Newsom’s California vaccine bill changes surprise backers
From the AP's DON THOMPSON and KATHLEEN RONAYNE: "Medical groups and a lawmaker behind California legislation to crack down on vaccine exemptions said Wednesday they were surprised by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s last-minute call for changes to the bill, a move that inserted fresh uncertainty into one of the year’s most contentious issues."
"It was the second time the Democratic governor sought to change the measure aimed at doctors who sell fraudulent medical exemptions for students, a proposal vehemently opposed by anti-vaccine activists. After expressing hesitancy with the bill and winning substantial changes to the measure in June, Newsom had committed to signing it."
"After it passed out of the Senate on Wednesday, advocates said they still expect him to sign it, even as opponents target Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, urging a veto."
READ MORE on vaccinations: Vaccine bill is on Gavin Newsom’s desk, but his office wants changes that reflect ‘his values -- Bee's HANNAH WILEY and SOPHIA BOLLAG; Dr. Bob Sears’ views on vaccines have inspired loyal followers — and a crush of criticism -- LAT's MELODY GUTIERREZ; California vaccine-exemption crackdown heads to governor -- Chronicle's DUSTIN GARDINER and ALEXEI KOSEFF
With California’s vaccine bill, children’s immunizations and Newsom’s word are at stake
From the LAT's GEORGE SKELTON: "Gov. Gavin Newsom is about to show the Legislature and all of us just how much his word is worth."
"In June, the governor promised to sign a highly contentious vaccine bill if it was changed to narrow its scope. The measure’s author, state Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), amended it the way Newsom wanted."
"The governor and the senator publicly praised each other for being cooperative/"
Newsom wheels and deals
From CALMATTERS' DAN WALTERS: "Gavin Newsom wasn’t born when the TV game show “Let’s Make a Deal” began its run but he’s channeling its host, Monty Hall, during the final days of his first legislative session as governor."
"Every few days, it seems, Newsom announces that he and legislative leaders have agreed on one of the session’s major issues, most prominently — so far — rent control and charter school oversight."
"Additionally, Labor Day saw a Newsom declaration that he supports Assembly Bill 5, arguably this year’s most controversial bill. It would place in state law, with some modifications, a state Supreme Court ruling that tightens up the legal definition of employment, striking a blow at widespread use of contract workers."
Surviving crew member thought phone charging station might have sparked boat fire
From the LAT's HANNAH FRY, KIM CHRISTENSEN, SUSANNE RUST, COLLEEN SHALBY: "One of the crew members aboard the dive boat Conception hadn’t been asleep long when a noise jolted him awake."
"He swung open the door of the wheelhouse — the top level of the 75-foot boat, located just above the galley — and was greeted by flames."
"As the fire raged in the predawn hours of Labor Day, the vessel’s captain made a frantic mayday call to the Coast Guard. Then he and four crew members jumped from the wheelhouse and climbed into a dinghy to get help from the Grape Escape, a fishing boat anchored nearby off Santa Cruz Island."
Probe to find cause of boat fire could lead to criminal case:
From the AP's BRIAN MELLEY: "The captain and crew who leapt from a burning dive boat off Southern California saved themselves as 34 people perished below deck."
"Whether their escape from the Conception before dawn Monday was the only viable option, an act of cowardice or even a crime has yet to be determined. While the old saw about the captain going down with his ship is more an antiquated notion, there are laws to punish a ship’s master who shirks his duty to safely evacuate passengers."
"The responsibilities of captain and crew are broadly defined, said professor Martin J. Davies, who is the maritime law director at Tulane University. With passengers, their duty is take reasonable care in all the circumstances, which is dependent on those circumstances."
Democratic Rep. Susan Davis says she won’t seek reelection in 2020
From WaPo's COLBY ITKOWITZ: "Democratic Rep. Susan A. Davis, who has represented her Southern California district since 2001, announced Wednesday that she would not seek reelection in 2020."
"Davis, 75, is the fourth Democratic House member to decide to resign or run for a different office, joining 15 Republicans who have decided to leave Congress."
"In a letter to her constituents, Davis did not say why she was leaving but expressed a desire to live and work in San Diego after 20 years of commuting cross-country. She wrote that she had “struggled to make this very difficult decision.”
Devin Nunes suing Glenn Simpson and ethics group, claiming conspiracy
From WaPo's RACHEL WEINER: "Republican Congressman Devin Nunes of California has filed a lawsuit claiming a left-leaning transparency nonprofit conspired with a research firm to damage his reputation."
"The lawsuit in federal court in Alexandria follows two that Nunes filed in state court against parody Twitter accounts, Twitter, a Republican strategist and the media company McClatchy for reporting on or mocking him."
"In the federal suit, Nunes says ethics complaints filed by the Campaign for Accountability are retaliation for his work on the House Intelligence Committee, in which he has repeatedly impugned the integrity of the firm Fusion GPS and the credibility of a dossier a researcher hired by the firm compiled on President Trump’s alleged connections to Russia."
A promise stalled: Eight months in, Gov. Gavin Newsom has yet to hire a homelessness czar
From PolitiFact's CHRIS NICHOLS: "Eight months into his term as California governor, Gavin Newsom has set aside $1 billion to address the state's homlessness crisis, formed a task force to get at its root cause and pushed for speeding up the construction of new shelters."
"But he's yet to hire a cabinet-level homelessness secretary, something he vowed to do during his campaign. And it's not clear whether he'll ever follow through."
"We must address homelessness. I'll create an interagency council to end chronic homelessness led by a cabinet-level secretary committed to solving the issue not just managing it," Newsom promised in a campaign video."
Tenaja fire chars nearly 1,000 acres near Murrieta and prompts evacuations
The LAT's JACLYN COSGROVE and GENARO MOLINA: "A fast-moving fire erupted in hillside terrain near Murrieta on Wednesday night, quickly scorching almost 1,000 acres and prompting mandatory evacuation orders for multiple residential enclaves as fire officials urged others nearby to voluntarily leave."
"At least 300 firefighters responded to the Tenaja fire in Riverside County, which sent up an eerie and massive plume of smoke at dusk. By nightfall, hillsides were aglow in hot and windy conditions on a day marked by thunderstorms in the region. By late Wednesday, the fire had burned hillsides in unincorporated Riverside County and appeared to be headed northeast toward Murrieta."
"The mandatory evacuation orders included all homes along The Trails Circle in La Cresta and Copper Canyon, as well as the Santa Rosa Plateau Visitor Center along Clinton Keith Road. Residents of Murrieta’s Bear Creek community were under voluntary evacuation. Campuses in the Murrieta Valley Unified School District will be closed Thursday as a precaution."
A trove of art stolen in the ’90s has turned up. LAPD is looking for the original owners
From the LAT's JAMES QUEALLY: "A quarter-century has passed since the Los Angeles Police Department began investigating a string of break-ins at expensive homes in Hollywood and across the city’s wealthy Westside."
"Dozens of artifacts — including paintings from Picasso and Spanish compatriot Joan Mirò, antique firearms and documents signed by former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Howard Taft — had vanished from their walls, pedestals and cases."
"Working alongside Interpol, the LAPD managed to capture two men involved in the burglary spree in 1993, but the valuables appeared to be lost for good."
Small donors don’t cut it for many Democratic candidates. Back to the rich
From EVAN HALPER, LAT: "After all the promises that fundraising-as-usual was behind them and that charming the wealthy over canapes would take a backseat to chatting with regular human beings, Democratic presidential candidates spent a lot of time this summer in the Hamptons."
"Martha’s Vineyard, Brentwood, and the well-manicured estates of Silicon Valley, too."
"Paying the bills without paying regular visits to the seaside homes and penthouse apartments of rainmakers turns out to be a lot harder than many candidates hoped."
San Francisco assessor sues over Giants’ tax win on Oracle Park
From the Chronicle's PHIL MATIER: "San Francisco Assessor Carmen Chu is suing both the San Francisco Giants and the city’s own Assessment Appeals Board over a multimillion-dollar property tax assessment break granted to the team’s Oracle Park."
"At issue is the assessed taxable value of the 42,000-seat waterfront stadium, which sits on land leased from the Port of San Francisco."
"Chu set the park’s assessment at $415 million for 2015, $421 million for 2016 and $430 million for 2017."
‘Emily Doe’ from Brock Turner sexual assault case reveals name and face
From the Mercury News' EMILY DERUY and NICO SAVIDGE: "After years of being referred to simply as “Emily Doe” in a case that gripped the country, the woman sexually assaulted by Brock Turner on the Stanford University campus in 2015 has decided for the first time to tell her own story under her real name: Chanel Miller."
"Miller’s new memoir, titled “Know My Name,” is due out Sept. 24."
"The powerful victim impact statement she wrote went viral in 2016 and helped fuel the modern iteration of the Me Too movement. Now, advocates for sexual assault survivors say, her decision to come forward will shine new light not only on campus rape, but on how powerful institutions behave in such cases."
Doctors fight bills sparked by sex abuse scandals
From Kaiser Health News' ANNA ALMENDRALA in Capitol Weekly: "Daniella Mohazab didn’t know what to expect from her first pelvic exam in 2016. The University of Southern California sophomore, then 19, was startled when her doctor examined her vagina for several minutes without gloves, but assumed it was standard procedure."
"It wasn’t until two years later, when she read about Dr. George Tyndall’s alleged sexual abuse against USC students, that she realized she may have been sexually violated by him as well."
"Driven by stories like Mohazab’s, California Assembly members Ian Calderon (D-Whittier) and Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Laguna Beach) have proposed a bill to require doctors to give first-time pelvic exam patients a pamphlet about how the exams are supposed to be conducted, and a phone number should they want to report misconduct to the state medical board. Doctors would face a fine if they did not collect a patient’s signature confirming they received the pamphlet."
Korean noodle-maker to build $200 million factory near Corona
From the Press-Enterprise's JACK KATZANEK: "One of the world’s largest manufacturers of packaged Asian food is spending $200 million to build a noodle factory near Corona."
"The facility marks a significant expansion in the U.S. for Nongshim, a South Korean company that told a domestic media outlet it wanted to make the Inland Empire its “West Coast production base.”
"The manufacturer already has a plant on Sixth Street in Rancho Cucamonga, along with an adjacent distribution facility on Santa Anita Avenue. The new factory, which will be south of Corona in unincorporated Riverside County, will be three times larger than the Sixth Street facility, according to published reports."