; Gilroy Foundation sets up fund to benefit shooting victims -- BANG's LINDA ZAVORAL
Ricardo Lara tells insurers he's 'receptive' to their ideas, including vehicle data use
Politico's CARLA MARINUCCI/JEREMY B WHITE: "Embattled state Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara last week assured a convention of insurance executives that he would “start engaging the industry like never before” on issues that include giving insurers more access to drivers’ vehicle data — an effort long opposed by consumer advocates as a privacy invasion."
"I’m ready to get creative, just like all of you have been for so many years — and now you have somebody who’s receptive to that in the department,’’ Lara said, according to video taken by an attendee and provided to POLITICO of his address to the Western Regional General Counsel Conference, a meeting of 200 top insurance industry attorneys."
"The address came as Lara remains under intense fire for being too cozy with the industry he’s charged with regulating in the nation’s largest insurance market. Reports show that the Democrat has accepted hefty industry contributions despite pledging not to, intervened in several judicial decisions in favor of insurance companies linked to donors and met with a major insurance excutive with business before him, possibly in violation of state law. To date, Lara has refused requests to make his calendars public on those matters."
Defendants in deadly Ghost Ship fire are 'criminally negligent,' prosecutors say
AP: "Two men charged with involuntary manslaughter after a fire broke out at a California warehouse, killing 36 people, disregarded the safety of others when they illegally converted the building into a residence for artists and threw unpermitted parties there, prosecutors said Monday."
"At closing arguments in the trial of Derick Almena and Max Harris, Alameda County prosecutors said three dozen people had no notice, time or ability to escape the fast-moving fire in December 2016 because the warehouse was not properly equipped with smoke alarms or sprinklers."
"Prosecutors said Almena rented the warehouse, initially for the purpose of building theatrical sets, but then he quickly sublet the space to other artists and filled it with highly combustible materials that fueled the fire. Harris, 29, is accused of helping Almena convert the warehouse, collect rent and coordinate parties there."
READ MORE related to Ghost Ship Fire: Victims had no notice and no exits, prosecutors repeat in closing arguments -- KQED's DON CLYDE
OPINION: Execution not the only form of prison death
PHILIP MELENDEZ in Capitol Weekly: "Fifteen years into a 41 years-to-life sentence, I arrived at San Quentin — the home of Death Row. I immediately noticed the difference between the treatment of condemned people and of general population people, like myself. Anytime condemned people left their cell they were shackled at the waist and feet. As they moved through the corridors and walkways, all general population people were told to face the wall."
"We were told not to look at them."
"In California, there are a few different types of death sentences: the death penalty (immediate death), life without the possibility of parole (slow death, known as LWOP)), and life sentences (possible death)."
California Republicans and Democrats are living in opposite universes on climate change, poll finds
Sacramento Bee's BRYAN ANDERSON: Global temperatures are rising, yet a significant slice of Republicans in California say the effects of climate change will never be felt."
"According to a poll from the Public Policy Institute of California released Monday, a plurality of Republican likely voters — 35 percent — say the effects of global warming “will never happen,” while another 20 percent say the effects won’t happen in their lifetime but will affect future generations. Thirty-one percent of Republicans believe the effects are already being felt."
"Meanwhile, 85 percent of Democratic likely voters and 59 percent of Independents say the consequences of global warming have already begun."
READ MORE related to Climate Change: Worried about wildfires, Californians ready to spend, vote to fight climate change -- CalMatters' RACHEL BECKER
Harris has narrow lead in new California poll
The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH: "As 20 Democratic presidential candidates prepare to debate this week in Detroit, Sen. Kamala Harris has a narrow lead in a California survey that finds dramatic differences in the preferences of younger and older voters."
"The poll, conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California, found Harris on top with 19% support from likely voters in the March 3 Democratic primary, just ahead of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren with 15%, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders with 12% and former Vice President Joe Biden with 11%. Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Ind., was the only other Democratic candidate to reach 5%."
"The survey was an open-ended poll, with people asked to name the candidate they supported, rather than pick one from a long list. An open-ended national poll taken earlier this month by ABC News and the Washington Post found Biden on top at 25%, followed by Sanders at 18%, Harris and Warren at 9%, and Buttigieg at 3%."
Former US Rep. Issa to host fundraiser for Senate Leader McConnell
San Diego Union Tribune's CHARLES T CLARK: "Former Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, is doing his part to help reelect the second most important person in his political party, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell."
"Issa, who left Congress at the start of this year, will host a fundraiser for McConnell at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club on August 12, where the minimum contribution to attend the reception is $500."
"Issa said in a phone interview with the Union-Tribune Monday that McConnell has done a good and balanced job leading the Senate and has been a friend since Issa’s first bid for elected office in 1998, when he ran for the U.S. Senate."
Three drugmakers settle with California over deals to keep generic medications off the market
LA Times's SAMANTHA MASUNAGA: "Two pharmaceutical companies will pay the state of California a total of nearly $70 million to settle allegations that they violated antitrust laws by making agreements to delay generic drugs from entering the market, according to the California attorney general’s office."
"A third company will be subject to an injunction as part of the settlement."
"Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. illegally maintained a monopoly over sales of narcolepsy drug Provigil by entering “pay-for-delay” agreements to keep a generic version off the market for almost six years, Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra’s office said in a statement Monday."
Times Investigation: $22K for a trip to Australia? Pension trustees draw scrutiny over travel costs
LA Times's MATT STILES: "Across the nation, public employee pension funds typically spend significant sums for their trustees to attend conferences and seminars to keep up with the latest investment strategies and trends."
"Despite this, the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Assn. is an outlier — and drawing increased scrutiny because of it."
"The trustees of the massive trust fund, commonly known as LACERA, have taken hundreds of trips across the country and overseas in recent years, excursions that have cost the fund more than $1.3 million since 2015, according to a Times review of internal documents."
Californians' concerns about worsening wildfires at record high
KQED's ALLESSANDRA DICORATO: "A new poll reveals Californians' considerable anxiety about the effects of climate change on the state."
"A record number of California adults, 71%, said they’re very concerned about wildfires becoming more severe due to global warming, according to the survey conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California. That’s an increase of almost 10 percentage points over last year."
"Another 15% said they’re somewhat concerned about the worsening blazes. Last November's Camp Fire, in Butte County, was the deadliest wildfire in the U.S. in 100 years, killing 85 people and destroying the town of Paradise."
Darren Parker, California activist who lifted the voices of African-Americans, dead at 59
LA Times's DORANY PINEDA: "Darren W. Parker, a political activist who fought for racial equality as chairman of the California Democratic Party’s African American Caucus and former president of the local National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, has died at his home in Lancaster."
"Parker died July 22 from esophageal cancer, said his wife, Brenda. He was 59."
"[Parker] was a good man. He loved God; he loved his family; he loved his friends; and he loved his people, especially the California Democratic Party African American Caucus,” the organization said on its website. “He will be truly missed."
For nurses at risk of suicide, program lets them seek help when they need it the most
LA Times's PAUL SISSON: "Nurses die by suicide at a significantly higher rate than the general population, according to a recently released study from a team of researchers at UC San Diego."
"Examining nationwide data on violent deaths from 2014, the only year for which occupation information is included, the team found that suicide rates were nearly 58% higher for female nurses and 41% higher for male nurses."
"It’s no surprise to Dr. Judy Davidson, a UC San Diego nursing and psychiatry researcher who co-authored the paper. Society, she said, has long demanded a certain stoicism from nurses that is not expected from other professions in similar situations."
City computers breached, data potentially stolen from 20,000 LAPD applicants
LA Times's CINDY CHANG/DAVID ZAHNISER: "Los Angeles city computers were breached last week in a data theft potentially involving the personal information of about 20,000 applicants to the police department, including hundreds who are now sworn officers."
"The cyberattack highlights the vulnerability of government computer systems, with the city of Los Angeles subjected to billions of hacking attempts in the last five years, according to Ted Ross, general manager of the city’s Information Technology Agency."
"A person who identified himself or herself as a hacker contacted the city last Thursday, revealing inside knowledge of a database of people who applied to the LAPD between 2010 and 2018 or early 2019, Ross said."
Capitol One data theft may cover millions of applications, US says
LA Times's CHRISTIAN BERTHELSEN/MATT DAY: "Capital One Financial Corp. lost data from as many as tens of millions of credit card applications after a Seattle woman hacked into a cloud-computing company server, federal prosecutors in Seattle said."
"The woman, Paige A. Thompson, was arrested Monday and appeared in federal court in Seattle. The data theft occurred between March 12 and July 17, prosecutors said. The cloud-computing company, on whose servers Capital One rented space, wasn’t identified in court papers."
"The largest category of data stolen was supplied by consumers and small businesses when they applied for credit cards from 2005 through early 2019, the bank said. It included personal identification data, including names, addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth, and financial data including self-reported income, credit scores and fragments of transaction history. About 140,000 Social Security numbers were accessed, as well as 80,000 bank account numbers from credit-card customers, the bank said."
Uber lays off about 400 employees in marketing department reorganization
LA Times's JOHANA BHUIYAN: "A little more than two months after debuting its stock on the public market, Uber has made its first big cut to its workforce, laying off about 400 employees globally. In an email sent to staffers Monday, Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi said the company was reorganizing its marketing department across the globe."
"Khosrowshahi wrote, "[M]any of our teams are too big, which creates overlapping work, makes for unclear decision owners, and can lead to mediocre results. As a company, we can do more to keep the bar high, and expect more of ourselves and each other."
"The layoffs come just a few weeks after Khosrowshahi announced that Rebecca Messina, Uber’s global chief marketing officer, was ending her nine-month stint at the company and Uber was combining its public relations and marketing departments under Jill Hazelbaker, who was then senior vice president of communications and public policy. “Marketing is so important to our business, and our brand continues to be challenged,” Khosrowshahi said in an email explaining the decision to combine the departments in June."