‘Dirty Delta’: California’s largest estuary is in crisis. Is the state discriminating against people who fish there?
CALMatters' RACHEL BECKER: "More than two dozen fishing rods were braced against the railing of San Francisco’s Pier 7, their lines dangling into the Bay. People chatted on the benches, shouting in Cantonese and leaping up when one of the rods bent or jiggled.
One after another, the men and women at the end of the pier reeled in striped bass as long as an arm, and even thicker."
Willie Brown, other former S.F. mayors accuse Mark Farrell of breaking the law
The Chronicle's ST. JOHN BARNED-SMITH, J.D. MORRIS: "Three former San Francisco mayors — along with other former local elected officials — issued a remarkable rebuke of mayoral candidate Mark Farrell, accusing him of breaking the law in how he is managing his campaign finances and calling for an investigation.
Art Agnos, Frank Jordan and Willie Brown signed a letter calling on Attorney General Rob Bonta and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins to investigate Farrell, saying he “appears to be willfully violating” city and state election laws."
Voter Guide 2024: California and S.F. Bay Area election
The Chronicle's STAFF: "As voters prepare to cast their ballots, the 2024 election already has seen historic convulsions with Vice President Kamala Harris, a Bay Area native and former California senator, now running against Donald Trump.
Beyond the headlining presidential race, however, are dozens of state and local races and ballot measures that will be equally important to your community."
CA 120: Are Democrats sleeping on CA Congressional District 3?
Capitol Weekly's PAUL MITCHELL: "When USC did polling on the competitive congressional districts, they included five seats that flipped Democratic in the blue wave of 2018.
All but one of these seats was won back by Republicans, starting with Mike Garcia in CA 27 in a special election after the resignation of Katie Hill, then the return of David Valadao in CA 22 and Michelle Steele in CA 45 in 2020, and finally new Republican congressman John Duarte was elected in CA 13 when post-redistricting Democrat Josh Harder shifted up to the Stockton-centered seat vacated by Democrat Jerry McNerney after portions of his district were split between the two, and Duarte took the vacant seat, winning the closest race in the nation."
S.F. school district to share a list of which schools could close d of this school year. But based on the superintendent’s videotaped message Monday evening, the list of sites released will only include schools that are eligible, not a final proposal to bring to the school board. It’s unclear how many schools will meet the eligibility criteria."
Kamala Harris to announce plan to help families pay for in-home health care
The Chronicle's SHIRA STEIN: "Kamala Harris wants to expand home care services for seniors if she wins the White House, a position that is politically popular but would require the support of what will likely be a divided Congress.
Harris will announce her efforts to ease the burden on seniors and their families in an interview Tuesday on “The View,” a senior campaign official who was granted anonymity in order to share details of a policy plan not yet released publicly told the Chronicle. She will also highlight her plan to assist families with the high costs of raising children."
‘Not even close’: Hochman’s lead over Gascón grows to 30% in new D.A.’s race poll
LAT's CONNOR SHEETS, JAMES QUEALLY: "With less than a month remaining before the Nov. 5 election, challenger Nathan Hochman is 30 percentage points ahead of incumbent Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón in a new poll.
If the election were held today, according to the survey from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by The Times, 51% of likely L.A. County voters would choose Hochman, and 21% would cast a ballot for Gascón. That leaves 28% undecided."
These maps show where Gascón and Hochman need to win over votes in the race for L.A. County district attorney
LAT's GABRIELLE LAMARR LEMEE, SANDHYA KAMBHAMPATI: "Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón and former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman are headed to a runoff next month. As the two candidates campaign, they will need to win over the 59% of voters that supported other candidates as well as the large number of L.A. County voters who did not come out for the primary.
Since March, Hochman has pulled ahead in the polls. The most recent survey from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies shows that 51% of likely voters would vote for him and 21% would vote for the incumbent Gascón. Almost a third of voters remain undecided."
How do Sacramento mayoral candidates differ on police funding and accountability?
Sacramento Bee's THERESA CLIFT: "When Sacramento police fatally shot Stephon Clark in 2018 in his grandmother’s backyard, it made national headlines. Assemblyman Kevin McCarty and Flojaune Cofer both sprung into action.
While they shared the same goal — to reduce police killings of unarmed Black men in the future — their tactics to address it were very different."
This California ballot measure promises money for health care. Its critics warn it could backfire
CALMatters' KRISTEN HWANG: "Among the blitz of election ads flooding TV, social media and street corners, you won’t see any opposition to a ballot measure proposing to lock in billions of dollars to pay doctors more for treating low-income patients.
But opponents of Proposition 35 have a warning even if they don’t have the money to pay for ads: The measure could backfire and cause the state to lose billions in federal funding."
Californians need protection against outbreaks of vaccine-preventable illnesses (OP-ED)
LARRY BOTTORFF in Capitol Weekly: "California vaccination rates for communicable illnesses dropped during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic when our health system moved to an “emergency only” system. Today, many Californians are still behind on their routine vaccines, leaving communities across our state susceptible to contracting and spreading dangerous illnesses. With breakouts of easily spreadable and vaccine-preventable illnesses happening across the country, public health professionals must take action to improve access to critical vaccines that protect against pneumococcal disease and meningitis.
Across the country, adults and adolescents missed more than 37 million routine vaccinations during COVID – vaccines that have long kept our communities safe against outbreaks of illnesses like measles, rubella, meningitis, and pneumococcal disease."
End of Bay Area heat wave in sight with temperatures set to drop back to 70s
The Chronicle's GREG PORTER: "Hello sea breeze my old friend. After several days of scorching temperatures, including a surprisingly hot Monday, San Francisco will finally see temperatures fall back into the 70s on Tuesday.
That would end an impressively hot start to October. The city hit at least 90 degrees in five of the first seven days of the month and setting the record for one of the hottest seven-day periods ever."
California, New York lead multi-state lawsuit against TikTok, alleging harm to children
Sacramento Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "The legal troubles for social media app TikTok continue to multiply.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 13 other attorneys general on Tuesday filed separate lawsuits against the Chinese-owned company, alleging violation of state consumer protection laws and severe harm for young users."
Hearst, OpenAI announce partnership for U.S. newspaper and magazine content
The Chronicle's CHASE DIFELICIANTONIO: "The Hearst Corp., one of the nation’s largest information and media companies, announced Tuesday it has become the latest major publisher to sign a content partnership with artificial intelligence giant OpenAI.
Under the terms of the deal, New York-based Hearst will license its vast archives, containing more than 150 years of material, to the San Francisco-based maker of the ChatGPT generative AI tool. OpenAI will be able to integrate Hearst content into its chatbot and other products."
S.F.’s fight against the doom loop weighed down by stark economic realities
The Chronicle's ROLAND LI, LAURA WAXMANN: "At times this summer San Francisco felt full of life again. Outdoor concerts, night markets and block parties packed thousands of people onto streets that had been barren in recent years. Reported crime plunged and overdose deaths fell slightly. Mayor London Breed has seized on these signs, proclaiming the retur n of the city’s vibrancy.
“We’re having so many openings. We’re having so many new opportunities that have allowed for people to experience downtown differently,” Breed told the Chronicle last month. “It’s starting to come alive.”"
