Californians face an array of new laws as of Jan. 1
LA Times' JOHN MYERS/PRIYA KRISHNAKUMAR: "Starting Jan. 1, Californians’ lives will be governed by hundreds of new laws including new controls on concealed weapons, unprecedented state protections for those in the U.S. illegally, an increase in the minimum wage, legal sales of recreational marijuana and even a new state dinosaur."
Some examples: "No California school employee can carry a concealed weapon onto campus, a change from the former rules in which school officials had discretion over the issue."
The nation's first known Sikh woman to serve as a city mayor takes the gavel.
LA Times' PHIL WILLON: "With a sharp crack of the gavel, Preet Didbal made history this month as the first known Sikh woman in the nation to preside as a city mayor."
"In Northern California’s Yuba City, Didbal’s rise to mayor was celebrated as a long-awaited affirmation of the Sikh community’s contributions in California."
"Yuba City’s annual Sikh parade attracts upward of 100,000 visitors every November to honor the teachings of Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism, who preached the religion’s main tenets: Selfless service to others and the belief in one god who sees all people as equal."
An explosive wildfire season drives firefighting costs to record levels
LA Times' BETTINA BOXALL: "State and federal firefighting costs soared to record levels this year as wildfires scorched more than 9.5 million acres across the country, continuing a trend that is playing havoc with the U.S. Forest Service budget."
"The agency spent $2.4 billion battling wildfires in federal fiscal year 2017, which ended Sept. 30. And that doesn’t even include the Forest Service’s share of the $170-million Thomas fire, which is still burning in Los Padres National Forest."
"Only halfway through the state fiscal year, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has already spent $699 million fighting wildland blazes that turned California’s 2017 fire season into the deadliest and most destructive on record."
New state workplace laws will help ex-offenders, women, new parents
The Chronicle's KATHLEEN PENDER: "Starting Monday, California employers can no longer ask most job applicants about their criminal records until a conditional offer has been made, and can’t ask any job seekers about their salary history unless the applicant volunteers this information."
"These are two of more than two dozen state workplace laws passed in 2017 that take effect in the new year."
"Another one will require employers with 20 to 49 employees to give eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to bond with a new child within the first 12 months of the child’s birth, adoption or foster placement. Larger employers in California already had this requirement."
Smoke pot while pregnant? New study shows more California women are doing just that
Sacramento Bee's MOLLY SULLIVAN: "Pregnant women are smoking more pot these days, according to a new Kaiser Permanente study, and as California embraces recreational marijuana in 2018, experts are concerned the trend may continue."
"It’s definitely something we see,” said Dr. Amelia McLennan, an OB-GYN at UC Davis Medical Center. “It’s usually among younger patients, but really it’s across the board. Unlike tobacco and alcohol, people don’t feel like pot is at the same level in terms of risk."
"From 2009 to 2016, marijuana use among pregnant women increased from 4.2 percent to 7.1 percent in Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California healthcare system. But the biggest jump according to the study was among those 24 and younger, especially teens. Nineteen percent of women 18 to 24, and 22 percent of teen moms screened positive for marijuana at eight weeks gestation."
READ MORE related to Cannabis: Can I get fired for using legal recreational cannabis? A FAQ for California workers -- Sacramento Bee's PETER HECHT
Why the flu is becoming a widespread problem in California and 22 other states
Sacramento Bee's NOEL HARRIS: "Does it seem like everyone around you is getting sick? There’s a widespread reason for that."
"California is one of 23 states where influenza activity is reportedly widespread, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
READ MORE related to Health Care: Battles over single-payer healthcare, drug pricing and Medicaid loom for California in 2018 -- LA Times' MELANIE MASON; This season's flu strain is causing more emergency room visits, LA County health officials warn -- Daily News' SUSAN ABRAM; Sickle cell patients, families and doctors face a 'fight for everything' -- California Healthline
Federal government finds flaws in California's plan to improve lowest-performing schools
EdSource's JOHN FENSTERWALD: "The U.S. Department of Education has cited substantive flaws in California’s plan detailing how it will improve low-performing schools and use billions of dollars of federal education aid under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act."
"The Dec. 21 letter to state education officials could initiate lengthy negotiations between federal and state officials over clarifications and technical changes to California’s 100-page funding application. Or it could be the first salvo in a fight over irreconcilable differences regarding California’s distinct, holistic approach to school improvement."
"Under the act approved in a bipartisan vote by Congress in 2015, every state was required to submit a detailed education plan to the federal government. California submitted its plan in September, and this was the first official response the state has received."
EPA must tighten rules to limit children's exposure to lead, court rules
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "The Environmental Protection Agency has ignored many years of evidence of dangerous levels of lead paint in millions of Americans’ homes and must propose tighter standards within 90 days to protect children from lead exposure, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday."
"Lead-based paint was banned by federal law in 1978, but it remains on the walls of many homes built before then. It is particularly dangerous to children and has been described by the EPA in past years as “the No. 1 environmental threat in the U.S. for children ages 6 and younger.” A federal study found that 23.2 million homes had hazardous levels of lead paint in 2005-06, including 3.6 million homes with children younger than 6."
"The agency set standards in 2001 for lead contamination levels in dust and soil at the homes, but has acknowledged since then that scientific research has shown the need for tougher restrictions. The American Academy of Pediatrics has said the current rules allow 50 percent of children in older homes to be exposed to potentially dangerous levels of lead."
13 Days in July: The Trump White House's crucible
AP's JONATHAN LEMIRE/ZEKE MILLER: "They were the 13 days that transformed the White House."
"Even for an administration that spent most of 2017 throwing off headlines at a dizzying pace, events in the second half of July unfolded at breakneck speed. They encapsulated both the promise and peril of President Donald Trump’s first year in office — and yielded aftershocks that reverberate within the White House even as the calendar turns to 2018."
"The two-week span laid bare the splintering of Trump’s relationships with two influential Cabinet members, foreshadowed the reach of the Russia probe into the interior of his orbit; saw the dramatic, last-minute defeat of one of the president’s signature campaign promises; and featured a senior staff shakeup that reset the rhythms of this presidency."
READ MORE related to POTUS45: Trump boasts he's signed more laws than any president since Truman. He's actually signed the least. -- Slate's ELLIOT HANNON; Mad dogs, flutists, &c. -- National Review's JAY NORDLINGER
Jailed Russian says he hacked DNC on Kremlin's orders and can prove it
McClatchy DC's KEVIN G. HALL: "A jailed Russian who says he hacked into the Democratic National Committee computers on the Kremlin’s orders to steal emails released during the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign now claims he left behind a data signature to prove his assertion."
"In an interview with Russia’s RAIN television channel made public Wednesday, Konstantin Kozlovsky provided further details about what he said was a hacking operation led by the Russian intelligence agency known by its initials FSB. Among them, Kozlovsky said he worked with the FSB to develop computer viruses that were first tested on large, unsuspecting Russian companies, such as the oil giant Rosneft, later turning them loose on multinational corporations."
"Kozlovsky first came to public attention in early December when word spread about his confession last Aug. 15 in a Russian courtroom that he was the person who hacked into DNC computers on behalf of Russian intelligence. The Russian was jailed earlier this year, alleged to have been part of a hacking group there that stole more than $50 million from Russian bank accounts through what’s called the Lurk computer virus."
Should you scramble in response to Trump tax plan? Here's who should act quickly, experts say
Sacramento Bee's HUDSON SANGREE/PHILLIP REESE: "With days to go, Sacramento-area residents and millions of others nationwide are scrambling to figure out if prepaying their property taxes or making other financial moves before the end of the year could save them money under the Republican tax overhaul."
"The short answer, according to tax professionals, is that those whose family incomes put them in the middle and upper-middle classes are more likely than wealthy or low-income people to save by paying their April 2018 tax installment by Sunday in California."
"They’re taxpayers who itemize state and local property taxes, mortgage interest, charitable contributions and maybe a few other items. They don’t take the current standard deduction of $12,700 for a married couple. Nor do they have the heftier incomes and deductions of more-affluent households that pay the federal government’s alternative-minimum tax, or AMT."
READ MORE related to Death & Taxes: The economic riddle for 2018: Will the middle and working classes see any gains from the big tax cut? -- LA Times' MICHAEL HILTZIK
2017 was the year when North Korea became a threat to the US mainland
LA Times' MATT STILES: "North Korea’s totalitarian leader, Kim Jong Un, began 2017 by announcing his intention to launch a long-range ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States."
"The boast made headlines, but in one little noticed noticed passage, the young leader Kim also admitted entering the year “anxious and remorseful” about his management."
"“I am hardening my resolve to seek more tasks for the sake of the people this year and make redoubled, devoted efforts to this end,” said Kim, grandson of the country’s founder, Kim Il Sung."
CHP fought nine years to block an officer with PTSD from returning to work. It lost.
Sacramento Bee's ADAM ASHTON: "The California Highway Patrol owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to an officer it fought to keep off duty for nine years because she had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder."
"The officer, Sgt. Kerri Hawkins, is back on duty, but still battling the department."
"The CHP has not moved to pay her the back wages in the nine months since the State Personnel Board affirmed a 2015 decision that ordered the department to reinstate her. The board also ordered the department to pay Hawkins for the time it spent trying to block her return to the force."
Football-size boulders smashed cars on I-5 for weeks in Sacramento. CHP arrested suspect on Christmas
Sacramento Bee's TONY BIZJAK: "California Highway Patrol officials say they have arrested the man they believe has been throwing boulders – some the size of footballs – at cars on Interstate 5 in Sacramento over two months, injuring several drivers whose windshields were smashed."
"Officials say the man is suspected of up to five cases of rock throwing off overpasses around Florin Road, South Land Park Drive and Pocket Road."
"The man was identified as Pedro Ruiz Espinoza, 47, a parolee who has two prior arrests for similar rock-throwing assaults in Sacramento, CHP spokesman Adrian Quintero said."
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The Roundup is compiled by Associate Editor Geoff Howard. Questions? Comments? Feedback? Email him at geoff@capitolweekly.net
