Fundraising for California's 2018 gubernatorial race has accelerated, and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom already has an early lead over his opposition.
JOE GAROFOLI with The Chronicle: "Fundraising is already ramping up for California’s 2018 gubernatorial race, and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom has an early lead over his announced competitors."
"According to memo his campaign sent to donors Tuesday, Newsom raised $2.7 million in the second half of 2016, giving him a total of $11.5 million cash on hand. That’s far more than his major announced rivals, who include state Treasurer John Chiang, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin."
DALE KASLER, RYAN SABALOW and PHILLIP REESE with Sacramento Bee: "Around the start of each year, California water officials make a big show out of measuring the Sierra Nevada snowpack for reporters. Tuesday’s measurement before a throng of cameras was fairly bleak: Water content in the snowpack stood at just 53 percent of average, about a third as much water as the same time last year at that site."
"But as snowflakes drifted down, Frank Gehrke, director of snow surveys for the Department of Water Resources, struck a positive tone after taking the state’s first official manual snowpack reading of 2017 near Echo Summit."
"I think it’s a very encouraging start to the winter,” he said. Minutes earlier, he had traversed a snowy field on cross-country skis, plunging a hollow aluminum tube into the three-foot-deep snow at seven different points over a 200-yard stretch."
Murderous cult leader Charles Manson is seriously ill and has been hospitalized.
RICHARD WINTON and HAILEY BRANSON-POTTS with LAT: "Mass murderer Charles Manson was taken from a Central Valley prison to a hospital for an undisclosed medical issue, two sources familiar with the situation said."
"One of the sources said Manson was seriously ill but could not provide specific information."
"Officials with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation declined to comment, citing federal and state laws and saying inmates' medical information is private."
The Republicans' first Congressional move to gut the OCE was predicted to go over poorly with the public by House Maj. Leader Kevin McCarthy, and now he's saying 'told you so.'
SEAN COCKERHAM with Sacramento Bee: "House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., knew from the start that it was going to be a public relations disaster."
"McCarthy argued in a closed door meeting on Monday night that it was a bad idea for the Republicans to make gutting the independent congressional ethics office their first move since taking control of both houses of Congress and the White House following the November election."
“I was one of the first to the (microphone) as to why I didn’t think this was the best timing to do it,” McCarthy, of Bakersfield, told reporters on Tuesday."
Meanwhile, back in Sacramento, Democrats have hired former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder as their legal adviser in a presumptive confrontation with the incoming Trump administration.
From the NYT's Adama Nagourney: "Girding for four years of potential battles with President-elect Donald J. Trump, Democratic leaders of the California Legislature announced Wednesday that they had hired Eric H. Holder Jr., who was attorney general under President Obama, to represent them in any legal fights against the new Republican White House."
"The decision by the Legislature to retain Mr. Holder, who is now a prominent Washington lawyer, is the latest sign of the ideological battle that may play out over the next four years between this predominantly Democratic state and Washington. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate for president, defeated Mr. Trump by more than four million votes here."
“Having the former attorney general of the United States brings us a lot of firepower in order to prepare to safeguard the values of the people of California,” Kevin de León, the Democratic leader of the Senate, said in an interview. “This means we are very, very serious.”
A crabbers' strike in the Bay Area heads into its second week, leaving local markets tapped fresh out of Dungeness crab and other seafood favorites.
TARA DUGGAN with The Chronicle: "The Dungeness crab tanks at Seafood Center in the Richmond District are almost empty, except for a few lingering crustaceans that have seen better days."
“We sold out all the crab that we have. Only a few left over with missing legs and claws — not the full big size,” said Kent Phan, manager of the Clement Street seafood market."
"Seafood counters throughout the Bay Area are beginning to look similarly grim as a West Coast crab fishing strike continues into a second week. Alioto-Lazio Fish Co. on Fisherman’s Wharf is sold out of its signature product. Lucky supermarkets, which were running one of the best deals — $4.99 a pound for whole, cooked crab — have nothing left in the case. Even Polk Street’s Swan Oyster Depot ran out of crab on Tuesday."
Los Angeles' Department of Water and Power will be getting a customer service overhaul.
DAKOTA SMITH with LAT: "The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has infuriated customers with its billing screw-ups, long telephone wait times and unfettered spending."
"After winning the Los Angeles mayor’s race in 2013, Eric Garcetti vowed to overhaul the agency, promising more oversight and better service at the nation’s largest government-run utility."
"On that front, he’s relied on performance yardsticks to track DWP progress and brought in new hires. He also backed an unsuccessful ballot measure last fall that would have overhauled the utility."
READ MORE related to DWP: DWP 'bill of rights' doesn't impress critics -- ELIZABETH CHOU with Daily News
Xavier Becerra has been formally nominated as California's newest AG.
CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO with Sacramento Bee: "Gov. Jerry Brown formally entered his nomination of Rep. Xavier Becerra for California attorney general on Tuesday, setting the 90-day clock for the Legislature to act."
"Brown’s selection of Becerra, a Los Angeles Democrat and veteran of federal immigration and health care policy debates, came after the fall elevation of Democrat Kamala Harris to the U.S. Senate. Harris was sworn in Tuesday, after which Brown submitted his pick of Becerra to the Legislature. Their deadline is April 4. In the unlikely event that either the Assembly or Senate votes to reject him by that date, Brown will have to name someone else. If the houses vote to approve him or do not act, he will take office. Meanwhile, the acting attorney general is Kathleen “Kate” Kenealy, the chief deputy."
"Xavier has been an outstanding public servant – in the state Legislature, the U.S. Congress and as a deputy attorney general,” said Brown said after naming Becerra as his nominee last month. “I’m confident he will be a champion for all Californians and help our state aggressively combat climate change."
A conflict in 2016 between the California National Guard and the Pentagon involving enlistment bonuses finally sees resolution.
DAVID S. CLOUD with Sacramento Bee: "The Pentagon said Tuesday it would waive repayment for more than 15,000 California National Guard soldiers and veterans who received enlistment bonuses over the last decade but that 1,000 or so other service members would not have their debts waived."
"Peter Levine, the Pentagon’s top personnel official, told reporters that the Defense Department would begin notifying soldiers this month that their debts were being waived and that all of the notifications would be completed before July 1."
“We think that the number of cases in which we'll be recouping will be a few hundred, as opposed to the many thousands of cases that are under the sword of Damocles right now,” Levine said."
The Senate is wasting no time in trying to repeal parts of Obamacare, with hearings scheduled to begin today.
DAVID LIGHTMAN with Sacramento Bee: "The Senate is moving fast in its fervent desire to get rid of pieces of Obamacare: Debate on new legislation begins Wednesday."
"Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said last month “We will move right after the first of the year” on the getting rid of the law. Sure enough, a measure was introduced in the Senate Tuesday, the first day of the 115th Congress, that starts the process of repealing the nearly 7-year-old law. Since it was originally passed, Republicans have railed against the law, which requires nearly everyone to have health coverage or pay a penalty."
"While the Senate begins debate, President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Capitol Hill to meet with Democrats in an effort to stop the GOP effort."
'Too poor to retire, too young to die.'
STEVE LOPEZ with LAT: "Caroline from Sierra Madre wrote to me about the “five-year-long funeral” that followed her father’s stroke, saying “he retired a member of the middle class and died impoverished after all the family funds were spent on care."
"Art from Studio City wrote about his 96-year-old father, who has dementia and whose bank account “is evaporating at a fast pace because of the cost of caregivers, food, medicine and daily expenses."
"Dick from Long Beach told me he’s 84, his wife is 82, and they’re “hung up on the financing of our old age."
Experts are warning Trump that more than Twitter is needed to assuage North Korea's nuclear ICBM research.
MATT STILES with LAT: "Despite the efforts of the last three American presidents, North Korea has continued advancing as a nuclear state. Can Donald Trump rein in the rogue state any better?"
"In a televised New Year’s Day address to his nation, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced his resolve to develop a missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland."
"We will continue to build up our self-defense capability, the pivot of which is the nuclear forces, and the capability for preemptive strike,” he said."
READ MORE related to POTUS45: Trump gets the facts wrong, but homicides in some cities are up after a long decline -- MATT PEARCE with LAT
