Air Wars

"The proposal, expected to be released this week, amounts to a frontal assault on one of former President Obama’s signature regulatory programs to curb greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. It also sets up a high-stakes battle over California’s unique ability to combat air pollution and, if finalized, is sure to set off a protracted courtroom battle."

READ MORE related to Energy & Environment: Water wars head upstream as state considers cutbacks for senior Central Valley irrigation districts -- LA Times's BETTINA BOXALL; Coastal advocates challenge deal that bars public from reaching Hollister Ranch by land -- LA Times's ROSANNA XIA; Benicia man dying of cancer testifies in weed-killer suit against Monsanto -- The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO; Global warming will increase suicides, researchers say -- The Chronicle's KURTIS ALEXANDER; Huge fire creeps closer to Yosemite despite containment progress -- The Chronicle's MICHAEL CABANATUAN; California farms' water use still unclear, despite new reporting rules -- Water Deeply's MATT WEISER; Yosemite fire: Park's air pollution now worse than Beijing's due to heavy smoke -- BANG's PAUL ROGERS; Reduce your electricity use during California heat wave this week, state asks -- Sacramento Bee

Rep. Barbara Lee running for a House Democratic leadership post

The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI: "East Bay Rep. Barbara Lee confirmed Monday that she is running for a Democratic leadership position in the House."

"If elected to the party’s fourth-highest position, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, the Oakland Democrat would be the first African American woman to serve in the leadership of either party. The caucus chair’s job is to communicate the party’s message to members."

"Lee’s official entry into the race sets up a rematch with Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Whittier (Los Angeles County), who announced her candidacy last week. Sanchez defeated Lee in 2016 for caucus vice chair, the party’s No. 5 House job, by two votes."

Legislator's "agitated" behavior prompts election worker to hit panic button

CALmatters' DAN MORAIN: "A Democratic assemblyman became so verbally abusive toward Secretary of State workers this spring that one of them pressed a “panic button,” drawing security officers who escorted the legislator out of the building, according to records released to CALmatters in response to a California Public Records Act request."

"Secretary of State Alex Padilla sent a letter to Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon in which he described Assemblyman Ed Chau of Monterey Park as having become “alarmingly irate in front of several staff."

"Despite several attempts by staff to calm him, he lost his composure,” Padilla wrote to Rendon on March 13. “Assemblymember Chau raised his voice and spoke to the staff in a highly aggressive and demeaning tone, at times leaning over the counter and raising his hands at staff while berating them."

Clock ticking for daylight savings

Capitol Weekly's JESSICA HICE: "Will the sun set on daylight savings?"

"California voters will decide in November if they want to set their clocks twice a year to save daylight hours."

"The ballot measure would overturn California’s 1949 voter-approved initiative called the Daylight Savings Time Act, which established Standard Pacific Time in California. The new measure, if approved, would keep DST all year round."

Santa Clara to divide into 6 districts for future elections

BANG's EMILY DERUY: "Setting the stage for a major shift in Santa Clara politics, a judge on Monday ordered that the city be divided into six districts for future elections, ending an at-large election system that’s led to an all-white City Council for generations."

"Although they make up around 40 percent of the city’s residents, no Asian-American has won a seat on the City Council despite numerous attempts. So the group of Asian-American voters who brought the case against the city hope that the change to single-member districts will finally give minority residents a chance to elect representatives of their choice."

“We’re really happy,” said Richard Konda, the executive director of the Asian Law Alliance, which helped bring the case against the city."

SF supervisors consider banning cannabis stores from Chinatown

The Chronicle's TRISHA THADANI: "Chinatown, one of San Francisco’s densest and most colorful neighborhoods, is home to everything from vast banquet halls to tiny dim sum parlors, a fortune cookie factory to traditional medicine shops. One thing it doesn’t have? A cannabis dispensary."

"And it could stay that way if the Board of Supervisors passes an ordinance Tuesday that would ban marijuana retailers from Chinatown."

“Our zoning laws have always respected the desires of local neighbors ... and this is no different,” said Supervisor Aaron Peskin, the sponsor of this ordinance whose district includes Chinatown. “There has been a decades-long movement to keep Chinatown Chinatown.”

PG&E ordered to pay ex-employee over safety, racial issues

BANG's GEORGE AVALOS: "PG&E must pay an ex-employee because it retaliated against him after he brought safety issues and racial problems at the utility to the company’s attention, a jury has determined, raising fresh questions about the utility’s commitment to safety."

"A San Francisco County Superior Court jury determined that PG&E must pay $341,168 to Daryl Woodruff, a former electrical maintenance and construction supervisor."

"The jury awarded the payment to the fired worker because it decided PG&E retaliated against Woodruff for cooperating in a race-discrimination investigation and for reporting concerns about the inadequacy of PG&E safety inspections in the wake of a transformer explosion in the Bernal Heights district of San Francisco in 2015. The jury reached its verdict July 20."

READ MORE related to Education: Charter school network spreads 'personalized learning' model nationwide -- EdSource's JOANNE JACOBS

Disneyland Resort reaches a tentative contract settlement with workers, ending a heated battle that lasted months

LA Times's HUGO MARTIN: "Walt Disney Co. reached a tentative settlement Monday with three unions at the Disneyland Resort, putting an end to a contentious dispute that attracted the attention of Sen. Bernie Sanders and prompted a ballot measure to require the Burbank media giant to pay resort workers a “living wage."