Nancy Pelosi, scheduled to give a pro-Dream Act speech that would discuss enshrining DACA into federal law, was shutdown by a group of some 60-odd youths chanting, 'We are not bargaining chips.'
The Chronicle's EVAN SERNOFFSKY: “All of us or none of us,” “Democrats deport” and “We are not a bargaining chip” — more than 60 young people overwhelmed a news conference that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi had organized Monday on her home turf in San Francisco to urge passage of the Dream Act to protect immigrants who were brought to the country as children."
"After nearly an hour of boisterous chanting by protesters who described themselves as “undocumented youth,” Pelosi and fellow House Democrats Barbara Lee of Oakland and Jared Huffman of San Rafael packed up and left as the carefully orchestrated event fell into disarray."
"The uproar started as Pelosi finished her opening remarks ahead of several planned speeches from recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which the Trump administration rescinded last week. Soon after that, Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said they came to an agreement with Trump on the framework for a bill that would protect DACA recipients while beefing up border security."
READ MORE related to Immigration: With shaky job prospects and Trump promising crackdowns, immigrants return to Mexico with US-born children -- LA Times' BRITTNY MEJIA; Expedited processing for H-1B visas to resume after suspension -- The Chronicle's TRISHA THADANI; 'My daughters are going to be OK.' Then Trump phased out DACA -- LA Times' ESMERALDA BERMUDEZ; Several LA-area DACA immigrants among those suing Trump administration -- Daily News
Gov. Brown's water-tunnel pet project is staring down more financial problems.
The Chronicle's KURTIS ALEXANDER: "Just months after Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to shore up California’s water system with two giant tunnels won key approval from regulators, the $17 billion project is running into potential financial problems."
"The dozens of agencies that have expressed support for the delta tunnels as a way to ensure that they get more reliable water deliveries, from Silicon Valley to the Central Valley to Los Angeles, are supposed to produce financial commitments in coming weeks. Many, however, appear reluctant to sign on."
"Officials with the sprawling Westlands Water District in the western San Joaquin Valley, the state’s largest agricultural supplier, voiced concern on the eve of a Tuesday vote that the cost won’t justify the benefit. Westlands is the first major agency to vote on whether to help pay for the tunnels, and its decision is likely to influence other water districts around the state."
A scientist studying monsoons in Arizona has learned that a 150-mile mountain range from the Gulf of Mexico acts as a conduit for storms, which could have enormous implications for water supplies and climate preparation.
Water Deeply's MATT WEISER: "SUMMER MONSOON STORMS provide a significant share of the water that allows the southwest United States to thrive. These storms pushing into the desert from more tropical regions to the south can deliver more than half a year’s precipitation."
"But how do they traverse a region that is also bisected by tall mountain ranges – mountains that suck most of the moisture out of a storm?"
"Thomas Galarneau thinks he has an answer. An assistant professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Arizona, he has published a new study identifying a previously unrecognized terrain feature that may be responsible for passing most of the monsoons that reach Arizona."
California's community colleges seek extra $382 million in funding for next year
EdSource's MIKHAIL ZINSHTEYN: "The legislative season may be over, but California’s community colleges are already looking to next year’s state spending debates as they seek an additional $382 million from Sacramento on top of the $8.6 billion they currently receive."
"The Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges Monday approved the 2018-19 budget, which would increase state spending on the system by about 4 percent. System chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley now must lobby the Legislature and the governor to include the funds in the state’s 2018-19 budget."
"The budget request reflects the college system’s plans to have more of its 2.3 million students complete associate’s degrees and transfer to a four-year university. This spring the board voted to approve the roadmap that in five years would increase by 35 percent the number of students who transfer to a Cal State or UC. It also aims over the next decade to close the completion gap among racial and ethnic groups."
A BART passenger attempted to rob a fellow passenger by passing her a life-threatening note before her scheme was foiled. Now, the agency has released photos of the would-be thief.
The Chornicle's EVAN SERNOFFSKY: "BART police released security images on Monday of a woman who allegedly tried to rob a fellow passenger with a threatening note over the weekend in San Francisco."
"The suspect, who has not been identified, is seen wheeling a cart and wearing dark sunglasses on a Dublin-bound train on Saturday. She was described as white, in her 30s with “strawberry blond” hair, police said."
"The woman allegedly passed the threatening note to 32-year-old Oakland resident Julie Dragland, who was sitting in front of her on the train as it headed through San Francisco from Daly City to the East Bay just before 5 p.m."
The KremlinGate probe has ramped up in intensity after the New York Times' revelation that Mueller warned Manafort to prepare for indictment. The warning followed the July search of Manafort's home.
NYT's SHARON LAFRANIER/MATT APUZZO/ADAM GOLDMAN: "Paul Manafort was in bed early one morning in July when federal agents bearing a search warrant picked the lock on his front door and raided his Virginia home. They took binders stuffed with documents and copied his computer files, looking for evidence that Manafort, President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, set up secret offshore bank accounts. They even photographed the expensive suits in his closet."
"The special counsel, Robert Mueller, then followed the house search with a warning: His prosecutors told Manafort they planned to indict him, said two people close to the investigation."
"The moves against Manafort are just a glimpse of the aggressive tactics used by Mueller and his team of prosecutors in the four months since taking over the Justice Department's investigation into Russia's attempts to disrupt last year's election, according to lawyers, witnesses and U.S. officials who have described the approach. Dispensing with the plodding pace typical of many white-collar investigations, Mueller's team has used what some describe as shock-and-awe tactics to intimidate witnesses and potential targets of the inquiry."
The Equifax data breach has had little affect on the GOP lawmakers, who are now moving to further deregulate creditors.
LA Times' DAVID LAZARUS: "Even as millions of consumers grapple with fallout from the Equifax data breach, Republican lawmakers are quietly backing legislation to deregulate credit agencies and make them even less accountable for wrongdoing."
"Bills are pending in Congress to limit class-action damages for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and to give credit agencies more latitude in profiting from identity theft protection products."
"The legislation is part of sweeping efforts by Republican lawmakers to reduce oversight of banks and other financial-services firms, and to cripple or eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has notched a successful track record of holding industry players accountable for unfair and illegal practices."
Before his bid to become California governor, John Cox took on some guy named Obama
LA Times' PHIL WILLON: "The candidate was opposed to entrenched lawmakers doing favors for friends and sold himself as an anti-corruption reformer in favor of limited government. Was it the 2004 Illinois Senate race or the 2018 California governor’s race? For John Cox, it was both."
"In the heat of the 2003 Illinois U.S. Senate primary, millionaire Republican businessman Cox stood on a debate stage in Chicago, butting heads with a little-known Democratic state senator named Barack Obama."
"Neither candidate was considered their party’s favorite. But things began looking up for Obama, of course, who won the Senate race and then the presidency. Cox dropped out before the GOP primary election. It was his third try for elected office in Illinois and his third defeat."
Los Angeles County's housing crisis and homeless epidemic leave officials scrambling for solutions, and the Sylmar armory may provide a partial answer.
Daily News' SUSAN ABRAM: "An armory in Sylmar that sits vacant for most of the year is being considered as a year-round transitional housing facility for women experiencing homelessness, but who are close to securing permanent places to live."
"In an open letter sent Friday to Sylmar stakeholders, Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said she and her staff based the proposal on community input and on a report on homeless women and their needs."
"The report, released last month by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority or LAHSA found that 31 percent of the nearly 58,000 homeless people who were tallied during a winter count across the county are women. Many of the them reported experience with physical and sexual violence, human trafficking, poverty and poor physical and mental health."
READ MORE related to Housing Crisis & Homelessness: Housing woes spury Bay Area residents to ponder exodus from costly region, poll says -- East Bay Times' GEORGE AVALOS
As leaders from around the world gather for the United Nations General Assembly, the LA Times gives a brief view of what to expect from the summit.
LA Times' ALEXANDRA ZAVIS: "The nuclear threat from North Korea and the plight of Myanmar's minority Muslims are among the many intractable challenges confronting world leaders as they begin high-level talks at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday."
"President Trump, who makes his debut before the world body at 10:30 a.m., is attracting much of the attention from diplomats anxious to know what his "America first" approach will mean for international institutions and alliances that have been a bedrock of U.S. foreign policy for decades."
"Trump has made his disdain known for what he regards as a bloated U.N. bureaucracy that relies too heavily on the generosity of the U.S. And his administration has staked out positions that are at odds with the U.N. on key issues such as climate change and the deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program."
READ MORE related to POTUS45: Liberals, get ready to freak out: Trump could be a two-term president -- LA Times' DAVID HORSEY
A chain of islands already paralyzed by the destructive forces of Hurricanes Irma and Jose now face Hurricane Maria, another Category 5 storm that rounds off the worst triple-threat of storms to the region's history.
LA Times' MELISSA ETEHAD/MOLLY HENNESY-FISKE: "Hurricane Maria, a dangerous Category 5 storm, reached the island of Dominica in the eastern Caribbean on Monday night with sustained winds of 160 mph, forecasters said."
"It was expected to deliver destructive waves, a storm surge of up to 9 feet, flooding and mudslides along a path that the National Hurricane Center said includes Guadeloupe, the Leeward Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico."
"The storm was moving northwest at 9 mph Monday night as it struck Dominica, a nation of roughly 74,000 people located less than 400 miles southeast of Puerto Rico. Landfall there was expected as soon as late Tuesday."
READ MORE related to Hurricane Season: While the world's attention is elsewhere, Bangladesh faces a humanitarian crisis -- The Guardian's TOM BAMFORTH
Pizza server fired for obscene anti-police note on Torrance officer's receipt
Daily News' LARRY ALTMAN: "A Torrance police officer picking up a takeout lunch at a local pizzeria was handed a receipt with an obscene anti-police message, a gesture that touched off a firestorm Monday on social media."
"The officer, who was in uniform Thursday at Pieology in Torrance, did not respond and, in fact, left a tip when the female cashier handed him the shocking receipt Thursday that said “F— The Cops."
"He remembers a young lady who rings him up,” said Sgt. Ronald Harris, a Torrance Police Department spokesman. “He looks at the receipt. He immediately noticed what it says."
Miserable traffic is slowly becoming a Bay Area norm after a local report revealed that traffic in the area has increased 80% over nearly 8 years.
East Bay Times' ERIN BALDASSARI: "Drivers slogging through Bay Area freeways during the rush-hour commute are spending more time crawling along at speeds of less than 35 miles an hour, with traffic congestion up 80 percent since 2010, a new report released Monday by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) found."
"The average driver in 2016 spent roughly 3.5 minutes per commute traveling less than 35 mph, a new record and a 9 percent increase over the previous year. It also marked the fourth consecutive year that weekday traffic congestion around the region reached a new high. Or new low, depending on how you view it."
"Ask MTC spokesman John Goodwin, and it’s a good problem to have."
READ MORE related to Transportation: Slideshow: $3 toll hike heads to governor's desk; Here's how your $8 toll will be spent -- East Bay Times' ERIN BALDASSARI
