Pain at the pump? L.A. County’s average gas price hits $5.84 a gallon
LA Times, SUMMER LIN: “Los Angeles County’s average gas price continued to rise Monday as a gallon of regular fuel hit $5.84, up 5 cents from the day before, American Automobile Assn. data show.
After gas prices declined for 98 days in a row, the trend reversed course last week amid supply issues due to snags at refineries across the West Coast and Midwest, according to AAA.
The nationwide average for a gallon of regular increased by 1 cent to $3.72 Monday — down from the record $5.02 in June but still higher than the $3.19 a gallon the year before.”
The Chronicle, ANNIE VAINSHTEIN: “The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office stripped 47 deputies of their arresting powers and firearms after an audit determined they should not have been hired in the first place because they failed to pass psychological evaluations, officials said Monday.
The office conducted the internal audit in the aftermath of the arrest of Deputy Devin Williams Jr., said Lt. Ray Kelly, an agency spokesperson. Williams, 24, is in custody on suspicion of murdering a Dublin couple at their home in an “execution style” shooting earlier this month.
The deputies flagged in the review received “unsatisfactory,” or “D. Not Suited,” scores on psychological examinations taken from 2016 to 2022 during the hiring process, Sheriff Greg Ahern told the deputies in a letter viewed by The Chronicle. Under California law, peace officers cannot work with these scores.”
Why almost 2 million Californians may need to switch health insurance plans
The Chronicle, BERNARD J WOLFSON: “Almost 2 million of California’s poorest and most medically fragile residents may have to switch health insurers as a result of a new strategy by the state to improve care in its Medicaid program.
A first-ever statewide contracting competition to participate in the program, known as Medi-Cal, required commercial managed-care plans to rebid for their contracts and compete against others hoping to take those contracts away. The contracts will be revamped to require insurers to offer new benefits and meet stiffer benchmarks for care.
The long-planned reshuffle of insurers is likely to come with short-term pain. Four of the managed-care insurers, including Health Net and Blue Shield of California, stand to lose Medi-Cal contracts in a little over a year, according to the preliminary results of the bidding , announced in late August. If the results stand, some enrollees in rural Alpine and El Dorado counties, as well as in populous Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, and Kern counties, will have to change health plans — and possibly doctors.”
As state sets higher Medi-Cal contract standards, some providers predict major disruptions
CALMatters, KRISTEN HWANG: “More than 1.7 million Medi-Cal patients may get a new insurance provider in the coming months as a result of the state’s first-ever competitive bidding process, but critics and some providers fear the change will cause major disruptions to care.
California’s Department of Health Care Services last month announced its intent to award $14 billion-worth of Medi-Cal contracts to three companies — Health Net, Molina and Anthem Blue Cross — down from nine. The deal is part of the department’s multifaceted effort to overhaul the behemoth program that provides health insurance for a third of all state residents. Medi-Cal is the state’s version of federal Medicaid, which serves low-income residents.
“We are raising the bar for all of our managed care partners,” state Medicaid Director Jacey Cooper said. “We will be very focused on quality and access to care.””
Raging against the machine for AB 2183, the Farm Worker Voting Rights Act (PODCAST)
Capitol Weekly, STAFF: “Tom Morello, the fiery, activist leader of the rock band Rage Against the Machine, brought his guitar to Sacramento last week to lend support to the United Farm Workers and their effort to pass AB 2183, what UFW spokesman Marc Grossman calls “The Farm Worker Voting Rights Act.” The bill passed both houses with comfortable majorities and is now on the governor’s desk. Gov. Newsom vetoed a similar measure last year.
The September 21 rally is the latest in a series of actions to bring attention to the bill. Beginning on August 3, supporters made a 355 mile march from Delano, California, retracing the route of UFW founder Cesar Chavez’ 1966 march. An estimated 5000 supporters marched the final leg into Sacramento on August 26.
At last week’s rally, held on the west steps of the capitol, Morello told his own story of being raised in a union household and sang protest songs, closing his short set with Woody Guthrie’s ‘This Land is Your Land,’ and inviting the crowd of about 500 to sing along.”
Reparations task force: State could owe Black Californians hundreds of thousands of dollars
CALMatters, LIL KALISH: “California’s task force on reparations has begun putting dollar figures to potential compensation for the various forms of racial discrimination, generational pain and suffering Black Americans experienced in the state.
The rough estimates by economic consultants may mean that hundreds of thousands of dollars could be due to Black Californians who are descendants of enslaved ancestors. However some politicians on the task force indicated the reparations would be a difficult case to make.
Task force member and state Sen. Steven Bradford, a Democrat representing South Los Angeles, told an audience at public meetings in Los Angeles over the weekend it would be a “major hurdle” to pass any reparations plan in the Legislature.”
‘Mandela’ bill would limit solitary confinement in California prisons and jails
CALMatters, NIGEL DUARA: “In solitary confinement, a former California inmate recalled, there were two kinds of people: One kind would read books in their cells, exercise and do and re-do crossword puzzles. The other kind would scream and curse, refuse to dress and throw their feces at the walls.
The goal in solitary confinement, he said, was to avoid becoming the second kind of inmate.
“There’s one that’s resilient and one that’s not so resilient,” said the man, a former member of the Mexican Mafia who asked CalMatters not to use his name for fear of retaliation. “I’ve seen people go over the edge.”
Jan. 6 defendant from Sacramento area rejects plea deal from jail, will head to April trial
SAM STANTON, SacBee: "A Northern California man accused of assaulting officers with bear spray at the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot in Washington, D.C., has rejected a plea deal from prosecutors and is headed to trial in April, meaning he will have spent nearly two years in custody when his trial on a 10-count indictment begins.
Sean McHugh, an Auburn construction worker who is one of four Sacramento-area residents accused of crimes during the insurrection, appeared in court from jail by video Monday as his new attorney told U.S. District Judge John D. Bates that McHugh wants to face trial rather than take a deal.
Bates set a trial date for April 17, and warned that he will not allow further delays after having postponed the trial twice before as McHugh sought dismissal of some counts and asked that his trial be moved out of Washington.
Worried about the economy? Demand for these jobs is high and growing
LA Times, HUGO MARTIN: “Elsa Reaza was ready to leave her job when a friend suggested she apply for a housekeeping position at the Conrad, a new luxury hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
Reaza worked at a senior home, feeding, taking blood samples and cleaning up after patients. The work was emotionally draining even before the pandemic arrived, taking the lives of residents with whom she’d grown close.
Reaza’s new job as a housekeeper pays about the same but offers better benefits — free bus passes and occasional meals — with a lot more opportunity to advance in the company. “I’m hoping to stay here for a while,” she said.”
Newsom signs bill banning ‘barbaric’ toxicity testing on dogs and cats in California.
ANDREW SHEELER, SacBee: "California will ban the testing of pesticides, chemical substances and other products on cats and dogs, under a bill signed into law Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“For many families, including my own, pets are beloved companions that enrich our lives every day,” Newsom said in a statement on the signing of Senate Bill 879.
“I’m proud to sign this legislation to advance our state’s leadership on animal welfare by ending cruel and unnecessary testing on dogs and cats, among other measures to protect the health and safety of pets in California.” The law, which exempts medical and federally required testing from the ban, goes into effect Jan. 1."
Our Bay Area transit map is an unholy mess. Here’s why I have hope for the future
The Chronicle, PETER HARTLAUB: “How many did you get? Seven? Nine? I’ve spent the last few weeks working on a route map for #TotalTransit2022, where Heather Knight and I will try to ride them all on Wednesday Sept. 28, and I’m still not sure I can name 15. (Did you miss the City of Dixon Readi-Ride? Yeah, me too.)
The Bay Area should be a transit utopia that’s the envy of the world — where AC Transit to SF Bay Ferry to Muni feels like a single ride, crossing the Bay faster and cheaper than any car — instead we have a byzantine anxiety dream of a public transportation network.
Even the people who run the agencies know that’s a problem.”
Jupiter is at its brightest in nearly six decades. Here’s how to get a good view in the Bay Area
The Chronicle, KELLIE HWANG: “Bay Area stargazers are in for a special treat Monday: Jupiter will appear extraordinarily large and bright in the night sky as two astronomical phenomena converge.
The gas giant will reach opposition — directly opposite the sun with the Earth in between — and will also be at its closest point to Earth since 1963, astronomers say.
“On this particular year, Jupiter will be closer to the Earth than it has been for several decades,” said Benjamin Burress, staff astronomer at the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland. “Jupiter will be at its brightest, being as close to Earth as it gets. Jupiter is ordinarily pretty bright, but will have some extra flare as it comes so close.””
Bam! NASA spacecraft crashes into asteroid
AP, MARCIA DUNN: “A NASA spacecraft rammed an asteroid at blistering speed Monday in an unprecedented dress rehearsal for the day a killer rock menaces Earth.
The galactic grand slam occurred at a harmless asteroid 7 million miles away, with the spacecraft named DART plowing into the small space rock at 14,000 mph. Scientists expected the impact to carve out a crater, hurl streams of rocks and dirt into space and, most importantly, alter the asteroid’s orbit.
“We have impact!” Mission Control’s Elena Adams announced, jumping up and down and thrusting her arms skyward.
This Oakland neighborhood used to be majority Black. Dramatic is sparking tension
The Chronicle, SARAH RAVANI/DAN KOPF: “For nearly 70 years, Carol Lee Tolbert has watched changes unfold in Oakland’s Longfellow neighborhood — some welcome, others not.
Growing up, she said most of the neighborhood’s residents were Black families like hers living in single-family homes. Kids played in the street. Neighbors looked out for one another. Black businesses thrived.
In the late 1960s, the neighborhood — bordered by Adeline Street to the west, Highway 24 to the east and Interstate 580 to the south — became the headquarters of the Black Panther Party, cementing its place in the city’s African American history.”
Man arrested in Chico accused of plotting ‘Las Vegas style’ mass shooting
The Chronicle, JESSICA FLORES: “A 37-year-old man was arrested in Northern California on Sunday for allegedly threatening to kill police officers and planning a “Las Vegas style” mass shooting, authorities said.
Dallas Marsh was booked into Butte County Jail on felony charges of making criminal threats of death/great bodily injury and battery on a peace officer and making threats of violence against peace officers, the Chico Police Department said in a statement.
The Police Department’s SWAT team arrested Marsh at about 8:50 a.m. at a Super 8 Motel in Chico where he was staying, authorities said.”
After fleeing Kabul, Afghan lawyers seek new life — and legal careers — in California
LA Times, KEVIN RECTOR: “Masooda Qazi held her 8-year-old son’s hand tightly as she frantically tried to convey to a group of Dutch soldiers that she was an employee of the U.S. Embassy and was promised transport out of Kabul as it fell to the Taliban last year.
The crowd around Qazi was full of people similarly desperate to escape, and it was growing agitated. People pushed forward outside a security gate near the airport, erasing any space to move. Her son Habib began to panic.
“I can’t breathe anymore,” he said to his father, Hamid ul Rahman Qazi, who had been holding the couple’s younger son — Hasib, 4 — above the crowd on his shoulders for hours.”