San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee has passed away early this morning at the age of 65. No cause of death has yet been given.
The Chronicle's RACHEL SWAN/DEMIAN BULWA: "San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee died early Tuesday morning at age 65, his office said."
"The sudden news came in an email from the office at 2:23 a.m. It read: “It is with profound sadness and terrible grief that we confirm that Mayor Edwin M. Lee passed away on Tuesday, December 12 at 1:11 a.m. at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Family, friends and colleagues were at his side. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Anita, his two daughters, Brianna and Tania, and his family."
"No cause of death was given."
56 female lawmakers call for Oversight probe into sexual allegations against Trump
The Hill's OLIVIA BEAVERS: "Nearly 60 Democratic female lawmakers are calling on the House Oversight Committee to open an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against President Trump."
"In a letter, 56 members of the Democratic Women's Working Group (DWWG) ask Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) and ranking member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) to open an investigation into the matter after more than a dozen women have "publicly accused the President of sexual misconduct."
"The DWWG plans to hold a press conference at the Capitol on Tuesday to emphasize their calls, one day after three of Trump's accusers united to tell their stories at a joint news conference."
READ MORE related to #TrumpToo: Report: Trump furious Haley said his accusers "should be heard" -- AXIOS' DAVE LAWLER; Woman: Donald Trump groped me and called me a 'c*nt' -- The Daily Beast's ANDREW KIRELL; Three women reassert allegations of sexual harassment against President Trump -- WaPo's ASHLEY PARKER/MARK BERMAN/FRANCES STEAD SELLERS
Get set: Your internet bill is about to soar
LA Times' DAVID LAZARUS: "Thursday’s the day that the Trump administration will overturn former President Obama’s rules protecting consumers from greedy telecom companies manipulating internet access and pricing."
"I got a preview of what’s to come over the weekend as my Spectrum internet bill soared by 20% — and as I encountered the take-it-or-leave-it policy imposed by Spectrum’s owner, Charter Communications, which purchased Time Warner Cable last year."
"The Republican-controlled Federal Communications Commission is expected to vote along party lines this week to end net neutrality. That’s the policy ensuring broadband providers such as phone and cable companies can’t give preferential treatment to anyone — their own streaming-video service, say, over Netflix."
Southern California wildfires update: fire evacuation maps and latest info
Sacramento Bee's KALIN KIPLING/NOEL HARRIS: "Five major wildfires are burning in Southern California, and most fires are nearing full containment – except for the Thomas Fire."
"The Creek, Lilac, Rye, Skirball and Thomas fires in Ventura, San Diego and Los Angeles counties, which started between Dec. 4 and Thursday, have prompted the evacuation of more than 200,000 residents, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. About 800 structures have been destroyed as well. One person’s death has been attributed to the fires, and dozens of horses have died, according to Fox News."
"The Liberty Fire in Riverside was 100 percent contained by about 8:30 p.m. Saturday and held at 300 acres."
READ MORE related to The West is Burning: Ash falls like snow as tens of thousands flee Thomas fire -- AP's CHRISTOPHER WEBER; Winds, terrain and fuel: Why the Thomas fire has been difficult to contain -- LA Times' BETTINA BOXALL; Those affected by wildfires can get help from LA County, city center in Lake View Terrace -- Daily News' BRENDA GAZZAR; Hundreds of Southern California firefighters deploy to massive Thomas fire as other wildfires wind down -- Daily News' BEATRIZ E. VALENZUELA; Red flag warning in most of LA County to continue until tonight -- Daily News' BRENDA GAZZAR
Jailed Russian hacker: I hacked Democrats 'under the command' of Russian intelligence agents
Business Insider's NATASHA BERTRAND: "A Russian hacker believed to be a member of a hacking collective called Lurk said in court over the summer that he was ordered by Russia's security services, known as the FSB, to hack the Democratic National Committee."
"The hacker, Konstantin Kozlovsky, told a Moscow court in August of this year that his nine-member hacking group — which has been accused of stealing over $17 million from Russia's largest financial institutions since 2013 — has been cooperating with the FSB for several years, according to the independent Russian news outlet The Bell. Part of that cooperation included hacking the DNC, he said."
"Kozlovsky said during a hearing on August 15 that he "performed various tasks under the supervision of FSB officers," including a DNC hack and cyberattacks on "very serious military enterprises of the United States and other organizations."
READ MORE related to KremlinGate: One Mueller-investigation coincidence too many -- National Review's VICTOR DAVIS HANSON; Trump ambassador beat and 'kidnapped' woman in Watergate cover-up: reports -- Newsweek's JEFF STEIN; Trump officials were warned about Mike Flynn at least 6 separate times before removing him -- Business Insider's NATASHA BERTRAND; Mueller probe circling its biggest target yet: former campaign CEO Steve Bannon -- Newsweek's GREG PRICE; The partisan, nihilist case against Robert Mueller -- The Atlantic's DAVID A. GRAHAM
Speaker at Moore event says he accidentally went with Moore to a brothel with child prostitutes
ThinkProgress' JUDD LEGUM: "Roy Moore, who is running for U.S. Senate in Tuesday’s special election, is facing multiple allegations of child sex abuse. He has largely avoided the campaign trail since these allegations first surfaced."
"But on Monday night, the last day before the election, Moore held a rally. It got off to an interesting start."
"One of the introductory speakers was Bill Sailing, who said he served with Moore in Vietnam. Sailing told the story of a night he spent with Moore and a third man, who he did not name. According to Sailing it was the third man’s last night in Vietnam and the man invited them to a “private club” in the city to celebrate with “a couple of beers."
READ MOORE: What the hell is happening with these Alabama polls? -- FiveThirtyEight's NATE SILVER; Judge orders Alabama not to destroy voting records in Tuesday's Senate election -- AL.com's CONNOR SHEETS; Roy Moore lands neo-Nazi endorsement before election for 'correctly' quoting Hitler -- Newsweek's MICHAEL EDISON HAYDEN; Three things to watch in Alabama's Senate election -- LA Times' MICHAEL FINNEGAN; 'One of our attorneys is a jew': Kayla Moore's proof that Roy Moore is no anti-Semite -- WaPo's FRED BARBASH; Voters head to the polls in contentious Senate race in Alabama -- WaPo's SEAN SULLIVAN/dAVID WEIGEL/MICHAEL SCHERER; On Tuesday, Alabama decides between an accused child molester and a Democrat -- The Nation's JON WIENER
There's no rain in sight. So why is Southern California bracing for floods, mudslides?
Daily News' SUSAN ABRAM: "Even as charred hillsides smoldered from a series of wildfires that tore through Los Angeles County, state and local officials were planning last week to head into burn areas to assess slopes and culverts, in an effort to prevent flash floods and mudslides that can occur after a massive blaze."
"The plans may seem early given that the recent Creek fire in the San Fernando Valley, the Rye fire in the Santa Clarita valley, and the Skirball fire near Bel-Air weren’t fully contained as the planning got into motion. Not only that, but Los Angeles has had a dry rainfall season so far this year, with no heavy rain in sight. The season begins on Oct. 1, but almost every area in Southern California has seen less than 10 percent of normal rainfall, said Bill Patzert, climate scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena."
"Last year at this time, the area saw 1.4 inches of rain. This year, that figure is down to .11 or a 10th of an inch, Patzert noted. The normal average range for this time of year is 2.02 inches."
Russia says its athletes reject an Olympics boycott and want to compete under a neutral flag
AP: "Russian athletes are overwhelmingly in favor of competing at the upcoming Pyeongchang Games despite a ban on the national team, the country's Olympic committee said Tuesday."
"Sofia Velikaya said the Russian Olympic Committee's athletes commission, which she chairs, has heard from "all the athletes in all sports" on the Olympic program, with a majority in favor of competing."
"Velikaya said no athletes have told the ROC they would rather boycott."
Arne Carlson: From personal to political, rue the rush to judgment
Star Tribune's ARNE CARLSON: "Recent events have brought to mind some terrifying days I experienced growing up in the Bronx. As a sixth-grader, I was painfully shy, with a pronounced stammer."
"One day, two uniformed policemen came into the classroom, looked around and pointed to me while declaring, “We want that boy."
"I was escorted to the principal’s office, planted in a chair and asked if I knew why I was there. I stammered “no” and was told to stare at the wall clock until my memory improved."
Anxious flyer caught smoking threatens to 'kill everybody' on Sacramento flight, video shows
Sacramento Bee's BENJY EGEL: "A 24-year-old woman was arrested Saturday after threatening to kill her fellow passengers on a Southwest Airlines flight from Portland to Sacramento."
"In a video obtained by Portland CBS affiliate KOIN6, a woman in a white hat, sunglasses and a black jacket can be seen profanely berating a flight attendant while collecting her belongings and moves into the aisle."
"I swear, if you don’t (expletive) land, I will (expletive) kill everybody on this (expletive) plane!” she yelled."
READ MORE related to Transportation: When his wife got a traffic ticket, he tried to fight the system with science. It turned into a battle over free speech -- LA Times' MATT PEARCE
Planning Commission approves Tsakopoulos' proposal to develop wetlands
Sacramento Bee's MOLLY SULLIVAN: "The Sacramento County Planning Commission voted Monday to recommend a proposal to the Board of Supervisors that would lead to the development of open space in Sacramento County’s Vineyard area that many residents believed would remain a protected wetland preserve."
"However, the piece of land known as Silver Springs Lot P has been owned by developer Angelo K. Tsakopoulos all this time, not the county. Tsakopoulos’ company, AKT Developments, now wants to build 46 houses on half-acre lots near Calvine and Excelsior roads, doing away with the wetlands, which some homeowners in Silver Springs paid for with premiums up to $25,000."
"The developer’s plan would keep 50 of Lot P’s 91 1/2 acres as a permanent preserve, adding walking trails and providing maintenance for invasive species. But the plan was opposed by the Vineyard Area Community Planning Advisory Council because residents purchased their homes with the understanding Lot P would remain preserved wetlands."
Late-night host Kimmel holds son, pleads for health care
AP: "Jimmy Kimmel held his baby son as he returned to his late-night show after a week off for the boy's heart surgery."
"Kimmel was crying from the first moment of his monologue Monday night as he pleaded with Congress to restore and improve children's health coverage, a cause he has championed since his son Billy was born with a heart defect in April."
"Billy needed one surgery just after his birth and had a follow-up operation last week."
New gun restrictions are coming to California in 2018. Here's what they mean to you.
Sacramento Bee's RYAN SABALOW: "California’s more than 6 million gun owners are going to see new restrictions in 2018 stemming from sweeping regulations lawmakers and voters have approved over the past two years."
"But due to pending court challenges, shifting deadlines and contradictions in the laws, many gun owners say they’re unsure about new rules regulating where they can buy ammunition, what classifies as an assault rifle and whether it’s still legal to own high-capacity ammunition magazines."
"I still get questions every single day,” said Nathan Woodard, manager of Sacramento Black Rifle, a Citrus Heights gun store. “People are still confused."
READ MORE related to Gun Violence & Public Safety: Sacramento targets city's most lethal criminals in controversial anti-violence program -- Sacramento Bee's ANITA CHABRIA
City can't keep up with Sacramento's record-setting building boom
Sacramento Bee's RYAN LILLIS/TONY BIZJAK: "Sacramento is back in a building boom, and City Hall can barely keep up."
"In an unusual move, the City Council has scheduled a special meeting Tuesday afternoon to approve two dozen new hires for the city’s community development department and other city agencies to help process building permits and plan reviews. The cost of the new hires – estimated at $2.3 million in the current fiscal year – would be mostly offset by an increase in revenues from new development, according to a city staff report."
North Korea's prisons are as bad as Nazi camps, says judge who survived Auschwitz
WaPo's ANNA FIFLELD: "North Korea’s political prisons are just as bad as — and perhaps even worse than — the Nazi concentration camps of the Holocaust, a renowned judge and Auschwitz survivor has concluded after hearing from former North Korean prisoners and guards."
"Thomas Buergenthal, who served on the International Court of Justice, is one of three jurists who have concluded that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un should be tried for crimes against humanity for the way his regime uses brutal political prisons to control the population."
"I believe that the conditions in the [North] Korean prison camps are as terrible, or even worse, than those I saw and experienced in my youth in these Nazi camps and in my long professional career in the human rights field,” said Buergenthal, who was in Auschwitz and Sachsenhausen as a child, as well as the ghetto of Kielce, Poland."
READ MORE related to North Korean Crisis: Dennis Rodman wants Trump to send him back to North Korea so he can cool tensions -- WaPo's DES BIELER
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The Roundup is compiled by Associate Editor Geoff Howard. Questions? Comments? Feedback? Email him at geoff@capitolweekly.net
