California Democrats vote to change election rules ahead of Newsom recall
Sac Bee, LARA KORTE: "California lawmakers on Monday passed a bill that will change portions of the state elections code in an effort to benefit Gov. Gavin Newsom in the all-but-certain recall election to be held later this year.
Assembly Bill 152 would let state officials bypass one of the steps of certifying the recall election.
Under current law, the Department of Finance will issue a cost estimate, after which, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee has 30 days to review and comment on the costs. Both the review by finance and the review by lawmakers were steps put into place less than four years ago by Democratic lawmakers."
ROLAND Li, Chronicle: "The metro area of this capital city grows by around 180 people every day, a boom that’s made it the country’s fastest-growing major region for the past decade. A new skyline has risen along the banks of the Colorado River, and with few natural barriers, new homes are rising in almost every direction.
Last month, Josh and Jessi Rubbicco and their two kids joined the flood, moving out of the East Bay after seven years. They found a fast-growing neighborhood in southwest Austin called Belterra, where urban density gives way to lush green hills dotted with freshly built homes next to half-finished wooden frames.
There are dance parties on weekends, bike and hiking trails and fishing ponds. Children can take a golf cart on wide, low-traffic roads to attend the local elementary school — parents optional, depending on age. In the Bay Area, it can take a year or two to secure child care. There’s no wait in Austin."
The heat wave shattered records in California, too: 121 in Coachella, 90 in Tahoe
The Chronicle, OMAR SHAIKH RASHAD: "The heat wave baking the Pacific Northwest — pushing Portland and Seattle into record-setting triple digit weather on consecutive days last week, also made its way into the northernmost parts of California — according to the National Weather Service.
Northern California counties including Lake, Shasta, Butte, Modo and Lassen experienced triple-digit heat. On top of an excessive heat warning, Oregon-bordering Siskiyou County was also issued a red flag warning — which refers to critical fire weather conditions including strong winds, low humidity and warm temperatures.
South Lake Tahoe hit 90 degrees Sunday, breaking the previous heat record by three degrees, set in 1981."
Homes, thousands of cannabis greenhouses threatened by Lava Fire in NorCal
Sac Bee, RYAN SABALOW: "A fire in far Northern California is threatening homes, a massive complex of marijuana grows and forcing the evacuation of thousands of people north of the Siskiyou County city of Weed.
The Lava Fire ignited when lightning struck Friday morning on U.S. Forest Service land in what the agency described on a fire information website as “rough, rocky terrain” 3.5 miles northeast of the city of Weed and 4.5 miles southeast of Lake Shastina.
The fire on Monday morning was estimated at 1,446 acres and 20 percent contained, but pushed by gusting winds, the fire grew substantially by the afternoon, prompting the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office to issue an evacuation order."
State wildfires spread amid record heat
LA Times, HAYLEY SMITH/PRISCELLA VEGA: "As the West contends with sweltering conditions and record-breaking heat, firefighters on Monday were battling three large wildfires in Kern, Siskiyou and San Bernardino counties.
By Monday afternoon, 8,000 to 10,000 residents were under evacuation orders for the Lava fire, according to Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue. The fire was sparked by lightning Saturday morning in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in Siskiyou County near the Oregon border.
It was “very active” overnight, Shasta-Trinity National Forest spokeswoman Suzi Johnson said, and had mushroomed to 1,446 acres with 20% containment by Monday morning."
The Chronicle, DUSTIN GARDINER: "Gov. Gavin Newsom’s political party may not be listed on the ballot for his upcoming recall election after his campaign mistakenly excluded it from an earlier form he filed with the state.
In a lawsuit filed Monday, Newsom is seeking a judge’s order to require Secretary of State Shirley Weber to list his party label, Democratic, on the ballot after she refused to accept an updated filing.
Newsom made the error, which his lawsuit calls “an inadvertent but good faith mistake” on the part of his elections attorney, when his he filed a formal response to recall organizers’ petition on Feb. 28, 2020. Back then, the recall effort seemed a political long-shot."
Lawmakers send Newsom budget flush with surplus and stimulus
Sac Bee, SOPHIA BOLLAG: "California lawmakers on Monday passed a 2021 state budget that reflects a partial deal with Gov. Gavin Newsom on most key issues, including $8 billion in stimulus checks for middle-income Californians and expanded funding for homeless aid.
Newsom and lawmakers have not yet announced a final deal on all aspects of the spending plan, but lawmakers say they’ve reached agreement on most areas, including on expanding health coverage to more undocumented immigrants.
Lawmakers and Newsom will continue to negotiate some details of the $262.6 billion budget, such as some provisions related to child care, but the partial deal indicates that the governor and Legislature have agreed to an overall framework."
AP: "After a brief dip, gasoline prices in the U.S. are on the rise again.
The U.S. average price for a gallon of gasoline rose 2 ½ cents from last week to $3.09 per gallon Monday, according to the travel and fuel price tracking app GasBuddy.
The national average is now almost 5 cents higher than a month ago and 92 cents higher than at this time last year."
High-speed rail opposition seize on poll showing waning public support
The Chronicle, DUSTIN GARDINER: "As legislators debate the future of California’s high-speed rail project, results from a public opinion poll showing lackluster voter support has aided skeptics fighting to take money away from the bullet train.
The poll, which The Chronicle obtained, was commissioned by the Assembly Democratic Caucus and suggests voters are almost evenly split over whether construction should continue on the 220-mph train.
A slight plurality of voters surveyed, 42%, said the state should stop building the high-speed rail system and use the money elsewhere while 41% of voters said construction should continue, according to the polling firm Goodwin Simon Strategic Research."
California has banned state-funded travel to 17 states over LGBTQ laws. Here's the full list
Sac Bee, ISABELLA BLOOM: "Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Monday he’s banning taxpayer-funded travel to five more states under a California law that calls on his office to act when another state adopts measures viewed as discriminatory against gay and transgender people.
The new additions are Arkansas, Florida, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia following their passage of new laws that restrict transgender youth from playing sports and block access to life-saving care for members of the LGBTQ+ community.
With this announcement, California now restricts taxpayer-funded travel for public employees and college students to 17 states representing over 30% of the American population."
Do the vaccinated need masks as Delta variant spreads? What experts say of WHO advice
Sac Bee, KATIE CAMERO: ""The COVID-19 vaccines will never be perfect; fully vaccinated people can still get infected, though they’re much less likely to be hospitalized or die from the disease. Yet, the Delta coronavirus variant first discovered in India has some experts concerned.
The World Health Organization suggested on Friday that fully vaccinated people still wear face masks whenever possible, citing the Delta variant’s increased transmissibility and risk of serious COVID-19 across the globe.
“People cannot feel safe just because they had the two doses. They still need to protect themselves… vaccines alone won’t stop community transmission,” Dr. Mariangela Simao, WHO assistant director-general for access to medicines and health products, said during a virtual press conference on June 25. “People need to continue to use masks consistently, be in ventilated spaces, hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette, the physical distance, avoid crowding.”
READ MORE COVID-19-DELTA-VARIANT NEWS --- LA County urges masks for all as C19DV spreads -- what does that mean for the Bay? -- The Chronicle, KELLIE HWANG
CA tenants catch relief as the state extends eviction protections through September
The Chronicle, ALEXIE KOSEFF: "California will shield struggling tenants from eviction for at least three more months, as the state acted Monday to renew protections that were set to expire this week.
The Legislature overwhelmingly passed AB832, which extends the state’s eviction moratorium through the end of September while also providing more money to lower-income residents to pay off the rent they missed during the coronavirus pandemic. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill hours later, touting “critical relief to renters.”
Facing the looming end of a statewide eviction freeze on June 30 and fears that hundreds of thousands of California households behind on their rent could be pushed onto the streets, state officials agreed to another temporary extension of the moratorium to give tenants more time to apply for financial aid."
Post-COVID California state budget with record spending on education heads to Gov. Newsom
EdSource, STAFF: "With brief but exuberant praise from Democrats and often acerbic criticism from Republicans, the Legislature dispatched the 2021-22 budget bill with spending levels for education that appeared implausible a year ago, in the throes of a pandemic. The vote – 61 to 12 in the Assembly and 31 to 5 in the Senate, with several Republicans not voting – sends a $263 billion budget to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who agreed to the deal on Friday following nearly two weeks of negotiations.
“We have a responsible, fiscally prudent budget. We responded to the public. We go after the problems that have been intractable for so long and budget for impact,” said Sen. John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, who had served in the Assembly during the Great Recession, when the Legislature faced massive cuts in state revenue. “We’ve been waiting for decades to have student aid that helps people. We’ve been waiting to restore our schools financially. I don’t think anybody has had a budget like this in front of them for a generation, if not longer. We should be proud of this budget.”
Republican Sen. Roger Wilk of Santa Clarita, in the San Fernando Valley, agrees it was “historic” if measured “in the opportunity we have lost.” He called it a budget of “Band-Aids and buy-offs that is not investing in ordinary Californians.” He, aloing with other Republicans, chastised Democratic leaders for refusing to address structural failings in state government and ignoring Republican solutions: spending more on wildfire prevention and reservoir construction, assistance for small businesses and further reduction of state debt. “We were shut out of the process,” he said."
Boudin asks state to take the case of SF school board recall petition theft
The Chronicle, JILL TUCKER: "Despite a video and several witness accounts, police haven’t identified or arrested a suspect in the theft of San Francisco school board recall petitions a month ago, with the main witness saying officials believe it could take weeks or longer to decide whether to file charges or make an arrest.
After the witness’ lawyer called on District Attorney Chesa Boudin on Friday to recuse himself from the case, citing an alleged conflict of interest, Boudin’s office told The Chronicle on Monday that the matter has been referred to the state Attorney General’s Office, although his office didn’t explain why.
Police said they responded to a report of petition thefts on May 30 at about 11:20 a.m. in the city’s Inner Richmond district, where a recall volunteer, Kit Lam, reported that a man walked up to the signature drive table at the farmers’ market and walked away with signed petitions."
California's White population dropped 3% in 4 yrs w/ declining birth rates + increased mortality
The Chronicle, SUSIE NEILSON: "California grew sluggishly over the last decade compared to other states, losing a congressional representative for the first time in its 170-plus year history. But without people of color, the population would have probably gone down.
That’s according to a new report from the Brookings Institution, which found that the state’s white population declined by about 631,000 people from 2016 to 2020, or close to 3%, likely because of declining birth rates and increased mortality.
In fact, California lost more white residents overall during that time period than any other state — not surprising since it has the largest population of any state. But it was also in the top 10 for greatest loss as a percentage of population, according to the Brookings data."
Oakland police chief slams council vote on funding as deadly shootings surge
The Chronicle, SARAH RAVANI: "After four homicides over two days, the debate over policing in Oakland intensified Monday when the police chief sharply criticized the City Council’s move last week to redirect about $18 million away from the mayor’s proposed police budget.
Chief LeRonne Armstrong said the budget vote means fewer officers will be on the streets and response to 911 calls will be delayed. He added that a surge in violent crime makes it more crucial to increase police funding and said that the social services and violence-prevention programs meant to replace officers are not fully operational yet. Oakland saw four homicides over Friday and Saturday, bringing the city’s total to 65 for the year compared with 32 at this time in 2020.
“We find ourselves in a crisis,” Armstrong said at a news conference Monday. “We see clearly that crime is out of control in the city of Oakland and our response was for less police resources.”"