Six years and eight bodies later: Two lawmakers and the mayor of San Bruno say the California Public Utilities commission still has not been made to answer for its part in the catastrophic San Bruno natural gas pipeline blast.
LISA RENNER with Capitol Weekly: "Six years after the devastating San Bruno natural gas pipeline blast led to the deaths of eight people, the California Public Utilities Commission has not been held accountable for what elected officials say was its role in the tragedy."
"State Sen. Jerry Hill, Assemblymember Kevin Mullin and San Bruno Mayor Jim Ruane are trying to change that. They recently sent a letter to urge state attorney general nominee Xavier Becerra to ramp up a continuing investigation into corruption at the PUC."
"They believe the PUC was too lax in its oversight of Pacific Gas & Electric and forgot its mission to protect consumers. They specifically blame former longtime PUC president Michael Peevey, who resigned in 2014."
Facebook has introduced a new 'plan of attack' to eviscerate fake news before it has a chance to proliferate: Shift that responsibility, instead, to the end-user.
MARISSA LANG with The Chronicle: "Following weeks of scrutiny over its role in the proliferation of misinformation and made-up “news” stories, Facebook has unveiled its plan of attack against fake news."
"The social network unleashed a multipronged approach on Thursday that puts the onus of identifying and flagging fake news on everyone but the company itself."
"As part of an ongoing series of experiments to determine the most effective ways of containing the spread of misinformation, Facebook’s 1.8 billion users and independent fact-checkers will be tasked with providing feedback on the flood of stories shared on the social network."
Voters approved Proposition 54 to increase transparency in legislative proceedings, but the loopholes already are emerging.
Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee: "Without prior notice, Assembly leaders unveiled new operational rules for the session and Republicans objected that springing them suddenly violated the spirit of Proposition 54, although technically, rules changes are exempt from its provisions."
"More pertinently, the rules themselves, adopted on a party-line 55-25 vote, contain one potentially large loophole, to wit: A bill is introduced in one house and in some form – often very rough form – is passed to the other house, where amendments are usually added before passage. If amended, the bill is returned to the “house of origin” for a third vote that sends it to the governor for signature or veto...."
"The rules’ potential loophole is that they don’t require a 72-hour wait before a bill’s first floor vote in its first house by defining a bill’s “final form” – the words of Proposition 54 – as the version presented for a floor vote in the second house."
DANIEL BORENSTEIN with EBT: "It’s not surprising that NFL officials reacted negatively to Oakland’s latest bid to keep the Raiders. There’s no there there."
"Despite hoopla and countless reports this week about approval of a new $1.3 billion stadium agreement between Oakland, Alameda County and a development team led by NFL Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott, their accord has little substance."
"They have no deal. They don’t even have a firm plan."
The Orange County D.A.'s office finds itself in the middle of a federal civil rights investigation.
KELLY PUENTE with OC Register: "The U.S. Department of Justice launched a civil rights investigation of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and the Sheriff’s Department on Thursday over allegations that prosecutors and deputies withhold evidence and use jailhouse informants to illegally obtain confessions."
"The investigation, announced by federal prosecutors in Los Angeles, comes after years of complaints from local defense attorneys that the district attorney and sheriff’s deputies routinely cheat in court, misuse informants and secretly tape conversations in jails to get convictions. While there have been high-profile federal investigations into police agencies, the Justice Department rarely investigates prosecutors."
"In January, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, who has denied intentional wrongdoing, wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch saying his office would welcome a federal investigation. The office issued a statement Thursday saying it would cooperate with investigators and expects to be exonerated."
As OFD rushed to the scene of the Ghost Ship fire, their first reaction was to treat the fire as one in which people were trapped -- a strategy emphasizing 'aggressive interior attack.'
KIMBERLY VEKLEROV with The Chronicle: "As Oakland firefighters pulled up to the burning Ghost Ship warehouse the night of Dec. 2, they weren’t exactly sure what they were dealing with — whether anyone was trapped or what they would encounter inside — but they didn’t assume it was a vacant building."
"Public safety officials in Oakland have long been aware that people live and party in warehouses — some firefighters say they can tell whether one is inhabited just by looking at its exterior. But even if the Fire Department didn’t know the Ghost Ship had people living in it, as Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed said, firefighters treated the blaze as they would any other burning building: They assumed someone was stuck inside."
"That thinking, said fire Lt. Dan Robertson, requires a strategy of “aggressive interior attack” — which some fire departments, like Oakland’s, emphasize more than others. It’s why he and about eight other firefighters swarmed into the artists collective on 31st Avenue near International Boulevard with hoses and breathing apparatuses, even as pieces of the building were coming down around them."
READ MORE related to Ghost Ship Fire: Ghost Ship owner has business license on warehouse -- DAVID DEBOLT with East Bay Times
The epidemic of homelessness shows no sign of abating, and local governments are clueless on how to proceed in dealing with the humanitarian crisis.
EMILY GREEN with The Chronicle: "The leaders of two of the most powerful governmental institutions in San Francisco are at odds over how to deal with one of the city’s most enduring problems, demonstrating how little agreement there is when it comes to tackling homelessness."
"Mayor Ed Lee has condemned San Francisco Superior Court’s recall of 64,713 outstanding arrest warrants for quality-of-life offenses dating back more than five years. Lee said he is “emotionally angry” about the decision and refuses to accept it."
"Presiding Judge John Stewart says it is a waste of resources to keep track of warrants that are rarely enforced and fines that are almost never paid."
Yesterday's rainfall proved crippling for 'drought season.'
RYAN SABALOW and DALE KASLER with The Bee: "Another rainstorm pounded much of the state Thursday, causing minor havoc in some areas but putting another dent in California’s five-year drought.""The storm was expected to continue into Friday, bringing rain in low-lying areas and snow to the Sierra Nevada. Rain gauges and reservoirs were filling up as California continued to experience one of the strongest starts to the rain season in years."
"Fresh data showed California is making progress against the drought. The National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln., Neb., reported Thursday that 27 percent of the state was drought free, mainly in the far northern counties and the Bay Area."
READ MORE related to California Water Crisis: Storm slams SF after hitting North Bay with heavy rain -- HAMED ALEAZIZ, EVAN SERNOFFSKY, SARAH RAVANI and STEVE RUBENSTEIN with The Chronicle
If you've got a self-imagined self-driving car, or if you're a robot guru, Sacramento may just be the town for you.
TONY BIZJAK with Sacramento Bee: "Sacramento wants to be the robot car testing capital of the country."
"Mayor Darrell Steinberg, in his first formal policy initiative since taking office earlier this week, joined with Rep. Doris Matsui at the California Auto Museum on Thursday to announce a cooperative effort to lure manufacturers of self-driving cars to test out their inventions on Sacramento streets."
"The city will apply on Monday for federal approval to be designated as an automated vehicle proving ground. The designation does not provide federal funds, but allows the city to work cooperatively with the federal Department of Transportation on safe testing of vehicles, starting no later than January 2018."
A Squaw Valley expansion has been met with opposition by enviros.
BRAD BRANAN with Sacramento Bee: "A Nevada City advocacy group has filed a legal challenge to Squaw Valley’s expansion plan, saying Placer County violated the California Environmental Quality Act by approving the development last month."
"County supervisors approved construction of hotels, condominiums and housing of up to 1,500 rooms, up to 300,000 square feet of commercial space and a “mountain adventure center” of 90,000 square feet at the famed ski resort."
"Sierra Watch, which was instrumental in organizing community opposition to the plan, filed the legal challenge Wednesday in Placer Superior Court."\
And in case you missed the health insurance news yesterday, the first deadline for enrollment in 2017 Covered California is tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 17.
TRACY SEIPEL with Mercury News: "Covered California, the state’s health insurance exchange, has extended the 2017 enrollment deadline to midnight Saturday for those who want their coverage to start on Jan. 1."
"Anyone signing up after that — and through the Jan. 31 deadline — won’t see their plan kick in until either Feb. 1 or March 1."
"The extension to midnight Saturday — from midnight Thursday — comes after exchange officials on Wednesday cited a “strong increase in demand,” noting that 25,000 new enrollees had signed up for a plan on Monday and Tuesday — almost double the figure for the same two-day period in 2015."
A new bill aims to raise the provisional licensing age from 18 to 21 in an effort to crackdown on teen vehicular death.
AARON DAVIS with East Bay Times: "A new bill aims to reduce teen driving accidents by extending driver restrictions to new drivers 21 and under."
"The bill, titled AB 63, was introduced to the legislature on Wednesday by Assemblyman Jim Frazier (D-Oakley). The legislation will increase the age that new drivers must hold a provisional license from 18 to 21."
"This bill will help significantly decrease accidents among newly licensed drivers,” Frazier said. “Increasing the age for a provisional license will ensure that California’s most vulnerable motorists go through proper training to become safe, responsible drivers."
The FPPC is withholding judgment on a fine against the Contra Costa County DA until next month, due to a dearth of commissioners present during proceedings.
NATE GARTRELL with EBT: "The California Fair Political Practices Commission postponed a vote Thursday on whether to impose a $45,000 fine against Contra Costa County’s top law enforcement officer."
"With two of five commissioners absent, the FPPC’s 2-1 vote in favor of fining Contra Costa District Attorney Mark Peterson means that commissioners will have to vote again on the matter in January 2017. All FPPC items require three “yes” votes to pass, per commission rules."
"Last week, it was made public that Peterson violated California law more than 600 times from 2011-15, when he spent money from his campaign contribution funds on personal expenses. The expenses totaled $66,000 and included cellphone payments, movie tickets, clothes and gasoline,according to FPPC documents."
Hayward Police Chief Diana Stuart retires amid a dramatically charged exit.
DARIN MORIKI with EBT: "The husband of Hayward Police Chief Diane Stuart, who abruptly retired Wednesday, is speaking out against the city’s nearly four-month personnel investigation of his wife and failure to quell inaccurate speculations about the couple and his businesses that arose."
"Stuart’s husband Clark D. Stuart, II, said in an interview with the Daily Review that he, his wife and his businesses have not done anything wrong, even when he was a contractor with the city for a few years, Diane Stuart was the city’s police chief and they were not married yet."
"“I’m appalled by the stuff that’s going on with the city of Hayward; it’s ridiculous,” Stuart said."
READ MORE related to Public Safety: Berkeley Police Review Commission continues talks about police stop data -- GIBSON CHU with Daily Californian
The future of the Democratic party lies in expanding cultural boundaries and intracommunication.
JOE GAROFOLI with The Chronicle: "Democrats should stop their endless worrying about how to get working-class white people to vote for them and start talking about a bigger problem: the “near-apartheid state of the Democratic Party,” as Steve Phillips describes it."
"Whoa, Steve, I told him when we chatted the other day. White people — at least progressive ones — are going to freak out when you drop the word “apartheid.” Phillips, a San Francisco civil rights attorney, leader of a new campaign and media platform calledDemocracy in Color, and author of the best-selling “Brown Is the New White,” smiled."
"That’s kind of why I started using the word,” he said."
Eleni Kounalakis on Donald Trump: 'It's a cabinet of tycoons ... He believes business tycoons know what's best. Like what's best for Exxon is best for America."
JOE GAROFOLI with The Chronicle: "The latest batch of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees are poised to reshape not only the nation, but also the planet."
"The man tapped to be America’s chief diplomat is a trusted friend of Russia, the nation’s longtime geopolitical rival. The man tapped to lead the Department of Energy has long pledged to kill it. The man nominated to shepherd the Labor Department opposes raising the minimum wage."
"And Trump’s nominees to run the Environmental Protection Agency and the departments of Interior and Energy are dubious about the science behind climate change."
