What's the bump fire stock the Las Vegas killer may have used?
East Bay Times' PATRICK MAY: "Reports from Las Vegas on Tuesday suggest that at least one of gunman Stephen Paddock’s rifles was equipped with something called a “bump-fire stock."
"According to a report from the British news outlet the Daily Mail, photos of two of the weapons recovered from the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino from where Paddock fired into the crowd below indicate that two were “semi-automatic weapons, with one having a ‘bump stock’ added to make it fully automatic. Fully-automatic weapons allow the shooter to unleash bullet after bullet simply by holding down the trigger."
"News reports point out that such a device would enable Paddock, to to fire hundreds of rounds per minute into the crowd, a capability that could prove to be a defining factor in how one shooter could kill and injure so many people in such a short period of time. One of the guns in the photo also had an over-sized magazine attached so Paddock would not have had to pause to refill ammunition as often."
READ MORE related to 'Sin City Slaughter': Las Vegas gunman was a former IRS agent who 'preplanned extensively' for the attack -- LA Times' MATT PEARCE/CINDY CARCAMO/LOUIS SAHAGUN/KATE MATHER; How newspapers around the world reacted to Las Vegas mass shooting -- The Telegraph; OP-ED: Silencers. Armor-piercing bullets. The shameless GOP agenda -- Mercury News' EDITORIAL BOARD; Jimmy Kimmel is sincerely wrong about guns -- National Review's DAVID FRENCH; It's time to do nothing about guns -- National Review's KEVIN D. WILLIAMSON; Portraits of the victims emerge -- LA Times; Victims of the Las Vegas mass shooting -- AP's JAY REEVES; Las Vegas gunman's girlfriend returns to US for questioning -- AP's MICHAEL BALSAMO/KEN RITTER
A lawyer's weapon against farm worker complaints: deportation
Fairwarning's TED ROHRLICH: "As an attorney representing California Central Valley farmers and labor contractors who rely heavily on undocumented workers, Anthony Raimondo has become widely known for performing a sort of magic trick. He can sometimes make legal complaints against his clients – and the people who file them – disappear."
"In at least seven cases where workers accused his clients of mistreatment, Raimondo asked immigration authorities if they would like to arrest the complainants."
"And, then, presto: At least three cases against his clients apparently were derailed, and two complainants—both, Raimondo says, with criminal records– were deported."
51st Assembly District: Wendy Carillo and Luis Lopez make runoff
Daily News: "Community activist Wendy Carrillo finished first in today’s special election in the 51st Assembly District and will likely face nonprofit healthcare director Luis Lopez in the Dec. 5 runoff."
"Carrillo had 3,604 votes with all 129 precincts and vote by mail ballots counted, according to semi-official figures released by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk."
"Lopez had 3,283 votes. Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees member Mike Fong was third with 2,852 votes after leading the count of vote by mail ballots."
San Diego a haven for the homeless -- and deadly hepatitis A
Capitol Weekly's LISA RENNER: "The rampant hepatitis A outbreak in San Diego is highlighting the city’s significant homeless problem."
"More than half of the 444 people with confirmed cases as of Sept. 14 are homeless, county health officials reported earlier this month. The officials say the highly contagious liver infection was spread through person-to-person contact."
"While hepatitis A usually is not fatal, the San Diego outbreak has resulted in 17 deaths to date."
White supremacists deserve free speech, California lawmakers told
Sacramento Bee's TARYN LUNA: "California is home to the largest skinhead population and the most developed white supremacist gangs in the country, the Anti-Defamation League told state senators during a hearing at the Capitol on Tuesday."
"But there’s little the Legislature can do to stop white supremacists from publicly expressing their racist views or organizing events similar to the deadly rally in Charlottesville, Va., without violating the First Amendment of the Constitution."
"As I try to tell my students, the only way our free speech will be protected tomorrow is if we safeguard the speech we do not like today,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, a constitutional scholar and dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law."
The GOP base is beyond Trump's control
National Review's JONAH GOLDBERG: "The conservative movement is caught in a Catch-22 of its own making. In the war against “the establishment,” we have made being an outsider the most important qualification for a politician. The problem? Once elected, outsiders by definition become insiders. This isn’t just a semantic point. The Constitution requires politicians to work through the system if they’re going to get anything done."
"Look at all the senators who rode the tea-party wave into power: Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Ron Johnson, Pat Toomey, Mike Lee. To one extent or another, they are now seen as swamp things, not swamp drainers, by the pitchfork populists."
READ MORE related to POTUS45/Beltway/Capitol Hill: Kennedy is key to SCOTUS outcome on gerrymandering -- AP's MARK SHERMAN
Nobel Prize honors technique for seeing molecules' details
AP: "Three researchers based in the U.S., U.K. and Switzerland won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday for developing a way to create detailed images of the molecules that drive life — a technology that the Nobel committee said allowed scientists to visualize molecular processes they had never previously seen."
"The 9-million-kronor ($1.1 million) prize is shared by Jacques Dubochet of the University of Lausanne, Joachim Frank at New York’s Columbia University and Richard Henderson of MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, Britain."
"The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said their method, called cryo-electron microscopy, allows researchers to “freeze biomolecules” mid-movement. The technology “is decisive for both the basic understanding of life’s chemistry and for the development of pharmaceuticals,” it said."
Should LAPD's proposed drone pilot program get off the ground? Here's your chance to weigh in
Daily News' BRENDA GAZZAR: "The public has two weeks to review proposed guidelines for the use of drones by Los Angeles police for a one-year pilot program before the Los Angeles Police Commission considers final approval later this month."
"The civilian commission agreed, after making a few revisions, at its Tuesday meeting that the guidelines were ready for public input. But many residents at the meeting voiced their strong opposition to using drones at all — in part during frequent outbursts."
"Commissioner Shane Murphy Goldsmith said she’s heard the public’s concerns expressed at recent community and commission meetings about the potential use of drones and takes them seriously."
READ MORE related to Public Safety: Sacramento police release video in the death of a man tackled by residents -- Sacramento Bee's NASHELLY CHAVEZ; Veterans kneel at City Hall as Boy Scouts and police cadets recite Pledge of Allegiance -- Sacramento Bee's RYAN LILLIS
State sued over whale deaths in crab fishing gear
The Chronicle's TARA DUGGAN: "Oakland’s Center for Biological Diversity sued the California Department of Fish and Wildlife on Tuesday for whale entanglements caused by Dungeness crab gear."
"To prevent deaths of hunchback whales, blue whales and leatherback sea turtles, which are all species protected by the Endangered Species Act, the suit calls for using shorter fishing lines and a reduction in crabbing in areas with heavy whale traffic, such as Monterey Bay."
Former Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson erased texts. It wasn't 'careless innocence,' developer alleges
Sacramento Bee's TONY BIZJAK: "Former Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson faces legal scrutiny for the second time in two years for deleting city-related texts on his cellphone."
"Developer Paul Petrovich has made an issue of the erased texts as he sues the city for denying him a gas station permit in Crocker Village, a residential and commercial community he is building on a former railyard next to Curtis Park."
"Petrovich contends Johnson and other council members colluded to deny him a fair hearing out of personal “animus."
OP-ED: Voter reg in OC high schools: nowhere to go but up
LAURA W. BRILL in Capitol Weekly: "Orange County set a participation record in the last presidential election, with more than 80% of registered voters casting ballots, the highest percentage in 40 years. High schools in the OC, however, are not setting any records on a key test of engaging young adults in the political process."
"Students in California can pre-register to vote at age 16. That means that when they turn 18, they will automatically be able to vote in the next election. Very few people know that the pre-registration option exists. High schools, where 16-year-olds spend most of their days, generally do little or nothing to inform their students about pre-registration or to help them pre-register."
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Ed's Note: If you haven't yet seen our Open California Oral History Project on retired U.S. Distrct Court Judge Thelton Henderson, please check it out at http://capitolweekly.net/oral-history-judge-thelton-henderson/. This is our first one, and we've got others on the way. And thanks to the California State Library!
