Final days

Jun 1, 2018

With the election just days away the candidates for governor crisscross the state hunting votes.

 

From CASEY TOLAN at the Mercury News: "From the Mexican border to a Palm Springs senior center to an Oakland soul food restaurant, the candidates for California governor rushed to meet voters in the final days before next week’s primary..."

"Newsom continued a swing on his campaign bus, visiting senior centers in San Diego and Palm Springs on Thursday with his family in tow. He was scheduled to visit a Ladera Heights barber shop Thursday evening."

 

"After meeting immigration activists at the U.S.-Mexican border on Wednesday, Villaraigosa started a 24-hour tour of the Los Angeles area on Thursday. He shook voters’ hands at transit stations, made sandwiches at a popular deli, and dished up taco salad at a soup kitchen."

 

Newsom, Cox top new California governor's poll: Villaraigosa in trouble

 

The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH: "Days before Tuesday’s election, Democrat Gavin Newsom and Republican John Cox are on their way to a top-two finish in the governor’s race and a head-to-head rematch in November, according to a new poll."

 

"Newsom, the lieutenant governor, is at 33 percent among likely voters, with Cox, a San Diego-area businessman, at 20 percent, according to the poll by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies."

 

READ MORE related to Gubernatorial: Villaraigosa likely to be shut out of November general election, a new poll indicates -- LA Times's SEEMA MEHTA; A.G. Block: Newsom TV spot hurts Democrats -- A.G. Block in Capitol Weekly

 

Brown names Diana Dooley top aide

 

Capitol Weekly STAFF: "Diana Dooley, California’s top health official since 2011, has been named executive secretary of Gov. Brown’s office, the top administrative post in state government and, effectively, the governor’s chief of staff with broad control over the bureaucracy."

 

"The job, which does not require Senate confirmation, pays $201,876 annually. Brown announced the appointment Thursday."

 

"Dooley, 67, served Brown during his first two terms from 1975 to 1983 as special assistant and legislative director. In November 2010, Brown was elected to his third term as governor and announced Dooley’s appointment — his first public appointment — as Health and Human Services Secretary even before he was sworn in as governor in January 2011."

 

'The world changes': Dianne Feinstein explains her shifting stances

 

McClatchy DC's EMILY CADEI: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein isn't moving to the left for politics' sake as she runs for re-election, she said Thursday during a stop in Sacramento. Instead, the six-term senator explained her changing views on issues like the death penalty and recreational marijuana as part of the natural evolution that policymakers go through."

 

"The world changes and views change and we change," she told reporters during a roundtable downtown."

 

"You hope to grow and mature and expand your vision in the electoral process and in the process of serving," Feinstein added."

 

READ MORE related to State Politics: Race to battle Dianne Feinstein for US Senate still wide open, poll shows -- McClatchy DC's EMILY CADEI; Political mailers pour in -- CHUCK MCFADDEN in Capitol Weekly

 

California's digital license plates: road to convenience or invasion of privacy?

 

The Chronicle's RACHEL SWAN: "At a glance, they look like a sleeker version of the traditional California license plate: 6-by-12 inches with a sequence of letters and numbers printed in a blocky font."

 

"But the new digital screens that will be appearing on cars throughout the state next month are far removed from the typical metal placards."

 

Taxpayer group sues to block California retirement accounts

 

Sacramento Bee's ADAM ASHTON: "One of California’s leading taxpayer advocacy groups filed a lawsuit on Thursday to prevent the state from opening a government-run financial savings program that is intended to help lower-income workers prepare for retirement."

 

"The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association contends the so-called CalSavers plan violates a federal consumer protection law that sets standards for retirement plans offered by employers."

 

"The advocacy group’s director, Jon Coupal, also argues the state is incapable of managing the program for the 6.8 million Californians who might benefit from it, pointing to the state’s two underfunded public pension systems as evidence that private-sector workers are better off finding their own retirement accounts."

 

READ MORE related to Retirement: Taxpayer group sues to block state-run CalSavers retirement plan -- The Chronicle's KATHLEEN PENDER

 

Capitol Weekly Podcast: Paul Mitchell

 

Capitol Weekly STAFF: "We’re just days away from the June 5 primary, so we’re happy to have Paul Mitchell, our go-to person for all things related to political campaign data, sit down with John Howard and Tim Foster on the Capitol Weekly Podcast to chat about  the election."

 

"There’s a lot going on here: A fifth of the electorate has already voted by mail, and more mailed ballots are coming in all the time. A lot of millennials got signed up through the registration program at the DMV, but what impact will that have on the contests? It looks like the SF Bay Area will outperform — again — L.A., and it’s still not clear whether a gaggle of GOP congressional incumbents are really vulnerable."

 

"And then there’s the latest voter registration figures: For the first time, independent voters — those who decline to state a party affiliation — have surpassed Republicans, pushing the GOP registrants into third place behind Democrats and those with no party preference."

 

SF's budget soars by $937M and will top $11B for first time

 

The Chronicle's DOMINIC FRACASSA: "San Francisco’s $11.05 billion budget for the coming fiscal year will be the largest in the city’s history. That’s a 9.3 percent — or $937 million — increase over last fiscal year’s budget, which came in at $10.11 billion."

 

"City officials said a handful of one-time capital projects, like street resurfacing, sidewalk repairs and park improvements, coupled with the growth of departments like the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and the Municipal Transportation Agency were the reason for the spending growth."

 

The list of electronics Californians must pay to recycle could get much longer

 

Sacramento Bee's CASSIE DICKMAN: "The list of electronics for which Californians must pay an upfront recycling fee could get much longer."

 

"The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) formally adopted 11 recommendations in May as part of its Future of Electronic Waste Management in California project, which includes a suggestion to add most devices that require batteries or a power cord to the list of items covered under California's Electronic Waste Recycling Act, according to a CalRecycle news release."

 

"Under the act, the Covered Electronic Waste payment program requires that customers pay a fee for certain electronic devices at the time of purchase. According to CalRecycle, that fee ranges from $5 to $7, depending on the size of the device. Retailers then remit most of that money to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) to cover the cost of collecting and recycling these devices when the time comes."

 

Google blames Wikipedia for linking California GOP to Nazism

 

AP: "Google is blaming "vandalism" at Wikipedia for search results that incorrectly said the ideology of the California Republican Party included "Nazism."

 

"The results appeared in a Google information box screen-captured by Vice Media on Thursday. Google quickly removed the section on ideology."

 

"Wikipedia's publicly available change log shows that an anonymous user added the term "Nazism" to the entry for the California GOP on May 24. The change was reversed by another editor a week later. A second, similar change on Thursday afternoon was reverted a minute later."

 

EPA takes major step to roll back clean-car rules

 

The Chronicle's CORAL DAVENPORT: "The Trump administration took a major step toward dramatically weakening an Obama-era rule designed to cut pollution from vehicle tailpipes, setting the stage for a legal clash with California that could potentially split the nation’s auto market in two."

 

"The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday formally submitted its proposal to roll back rules that required automakers to nearly double the fuel economy of passenger vehicles to an average of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. The rules, which would have significantly lowered the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, were opposed by automakers who said they were overly burdensome."

 

READ MORE related to Energy & Environment: Energy revolution: California approves $768 million for electric vehicles -- The Chronicle's DAVID R. BAKER

 

Burrito bowls for Jerry Brown: 'It's insulting' to compare UC to Chipotle, advocates say

 

Sacramento Bee's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "As Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers convened Thursday for negotiations over the state budget, a group of University of California students had a gift for them: burrito bowls from Chipotle."

 

"Following Brown's comments last week that California universities should be more like the fast-food chain – limiting their course options so that attendees can graduate faster and at a lower cost – the students said they wanted to make the case that the real issue at UC and California State University is a lack of funding."

 

"The demonstration was organized by Maxwell Lubin, a UC Berkeley graduate student and CEO of the advocacy group Rise California, who has already spearheaded successful lobbying campaigns this year to avert tuition hikes at UC and CSU. After delivering the Chipotle meals to the offices of Brown and the ten legislators participating in the budget conference committee, he called Brown's analogy "insulting."

 

Rick Caruso is named chair of USC's trustees, vows swift investigation of gynecologist scandal

 

LA Times's MATT HAMILTON/HARRIET RYAN/THOMAS CURWEN: "The University of Southern California’s board of trustees has elected mall magnate Rick Caruso to be the new chair of the board, giving fresh leadership as the university navigates a widening scandal involving a longtime campus gynecologist."

 

Activists' suit against cops over Cal Occupy rally dismissed in federal court

 

The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "Saying UC Berkeley police were entitled to act against “organized lawlessness,” a federal appeals court dismissed a lawsuit Thursday by students and activists who accused officers of using excessive force when they struck and jabbed them with their clubs during an Occupy Cal rally in 2011."

 

"Thousands of demonstrators gathered at Sproul Plaza on Nov. 9, 2011, to protest rising tuition and University of California policies, and linked arms when police in riot gear moved in to dismantle tents they had set up. Videos that drew national attention showed officers jabbing protesters with clubs and yanking them by the hair. Several said they were clubbed on the arms and body. A few demonstrators were treated for bruises, and one for a cracked rib. At least 36 were arrested."

 

This $50 million Sacramento riverfront project nearly died, but work is finally underway

 

Sacramento Bee's RYAN LILLIS: "It took the work of three mayors, several City Council members and some of the region's biggest funders. But after all these years, work is finally starting on the Powerhouse Science Center."

 

"A ceremonial groundbreaking for the $50 million facility was held Thursday, a significant milestone in an effort that started more than a decade ago to transform an abandoned PG&E power station on the banks of the Sacramento River into a center of science, nature and technology."

 

"This will arouse the curiosity of a whole generation of young people," said Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento. "These are our next explorers."

 

LAPD begins sweeping criminal probe of former USC gynecologist while urging patients to come forward

 

LA Times's MATT HAMILTON/RICHARD WINTON/ADAM ELMAHREK: "The Los Angeles Police Department said Tuesday it is investigating 52 complaints of misconduct filed by former patients of USC’s longtime campus gynecologist as detectives launch a sweeping criminal probe into the scandal that has rocked the university."