Can California force emission-free cars on everyone? Don't bet on it, US automakers say
Sac Bee's DALE KASLER: "California was imposing tough new air-pollution restrictions — rules that would force automakers selling cars in the state to drastically reduce tailpipe emissions.
Carmakers were resisting, saying the changes California wanted were too costly and would hurt consumers in their pocketbooks. Rallying to his hometown industry’s defense, a powerful Michigan congressman accused California and its upstart governor — who was in just his second year in office — of ignoring economic and scientific practicalities.
The year was 1976, the governor was Jerry Brown and the issue was smog. California stuck to its plan, and the industry eventually fell in line. Cars were equipped with a new form of catalytic converter that slashed emissions.
Now another California governor, also in his second year in Sacramento, is insisting that the auto industry make more dramatic changes to its products."
READ MORE related to Going Green: With new zero-emissions mandate, these are top-selling used electric cars in Sacramento -- Sac Bee's DAVID CARACCIO; Newsom calls for California to conserve land, coasts to capture carbon and fight climate change -- The Chronicle's ALEXEI KOSEFF
Forty-two years later, the ghost of Prop. 13 haunts voters
CHUCK MCFADDEN in Capitol Weekly: "Once again, Californians are being asked to decide on the merits of a ballot measure that roiled the political scene when many of them were in grammar school — or not even born yet.
The ballot measure under challenge is Proposition 13, a constitutional amendment written by anti-tax crusader Howard Jarvis and approved nearly 2-to-1 by voters in 1978.
On commercial property worth more than $3 million, Proposition 13 limits taxes to the property’s assessment when last sold, and applies to both commercial and residential property. Property taxes can rise no more than 2 percent each year, unless more than half of ownership is sold or there is new construction. Since commercial property may not be sold very often, the tax may be based on an assessment that is decades old, thus avoiding the tax effects of inflation."
On anniversary of Tubbs Fire, PG&E settlement shapes Sonoma County debate on future
The Chronicle's J.D. MORRIS: "Three years after a deadly firestorm laid waste to parts of Sonoma County, the scars from that historic disaster have softened.
About 2,100 homes have been rebuilt and more are on the way. Three winters helped restore some life to once-blackened landscapes. But the county and its largest city, Santa Rosa, are not the same as they were before Oct. 8, 2017.
Residents there still endure an elevated threat of dangerous fires, as well as attempts by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to avoid further conflagrations by shutting off power during dry windstorms. Sonoma County has been hit by two major blazes in the past two months alone, one of which, the Glass Fire, is still burning. Danger will remain high until the wet season begins."
How a days-old company pressured California into $450M deal on COVID-19 gear
Sac Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG: "Just days after Gov. Gavin Newsom put California under a stay-at-home order to slow the coronavirus outbreak, executives at a newly formed company called Blue Flame began aggressively pressuring state officials to buy 100 million masks and wire nearly half a billion dollars in prepayment, text messages and emails obtained by The Sacramento Bee show.
The communications, obtained through a Public Records Act request, show Blue Flame co-founder John Thomas sent more than 100 emails and texts over a weeklong period to officials at the state’s Department of General Services, urging them to hurry to secure a deal and send the money before another country bought the masks instead.
“Not to ramp up pressure but literally minutes matter on me being able to lock down this inventory,” he told a California official in one message."
Meet the people still sheltering in place in the Bay Area
The Chronicle's AIDIN VAZIRI: "Josh McManus has not left his home since March. Apart from a handful of walks on an isolated trail in the hills near his Richmond home — and one emergency visit to the dentist — the 39-year-old project manager and his wife have strictly adhered to the message issued by public health experts at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic: Stay home. Save lives.
“We have had moments of reaching the breaking point,” McManus says. “But then we get better.”
They are not the only ones. While many Bay Area residents clamor to venture out into the world as counties ease restrictions on restaurants, bars and movie theaters, many others are choosing to wait it out."
Cooler weather headed to Bay Area, but chance of rain vanishes
The Chronicle's MICHAEL CABANATUAN: "The cool weather the Bay Area pleaded for as it sweated through last week came Thursday, but the hoped-for weekend rain was unlikely to arrive, dashing hopes that Mother Nature might chip in toward the ongoing fire fights across Northern California.
Forecasts that once called for as much as an inch of rain over three days only projected a chance of drizzle near the coast — and even that was iffy, said Brayden Murdock, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
“Chances are looking very thin for any part of the Bay Area,” he said."
PG&E power shut-offs possible Sunday and Monday in northern California
The Chronicle's KATE GALBRAITH: "Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said Thursday that fire-prevention power outages were possible on Sunday and Monday in northeastern California and parts of the Sierra foothills.
To see regions that may be affected, click here.
The utility said that the possibility of a public safety power shut-off was “elevated” for those regions, meaning that outages are not certain but the weather indicates that they may be necessary. The goal of the outages is to prevent power infrastructure damaged by winds from sparking wildfires."
California lottery demands workers repay 3-year-old travel claims after expensive audit
Sac Bee's WES VENTEICHER: "A group of California State Lottery employees got letters in the mail last week saying they were overpaid for mileage, lodging and other expenses and have to pay the money back.
The lottery is recouping improper expense payments to employees based on the findings of a State Controller’s Office audit from April of last year, lottery spokesman Jorge DeLaCruz said in an email.
The audit found the department had inappropriately spent about $300,000 on travel, food and accommodations at sales conferences over four years. The lottery came under scrutiny on several fronts after anonymous employees submitted a whistleblower complaint in 2018 complaining about rowdy behavior by top department officials at out-of-town sales events."
Trump, Biden clash over format, timing of next presidential debates
LA Times's CHRIS MEGERIAN/JANET HOOK: "Further presidential debates this fall were uncertain Thursday after President Trump rejected a virtual format next week to protect people from his COVID-19 illness and former Vice President Joe Biden refused to postpone the third debate until days before the election.
With election day less than a month away, the impasse could cost Trump a crucial last chance to close the gap with Biden, who surged in polls after the president’s vitriolic performance in their first debate last week.
But the president’s physician, Dr. Sean Conley, gave him a boost Thursday afternoon, saying that Trump could safely return “to public engagements” on Saturday, 10 days after he first tested positive for the coronavirus."
READ MORE related to Campaign Trail: Are working-class white women going to elect Biden? -- LA Times's SEEMA MEHTA
As election winds down, Los Angeles DA candidates skirmish in virtual debate
LA Times's MATTHEW ORMSETH: "With the race to lead the country’s largest prosecutor’s office entering its final stretch, the incumbent, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey, squared off in a debate Thursday night with her progressive challenger, George Gascón, who is riding a swell in endorsements and fundraising after a tumultuous summer shifted political winds in Los Angeles.
The nationally watched contest comes against the backdrop of a burgeoning movement for criminal justice reform, prompted by the killing of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis and those of other people of color.
Lacey, a 34-year veteran of the office she now leads, was elected district attorney in 2012 and won a second term unopposed in 2016. She is the first woman and the first Black person to head the county prosecutor’s office in its 170-year history."
What you need to know about voting in Sacramento County
Sac Bee's TONY BIZJAK: "Ballots arrive this week in Sacramento County mailboxes for what’s perhaps the most anxiety-producing election in modern times – a month-long process culminating Nov. 3 amid coronavirus worries, post office staffing concerns and presidential allegations, without evidence, of voting fraud.
Despite those concerns, a record number of Sacramento voters is expected to cast ballots, not only for the presidency, but for local hot-button issues, including rent control and a “strong mayor” proposal in the city of Sacramento.
County elections officials say they believe they have organized a safe process that allows voters four different ways to get their voting done, only one of which involves standing in line at a voting center. The state as well has set up an electronic tracking system that will allow voters to monitor their ballot as it is processed."
New push to allow safe drug use sites in SF and Oakland
The Chronicle's SARAH RAVANI: "State Sen. Scott Wiener said Thursday he plans to reintroduce controversial legislation next year that would allow for safe drug-use sites in San Francisco and Oakland.
Wiener’s efforts to pass similar legislation have faced challenges over the past few years. The sites are aimed at reducing opioid overdoses and encouraging users to go into treatment while allowing them to get high under supervision.
“We have a huge problem here in San Francisco and elsewhere with substance-use disorder and with people who are overdosing and all too often dying,” said Wiener, D-San Francisco. “This is a public health crisis.”"
Many unemployed California workers are about to get a $300 payment -- but it won't continue
Sac Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN: "Hundreds of thousands of Californians who were out of work at the start of last month will be getting another week of supplemental $300 payments from the federal government, the state’s Employment Development Department said Thursday.
The Lost Wages Assistance Program payments to qualified claimants should start going out next week.
They are likely to be the last such supplemental benefits for a long time. President Donald Trump authorized the extra payments in August, and enough money was available for the six weeks ending September 5."
READ MORE related to Economy: SF sales tax data show likely population decline -- The Chronicle's ROLAND LI
New state law will finally allow UC Davis to sell wine made in classes by students
Sac Bee's BENJY EGEL: "UC Davis’ viticulture and enology department produces thousands of gallons of wine per year. Virtually all of it goes down the drain.
That’ll change next year. Senate Bill 918, authored by Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, and signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 30, will let UC Davis sell up to 20,000 gallons — the equivalent of more than 100,000 bottles.
Roughly 80 to 90 percent of the wine will be sold to commercial wineries to be used in blends, viticulture and enology department chair David Block said. The cream of the crop — likely cabernet and albarino — will be bottled internally and sold at prices prohibitive to most undergrads."
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "A state appeals court has revived a lawyer’s suit against Yelp for secretly recording its telephone sales pitches to him, ruling that California law bars recording of either side of a phone conversation without both parties’ consent.
San Francisco attorney Eric Gruber said he received a dozen or more calls from sales representatives of the business-reviewing company between March 2014 and July 2016, trying to sell him advertising space. Gruber said he discussed some confidential matters with the representatives, one of whom was a friend. He sued Yelp after learning that the company had recorded the calls.
Yelp explained that it records all of its sales calls for training purposes, but usually tapes only its employee and not the prospective customer, and followed that practice with Gruber. Because Gruber’s voice had not been recorded, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Mary Wiss ruled that Yelp had not violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act, a 1967 law that prohibits recording phone calls and other confidential conversations without the consent of all participants."