Biden administration blocks billions in California transit money, citing pension law
Sacramento Bee, WES VENTEICHER and DAVID LIGHTMAN: "The U.S. Labor Department recently determined California is ineligible for federal money for public transit, putting in jeopardy about $12 billion in grants including a portion of the infrastructure spending Congress approved last week.
The Labor Department’s determination targeted a 2013 state pension law that the department said eroded public transit employees’ rights to negotiate over their pay and benefits. A 1964 federal law says that before state and local agencies may receive federal grants for mass transit, the department must certify the agencies are protecting the interests of any affected employees.
California, by restricting pension benefits for any new employees hired after Jan. 1, 2013 with its Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act, ran afoul of those federal protections, according to the Labor Department’s Oct. 28 determination."
Biden infrastructure funds will help state bullet train, but not as much as boosters hoped
LA Times, RALPH VARTABEDIAN: "The infrastructure bill that President Biden plans to sign Monday contains a historic amount of new funding for passenger rail service and aims to remake its role in American transportation, but any boost for the nation’s bullet train ambitions will be limited at best.
Exactly how much money will reach various rail projects — including the financially challenged California bullet train — is still an unknown and will depend on how the complex law is administered and developed into grant programs.
Hopes for a $100-billion national high-speed rail program, a goal backed by former secretaries of transportation, labor unions, major engineering firms and rail advocates, were dashed by the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Most of the money for rail systems will go to Amtrak’s service on the East Coast, various long-distance Amtrak routes and freight rail systems."
Incumbents in California could face reelection challenges under draft congressional maps
LA Times, SEEMA MEHTA and JOHN MYERS: "Several California members of Congress could face uphill battles to remain in office under draft political maps released Wednesday, with some incumbents drawn into the same districts and others possibly forced to run in areas where their party trails in voter registration.
The political muscle of Latino voters appears to be strengthened under the California Citizens Redistricting Commission’s proposed maps — a reflection of demographic changes in the state since the current congressional and legislative districts were drawn a decade ago. More than a dozen congressional districts were mapped to include significant Latino voting populations.
Commissioners conceded that the maps were imperfect and will likely change notably in the coming weeks."
Real change proves elusive in mental health care system
SIGRID BATHEN, Capitol Weekly: "Important legislation to improve California’s broken mental health system was passed this year, plus billions in new funding in the state budget — all aimed at stemming the tide of a growing crisis on California streets, in hospital ER’s, jails and prisons.
But will it mean real change?
Longtime mental-health advocates and public officials welcome the intense interest in a badly neglected area of government policy."
All California adults who want a COVID booster shot can get one now, state says
SOPHIA BOLLAG, SacBee: "All California adults who received their original COVID-19 shots six months ago and think they would benefit from a booster should get one, California’s top health official Dr. Mark Ghaly said Wednesday.
Speaking at a press conference in Los Angeles, Ghaly said that guidance is in line with the federal government’s eligibility rules for booster shots, which say anyone over 18 who got their vaccines at least six months ago and has an underlying medical condition or works or lives in a high-risk setting may get one. “If you think you will benefit from getting a booster shot, I encourage you to go out and get it.
Supply is available,” he said, adding that the administration is working with pharmacies and health care providers to “make sure that no one’s turned away.”
Police raid Windsor home of former Mayor Dominic Foppoli in sexual assault investigation
The Chronicle, ALEXANDRA BORDAS and CYNTHIA DIZIKES: "The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office raided the home of former Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli on Wednesday, seizing evidence in an ongoing investigation of sexual assault allegations that several women brought against the once-ascendant Wine Country politician.
“We are able to share that we did take some items during the search warrant,” said Sgt. Juan Valencia, a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office.
The agency’s domestic violence and sexual assault unit began the search Wednesday around 8 a.m. and continued working for roughly two hours, Valencia said. Details of what potential evidence was sought, and what was taken from Foppoli’s four-bedroom home on Merlot Way in Windsor, are under court seal."
Lawmakers say Newsom hiatus drives home their difficult work-family juggling act
The Chronicle, DUSTIN GARDINER: "Gov. Gavin Newsom’s brief absence from the public spotlight this month led to wild speculation about the reasons for his low profile. But his explanation Tuesday that he wanted to spend Halloween with his four young children has sparked a deeper conversation about the difficult work-life balance of elected officials.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle jumped to the governor’s defense, calling the social media fervor an example of how the modern “bloodsport” of politics has created grueling expectations on public officials juggling their official duties with the responsibilities of being a parent and partner.
“Elected officials are people too, we’re moms and dads,” said Assembly Member Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, who has a 15-month-old daughter and another in preschool. “For someone to want to take a step back and spend time with their family to me is totally understandable.”"
Texas wants California's cargo ships. Would that speed up the supply chain?
Sacramento Bee, DAVID LIGHTMAN: "Claim: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, trying to lure California-bound ships stuck outside state ports, offered this lure in a tweet recently. “Are your products stuck off Long Beach? Texas ports are wide open.
Port delays are up to a hundred days in California. In less than two weeks your cargo can set sail from California and be at one of our 24/7 functioning Texas cargo ports, unloaded and on their way to shelves near you.
“Choose a state that doesn’t see inflation and America’s supply chain backlog as a good thing. Escape California. Everyone’s doing it. Choose Texas.”"
Former senator on a mission to change the way Supreme Court justices are elected
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: "As a three-term U.S. Senate member from Wisconsin, Russ Feingold was the only senator to vote against the Patriot Act, the post-9/11 law that expanded the government’s power to examine Americans’ phone and email records, financial documents — even their library accounts.
Along with the late Sen. John McCain, he co-sponsored the 2002 McCain-Feingold Act, which sought to limit the role of big money in federal politics but was largely struck down by the Supreme Court in 2010. Today, as president of the 40,000-member American Constitution Society, which describes itself as “the leading progressive legal organization,” Feingold’s priority is the high court.More specifically, the rules for selecting and retaining its members that made the court vulnerable, in Feingold’s view, to a right-wing takeover.
“The court’s losing its legitimacy. It looks like a very political body in a way I’ve not seen in my lifetime,” Feingold, 68, said in an interview during a recent Bay Area visit to a few of his organization’s more than 200 chapters of students and lawyers."
Second Oakland City Council member jumps into mayor's race
The Chronicle, SARAH RAVANI: "Oakland City Council Member Sheng Thao, the first Hmong woman elected to a city council post in California, plans to run for mayor in next year’s election.
Thao, who was elected to the City Council in 2018 and represents the hills, announced Wednesday her intent to run as Mayor Libby Schaaf completes her second term and is termed out of office.
“My life experiences, my deep understanding for the challenges facing our communities and the effective record I have for progressive change truly has allowed me to prepare to lead as Oakland’s next mayor,” Thao told The Chronicle. “Nobody will fight harder for Oakland than I will.”"
Group says it has enough signatures to force LA Councilman Mike Bonin recall vote
LA Times, DAVID ZAHNISER: "A group looking to oust Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin said Wednesday it has submitted more than 39,000 signatures in support of its recall measure — a number proponents believe is enough to qualify for the ballot.
Under the city’s election rules, the Recall Bonin 2021 campaign must turn in more than 27,000 valid signatures from registered voters in Bonin’s coastal district, which stretches from Los Angeles International Airport north to Pacific Palisades. The city clerk will determine in the coming weeks whether those petitions have enough signatures to trigger a special recall election.
Katrina Schmitt, a recall proponent who lives in Venice, said the large number of signatures shows that voters in Bonin’s district have run out of patience with homelessness, crime and a lack of responsiveness from the councilman’s office. To have so many signatures, she said, “sends a strong message about what we want.”
California high court to consider law on misgendering nursing home patients
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: "The California Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to decide whether nursing home workers can be criminally prosecuted under state law for deliberately and repeatedly using the wrong terms when referring to transgender patients, terms like “him” or “Mr.” for a transgender woman.
The justices unanimously granted review of the state’s appeal of a lower-court ruling in July that said the 2017 law, though well-intended, violated freedom of speech by making it a crime to intentionally “misgender” patients. Violations would carry misdemeanor penalties of up to six months in jail and a $2,500 fine.
While agreeing to decide whether the 2017 law is valid, the state’s high court said the lower-court ruling would remain in the law books while the case was pending, and trial judges in different counties could decide whether to follow that ruling and refuse to enforce the criminal penalties."
Is your flight likely to be delayed at these California airports? See recent travel data
Sacramento Bee, BRIANNA TAYLOR: "Sacramento International Airport ranked No. 9 out of 11 “U.S. Airports Where Your Flight is Least Likely to be Delayed,” according to a new report from the Family Vacation Guide.
Of the flights arriving at the airport, 84.95% were on time and 15.05% were late or canceled, according to data compiled from the U.S.Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics. According to the bureau’s “Airline On-Time Statistics and Delay Causes” report, a flight is considered delayed when it arrives 15 minutes later than its scheduled arrival.
Data used in the Family Vacation Guide was is for the period between July 2019 and July 2021."
Health officials talk up COVID boosters for everybody ahead of federal guidance
The Chronicle, CATHERINE HO: "Health officials in California are starting to promote the idea of virtually everyone getting a COVID-19 booster shot before the holidays — marking a subtle but important shift in messaging even before federal agencies have recommended the policy.
The strongest signal came during a Santa Clara County briefing on Wednesday, when officials strongly urged residents to get shots in advance of a potential winter surge fueled by family gatherings, increased travel and colder weather that drives people indoors.
“Our top line message is we really encourage everyone to get out and get their booster shot,” said Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody. “Pretty much everybody in our population is eligible.”"
As more LA County Black and Latino men get the COVID-19 vaccine, distrust lingers
LA Times, MARISSA EVANS: "Drew Bullock has heard the same concerns over and over from men unsure about COVID-19 vaccines.
Concerns about possible risk to their immune systems and over how fast the vaccines were developed. Concerns referencing the Tuskegee experiment, when treatment for syphilis was withheld from hundreds of Black men in Alabama.
“I think when it comes to specifically Black men and our distrust in the medical industry, by not getting vaccinated we’re causing a Tuskegee 2.0,” Bullock said."
Here's where to find your COVID booster in Sacramento as California, OKs shot for all adults
Sacramento Bee, BRIANNA TAYLOR/SOPHIA BOLLAG: "California’s top health official says ‘supply is available’ for COVID-19 boosters and adults who are six months past their original shots should get one.
If you think you would benefit from it, then go, the state said Wednesday. Dr. Mark Ghaly said that guidance is in line with the federal government’s eligibility rules for booster shots, which say anyone over 18 who got their vaccines at least six months ago and has an underlying medical condition or works or lives in a high-risk setting may get one.
He said Californians should get boosters — and flu shots — before Thanksgiving, as Gov. Gavin Newsom warns of a winter surge."
Muni publishes on-time performance data it doesn't use. Here's why
The Chronicle, NAMI SUMIDA: "According to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s self-reported metrics, only 50% of Muni vehicles were on-schedule last month. That’s nowhere near the 85% goal set by voter mandate. But according to the agency, missing the mark is no longer a concern now that it uses a new operating system and evaluates performance differently.
Muni’s 85% on-time performance goal dates back to 1999, when the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency was established. Under the ballot measure Proposition E, SFMTA was formed and tasked with meeting certain goals, one of which is maintaining an 85% on-time record.
The voter mandate also requires them to make their performance metrics accessible to the public. The agency therefore publishes its metrics each month on a public dashboard. However, according to Alexandra Hallowell, a manager on the agency’s transit performance team, these numbers are largely unused internally because of a recent change in Muni operations due to decreased ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic."
The Chronicle, JESSICA FLORES: "A Bay Area business owner who pleaded guilty to running a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme used the money he pilfered from investors to buy up property in California, Nevada, the Caribbean and Mexico, jewelry, a subscription private jet service, a NASCAR race car sponsorship and 148 luxury and collector vehicles, including a 1978 Firebird previously owned by the late actor Burt Reynolds.
Jeff Carpoff, who co-owned DC Solar Solutions in Benicia, was sentenced to 30 years in prison this week for running what federal prosecutors said was the largest criminal fraud scheme in the history of the Eastern District of California.
His wife, Paulette Carpoff, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and money laundering charges and is facing up to 15 years in prison. Five other Bay Area people from Martinez, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill and Vacaville were also charged with criminal offenses tied to the Ponzi scheme."
Lake Tahoe's underwater trash collectors are pushing into winter. Here's what they've found so far
The Chronicle, GREGORY THOMAS: "The underwater garbage collectors that have been scouring Lake Tahoe the past six months had initially hoped to comb the entire 72-mile shoreline by now. But a series of setbacks — hazardous wildfire smoke, fire evacuations and early-season snowfall — put them behind schedule, and they have decided to continue into winter, when Tahoe’s water temperature drops to a chilly average of about 44 degrees Fahrenheit.
“It’s been a heck of a summer,” said Colin West, founder and executive director of Clean Up the Lake, the group behind the trash extraction. “I would have loved to have late August-early September water temperatures instead of being pushed into the colder months, but the team is prepping everything we need to keep going into the winter.”
By mid-winter, Tahoe’s temperature will have dropped about 20 degrees from its average summer high of 64 degrees. West’s team is in the process of procuring warmer dry suits for divers to keep the cold at bay during eight-hour days on the water. He hopes to finish Tahoe’s entire 72 miles by February."
Is port congestion worsening LA pollution?
LA Times, NATHAN SOLIS: "It hung over the Los Angeles Basin like a curtain — a veil of stagnant air that blotted out the sun and concealed both the San Gabriel Mountains and the skyscrapers of downtown L.A.
Over the first weekend of November, residents across the region were puzzled by a surprising fog that seemed to roll in from nowhere and failed to burn away like any other overcast morning. Was it wildfire smoke? Was it smog? Was it mutant June gloom?
Now, in the wake of last weekend’s mystery pall, some clean air advocates are blaming the long line of idling cargo ships anchored off the coast of Southern California for triggering the haze."
Bay Area home prices took a modest dip, but what does that mean for prospective buyers?
The Chronicle, LAUREN HEPLER: "House hunters desperate for an opening in the Bay Area’s unrelenting housing market will have to keep waiting, even as an incremental drop in prices ushers in what’s usually a slower winter period for home sales.
New seasonal data shows that median single-family home prices dipped slightly in the third quarter of the year, from July through October, but that prices remain far above previous years. At around $2 million, homes were most expensive in San Mateo County, compared with $1.8 million in San Francisco and $1.7 million in Marin and Santa Clara counties, according to the California Association of Realtors.
The annual household income it now takes to afford those prices is equally eye-popping: an average $235,200 across the Bay Area, and up to $364,400 in San Mateo County. Statewide, the association estimated that about 24% of residents could afford the California median price of $814,580 for an existing home, down from about 28% of residents last year and 56% of residents in 2012."
Freeways force out residents in communities of color -- again
LA Times, LIAM DILLON, BEN POSTON, SZUYU CHEN/AIDA YLANAN, RAHUL MUKHERJEE and ALLEN J SCHABEN: "Modesti Cooper first spotted the patch of land from 8,000 miles away.
The tree-studded lot with a “For sale” sign zoomed into focus on Google Earth seven years ago as Cooper sat at a computer inside her U.S. Air Force office in Afghanistan.
After six overseas deployments, the civilian IT worker was finally ready to settle down and had been scouring for properties in her hometown of Houston. She bought the land and built a four-story home with a pool, the letter “M” engraved in the tile."
Seasonal depression tips and insights from California health experts
Sacramento Bee, NANH TRUONG: "As the fall season comes and gloomy weather rolls in, so do the feelings of sadness and fatigue for many. One Sacramento area clinical psychologist said she gets more calls — and an increase in reported depression symptoms — this time of year.
According to non-profit Mental Health America, seasonal depression usually occurs as the seasons change and typically begins in the fall and continues into the winter months.
About 5% of American adults experience seasonal depression, also known as seasonal affective disorder or S.A.D, and it usually lasts about 40% of the year, according to the American Psychiatric Association."