California's ballot is set. Here's what's on it
Sacramento Bee's DAN SMITH: "The ballot for California's Nov. 6 election was set Thursday after state and county officials determined which initiative measures will come before voters."
"Let's have a three-way split!"
Venture capitalist Tim Draper's dream to divide the Golden State will actually get a vote this year. His measure, if approved, would trigger a fairly arduous political road to "Three Californias." Taryn Luna has what you need to know.
READ MORE related to November: California voters will weigh these 12 propositions on November's ballot -- LA Times's JOHN MYERS, In LA, Obama urges donors not to take midterms for granted: 'We are seeing the consequences' of a political story based on fear -- LA Times's CHRISTINE MAI-DUC
5 Capital Gazette newsroom employees identified as victims of 'targeted' shooting, officials say
McClatchy DC's CRYSTAL HILL: "Five employees at the Capital Gazette newsroom were killed Thursday afternoon when a gunman opened fire in a "targeted attack" on the newspaper, according to authorities."
"Anne Arundel County acting police Chief William Krampf identified the victims as Gerald Fischman, the paper's editorial page editor; Robert Hiaasen, a columnist and editor; John McNamara, a staff writer; Rebecca Smith, a sales assistant; and Wendi Winters, a special publications editor. Two other people were injured, police said."
"Hiaasen, 59, is the brother of Miami Herald columnist and author Carl Hiaasen, according to the Herald. He’d worked as a columnist and editor at the paper since 2010, according to the newspaper. "He had a zeal for writing and finding good stories," said Jon Morgan, a former editor at the Baltimore Sun who worked with Hiaasen."
READ MORE related to Gun Violence Pandemic: Shooting suspect had bitter history with Maryland newspaper -- AP's DENISE LAVOIE
Sweeping California consumer privacy bill approved by Jerry Brown
Sacramento Bee's BRYAN ANDERSON: "Gov. Jerry Brown approved a sweeping consumer privacy bill Thursday afternoon, following a week of tense, behind-the-scenes negotiations and a deal between tech companies and privacy rights advocates."
"The new law is a watered-down version of a more expansive initiative proposed by Alastair Mactaggart, a San Francisco real estate developer who spent more than $3 million on his campaign to qualify the measure for the ballot. California lawmakers unanimously passed the measure earlier Thursday, and after Brown's signature, the initiative was removed from the ballot."
"I feel like it's the first step, and the country's going to follow," Mactaggart said. "Everybody is finally waking up to the importance of digital privacy."
Marijuana on clearance as dispensaries sell off inventory before new rules take effect
Sacramento Bee's JULIA SCLAFANI: "It’s a blowout weekend for cannabis products in Sacramento and across California."
"Six months after marijuana was legalized, new safety and regulation laws take effect Sunday, and some Sacramento dispensaries are rushing to clear inventory that will no longer be salable come Sunday, July 1."
"The deadline marks the end of a six-month transition window before new labeling, packaging and product testing requirements take hold."
Make daylight saving time permanent in California? Ten fun facts to know before you vote
Sacramento Bee's CAITLIN CHEN: "Californians now have a chance to make their opinion known. Do we want to keep daylight saving time year-round?"
"Assemblyman Kansen Chu, D-San Jose, who has been working on this issue since 2016, has succeeded in putting the idea on the November 2018 ballot. He argues the practice of moving clocks forward and backward each year negatively impacts children and the elderly and no longer saves energy."
"Here are 10 fun facts you might want to know before you vote:"
$40 million payout for California judges nears as state loses lawsuit
Sacramento Bee's ADAM ASHTON: "California judges are closer to getting a payout from a long-running lawsuit alleging the state miscalculated their raises during the recessionand interest on their earnings continues to pile up at a rate of 10 percent each year."
"A state appeals court this week affirmed its previous decision ordering California to pay about $40 million in back wages, penalties and interest to some 3,000 current and former judges."
"We are pleased with the result and hope the judges, justices, and judicial pensioners will soon receive the money to which they are entitled," William Casey, an attorney for the judges, said."
California bans local soda taxes through 2030 to avert industry-backed initiative
Sacramento Bee's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "California cities and counties will be banned from creating taxes on soda and other sugary drinks for more than a decade under a measure signed Thursday by Gov. Jerry Brown."
"Assembly Bill 1838, which prohibits new local taxes on "groceries" through 2030, was the linchpin of a complex political deal between the beverage industry and organized labor that emerged over the past week. Proponents of a separate initiative, primarily funded by soda companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi, that would make it harder to raise state and local taxes agreed to remove their measure from the ballot in exchange for the moratorium."
"Mayors from countless cities have called to voice their alarm and to strongly support the compromise which this bill represents," Brown wrote in his signing message. He also expressed concern that the initiative would have placed restrictions on the ability of state regulatory agencies to create new charges: "This would be an abomination."
London Breed urges lawmakers to boost homeless conservatorship laws for SF
The Chronicle's MELODY GUTIERREZ: "San Francisco Mayor-elect London Breed urged state lawmakers Thursday to approve a bill that she said would give the city more power to help chronically homeless people suffering from mental illness and substance abuse."
"In her first trip to the Capitol as mayor-elect, Breed joined state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, and Supervisor-elect Rafael Mandelman to support a bill, SB1045, that would expand conservatorship laws in San Francisco and Los Angeles County."
“We are talking about people who clearly need help and clearly can’t make good decisions for themselves,” Breed said."
SF Mayor-elect London Breed seeks expert policy advice before taking office
The Chronicle's DOMINIC FRACASSA: "San Francisco Mayor-elect London Breed has chosen a group of policy experts to provide ideas on how to address the city’s challenges and plan for its future as she makes her transition to the mayor’s office."
"Breed’s Policy Transition Team will be led by Joyce Newstat, a veteran of San Francisco politics and the former director of public policy for Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom when he was mayor."
"Newstat, founder and CEO of Rocket Science Associates, a public policy consulting firm, also handled policy work for Kamala Harriswhen she became state attorney general."
US allows Nestle to keep taking water from SoCal forest
AP: "U.S. officials offered Nestle, the maker of Arrowhead bottled water, a three-year permit this week to keep taking millions of gallons of water from a national forest in Southern California — but with new restrictions designed to keep a creek flowing for other uses."
"The offer announced by the U.S. Forest Service allows Nestle Waters North America, the biggest bottled-water company in the nation, to keep piping water from the Strawberry Creek watershed that it has tapped for decades."
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf 'preparing for the worst' in federal ICE warning investigation
The Chronicle's KIMBERLY VEKLEROV: "Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said Thursday she is preparing for the worst-case scenario in the Department of Justice’s reported investigation into her February warning to undocumented immigrants about an impending federal sweep."
"Schaaf said she expects investigators to use “all the means they have” to track down how she found out about the four-day Northern California Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation ahead of time."
"I am assuming the worst,” she told reporters Thursday. “I am preparing for the worst."
READ MORE related to Immigration: It's not just people in the US illegally -- ICE is nabbing lawful permanent residents too -- LA Times's BRITTNY MEJIA
Raley's will pay clerk who said late shift before Thanksgiving was religious discrimination
Sacramento Bee's SAM STANTON: "Hit with a federal suit claiming Raley’s engaged in religious discrimination when it fired a clerk four years ago, the supermarket chain has agreed to pay the worker $140,000, revise its policies and provide new training to its supervisors."
"The agreement comes in the form of a consent decree filed Thursday in federal court in Sacramento between the West Sacramento-based chain and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which sued Raley’slast September."
"Raley’s denied the allegations in the suit, but agreed to settle to avoid “the expense, delay and burden of further litigation,” court documents say."
How this marketing firm exposed personal data on 230 million Americans
Sacramento Bee's DANIEL WILSON: "A marketing firm may be responsible for leaking 340 million data records, including information on 230 million Americans, this week."
"In total, the two terabytes of data included personal information for hundreds of millions of American adults and millions of businesses, according to Wired."
"Financial information and social security numbers were not included in the database, but it did store details on individuals, "including phone numbers, home addresses, email addresses, and other highly-personal characteristics. The categories range from interests and habits to the number, age, and gender of the person's children," according to Wired, which verified that the data was legitimate."
Judge dismisses suit that blamed UC Davis for administrator suicide after boozy retreat
Sacramento Bee's SAM STANTON/DIANA LAMBERT:"More than two years after a UC Davis administrator killed himself in the wake of an alcohol-fueled university retreat, a federal lawsuit filed by his widow has been dismissed by a judge in Sacramento."
"U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley signed an order Tuesday dismissing the lawsuit, which had exposed tawdry details of the two-day retreat by university officials in Monterey in 2015, an incident that led to an internal investigation and the demotion of two school employees."
"UC Davis had steadfastly denied wrongdoing in the suicide by retired Air Force Col. Christopher De Los Santos, who shot himself to death Oct. 11, 2015, the same day he was notified by the university that he was being suspended because of sexual harassment allegations."
Student loan servicer cheats borrowers, California AG says
The Chronicle's NANETTE ASIMOV: "State Attorney General Xavier Becerra accused one of the nation’s largest student loan servicers Thursday of cheating perhaps thousands of California borrowers, and said he will sue the company and its subsidiaries next week."
"Becerra said the problem concerns federal student loans serviced and collected by Navient, a Delaware corporation formerly known as Sallie Mae, and two collection companies, Pioneer and General Revenue Corp., that Navient uses to go after borrowers who default on their loans."
"The attorney general accused Navient of forcing thousands of borrowers to repay more than necessary — resulting in many unnecessary loan defaults — by steering them to more expensive repayment plans, failing to tell them how to qualify for repayment plans that match their income level, failing to properly discharge federal student loans held by people with a permanent disability, and misrepresenting other details of repayment plans."
Sacramento police release new surveillance videos of man who died in custody
Sacramento Bee's MOLLY SULLIVAN: "The Sacramento Police Department released four more videos Wednesday showing events before Brandon Smith's death in police custody June 6, this time from surveillance cameras."
"The newest release of videos, totaling 42 minutes of surveillance footage, show Smith as he is loaded into the police transport wagon and efforts to resuscitate him after they arrived at the jail and Smith was unresponsive."
"One of the videos shows paramedics from the Sacramento Fire Department perform CPR on Smith for more than six minutes before carrying him into an ambulance."
Metro picks a contractor to dig the Wilshire subway tunnels through West LA
LA Times's LAURA J NELSON: "In a major step for the Westside subway, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Thursday selected a contractor and set a $1.37-billion budget for the design and construction of twin subway tunnels between Century City and West Los Angeles."
"The tunnels are a key component of the third phase of the 9-mile Purple Line extension, which will connect the Westside to downtown Los Angeles by a half-hour subway ride. Most of the line will run beneath Wilshire Boulevard, the most-traveled transit corridor in Los Angeles County."
US ends 70 years of military presence in S. Korean capital
AP's HYUNG-JIN KIM/KIM TONG-HYUNG: "The United States formally ended seven decades of military presence in South Korea's capital Friday with a ceremony to mark the opening of a new headquarters farther from North Korean artillery range."
"The command's move to Camp Humphreys, about 70 kilometers (45 miles) south of Seoul, comes amid a fledgling detente on the Korean Peninsula, though the relocation was planned long before that. Most troops have already transferred to the new location, and the U.S. says the remaining ones will move by the end of this year."
"The U.S. military had been headquartered in Seoul's central Yongsan neighborhood since American troops first arrived at the end of World War II. The Yongsan Garrison was a symbol of the U.S.-South Korea alliance but its occupation of prime real estate was also a long-running source of friction."
Judges Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett are leading candidates for SCOTUS seat
LA Times's DAVID G SAVAGE: "President Trump is expected to move quickly to nominate a replacement for retiring Justice Anthony M. Kennedy’s soon-to-be-vacant Supreme Court seat, and two leading candidates are veteran Washington, D.C., appellate Judge Brett Kavanaugh and Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a former Notre Dame law professor and recent Trump appointee to the 7th Circuit in Chicago."
"They emerged from a list of more than two dozen potential nominees put together by the conservative Federalist Society and Heritage Foundation."
Under Trump, America's influence in western Pacific may be on the decline
LA Times's BARBARA DEMICK/TRACY WILKINSON: "For years, China has trumpeted the decline of the United States as a Pacific power."
"A rising force, now the world’s second largest economy, China predicted that America’s decline would be slow and inevitable, the ebbing of one global power and the ascension of another."
