Under fire, judge resigns

Dec 18, 2017

9th Circuit appeals judge Alex Kozinski announces resignation after a score of women accuse him of years of sexual misconduct.

 

WaPo: "Alex Kozinski, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit who is known for his colorful written opinions, had been accused by 15 women of subjecting them to inappropriate behavior, including having clerks watch porn in his chambers."

 

"He said in a statement, “It grieves me to learn that I caused any of my clerks to feel uncomfortable; this was never my intent.” But he said he would retire because “I cannot be an effective judge and simultaneously fight this battle. Nor would such a battle be good for my beloved federal judiciary."

 

When nursing homes push out poor and disabled patients

 

California Healthline's JOCELYN WIENER: "Anita Willis says the social worker offered her a painful choice: She could either leave the San Jose, Calif., nursing home where she’d spent a month recovering from a stroke — or come up with $336 a day to stay on."

 

"She had until midnight to decide."

 

"Willis’ Medicaid managed-care plan had told the home that it was cutting off payment because she no longer qualified for such a high level of care. If Willis, 58, stayed and paid the daily rate, her Social Security disability money would run out in three days. But if she left, she had nowhere to go. She’d recently become homeless after a breakup and said she couldn’t even afford a room-and-board setting."

 

READ MORE related to Health Care: Oh, that deadline? Doesn't apply to California -- California Healthline's ANA B. IBARRA

'We feel like our system was hijacked': DEA agents say a huge opioid case ended in a whimper

 

WaPo's LENNY BERNSTEIN/SCOTT HIGHAM: "After two years of painstaking investigation, David Schiller and the rest of the Drug Enforcement Administration team he supervised were ready to move on the biggest opioid distribution case in U.S. history."

 

"The team, based out of the DEA’s Denver field division, had been examining the operations of the nation’s largest drug company, McKesson Corp. By 2014, investigators said they could show that the company had failed to report suspicious orders involving millions of highly addictive painkillers sent to drugstores from Sacramento, Calif., to Lakeland, Fla. Some of those went to corrupt pharmacies that supplied drug rings."

 

"The investigators were ready to come down hard on the fifth-largest public corporation in America, according to a joint investigation by The Washington Post and “60 Minutes.”

 

Southern California wildfires update: Fire, evacuation maps and latest info

 

Sacramento Bee's KALIN KIPLING/NOEL HARRIS: "Two major wildfires are still burning in Southern California, and the Thomas Fire is the only one not near full containment and still growing."

 

"The Creek and Thomas fires in Ventura, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties, which started between Dec. 4 and Dec. 7, 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."

 

READ MORE related to The West is Burning: Thanks to Trump's tax plan, victims of disasters large and small are about to get scrooged -- LA Times' GEORGE SKELTON; Thomas fire continues to grow as strong, shifting winds bring new dangers -- LA Times' MELISSA ETEHAD/BEN POSTON; One raging wildfire took a family's new home. Another took nearly everything else -- Sacramento Bee's DON SWEENEY; Crews saved hundreds of homes in epic battle against wind and fire. But two families returned to rubble -- LA Times' MELISSA ETEHAD/ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN; Berkeley Fire Department issues warning regarding 'elevated fire danger' -- Daily Californian's SAKURA CANNESTRA

 

California lawmakers pledge to work together on sexual harassment -- then act alone

 

Sacramento Bee's TARYN LUNA: "Women in Sacramento have been clamoring for the California Senate and Assembly to establish a single approach to address sexual harassment in the Capitol community."

 

"Jennifer Kwart, who testified at an Assembly hearing last month, said that such an approach would have helped her after Sen. Tony Mendoza took her to his hotel room for a drink when she was a 19-year-old intern. Mendoza, who has said he welcomes a fair investigation into accusations against him, was an assemblyman then; he’s now a state senator."

 

"I do feel strongly that a unified singular process is badly needed,” Kwart said in her testimony. “These situations don’t necessarily fit neatly into our individual silos."

 

READ MORE related to #MeToo/Boy's Club: Capitol misconduct accusations gather momentum -- Capitol Weekly's CHUCK MCFADDEN

 

Trump says he won't fire Mueller, as campaign to discredit Russia probe heats up

 

WaPo's PHILIP RUCKER/JOSH DAWSEY/SARI HORWITZ: "President Trump on Sunday sought to douse speculation that he may fire special counsel Robert S. Mueller III amid an intensifying campaign by Trump allies to attack the wide-ranging Russia investigation as improper and politically motivated."

 

"Returning to the White House from Camp David, Trump was asked Sunday whether he intended to fire Mueller. “No, I’m not,” he told journalists, insisting that there was “no collusion whatsoever” between his campaign and Russia."

 

"The president’s comments came a day after a lawyer representing Trump’s transition team accused Mueller of wrongfully obtaining thousands of emails sent and received by Trump officials before the start of his administration — a legal and public relations maneuver seen as possibly laying the groundwork to oust the special counsel."

 

READ MORE related to KremlinGate: Image of cooperation between White House and Mueller starts to fracture -- NYT's MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT; GOP Sen. says FBI agent's texts don't taint 'entire' mueller probe -- TPM's CAITLIN MACNEAL; A 'coup in America?' Fox news escalates anti-Mueller rhetoric -- WaPo's SAMANTHA SCHMIDT

 

Trump to unveil 'America First' national security strategy

 

AP's JONATHAN LEMIRE/HOPE YEN: "President Donald Trump is outlining a new national security strategy that refocuses the United States' relationship with the rest of the world, essentially implementing President Donald Trump's "America First" mantra on a global scale."

 

"It envisions nations in constant competition, reverses Obama-era warnings on climate change, and affirms that the United States will unilaterally defend its sovereignty, even if that means risking existing agreements with other countries that have dominated the United States' foreign policy since the Cold War."

 

"The Republican president, who ran on a platform of "America First," will detail his plan Monday, one that if fully implemented could sharply alter U.S. international relationships. The plan, according to senior administration officials who offered a preview Sunday, is to focus on four main themes: protecting the homeland; promoting American prosperity; demonstrating peace through strength; and advancing American influence in an ever-competitive world."

 

READ MORE related to POTUS45: Trump to boost US missile defense to combat Iranian, N. Korean WMD threats -- Washington Free Beacon's ADAM KREDO; Trump plans to campaign heavily for GOP candidates in 2018 elections -- WFB's JACK HERETIK; Trump to outline a broad national security strategy in a speech on Monday -- LA Times' BRIAN BENNETT

 

GOP faces 5-day scramble to pass tax bill, avoid government shutdown

 

WaPo's JEFF STEIN/MIKE DEBONIS/PATRICK REIS: "Republicans return to Congress on Monday facing a packed agenda with little time to enact it, as party leaders aim to quickly pass their massive tax plan and then cut a budget deal with Democrats before the end of Friday to avert a government shutdown."

 

"Republicans’ tight timing on taxes is self-imposed. GOP lawmakers have for months been racing to meet President Trump’s demand that they send him tax legislation before Christmas — a timeline that gained new urgency when Alabama Democrat Doug Jones won the Senate seat currently occupied by Sen. Luther Strange (R)."

 

"GOP leaders hope to hold tax votes early in the week before moving to the budget bill. They need Democrats’ help to pass the budget measure through the Senate, and thus far they have made little progress bringing them aboard amid disagreements over spending levels, protection from deportation for certain undocumented immigrants and a federal health insurance program for low-income children."

 

READ MORE related to Death & Taxes: Last-minute real estate tax break in GOP bill will benefit Trump -- IBT's JOSH KEEFE/DAVID SIROTA/ALEX KOTCH; Final tax bill dramatically softens blow to mortgage interest deductions in California -- LA Times' CHRISTINE MAI-DUC/JON SCHLEUSS; Will the GOP tax bill stall California's economic growth -- LA Times' ANDREW KHOURI

 

Family, friends remember SF mayor

 

AP: "The Latest on the public memorial of San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee (all times local):"

 

"5 p.m."

 

"Family, friends and fellow politicians remembered San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee as a man with great humility, integrity and a winning smile."

 

READ MORE related to The Legacy of Ed Lee: Throng of dignitaries, everyday people honors Mayor Ed Lee at City Hall memorial -- The Chronicle's JILL TUCKER/SAM WHITING

 

After 157 years in Chinatown, LA's oldest hospital shuts its doors

 

LA Times' FRANK SHYONG: "Xiaoyuan Yang was pregnant and her husband Weiming Lei needed a job when they moved more than 20 years ago from Guangzhou, China, to Los Angeles."

 

"We knew nothing, and we didn’t understand anything,” Lei said. “Someone told us to live in Chinatown."

 

"There, Yang found work at a Chinese restaurant, and their neighbors told them about a hospital just down the street where the staff spoke not only Mandarin and Cantonese, but the Toishan and Zhongshan dialects as well."

 

Stem cell agency nears $5 billion ballot plan

 

Capitol Weekly's DAVID JENSEN: "Directors of the California stem cell agency on Thursday virtually endorsed a plan to stave off its financial death, pinning their hopes on a possible $5 billion bond measure and a private fundraising effort to bring in an additional $222 million."

 

"The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), as the agency is formally known, expects to run out of cash for new awards in late 2019 because of limits in the ballot measure that created it in 2004."

 

"Robert Klein, who led the 2004 initiative campaign, appeared before the governing board meeting and touted the new bond proposal. The Palo Alto real estate investment banker told directors that California had a “moral imperative” to continue its stem cell work. He said, “This is California’s contribution to the future of medicine….This is the bridge to the future of health care."

 

Fallout from allegations of tea party targeting hamper IRS oversight of nonprofits

 

WaPo's ROBERT O'HARROW JR: "Years of conservative attacks on the Internal Revenue Service have greatly diminished the ability of agency regulators to oversee political activity by charities and other nonprofits, documents and interviews show."

 

"The fall in oversight, a byproduct of repeated cuts to the IRS budget, comes at a time when the number of charities is reaching a historic high and they are becoming more partisan and financially complex."

 

"It represents a success for conservatives who have long sought to scale back the IRS and shrink the federal government. They capitalized on revelations in 2013 that IRS officials focused inappropriately on tea party and other conservative groups based on their names and policy positions, rather than on their political activity, in assessing their applications for tax-exempt status. Among conservatives, the episode has come to be known as the “IRS targeting scandal."

 

Contractors claim $11 million in unpaid work at King's downtown hotel project

 

Sacramento Bee's TONY BIZJAK: "A contract dispute between the Sacramento Kings’ development group and companies hired to build its downtown hotel tower has escalated in recent weeks – with six contractors now claiming they have done $11 million worth of work that they have not been paid for."

 

"The flurry of financial claims has been filed just as work is winding up on the roughly $200 million project on J Street near the Golden 1 Center arena. While construction hasn’t stopped, real estate experts say the dispute could make it more difficult to complete sales of 45 condominium units that are perched above the hotel in the 16-story building."

 

"One of the project’s key contractors, Pacific Structures of San Francisco, filed the first and largest claim for $6 million in late September. The company says it did $34.8 million worth of concrete work, but has been paid only $28.8 million by the tower ownership group, which includes the Kings and JMA Ventures of San Francisco, an upscale, boutique development company."

 

READ MORE related to Economy: Stephen Curry tweets interest in buying Carolina Panthers -- SF Chronicle's CONNOR LETOURNEAU

 

Sacramento County students are among the most absent in California

 

Sacramento Bee's DIANA LAMBERT/PHILLIP REESE: "Sacramento County students have the worst chronic absentee rate in the region and a higher rate than all but two of the other 20 largest counties in California – Sonoma and San Joaquin."

"According to new state data, 14.8 percent of Sacramento County students missed one-tenth of their classes last school year. By comparison, 10.8 percent of students statewide missed that many classes."

 

"The new numbers were released this month as the state Department of Education launched a new information “dashboard” designed to give families and educators a new way to track school performance."

 

READ MORE related to Education: Sacramento State wants to shuttle students to campus in driverless robot buses -- Sacramento Bee's TONY BIZJAK; Having spurned the A's money, Peralta College trustees may turn to voters -- The Chronicle's MATIER & ROSS; UC Berkeley professors elected to National Academy of Inventors -- Daily Californian's SAM LEVIN; Big changes in requirements to become a special education teacher in California -- EdSource's JOHN FENSTERWALD; California's public colleges and universities face massive construction costs -- EdSource's MIKHAIL ZINSHTEYN

 

The last time South Korea hosted the Olympics, the CIA set off alarms about North Korea 

 

LA Times' MATT STILES: "With the Olympic Games in South Korea approaching, American spies grew increasingly worried about a longtime adversary: North Korea."

 

Start of retail pot sales puts spotlight on Sacramento's 'discreet' dispensaries

 

Sacramento Bee's BRAD BRENNAN: "Trying to find medical marijuana dispensaries in Sacramento can prove challenging."

 

"In some cases, they’re hidden in alleys, lost in a sea of nondescript warehouses or operating on a rarely used road. They have little or no signage on the buildings, save for maybe a green medical cross."

 

"Dispensaries have become like the speak-easy bars that operated during prohibition on alcohol in the early 20th century, even though medical marijuana has been legal in California for 20 years. Despite their low profile, the dispensaries are soon going to receive a lot more attention from the public, as the state opens up cannabis sales to all adults starting Jan. 1."

 

Berkeley Law student questions AG Jeff Sessions on police brutality

 

Daily Californian's MATTHEW LO: "Last week, a video surfaced of UC Berkeley School of Law student and U.S. Department of Justice, or DOJ, intern Sean Litteral asking Attorney General Jeff Sessions about how to address police brutality around the country."

 

"The event Litteral attended was part of a series of lectures held for DOJ interns throughout the summer, one of which featured Sessions. After filing a Freedom of Information Act request, ABC acquired the video of this lecture that occurred in June, and the video includes a particular exchange between Litteral and Sessions:"

 

"I grew up in the projects to a single mother, and the people who we are afraid of are not necessarily our neighbors but the police,” Litteral said during the event."

 

Feds spend $3 million studying how to make Americans eat less, use less energy, for climate change 

 

WFB's ELIZABETH HARRINGTON: "The National Science Foundation is spending roughly $3 million on a study that seeks to make Americans consume less food, water, and energy to become more like the Netherlands."

 

"Researchers at Michigan Technological University are searching for ways to "change people's behavior" out of fear of global warming. The study, which was awarded during the final year of the Obama administration, is using "interactive role-playing activities" to teach families how to consume less."

 

"Changing people's behavior may be the hardest part of mitigating climate change," the university said when announcing the grant. "But a research team led by Michigan Technological University wants to find a way to do just that."

 

He survived a stabbing. Now this German mayor is defiantly refusing to back down on refugees

 

WaPo's GRIFF WITTE: "Moments before the would-be assassin tried to kill the mayor of this small and picturesque riverside town in the Sauerland hills of western Germany, he told him why."

 

"He was thirsty, he said, as he pressed a foot-long butcher’s knife to the mayor’s throat. But rather than help his fellow German, the mayor had taken in hundreds of refugees."

 

"Two weeks later, the gash in Mayor Andreas Hollstein’s neck has largely healed. But the sense of profound shock in this tightknit community remains. And the debate over his decision to make this economically precarious town a German model for the acceptance and integration of asylum seekers has only escalated."

 

READ MORE related to International: 6 Uganda lawmakers suspended over 'life presidency' bill -- AP; ISIL attacks Afghan intelligence compound in Kabul -- AP's RAHIM FAIEZ/AMIR SHAH
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The Roundup is compiled by Associate Editor Geoff Howard. Questions? Comments? Feedback? Email him at geoff@capitolweekly.net