Supervisor Jane Kim and Supervisor Scott Wiener find themselves in a dead heat in their state Senate match-up in San Francisco.
LIZZIE JOHNSON with The Chronicle: "On a recent evening beneath the tower of Mission High School, there was plenty of tension and lots of yelling surrounding the District 11 state Senate race."
"Volunteers in red T-shirts ringed the steps outside the school where Supervisor Jane Kim was holding a packed town hall meeting, waving signs in support. Several feet away, supporters of her opponent, Supervisor Scott Wiener, crowded the sidewalk next to a red tent they had pitched — a jab at Kim’s tolerance of homeless tent camps."
"For nearly an hour, the steps became the battle line for a local race that has grown increasingly aggressive. Wiener criticizes Kim for what he calls her spotty record on creating affordable housing, prioritizing renters and protecting the LGBT community. She says his increasingly negative campaign is funded with corporate cash from big donors such as Airbnb."
Gov. Brown has signed and vetoed a couple of workplace laws relating to disputes and arbitration procedures.
BOB EGELKO with The Chronicle: "Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation last week requiring arbitrators to follow California law in workplace disputes arising in the state. But he vetoed a different, hotly contested bill aimed at limiting companies’ repeated use of arbitrators they consider sympathetic."
"Both bills were part of an effort by consumer and labor groups, and trial lawyers, to clamp restrictions on arbitration. Retailers and employers are increasingly including terms in contracts requiring grievances to be heard by private arbitrators rather than judges, with rulings that are virtually immune from appeal."
"SB1241 by state Sen. Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, which Brown approved Sept. 25, overrides employment contracts that require arbitration to be held in another state, typically the employer’s home state, or to follow the laws of another state, generally one less employee-friendly than California. The law, effective in January, will require in-state arbitration using California law."
READ MORE related to Gov. Brown: Brown vetoes bill requiring charters to comply with conflict of interest, open records laws -- JOHN FENSTERWALD with EdSource
As California's air seems to get worse, lawmakers in the southern part of the state wonder how to effectively tackle the problem.
DAVID DANELSKI with Press-Enterprise: 'As the worst smog season in years winds down, new doubts appear to cloud a costly strategy broached three months ago by Southern California’s regional air quality agency to bring air pollution levels down to healthful levels."
"In late June, the newly hired top administrator for the South Coast Air Quality Management District proposed a clean-up plan that could cost as much as $1 billion a year for years to come by providing truck fleet owners and other polluters financial incentives to acquire cleaner operating machines."
"But no clear way to cover the cost has emerged and the air seems to be getting worse. Most days this summer failed to meet the federal health standard for lung-searing ozone in Southern California’s ocean-to-mountain air basin."
As the drama surrounding Clinton's emails wraps up, a finished report on the complete investigation paints a portrait of technophobia and digital ineptitude.
M. Scott Mahaskey with Politico: "The scandal of Hillary Clinton’s “home brew” email server, as it is played out over more than a year and a half, has served as a Rorschach test for her supporters and opponents. In her critics’ eyes it’s just another example of the Clinton family taking ethical shortcuts and playing by their own set of fast-and-loose rules; her supporters say it’s another example of the hysterical near-insanity that motivates her attackers in which, after millions of dollars in investigations, congressional hearings, FBI interviews and more, the scandal has amounted to little more than a whopping nothing-burger."
"But until last week, the American public had never really had the chance to know how it all happened."
"Then, last Friday, the FBI released the final batch of what amount to nearly 250 pages of interview notes and reports collected during the course of its investigation. Agents interviewed officials ranging from former Secretary of State Colin Powell to CIA officers to the IT staffer who first rented a minivan to drive the server from Washington to the Clintons’ home in New York. The files also include the FBI’s forensic investigative process and never-before-seen details of the staff decisions that led to the server, the mechanics of Clinton’s email system, and the confusing and balky State Department processes that led a technophobic Clinton to embrace her own BlackBerry. The FBI interviewed both those who supported her and those who questioned her decisions, as well as plenty of disinterested public servants who had no allegiance or beef with her either way. While the interviews were not technically conducted “under oath” — lying to federal agents is itself a crime, as is obstruction of justice — they do open a uniquely candid window into how the decisions around Hillary Clinton’s email server unfolded. They may be as close to the actual truth as we may ever get."
This week will mark a busy one for the U.S Supreme Court, as they begin hearing notable cases with important national implications.
DAVID G. SAVAGE with L.A. Times: "The Supreme Court begins hearing cases this week, but none of them looks to be a high-profile legal dispute that will split the eight justices."
"Here are a few notable legal questions due to be decided in the new term:"
"Insider trading: Is it a crime for people to buy stock based on tips that came from family members or friends who in turn learned it from a corporate insider? The lower courts are divided on the reach of the federal laws that forbid insider trading. Bassam Salman, a grocery wholesaler from Chicago, was indicted and convicted for trading on tips that came from a brother-in-law in California, who in turn learned the corporate secrets from another brother who worked at an investment bank. (Salman vs. United States, to be heard on Wednesday)"
Donald Trump, under fire from a NY Times report on his business losses, attempts a new angle of attack, using a sound bite of Hillary Clinton speaking about young voters at a speech earlier this year.
CATHERINE LUCEY with AP in Sacramento Bee: "In a leaked recording from a February fundraiser, Hillary Clinton expressed empathy for young voters who were siding with her primary opponent, Bernie Sanders, saying that for people who don't see any economic opportunities, the idea that "you could be part of a political revolution is pretty appealing."
"Clinton called them "children of the Great Recession" and added: "And they are living in their parents' basement. They feel that they got their education and the jobs that are available to them are not at all what they envisioned for themselves."
Donald Trump sought to turn her words into a new pitch for Sanders supporters, although Sanders himself has endorsed Clinton and denounced Trump. The businessman contended at a Saturday night rally in Pennsylvania that the audio shows Clinton "demeaning and mocking Bernie Sanders and all of his supporters" and added: "To sum up, Hillary Clinton thinks Bernie Sanders supporters are hopeless and ignorant basement dwellers."
READ MORE related to Beltway: Tax troubles threaten Trump as election day nears, and so does his own approach to campaigning -- CATHLEEN DECKER with L.A. Times; Trump tax revelation punctuates week of political challenges -- STEVE PEOPLES and LAURIE KELLMAN with AP inSacramento Bee; Who gave Trump's taxes to the New York Times? The mystery behind a bombshell story. -- PAUL FARHI with Washington Post
Adam Schiff, a Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, says more cybersecurity is needed against possible Russian attempts at interfering with the general election thrugh dissemination of misinformation on the web.
SEAN COCKERHAM with Sacramento Bee: "Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, says the Russians will continue cyberattacks to interfere with U.S. elections unless something is done."
"I think the Russians respect one thing and that’s strength – if they see an open door, that’s an invitation to do more. And I think we need to begin naming and shaming them, and work with our allies around the world who also have been hacked and interfered with by the Russians,” Schiff said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week."
"Schiff said he has no doubt the Russians are responsible for the hacking and he doesn’t think the Obama administration has any doubt either. Schiff said it’s “not a question of evidence."
Meanwhile, a U.S. ambassador stops by the U.C. Berkeley campus and shares his experiences on shaping Vietnam-US relations.
MALINI RAMAIYER with Daily Californian: "U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius discussed his experience in molding Vietnam’s diplomatic relationship with the United States on Saturday at a Berkeley Forum event."
"The event lasted for an hour and a half and began with a 30-minute talk by Osius on his work in Vietnam. Osius said he has worked in Vietnam for 20 years — since Vietnam and the United States took their first steps toward a partnership."
"Last year marked a major milestone as we celebrated the 20th anniversary of normalized relations,” Osius said at the event. “Everywhere I travel in Vietnam … I’m seeing signs of that progress. I’m seeing people being lifted out of that poverty."
A Sacramento police shooting in July that left a mentally ill man dead after being shot 14 times has the family of the deceased seeking murder charges against the officers involved.
ANITA CHABRIA and ELLEN GARRISON with Sacramento Bee: "The family of a mentally ill man shot by police 14 times after officers attempted to run him down with their vehicle will ask for a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the Sacramento Police Department, as well as push for murder charges against the two officers who fired the shots."
"This is murder and a reckless disregard for human life,” said attorney John Burris, who was to announce the effort at a news conference Monday morning."
"Burris said the actions of officers as they attempted to run down Joseph Mann with their car during a frantic 35-second encounter on July 11 that ended with police shooting Mann dead “epitomized the lawlessness of these officers,” and rose to the level of at least second-degree murder."
READ MORE in Public Safety: Protests erupt in South L.A. for a second night after police fatally shoot an armed teen -- CINDY CHANG, MATT HAMILTON and KATE MATHER with L.A. Times; Pastors call for unity in wake of El Cajon shooting -- LYNDSAY WINKLEY with Union-Tribune
And now for a page from our "Trump in Traffic" file...
A man was fined $136 for taking cardboard cutout of Trump's head on a ride through Traffic in Washington State in an effort to evade the diamond lane restriction.
NBCNews: "As traffic violations go, this one was yuuuuuge."
"A Washington state trooper ticketed a single driver trying to get through the carpool lane with a giant cut-out of Donald Trump's head on Tuesday morning."
"You see a lot of things in your career, including mannequins, but this was something else," said Trooper Rick Johnson, a spokesman for the Washington State Patrol."
