Big Tobacco has spent more than ever to battle Proposition 56's cigarette tax hike on the ballot this year.
LIAM DILLON with L.A. Times: "Never before have tobacco companies spent so much trying to defeat a cigarette tax hike in California. The $71 million raised by opponents of this year’s Proposition 56, which would add a $2 per pack tax on cigarettes, to date tops the industry’s totals in 2006 and 2012, when R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris successfully knocked down previous tobacco tax hikes at the ballot."
"But unlike those previous failed campaigns, proponents of this tobacco tax hike have done a lot more to match the industry’s dollars. The more than $32 million raised so far by the Yes on 56 campaign nearly doubles supporters’ prior highest total and narrows a once overwhelming spending gap. In both previous campaigns, the tobacco industry outspent supporters more than 4 to 1. Now, the tobacco companies’ margin is less than 2 ½ to 1."
“It’s more of a campaign among equals than in the past,” said Mark Baldassare, president and CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California, which has tracked public opinion on tobacco for years."
READ MORE related to Ballot: Former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa endorses marijuana legalization initiative -- PATRICK MCGREEVY with L.A. Times; Prop. 58: A lopsided battle over bilingual education in California -- BEAU YARBROUGH and SHARON NOGUCHI with Daily Bulletin ; Early voting explodes in Southern California, with most casting ballots ahead of Election Day -- STAFF with OC Register
The FBI speeds up its re-opening of the Clinton-related email investigation under pressure from outside criticism.
DEL QUENTIN WILBER and NOAH BIERMAN with L.A. Times: "ThThe FBI accelerated its timeline for reviewing emails potentially linked to Hillary Clinton on Monday amid growing public pressure over the agency’s surprise announcement that it had found them in an unrelated case."
"Investigators had planned to conduct the review over several weeks but, after a torrent of criticism over the weekend, began scrambling to examine the trove of emails, according to law enforcement officials. The FBI hoped to complete a preliminary assessment in the coming days, but agency officials have not decided how, or whether, they will disclose the results of it publicly, and officials also could not say whether the entire review would be completed by election day."
"The uncertainty did not stop Donald Trump from charging into the vacuum with ominous speculation that a Clinton victory would spark national upheaval. Clinton repeated that she was confident the FBI had no case against her and that voters had already made up their mind on her use of a private server while she was secretary of State."
READ MORE related to Beltway: Trump's tax dodge skirted the edge of the law, report says -- SEEMA MEHTA with L.A. Times; Trump used legally dubious method to avoid paying taxes, report says -- DAVID BARSTOW, MIKE MCINTIRE, PATRICIA COHEN, SUSANNE CRAIG and RUSS BUETTNER with N.Y. Times; FBI director's announcement on Clinton emails was 'dumb,' Jerry Brown says -- CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO with Sacramento Bee; Race tightening, Clinton relies on firewall of support -- LISA LERER and JONATHAN LEMIRE with AP
An Orange County Assemblywoman's office has been burglarized and valuable voter data stolen.
AP: "Thirty tablets and a laptop computer were stolen over the weekend from the Orange County campaign office of Republican Assemblywoman Young Kim, a spokesman said Monday."
"Kim's campaign staff arrived Sunday morning to find that someone had broken through a door on the fourth floor of an office building in Buena Park, campaign spokesman Dave Gilliard said."
"The building is new and largely unoccupied, and the electronic equipment was not visible from outside, he said."
A Fresno sheriff has been accidentally shot and killed while on duty.
MATT HAMILTON with L.A. Times: "A Fresno County sheriff’s deputy died Monday after he was “accidentally shot” while on duty in a business park near Fresno’s Yosemite International Airport, authorities said."
"The shooting occurred just before 4 p.m., when the deputy was working near Clinton and Winery Avenues, according to Tony Botti, a spokesman for the Fresno County sheriff’s office."
"The deputy was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Botti said. His name was not released."
READ MORE related to Public Safety: California National Guard can't find 4,000 troops facing bills for bonuses -- ADAM ASHTON with Sacramento Bee; Sacramento plan would provide video, expand civilian review of police shootings -- ANITA CHABRIA with Sacramento Bee; Every member of California's state Senate signs a letter asking Congress to stop the National Guard paybacks -- JOHN MYERS with L.A. Times
Alice Huffman talks about her rough-around-the-edges upbringing and how that helped her lead the California NAACP chapter's involvement on ballot measures throughout the years.
TARYN LUNA with Sacramento Bee: "She was a church girl with a foul mouth and a high school dropout who graduated from UC Berkeley in two years with honors."
"She’s also a celebrated civil rights leader long accused of leveraging her role as president of the California NAACP to line her pockets.
One thing is clear: Alice Huffman never backs down from a fight."
"I don’t go looking for a fight,” Huffman said in a recent interview at her home in a gated community in the Pocket area, her Yorkie, Lishous, nearby. “I’m not a protagonist. I just defend myself. Sometimes people aren’t used to women who can defend themselves and hold their own."
October was one of the wettest ever on record, but will November follow the trend?
BILL LINDELOF with Sacramento Bee: "November in Sacramento is expected to dawn much as October closed, with a slight chance of showers forecast through the morning hours."
"As of 5:30 p.m. Monday, it was unclear whether enough rain would fall during the evening to make this the third wettest October on record. No rain had fallen during the day, although light showers were expected to move into the area during the evening, said Karl Swanberg, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. They were not expected to be as heavy as Sunday’s soaker."
"The forecast calls for a 20 percent chance of showers before noon Tuesday. By afternoon, the rain is expected to give way to partly sunny skies with a high near 66 degrees."
The Affordable Care Act's Covered California has some of the lowest premium increases in the entire nation. Here's why.
CLAUDIA BUCK with Sacramento Bee: "Starting Tuesday, Nov. 1, through Jan. 31, Californians who don’t have employer-based health insurance or Medicare can sign up for health insurance through the state’s marketplace, Covered California. That’s the easy news."
"As Covered California launches its fourth annual sign-up season under the federal Affordable Care Act, health care coverage is as contentious as ever, both in presidential debates and in national headlines. Covered California has already posted average premium increases of 13.2 percent, compared with a nationwide average of 25 percent. Part of that jump is due to the end of “reinsurance” payments to cover insurers’ losses, but also because of pricier prescription drug and medical costs, as well as more unhealthy consumers signing up."
"Ahead of the signup season, we talked last week with Peter Lee, Covered California’s executive director, about California’s rate hikes, the effect of presidential politics, and sign-ups among millennials. Here’s an excerpt:"
Workers sprayed with pesticidies while working on a farm will receive restitution.
CATHY LOCKE with Sacramento Bee: "Owners of a West Sacramento farm will pay $23,565 in costs, penalties and restitution after spraying farm workers with pesticides, Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig announced Monday."
"The District Attorney’s investigation found that Bypass Farms sprayed at least nine farm workers with pesticides on Aug. 18, 2014, after failing to follow pesticide instructions and warn the workers of the planned pesticide application. The farm workers who were sprayed immediately began experiencing various symptoms consistent with pesticide exposure – including headaches, nausea and vomiting – and had to go to the hospital."
"Yolo County Superior Court Judge Timothy L. Fall ordered Bypass Farms to pay the amount after parties reached an agreement on this and other terms through a stipulation, according to a District Attorney’s Office news release."
Meanwhile, Banc of California seems to be suffering from guilt by association.
JAMES RUFUS KOREN with L.A. Times: "Banc of California, a fast-growing lender that made a splash this summer by announcing plans to put its name on a new soccer stadium being built in Exposition Park, has seen its stock tumble in recent weeks amid concern over its connections to a convicted con man."
"Now, the bank is under pressure from one of its largest shareholders to start a wide-ranging investigation into the web of relationships between people close to the bank and Jason Galanis, a Los Angeles financier who this summer pleaded guilty to securities fraud charges — and whose father, John Galanis, was convicted of an array of fraud and racketeering charges in the 1980s."
"In a letter sent this week to bank Chairman and Chief Executive Steven Sugarman, investment firm PL Capital, which is the bank’s second-largest shareholder, said Banc of California is facing “a crisis of confidence and credibility” and should immediately hire an outside firm to investigate."
Anne Gust Brown -- Jerry Brown's wife -- could be the next Attorney General. Really?
CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO with Sacramento Bee: "Perhaps no political parlor game has stirred as much curiosity among California politicos as Gov. Jerry Brown’s possible selection for state attorney general."
"Brown will have the opportunity to elevate the state’s next top law enforcement official if frontrunner Kamala Harris wins the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer in the Nov. 8 election. Harris has led fellow Democrat Loretta Sanchez in every poll of the race, giving some urgency to what had largely been speculation."
