In case you missed the U.S. Senate debate last night, here's a cheat sheet to help you catch up.
CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO with Sacramento Bee: "California voters longing for a one-on-one confrontation between the two Democrats competing to succeed U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer get their wish at 7 p.m., when Kamala Harris and Loretta Sanchez debate in Los Angeles."
"The hourlong clash on the campus of California State University, Los Angeles, comes as Sanchez looks to narrow the gap with Harris, the prohibitive front-runner since entering the race last January."
"After muscling past a trio of underfunded Republicans in the primary, and lying low throughout the summer, Sanchez entered the final stretch of the campaign stepping up her attacks against Harris."
READ MORE related to the U.S. Senate Debate: Kamala Harris: Union-Tribune Interview -- STAFF; Loretta Sanchez: Union-Tribune Interview -- STAFF
The legalization of cannabis would bring a much more stringent process of quality control come 2018, which could ultimately raise the price of the product but ensure consumer safety and satisfaction.
LISA M. KRIEGER with East Bay Times: "California’s Wild West of medical marijuana is about to be tamed, on the eve of a historic vote that could greatly expand weed’s recreational use."
"Just as labeling allows consumers to trust the difference in potency between a strawberry-rosé spritzer and 190-proof grain alcohol, new state regulations will demand testing, labeling, certification and licensing medical marijuana — every step along the way, from seed to sale."
READ MORE related to Ballot Measures: Will Prop. 61 drive prescription drug prices up or down? -- TRACY SEIPEL with Daily News; Prop. 59 would put Californians on record against Citizens United -- CAROLYN LOCHHEAD with The Chronicle; Ad against Prop. 56 claiming it 'cheats' schools is deceptive -- RAMONA GIWARGIS with Daily News; More Californians than ever registered to vote Nov. 8 -- JIM MILLER with Sacramento Bee; Prop. 58 would undo limitations on bilingual education -- ADOLFO GUZMAN-LOPEZ with KPCC
Ro Khanna has filed a legal response to opponent Mike Honda's allegations of hacking.
ERIC KURHI with East Bay Times: "With a court hearing scheduled next week in the midst of a tight race, congressional hopeful Ro Khanna filed papers dismissing incumbent rival Mike Honda’s accusations in a lawsuit that his campaign illegally accessed his opponent’s donor records."
"Khanna, a Fremont-based attorney seeking to oust San Jose fellow Democrat Honda, said in the 81-page court filing that he had no knowledge of any donor database breaches alleged in Honda’s lawsuit, amplifying his response the day it was filed late last month with more details. Six of the seven examples of allegedly stolen donor email addresses, Khanna said in the court filing, can be traced to his own previous communications with those people, and the other can be easily found through an Internet search."
"Honda’s campaign is asking a federal judge for an injunction that would order all materials be returned and expelled from Khanna’s databases, and may seek “compensatory and exemplary” damages as well. It names Khanna as a defendant as well as Brian Parvizshahi, the 26-year-old former campaign manager at the center of the accusations, with a hearing scheduled for Tuesday."
The Embarcadero in San Francisco is now considered at-risk due to climate change and has been placed on a national watch list.
JOHN KING with The Chronicle: "San Francisco’s Embarcadero has been named one of America’s at-risk historic treasures — not because of development threats, but the looming dangers posed by earthquakes and sea-level rise."
"The combination of the 3-mile seawall that forms the downtown shoreline and the piers along it that extend into the bay are on the list of the nation’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places released Wednesday by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Embarcadero is only the second San Francisco spot to appear on the national list, now in its 29th year."
"We wanted to call attention to the fact that thousands of historic resources along our shorelines and our rivers are at risk from sea-level rise,” said Stephanie Meeks, president of the National Trust. “So much has been invested in the Embarcadero, and so much is top-notch preservation."
An L.A. County sheriff's deputy is dead and his killer in custody after a chaotic afternoon erupted over a burglary call in Lancaster.
L.A. Times Staff: "A Los Angeles County sheriff’s sergeant was shot and killed in Lancaster on Wednesday while responding to a residential burglary call, setting off a manhunt for a gunman who tried to flee in the slain lawman’s cruiser and held two teenagers hostage before he was captured, authorities said."
"Sheriff’s officials identified the victim as Steve Owen, a 29-year department veteran who had previously won the agency’s highest honor for courage. He was the first sheriff’s deputy fatally shot while on duty in more than a decade."
"This has been a very dark day for the Sheriff’s Department,” Capt. Steve Katz said. “We are all suffering right now."
Ex-Gov. Schwarzenegger attended the 10th anniversary of AB32 -- California's landmark climate change bill -- and he had some words to share.
Sacramento Bee: "On Oct. 5, 2016, former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger talks about the fight for clean air during a celebration of the 10th anniversary of the enactment of California's landmark climate change bill, Assembly Bill 32." (Video)
Hurricane Matthew threatens the east coast with the deadliest storm in over a decade as 2 million people have been urged to evacuate.
AP in The Chronicle: "Hurricane Matthew marched toward Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas and nearly 2 million people along the coast were urged to evacuate their homes, a mass exodus ahead of a major storm packing power the U.S. hasn't seen in more than a decade."
"Matthew was a dangerous and life-threatening Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 115 mph (185 kph) as it pounded the central Bahamas early Thursday. Forecasters said it's expected to strengthen over the coming day or so into an even more potent Category 4 hurricanes as it approaches Florida's Atlantic coast. At least 16 deaths in the Caribbean have been blamed on the storm, with heavy damage reported in Haiti."
"The storm was forecast to scrape much of the Florida coast and any slight deviation could mean landfall or it heading farther out to sea. Either way, it was going to be close enough to wreak havoc along the lower part of the East Coast, and many people weren't taking any chances."
A recent audit has found that the state's Board of Equalization has misspent a large amount of money.
ADAM ASHTON with the Sacramento Bee: "A state tax board that in the past two years misdirected millions of dollars in revenue and approved an expensive office remodel for one of its elected members is under the microscope of a new audit."
"California’s Department of General Services launched an audit of the Board of Equalization in July, three months after The Bee reported that the tax board spent $130,000 on a plush office remodeling for Board member Jerome Horton."
"Since then, the board has adopted tighter spending controls and promoted a new executive director in longtime BOE employee David Gau."
