Newsom declares heat wave emergency as California issues second Flex Alert urging conversation
Sac Bee, DALE KASLER: "Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Thursday over the heat wave gripping California and the West, while the managers of the state’s power grid issued another call for conservation — the second in two days — as temperatures surged past 100 degrees.
Newsom’s emergency proclamation, among other things, directs air districts to temporarily suspend rules that could prevent power plants from ramping up operations to meet the demand for electricity. The proclamation cites the “extreme heat peril” facing Californians over the next few days.2
His order comes as Sacramento air quality managers issued their first “Spare the Air” day of the year. The air warning is in effect for Friday in Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer and Yolo counties, among others."
READ MORE POWER GRID/HEAT WAVE NEWS --- Flex Alert extended through Friday as heat wave sears California -- LA Times, HAYLEY SMITH; Heat wave already straining Western power grids. What can California expect this summer? -- The Chronicle, DANIELLE ECHEVERRIA; Conservation helped avert rolling blackouts, PG&E says -- The Chronicle, STAFF
Cyberattack on Bay Area water supply: 'No specific threat to public safety'
The Chronicle, NORA MISHANEC: "A hacker accessed the computer system of a Bay Area water treatment plant in January and deleted programs the plant used to treat drinking water, a senior intelligence official confirmed Thursday.
NBC News first reported Thursday that the unidentified hacker used a former plant employee's username and password to gain entry to the unidentified Bay Area water treatment facility on Jan. 15.
Michael Sena, executive director of the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center, confirmed NBC’s report about the security breach, but declined to say where it occurred or who carried it out."
'Laura's Law' okayed in 30 counties -- a major statewide turnaround
Capitol Weekly, SIGRID BATHEN: "In a significant policy shift spanning nearly two decades, 30 counties in California – including all of the larger counties, with an estimated 80 percent of the state’s population – have now adopted a 2002 state law giving families a legal avenue to get severely mentally ill relatives into treatment.
That’s 10 more than had previously adopted “Laura’s Law” in the 19 years since it was originally enacted, inspired by the Nevada County murder of a young woman by a mentally ill gunman. The law has received growing public support, and legislation was passed unanimously last year to strengthen the law and finally make it permanent.
“It’s a remarkable turnaround,” said Randall Hagar, longtime legislative advocate for the state’s psychiatrists and the father of a severely mentally ill adult son. “It’s been 20 years in the offing, and it opens the door for many families… It’s just the beginning, really, of finding better solutions.”"
Juneteenth will be a federal holiday. What does that mean for California public employees?
Sac Bee, DAVID LIGHTMAN: "Juneteenth — or June 19 — is joining Memorial Day, Christmas and other days as a federal holiday. Most federal employees will get Friday off, but the immediate impact for California public employees may not be evident for awhile.
Congress this week approved legislation designating Juneteenth National Independence Day as the nation’s newest federal holiday, the first since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was approved in 1983. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law Thursday afternoon.
The Juneteenth legislation got only 14 “no” votes in the House Wednesday night, including Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove."
Curb nonprofit donations? Republicans running in Newsom recall say it would reduce conflicts
Sac Bee, SOPHIA BOLLAG: "About a dozen companies lobbying to influence state policy have given more than $800,000 to a nonprofit founded by First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a Sacramento Bee investigation found.
Now, two California Republicans running to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom are calling for new laws curbing such donations, arguing companies trying to influence state policy shouldn’t donate to nonprofits that employ elected officials’ family members.
Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer says he wants to bar corporations with business before the state from donating to organizations that employ elected officials’ family members. Former U.S. Rep. Doug Ose says he also wants a ban, and is calling on lawmakers to at least require public disclosure of such payments."
CalPERS claws back $363,000 from 2 California cops over 'manufactured' retirement deals
Sac Bee, ANDREW SHEELER: "The California Public Employees’ Retirement System Board of Administration voted Wednesday to revoke the disability retirement of three former Beverly Hills police officers, and ordered two of them to repay a total of more than $636,000 in benefits.
The three officers — Finn McClafferty, Richard Ceja and Brian Weir — each received an industrial disability retirement from the City of Beverly Hills when they left public employment. That kind of pension plan allows workers to retire earlier because of employment-related injuries, and to receive tax benefits.
In each case, the city of Beverly Hills approved the disability retirement application, according to briefs from their attorneys that also detailed worked work-related injuries. CalPERS approved of the disability pension at the time of each officer’s separation."
California AG enters case of employment service asking applicants personal questions
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: "Attorney General Rob Bonta is stepping into a court case against a major contractor that screens job applicants for other companies and asks them personal questions — for example, about menstrual periods, venereal disease, mental illness, hair loss, hemorrhoids and constipation, as well as use of tobacco and alcohol.
A federal judge ruled in January that the contractor, U.S. HealthWorks and succeeding companies, could not be sued under civil rights laws because it was only acting as the employer’s agent. On Thursday, Bonta joined a spurned employment applicant in asking a federal appeals court to hold agents responsible for violating the rights of job-seekers who were compelled to answer their questions.
California law “prohibits employers and their agents from making non-job-related, pre-employment medical inquiries of an employee or applicant as to their physical disability, mental disability or medical condition,” Bonta’s office told the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. He said the state Fair Employment and Housing Act, passed in 1959, explicitly applies to agents that work on behalf of an employer."
Lawyer in LA sexual harassment case seeks Garcetti aide's private Facebook posts
LA Times, DAVID ZAHNISER/RICHARD WINTON/DAKOTA SMITH: "An attorney for the police officer who alleged he was sexually harassed by a former aide to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti called Thursday on the city’s lawyers to preserve messages from a private Facebook group involving the mayor’s staff.
After The Times reported that Garcetti chief of staff Ana Guerrero posted sexual innuendo and disparaging messages about city workers in a private Facebook group, attorney Gregory W. Smith sent a letter asking for people in the mayor’s circle to retain messages, photographs, emojis and “likes” from that group.
Smith is representing Matthew Garza, who filed a lawsuit last year alleging he was sexually harassed by Rick Jacobs, another Garcetti aide, over a period of years. In his letter, Smith said he wants to ensure the contents of the Facebook group, called Solid Gold, are not destroyed."
We count on public defenders to fight for the poor, but now they're fighting their boss
Sac Bee, MARCOS BRETON: "You’re never in a good spot when a lot of lawyers line up against you. It’s worse when the lawyers in question are public defenders who represent poor and indigent people who can’t afford legal representation.
And it’s downright sad that these essential lawyers from the Sacramento County Public Defender’s office and many of their non-lawyer co-workers have lined up against their boss, Steven M. Garrett.
If we are a community that truly cares about justice, particularly for those who cannot afford legal representation, then turmoil in the public defender’s office is a direct threat to poor people, people of color, and people facing grave charges brought by a better-funded and far more stable Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office."
Judge says sweeping LA criminal justice reform measure is unconstitutional
LA Times, ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN: "A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has declared that Measure J, which county voters approved last year to set aside public funds for social services and jail diversion programs, is unconstitutional.
In a proposed ruling Thursday, Judge Mary Strobel said the amendment to the county’s charter improperly restricts the L.A. County Board of Supervisors from deciding how and where to spend county funds. Strobel said at a court hearing that she expects to make the ruling final in coming weeks.
The measure, which passed easily, requires that 10% of locally generated, unrestricted county money — an estimated $300 million each year — be spent on services such as housing, mental health treatment and investments in communities harmed by racism. The measure prohibits the county from using the money on prisons, jails or law enforcement agencies."
Some vaccine experts having second thoughts about rushing to inoculate kids
LA Times, MELISSA HEALY: "From the earliest days of the pandemic, doctors and public health officials have seen widespread vaccination as the most effective way to stop COVID-19 in its tracks. But a growing contingent of medical experts is now questioning whether that conventional wisdom ought to apply to children.
Their doubts are not borne of conspiracy beliefs, but couched in the carefully calibrated language of risk and benefit. And they’re expected to get a public airing Friday as advisors to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ponder a spate of post-vaccine heart problems in adolescents and young adults.
No one is arguing that COVID-19 immunizations for kids should stop altogether. Rather, a debate has erupted over the need to inoculate healthy children as soon as possible and according to the two-dose regimen authorized by the Food and Drug Administration."
UC regents appear poised to surrender on Catholic healthcare restrictions
LA Times, MICHAEL HILTZIK: "For more than two years, the University of California has grappled with how to manage proposed partnerships between UC medical systems and hospitals that impose restrictions on healthcare on religious grounds.
That process is about to come to an end. On Wednesday, the UC Board of Regents will vote on a policy governing those arrangements.
If the vote goes as expected, it will be a clear win for religious restrictions, especially those imposed by the Catholic Church at hospitals under its control."
400 Sutter Health jobs cut in NorCal amid 'growing fiscal gap,' Sutter says
The Chronicle, NORA MISHANEC: "Sutter Health, which serves millions of people at 23 Northern California hospitals, cut about 400 positions throughout its network earlier this month, officials confirmed Thursday.
The news comes two months after Kaiser Permanente eliminated about 200 jobs across its Northern California region.
The job cuts affect non-clinical positions and are not focused on any specific facility, said Emma Dugas, a Sutter spokeswoman."
Home where Manson murders occured sells in California -- after price reduction
Sac Bee, TJ MACIAS: "The Los Feliz home where Charles Manson’s followers savagely killed the LaBiancas has finally sold after spending months on the California real estate market.
The house, which was owned by paranormal investigator Zak Bagans according to the New York Post, sold for a discounted $1.875 million.
Bagans originally put the house on the market for $2.2 million last year."
State orders stricter county oversight of districts' spending for low-income kids, English learners
EdSource, JOHN FENSTERWALD: "In a decision with statewide implications, the California Department of Education ruled this week that the San Bernardino County Office of Education erred in approving several districts’ plans for spending money targeted for low-income students and other high-needs student groups.
The department upheld a June 2020 complaint filed on behalf of two San Bernardino-area faith-based organizations against the office of San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools Ted Alejandre. The county office should not have signed off on the Local Control and Accountability Plans of three school districts that failed to justify how they would spend tens of millions of dollars, the ruling said. Included was spending on police and law enforcement that the organizations argued should have been spent instead on counseling and wellness centers serving Black and Latino students.
LCAPs are the annual plans in which districts detail their spending priorities for money from the Local Control Funding Formula, including extra funding for “high-needs students”: English learners, homeless, foster and low-income students."
San Bernardino County fails to ensure school spending gets to its neediest students, state says
LA Times, PALOMA ESQUIVEL: "San Bernardino County school officials failed to provide proper oversight of millions of dollars meant for the neediest students, including English learners, students from low-income families and foster students, according to a finding by the California Department of Education that advocates hope will lead to an infusion of much-needed help for these children.
The finding came in response to a complaint filed last year by the ACLU of Southern California and Public Advocates Inc. on behalf of two community groups.
The advocates — Inland Congregations United for Change and Congregations Organized for Prophetic Engagement — said they hoped the decision would pressure county school officials across the state to improve their oversight of the billions of dollars that the state allocates every year to school districts for the neediest students."
The man accused of stealing school board recall petitions has been fired from his job
The Chronicle, MEGAN CASSIDY: "An employee of Jewish Vocational Service in San Francisco was fired after a now-viral video caught him allegedly stealing petition signatures for a recall campaign against three members of the city’s school board.
A statement from JVS, published online Thursday, stated that the company had begun a fact-gathering mission about the employee after becoming aware of the video. The company said the employee was off duty at the time and “apparently interfering with the petition-gathering process of the San Francisco Board of Education recall.”
JVS helps people in the Bay Area train for and connect with living-wage jobs, according to company’s website."
Ex-Lowe's employee in Bay Area sues, alleging enduring pattern of sexual harassment at work
The Chronicle, EMMA TALLEY: "A former employee at a Vacaville Lowe’s store is suing the home-improvement chain after alleging he faced sexual harassment at work, retaliation and threats of physical violence.
Attorneys for the former employee filed a lawsuit in Solano County Superior Court on Tuesday.
The employee, who is referred to only as “John Doe” in the suit, said he experienced a troubling pattern of harassment over several months while working as an assistant store manager at the Lowe’s store in Vacaville. In the complaint, he said he experienced harassment from several co-workers."
LA traffic behavior is changing. Is post-pandemic gridlock inevitable?
LA Times, HAYLEY SMITH: "As Los Angeles reopens after enduring more than a year of COVID-19 restrictions, those seemingly unbelievable ribbons of green on your phone’s freeway traffic app are rapidly returning to red.
Traffic and transit patterns were altered by the pandemic, and both transportation officials and drivers are anxiously waiting to see whether they offer clues to the future of commuting or simply represent temporary changes in L.A.'s inevitable slog toward gridlock.
While congestion is rapidly approaching pre-pandemic levels, traffic flows have changed, according to data reviewed by The Times."