The verdict on PG&E: Guilty

PG&E has been convicted of multiple charges related to the San Bruno explosion that leveled an entire neighborhood in 2010 and killed 8 people. 

Thomas Fuller with N.Y. Times writes: "SAN FRANCISCO — A federal jury on Tuesday found California’s major utility company, Pacific Gas and Electric, guilty of safety violations at the time of a 2010 gas pipeline explosion that killed eight people and destroyed a neighborhood in a San Francisco suburb."

"It was one of the country’s deadliest gas explosions and underscored glaring weaknesses in America’s aging infrastructure."

"Pacific Gas and Electric had faced 12 criminal charges of negligence and obstructing an investigation into the fiery pipeline rupture in San Bruno, a city of 42,000 just south of San Francisco. The jury found the company guilty of five counts of safety violations and the one count of obstruction, according to Jim Ruane, the mayor of San Bruno. The company was found not guilty on the remaining counts."

SEE MORE related to Environment: PG&E convicted obstructing blast probe, breaking safety laws -- Bob Egelko with The Chronicle.

We've released this year's version of The Top 100 -- an annual list of folks who we believe to be signficant, unelected particpants in California's political scene.

From Capitol Weekly: "When we put out our first Top 100 list, we wanted to give a mischievous, behind-the-scenes view of players in state politics that the public usually doesn’t see. We succeeded, we had fun."

"Lists like the one you are about to read are a lot like most hairpieces: They’re probably a bad idea, but they do get a lot of people talking,” we wrote in 2009."

"Seven years later later, we’re still having fun – okay, not as much as before – but we think this list has value and is becoming something of an institution.  At least, that’s what people tell us."

SEE MORE related to The Top 100: Capitol Weekly's Top 100: 51-100 -- CW STAFF of Capitol Weekly

A bill proposed to help collect data on Asian sub-groups by adding more checkboxes to forms has sparked a bit of controversy. 

Jeremy B. White with Sacramento Bee writes: "Adding a few boxes to state forms may seem like a fairly innocuous move. But a bill expanding data collection about Asian sub-groups has spurred another round in the ethnically-charged politics that helped scuttle a recent attempt to repeal affirmative action."

"A little background: in 2014, an effort to repeal race-based college admissions fell apart after fracturing along ethnic lines. While many Latino and African-American lawmakers supported Senate Constitutional Amendment 5, Asian-American legislators felt a backlash from constituents concerned about their kids being squeezed out of top universities. Some of the most vocal opposition emanated from Chinese-Americans."

"Now a similar dynamic appears to be playing out. Assembly Bill 1726 would have the Department of Public Health, the California State University and the University of California go deeper than “Asian” when collecting demographic data and begin asking about subgroups like Malaysian, Hmong and Fijian. Better data can lead to more targeted assistance, argues Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda, whose office points to examples like a Santa Clara County campaign focused on high Hepatitis B rates in the Chinese and Vietnamese communities or a UCLA program aimed at struggling Pacific Islander students. Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a similar bill last year, worrying about “the ever growing desire to stratify."

Los Angeles Unified School District is the 2nd largest public school system in the country, and a recent release of statistics showing an upward trend in the institution's graduation rates is making many wonder if the statistics presented are truly accurate.

Howard Blume and Sonali Kohli report in L.A. Times: "The star of an annual kickoff event for the new school year in Los Angeles was a number: 75%, the highest graduation rate ever tabulated by the nation’s second-largest school system."

"That achievement, announced by L.A. Unified Supt. Michelle King on Tuesday at Garfield High School, brought acclaim from an audience of administrators and dignitaries, but also led some to wonder again whether such improvement is real."

Some law enforcement are starting to show support for an upcoming ballot measure aimed at keeping the state's death penalty, and speeding up the process.

Shane Newell with L.A. Times writes: "Top Los Angeles County officials including Sheriff Jim McDonnell and Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey have joined a November election battle, announcing support for preserving California’s death penalty and reforming the state’s appeals process."

"The death penalty should be “for the worst of the worst,” McDonnell said Monday night at an event dubbed, "Mend, Don't End California's Death Penalty."

“We want to be in a position to be able to say that there is a disincentive for the most horrific of murders,” McDonnell said."

Lonnie David Franklin Jr., a.k.a. Grim Sleeper, was a serial killer who terrorized the Los Angeles area for nearly 30 years until he was finally apprehended. As his trial comes to a close, he is expected to receive the death penalty at his sentencing hearing on Thursday.

Marisa Gerber and James Queally: "The man known as the “Grim Sleeper” serial killer, who eluded capture while prowling South Los Angeles in search of victims for over two decades, is expected to be sentenced to death on Wednesday."

"The hearing in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom will give relatives of Lonnie David Franklin Jr.’s victims a chance to tell the court about the impact of the killings, which spanned from 1985 to 2007. In some of the cases, the fathers and mothers of victims died not knowing who was responsible."

"Franklin, 63, was convicted earlier this year of killing nine women and a teenage girl. During the penalty phase of his trial, prosecutors connected him to five additional slayings. But detectives believe he may have killed at least 25 women." 

And in other news, Amtrak has been settling lawsuits with rail-crash survivors -- but part of these settlements requires strict confidentiality that ultimately silences survivors. 

Michael R. Sisak with Associated Press writes: "Amtrak has started settling lawsuits with victims of last year's deadly derailment in Philadelphia, and lawyers involved in the process say a strict confidentiality provision prevents them and their clients from talking about how they're doing or how much money they've received."