Gov. Brown has signed distribution plans for California's cap-and-trade revenues that cover everything from reducing methane emissions from cows to public transportation.
BEN ADLER with CPR: "Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a package of four bills that spend money raised through California’s “cap and trade” greenhouse gas reduction program. It's part of a new effort to fight climate change in California’s disadvantaged communities."
"As he signed the bills in Fresno Wednesday, Brown took great pains to make the point that fighting climate change isn’t just for rich people who live on the California coast."
"This is a bill that aims to fix up the air, make things better, more livable, for everybody – and that’s good, because we are what we breathe and what we eat and all the rest of it,” the governor said."
READ MORE related to Gov. Brown / Policy: Jerry Brown vetoes bill to help military members find legal aid -- DAVID SIDERS with Sac Bee; Majority of Californian's support initiative requiring adult film actors to use condoms -- L.A.T.
Capitol Weekly sits down with California Planned Parenthood CEO Kathy Kneer for a discussion about the state's most important health concerns facing everyday families today.
ALEX MATTHEWS with Capitol Weekly: "Ed’s Note: Kathy Kneer is the president and CEO of California Planned Parenthood. Capitol Weekly’s Alex Matthews caught up with Kathy recently for a wide-ranging discussion that included health care, family planning, meeting the needs of low-income Californians and the challenges of the Affordable Care Act."
"Capitol Weekly: How has the ACA and the Medi-Cal expansion affected Planned Parenthood and other providers of similar services?"
"Kathy Kneer: The Affordable Care Act provided women, particularly single women, with access to comprehensive health care for the first time, for women who were low income. Low income women — women within above 138 percent of the federal poverty level — are now eligible for full benefits under the Affordable Care Act, and further the Affordable Care Act allows them to have preventive care with no copay, and reproductive healthcare for birth control and annual preventive health exams is now free for that group of women. We have been serving women up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level in the Family PACT program, but the Affordable Care Act gave them coverage, gave some women coverage, with no copays, and access to fuller care."
Meanwhile, a California Republican Party leader would like the FBI's notes on the money laundering case involving Rep. Ami Bera's father.
JOHN MYERS with L.A. Times: "The vice chairman of the California Republican Party wants federal investigators to reveal the names of donors used to hide large contributions to the campaign of Rep. Ami Bera (D-Elk Grove) by his father."
"Babulal Bera was sentenced last month to federal prison for organizing a money-laundering scheme that funneled at least $260,000 to his son's campaigns in 2010 and 2012."
"The request made on Tuesday by Harmeet Dhillon, the state GOP vice chairman, asks for "all names and documents" of the donors in question as well as any correspondence the FBI may have between the congressman and his son."
The state Supreme Court has decided to let a whistleblower lawsuit involving the San Francisco deputy city attorney move forward.
BOB EGELKO with The Chronicle: "The state Supreme Court cleared the way Wednesday for a former deputy city attorney in San Francisco to go to trial in a lawsuit claiming she was fired in retaliation for reporting her suspicions of millions of dollars in questionable payments to owners of damaged sewer lines."
"Joanne Hoeper, former chief trial deputy to City Attorney Dennis Herrera, said she had also reported that members of Herrera’s staff might have taken kickbacks for approving the payments. Herrera said her suspicions were unfounded and sought dismissal of the suit, arguing that Hoeper was not a whistle-blower and that he had intended to replace her at least a year before she started looking into the sewer payments."
"But a Superior Court judge ruled in June that Hoeper had offered enough evidence to take her case to a jury, noting that Herrera had not taken steps to dismiss her until she told him about her investigation. A state appeals court let the ruling stand, and on Wednesday the state’s high court denied review of the city’s appeal."
Speaking of San Francisco, the city's investigations involving police shootings will now be headed up by the local District Attorney.
JOAQUIN PALOMINO with The Chronicle: "The San Francisco district attorney’s office is a step closer to becoming the lead investigator in all shootings involving city police officers, a move designed to ease concerns about cops policing themselves."
"Mayor Ed Lee has approved a final round of funding for a new unit in the district attorney’s office that will take the lead in the shootings, officials said Wednesday. The idea is not only to promote independent probes, officials said, but to help the district attorney’s office clear a backlog of 10 fatal shooting cases dating as far back as 2014 that remain open."
"But some law enforcement experts worry that giving prosecutors rather than homicide detectives the lead role could degrade the quality of investigations. The shift could also test an uneasy relationship between police and George Gascón, the district attorney and former police chief."
READ MORE related to Public Safety: Inmates in SF staged-fight lawsuit receive $90,000 settlement -- BOB EGELKO with The Chronicle
Kamala Harris and Loretta Sanchez continue their skirmishing over Trump university, as both hopefuls eyeball a seat in the U.S. Senate.
Sac Bee's CHRISTOPHER CADALAGO: "The California Democrats running for U.S. Senate delved Wednesday into their records on for-profit colleges, with Loretta Sanchez continuing to tie Attorney General Kamala Harris to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and the businessman’s defunct Trump University."
"Harris’ camp dismissed the links to Trump as a political smear and pointed to the state’s leadership in targeting for-profit schools that prey on students who rely heavily on federal student aid."
"Harris and Sanchez are Hillary Clinton supporters and have been outspoken about their distaste for Trump. But Sanchez, a congresswoman from Orange County in recent days has repeatedly highlighted Trump’s contributions to Harris in 2011 and 2013, suggesting a connection between the donations and the state’s failure to bring charges against Trump University, a for-profit seminar program mostly shuttered in 2011. "
A new law aimed at protecting renters from unfair blacklisting was signed into law by the governor this week.
RICHARD SCHEININ with Mercury News: "California tenants have a new arrow in their quiver: a law to protect them from being unfairly placed on rental blacklists that jeopardize their credit ratings and shut them out of the housing market."
"Signed this week by Gov. Jerry Brown, the measure is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1. Unpopular with landlord groups, the bill was a squeaker in the Legislature, narrowly passing through the Assembly in May and the Senate in August."
"The measure’s author, Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, called it “a commonsense law. In the midst of the worst housing affordability crisis that our state has seen in years, this reform will prevent working families from becoming homeless."
As the numbers are showing, wildfires have done a real doozy on the Golden State this year.
TARAH LOHAN with KQED: "So far this year 4,636 wildfires in California have burned more than 200,000 acres. That’s more fires than this time last year and more fires than the five-year average. In fact, in the last few decades, the number of large fires are on the rise across the Western United States and the length of the fire season continues to expand."
"One of the biggest reasons for this is warming temperatures, which are impacting snowpack and ushering in an earlier spring. California has an added challenge of dealing with a five-year drought. The drought and climate change have allowed bark beetles to get the upper hand in swathes of forest in the Sierra Nevada, creating what ecologists call “pulses” of tree mortality. To the average person it looks like a lot of red needles on dead trees."
"The Forest Service last estimated some 66 million dead trees in the Sierra Nevada based on aerial surveys – it’s not a huge number compared to the entire region, but the dead trees aren’t spread out evenly across the mountain range. Instead, there are some areas, particularly in parts of the southern Sierra Nevada, where up to 85 percent of the large trees are dead or dying. This rings alarm bells."
The US D.O.T. has given San Diego $1B in funding to expand and improve on its trolley transportation system.
ANDREW BOWEN with KPBS: "The San Diego trolley extension to UC San Diego got a $1 billion boost Wednesday from the U.S. Department of Transportation, in what was described as the largest public transit project in the history of the region."
"The Federal Transit Administration grant will cover about half the cost of the project, with the other half expected to be funded through a TransNet half-cent sales tax. The 11-mile Mid-Coast Trolley extension will extend the existing Blue Line trolley service from the Santa Fe Depot downtown into the University City area."
"The announcement was made on the UCSD campus with Federal Transit Administration Acting Administrator Carolyn Flowers and officials from the San Diego Association of Government and Metropolitan Transit System."
The University of California has $17B in accrued debt and now the institution is wondering about the best way to get money flowing.
KATY MURPHY with Mercury News: "The University of California’s debt has ballooned to $17.2 billion since the start of the recession, more than doubling as the system borrowed to repair buildings, fund pensions, and build medical centers and student housing."
"In the past decade, as states have cut support for capital projects, public universities across the U.S. have piled on debt to repair old buildings and build new ones. But some, including Gov. Jerry Brown, have expressed wariness about all the borrowing. Along with access to needed cash, UC is locking itself into more costs — and is fast approaching its limit for borrowing cheaply from the market."
READ MORE related to Education: USC's school of social work receives $60 million, the largest donation to a school of its kind -- ROSANNA XIA with L.A. Times; UC system meets 7 academic elements of budget framework -- KAILEY MARTINEZ-RAMAGE with Daily Californian
"But with the board of regents this week considering UC’s first-ever debt policy, university leaders insist the borrowing spree is strategic, given unusually low interest rates and federal tax exemptions on university financing."
Marin General Hospital will now undergo a study on the affects of medical cannabis as it is offered to patients on a per-case basis.
RICHARD HALSTEAD with Marin Independent Journal: "Marin General Hospital will study the feasibility of allowing patients at the hospital to use medicinal marijuana when it is recommended by their physician."
"The hospital is embarking on the investigation at the request of the publicly elected Marin Healthcare District board. The board voted 2-0 Tuesday night, with three members abstaining, to ask for the study."
"In an email statement, Marin General CEO Lee Domanico, said, “Marin General Hospital will consult with members of the medical staff, legal counsel and other experts to produce a response to this request."
California will see healthcare coverage offered to illegal immigrants.
SARAH D. WIRE with L.A. Times: "California will soon be the first state in the nation to ask the federal government to allow immigrants in the country illegally to purchase health insurance through a state exchange. Democrats from the Golden State gathered outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday to urge President Obama to approve the request quickly."
"The state has to formally request federal permission for immigrants to pay for coverage through Covered California by submitting a waiver to the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The law prohibits people not in the country legally from buying insurance through Covered California."
"The plans would not be subsidized by the state or federal government."
A federal plan released yesterday blueprints a California desert swathed in farms of solar panels and wind turbines -- a recent environmental effort to improve energy efficiency.
AP's Alicia Chang: "Swaths of public land in the California desert will be opened to solar and wind farms under a federal plan released Wednesday that preserves much of the landscape for conservation and recreation."
"The long-awaited blueprint finalized by the U.S. Interior Department after a years-long process seeks to balance renewable energy development and species protection on 17,000 square miles of desert managed by the federal government."
"The California desert — a mix of sand dunes, jagged canyons and colorful rock formations — stretches 350 miles from Owens Valley east of the Sierra Nevada to near the Mexican border."
READ MORE in Environment: Big Earthquakes can produce destructive temblors on nearby fault, new study finds -- GARY ROBBINS with L.A. Times
