Newsom announces executive order to curb youth vaping
The Chronicle's CATHERINE HO: "Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday announced an executive order to curb youth vaping — making California the third state to take executive actionin the past two weeks to address what federal health officials are calling a growing epidemic among teens."
"The order, aimed at both nicotine and cannabis vaping products, calls on the California Department of Public Health to develop recommendations to increase enforcement efforts against the sale of illicit and counterfeit vaping products and the sale of any vaping products to youth under 21, and to establish standards for warning signs and labels in retail stores and on e-cigarette packaging. The agency is to submit its recommendations to the governor’s office by Oct. 14.
A bobble on vaccines tarnished Newsom's first legislative year, experts say
Sacramento Bee' s SOPHIA BOLLAG: "A measure to regulate vaccine exemptionsld Trump and generally sided with environmental interests since taking office in January, said he’ll veto the legislation even though he supports its general principles of keeping California’s air, water and endangered species safe. The bill would have essentially negated every environmental rule proposed by Trump, turning the regulatory clock back to Jan. 19, 2017, the day before he took office."
Capitol Weekly Interview: Jodi Hicks
Capitol Weekly's CHUCK MCFADDEN: "Jodi Hicks is co-chair of Mercury Public Affairs’ Sacramento office. She is the first woman and the first Asian-America to serve in that role and is regarded as one of the Capitol community’s foremost advocates of quality health care."
"Before joining Mercury, Hicks, a registered lobbyist, was a partner with a prominent Capitol lobbying firm, and before that, she was vice president of government relations at the California Medical Association. Hicks, the interim CEO and president of the Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, also serves on the governing board of Covered California, which publishes Capitol Weekly."
"Capitol Weekly’s Chuck McFadden caught up with her recently for a chat."
Trump expected to visit Bay Area on Tuesday: Newsom asks for homelessness help
The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI/KEVIN FAGAN/TAL KOPAN: "Gov. Gavin Newsom gave President Trump a wish list for the president’s visit to the Bay Area on Tuesday: Don’t just talk about the “disgrace” of homelessness in California — give us more federal help to combat the problem."
"We can all agree that homelessness is a national crisis decades in the making that demands action at every level of government — local, state and federal,” Newsom wrote in a letter to Trump on Monday that was signed by leaders of organizations representing the state’s counties and cities. While California and local governments have taken action on homelessness, “your administration has proposed significant cuts to public housing and programs like the Community Development Block Grant,” Newsom said."
"Trump is expected to attend a fundraiser Tuesday in the Bay Area, the same day Ben Carson, the secretary of housing and urban development, is scheduled to be in San Francisco. Carson will tour a Potrero Hill public housing project and visit with HUD employees, according to a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco."
LA Times's BENJAMIN ORESKES/CHRIS MEGERIAN: "President Trump is set to arrive in California on Tuesday with little clarity over his plans to address the state’s homeless crisis and growing doubts about how much the federal government could actually do to change conditions on the streets."
"Trump is in the state for a two-day swing with stops for fundraising in Palo Alto, Beverly Hills and San Diego. Although there are no public events scheduled, he is likely to take on the issue of homelessness, which he has used in recent months to bash the deep-blue state in advance of the 2020 election."
"Last week, officials from his administration spent several days in Los Angeles meeting with city and county officials and homeless advocates. To the dismay of some local officials, the administration has said little publicly about its plans. Some speculate that the goal is to clear homeless encampments by moving people into government-run shelters on federal land."
The Chronicle's JOH KING: "There’s a lot to like about the Bay Area’s efforts to prepare for sea level rise: the collaborative efforts, the detailed studies and, laudably, the voters who are willing to tax themselves with an eye to future needs."
"But if the long-term threat is as grim as scientific projections indicate, local experts say the region needs to respond with increased urgency — an urgency that is at odds with the Bay Area’s often cumbersome decision-making processes."
"\Are we moving fast enough? I don’t believe we are,” said Dave Pine, a San Mateo County supervisor. “It’s hard for policy makers — or humans in general — to internalize the magnitude of the problem and plan now for the future.”"
California wants you to build a 'granny flat' in your backyard. Here's why
Sacramento Bee's TONY BIZJAK: "They used to be called granny flats. Now, they’re billed as a secret element to solving California’s housing crisis."
"Striving for ways to boost housing, California legislators have sent two controversial bills to the governor that would make it easier for homeowners to turn garages into rental units or build cottage apartments in the backyard."
"The effort has become a focal point among California’s infill-housing advocates in urban areas who subscribe to what they call YIMBYism, an acronym for Yes In My Backyard."
SF plans to close juvenile hall, but a new proposal would put more youths there
The Chronicle's JILL TUCKER/JOAQUIN PALOMINO: "Even as San Francisco moves toward the unprecedented closure of its juvenile hall to end the jailing of young people, a new proposal by probation officials could significantly increase the number of youths held there."
"The idea to create a “detention-based therapeutic program” shocked many city officials, who criticized the plan as an unvetted move by juvenile probation officials to fill empty cells and save the facility."
"The “Commitment to Success” plan, aimed at males age 16 to 18, would require youths to spend at least six months in the maximum security setting, participating in a range of programs including anger management, financial literacy, health education, vocational training and social skills development, according to an overview submitted to the Juvenile Probation Commission."
More apartments mean lower rents. Here are the California places to build them
Sacramento Bee's PHILLI P REESE: "Rent is rising fast in many California cities, leading the state Legislature this month to approve a new, comprehensive rent control measure. Sacramento’s own ordinance was approved just last month."
"One possible way to bring rents down is to build more high-density, multifamily housing, economists and urban planners say. The logic is simple: Put more housing units on the market and competition may lead to lower rents."
"Some California cities are allowing for the construction of a lot of new multifamily units. Many are not. About 125 of the 200 largest cities in California issued more permits for single-family housing than multifamily housing from 2010 through 2018, according to a Bee review of housing permit data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development."
A project could bring South LA hundreds of new homes. But critics fear rising rents
LA Times's DAVID ZAHNISER: "The real estate project known as District Square has had a decadelong run of bad luck."
"Construction of the project in South Los Angeles has been repeatedly delayed. The developers, who were provided millions of dollars in federal loans, have received multiple default notices from the city. And Arman Gabay, one of the businessmen who conceived the project, was arrested last year on bribery and wire fraud charges. He has pleaded not guilty."
"District Square’s fortunes could turn around on Tuesday, when the South Los Angeles Area Planning Commission is scheduled to take up the 577-unit residential project. But the six-story development still faces a key obstacle: activists who are frustrated that the developers have not set aside any units as affordable for low-income families."
Biggest private sequoia grove to be preserved in deal with Redwoods League
The Chronicle's PETER FIMRITE: "The all-terrain vehicle cut through heavy brush, bounced over rocks and sliced through the undergrowth as it rumbled up a steep trail toward a meadow dominated by giant sequoia trees high in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains."
"The tawny goliaths were among nearly 500 old-growth trees poking above the misty forest at Alder Creek Grove, the largest privately owned sequoia forest in the world and a remote oasis virtually unknown to the general public."
"Until now."
Trump impeachment hearing to begin with Corey Lewandowski
AP: "As they investigate President Trump, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee will hold their first official hearing in what they are calling an impeachment investigation."
"Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s outspoken former campaign manager, is scheduled to appear Tuesday to discuss the report by former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III."
"But it’s unlikely that Democrats will get much new information. A devoted friend and supporter of the Republican president, Lewandowski isn’t expected to elaborate much beyond what he told Mueller’s investigators last year. Mueller himself testified this summer, with no bombshells. Two other witnesses who were subpoenaed alongside Lewandowski — former White House aides Rick Dearborn and Rob Porter — won’t show up at all, on orders from the White House."
Iran's Supreme Leader: No talks with the US at any level
AP: "Iran’s supreme leader announced on Tuesday that “there will be no talks with the U.S. at any level” — remarks apparently meant to end all speculation about a possible U.S.-Iran meeting between the two countries’ presidents at the U.N. later this month."
"Iranian state TV quoted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying that was the position of the entire leadership of the country and that “all officials in the Islamic Republic unanimously believe” this."
"There will be no talks with the U.S. at any level,” he said."