'We don't have control of Mother Nature.' Late winds pushing fire toward Lakeport
Sacramento Bee's RYAN LILLIS/SAM STANTON: "Weary residents of fire-ravaged Lake County held out hope Tuesday that they might get a break from their fifth day of evacuations, power outages and smoky air, but late afternoon winds sparked a massive wall of flames, bringing fire teams racing back into the hills above Lakeport."
"The huge plume of flames and smoke in the Scotts Valley area whipped up shortly before 5 p.m. after a calm afternoon during which it appeared fire crews might dodge a new flareup."
"Instead, strong winds blew in from the west, common to the area, and the flames erupted anew about 2 miles northwest of downtown Lakeport, raising fears that it would begin advancing toward the town."
READ MORE related to Energy & Environment: California blaze tax budgets, firefighters: 'Fatigue is starting to set in' -- Chronicle's MELODY GUTIERREZ; Fire on Sutter Buttes' flank grows to 1500 acres, several structures threatened -- Sacramento Bee's SAM STANTON/DANIEL HUNT
California Republicans complain Trump's farm aid plan unfair
Sacramento Bee's EMILY CADEI: "California Republican members of Congress are delivering a warning to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue in a letter set to go out Tuesday evening: Tariffs are “threatening the economic livelihood of our businesses and communities” — and the department needs to do more to help."
"Rep. Jeff Denham of Turlock circulated the letter, which was joined by fellow Republicans David Valadao, Devin Nunes, Ed Royce and Ken Calvert, as well as California Democrats Ami Bera, Jim Costa, Jimmy Panetta, Julia Brownley and Salud Carbajal."
"A copy of the letter, obtained by The Sacramento Bee, indicates many Republicans — and their constituents in the agriculture industry — were not placated by the Trump administration’s effort last week to reassure lawmakers that their trade strategy is working."
Some local jurisdictions profit off of ICE
Capitol Weekly's SCOTT SORIANO: "Two California counties profit from a loophole in the “sanctuary state” law, while most others have canceled their U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement contracts under public pressure or let them expire."
"When California’s sanctuary state law, Senate Bill 54, was approved, the public assumed that local law enforcement would be prevented from cooperating with ICE agents except when dealing with people “convicted of a serious or violent felony,” such as murder, rape, child abuse or battery."
"However, buried in the bill’s text, there is a five-word addendum in a line that prohibits a “California law enforcement agency” from contracting with the federal government to house “federal detainees.” That addendum reads, “except pursuant to Chapter 17.8.”
Inmate advocates sue Sacramento County over 'dangerous, inhumane' conditions inside jails
Sacramento Bee's SAM STANTON: "Charging that Sacramento County’s two jails confine inmates in “dangerous, inhumane and degrading conditions,” inmate advocates filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Tuesday against the county seeking wholesale changes in how the jail system is run."
"The suit, which seeks class action status for the roughly 3,700 inmates held in the jails each day, follows years of negotiations by the groups and the county to agree to a settlement that would avoid legal action."
"After two and a half years of negotiations, the settlement process broke down,” the suit says, and the groups are seeking relief from the U.S. District Court in Sacramento."
READ MORE related to Prisons & Public Safety: Prisoner dead in Folsom; corrections officials say fellow prisoner killed him -- Sacramento Bee's CLAIRE MORGAN
State appeals court blocks eviction of elderly SF tenant
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "A state appeals court has blocked the eviction of an elderly San Francisco tenant and said the jury in his case should have heard evidence that might have undermined his landlord’s claim that he planned to go out of the rental business."
"Diego De Leo, 83, has rented a unit at the four-unit North Beach property on Chestnut Street since 1989. The owner, Martin Coyne, asked him to move into an upstairs apartment for a reduced rent in 2012 so that Coyne could move into his three-bedroom cottage, but De Leo refused, saying the one-bedroom apartment lacked space for his son, who was also his caretaker."
Sacramento City Council votes to put ambitious 1-cent sales tax plan on ballot
Sacramento Bee's TONY BIZJAK: "The Sacramento City Council on Tuesday voted to place a dramatic measure on the November ballot asking voters to increase the city’s sales tax by a cent to maintain basic city services, such as police positions, but also to finance an ambitious program of community and economy-building."
Council members and many community leaders have supported the general concept since Mayor Darrell Steinberg proposed it in June. But the 7-1 council vote Tuesday came only after a series of council-dais debates between Steinberg and Councilman Jeff Harris over political strategy on how to approach voters with a major tax issue — essentially whether to go for a full one-cent or play it safer and ask for less."
"The city’s Measure U will notably sit on a ballot alongside Proposition 6, a highly contested measure repealing the state’s gas tax."
Apple no longer faces employter tax in Cupertino
The Chronicle's SF Mayer: "A day after receiving a note from Apple touting its investments in Cupertino, city officials abandoned plans to ask voters in November to tax the iPhone maker and other large businesses in its city based on the number of employees."
"The proposed employer tax measure could have raised up to $10.2 million for Cupertino. It would have hit Apple — the city’s largest employer — the hardest. In 2020, Apple was expected to pay $9.4 million based on projections of 24,000 employees in Cupertino, according to city staff."
SF's proposed employee cafeteria ban not to everyone's tastes
The Chronicle's TRISH THADANI: "Lunch, and where people eat it, has become a big topic of conversation in San Francisco."
"In the week since Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Ahsha Safaí proposed a ban on new “employee cafeterias” — food halls often found inside tech companies — the city has erupted with a range of reactions. While supporters see the proposal as a way to reinvigorate the local economy by forcing employees to step out of their offices for lunch, critics say it will just cause an unnecessary squabble with the tech industry."
