Cox smacked

Sep 6, 2018

Gubernatorial hopeful John Cox fined for mishandling clients' investment funds

 

Sacramento Bee's DALE KASLER: "Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox and his investment firm paid $16,000 in fines to securities regulators more than a decade ago to settle charges of mishandling client funds."

 

"Cox’s disciplinary record is included in disclosure statements he filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The statements show that he also was censured. A spokesman for the Cox campaign said the fines were the result of “clerical errors” and no damage was done to investors."

 

"The regulatory fines, which date to 2004 and earlier, come as Cox, who frequently touts his business acumen, faces an uphill campaign this fall against Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom. The Los Angeles Times reported last Friday that Cox, while working in the investment business in the Chicago area, paid a $1.7 million settlement in 1999 to an investment family over his handling of a real estate deal."

 

Fires: Choked data remains an issue

 

Capitol Weekly's LISA RENNER: "As California’s largest wildfire moved swiftly, the internet speed in the area slowed to a crawl: Verizon choked it down to the first responders battling the Mendocino Complex blaze."

 

"Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, says a new law is necessary to protect first responders’ access to high-speed internet, although Verizon acknowledged the move and quickly apologized."

 

"Levine, who heads the Assembly’s Natural Disaster Response, Recovery and Rebuilding Committee, said he appreciated Verizon’s actions, but said there’s no guarantee that the company won’t change its plans again. Access to high-speed internet is critical for firefighters in an emergency, he said."

 

Oroville Dam repairs now exceed $1 billion and 'may be adjusted further' as work continues

 

Sacramento Bee's RYAN SABALOW/DALE KASLER: "The price tag for the 2017 crisis at Oroville Dam has surged past $1 billion."

 

"On Wednesday, the state Department of Water Resources revealed a $1.1 billion cost estimate for the massive repair work at America’s tallest dam. The cost of the emergency response, and the subsequent repairs to the dam’s two flood-control spillways, has periodically risen since officials made their initial estimates following the crisis, which triggered the evacuation of 188,000 residents."

 

"DWR spokeswoman Erin Mellon, citing the enormity of the repair project, told reporters on a conference call that cost estimates “may be adjusted further” as work continues into 2019. DWR said it expects to have the dam’s two spillways substantially rebuilt by Nov. 1 and ready for the winter rains."

 

American River College ranks as fifth deadliest in nation for alcohol-related driving deaths, study says

 

Sacramento Bee's DANIEL WILSON: "American River College ranked fifth deadliest in the nation for alcohol-related car crashes with 87 reported fatalities between 2012 and 2016, according to a recent data analysis by Cheap Car Insurance."

 

"The study used a 3-mile radius for rural, suburban, and town colleges as well as a 1.5 mile radius for city colleges. In addition, using data collected from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, which is hosted by the National Center for Education Statistics and provides information on higher education institutions in the U.S., the study included all public and private nonprofit schools with at least 5,000 students enrolled."

 

"Other California schools in the top five included Southwest College in Los Angeles, which ranked No. 1 with 146 deaths, and El Camino College’s Compton Center at No. 4 with just one more reported death than ARC at 88."

 

More than 23,000 Californians were registered to vote incorrectly by state DMV

 

LA Times's JOHN MYERS: "Tens of thousands of Californians have been registered to vote incorrectly by the state Department of Motor Vehicles, including some who were assigned the wrong political party preference, officials said Wednesday."

 

SF mayor sets aggressive goal to shrink city's carbon footprint to net zero by 2050

 

The Chronicle's DOMINIC FRACASSA: "Mayor London Breed is expected to announce Wednesday that the city will set a more aggressive course for reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, including requiring all buildings constructed starting in 2030 to be net-zero carbon emitters."

 

"Shrinking the carbon footprint of the thousands of spaces that make up the city’s built environment is seen as vital to San Francisco’s efforts to become entirely carbon-neutral by 2050."

 

"According to San Francisco’s Department of the Environment, 46 percent of the city’s carbon emissions can be traced to electricity and gas used in homes and office buildings."

 

Delta Fire in Shasta County explodes to 5,000 acres, prompts evacuations and I-5 closure

 

Sacramento Bee's ADESUWA AGBONILE/CLAIRE MORGAN: "A fast-moving wildfire that started Wednesday in Shasta County has swelled to 5,000 acres in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, prompting the closure of Interstate 5 in both directions."

 

"The Delta Fire, which is burning near I-5 by the Vollmers exit north of Lakehead, had topped 2,000 acres in only a few hours, according to officials at Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Then shortly before 10 p.m., the U.S. Forest service reported the fire had grown to 5,000 acres. The fire, which started around 1 p.m. Wednesday, is burning primarily timber and bush along the I-5 corridor, and is reported as having a “critical rate of spread”, according to Joe Orosz, public affairs specialist at the Shasta-Trinity National Forest."

 

This state worker wants to quit her union -- but it won't let her go

 

Sacramento Bee's ADAM ASHTON: "A new lawsuit from a University of California health worker says her union won’t let her quit."

 

"Liliana Hernandez, who works in patient billing for UC Irvine’s health system, argues in her lawsuit that AFSCME Local 3299 is still collecting dues from her despite her repeated attempts to separate. And she wants to kill a state law that requires government to defer to union rules on such matters."

 

"She and her attorneys contend the slow response from her union and her employer violates the Supreme Court’s June decision in Janus vs. AFSCME banning public-sector labor organizations from collecting any kind of fee from workers unless they consent to it."

 

OP-ED: 'Company unions' deepen post-Janus threat to labor

 

LIZ PERLMAN in Capitol Weekly: "You’d be hard pressed to find a more challenging threat to America’s labor movement than the Supreme Court’s recent Janus decision—which overturned 40 years of established legal precedent and the laws of 23 states in forcing public sector unions to represent non-members for free."

 

"The Janus case was always about ideology and money.  Pushed by hyper partisan special interests that are philosophically opposed to the very idea of collective bargaining, the theory behind the case was that finding a way to reduce the number of workers willing to pay for union services would have the added benefit of weakening an important base of financial support for labor-friendly Democrats."

 

"Since the court handed down its 5-4 decision, a myriad of ideas have been floated to try and minimize the damage."

 

Giants pick NY developer for Mission Rock project near AT&T Park

 

The Chronicle's JK DINEEN: "The San Francisco Giants have selected builder Tishman Speyer to partner with them on the 28-acre Mission Rock project near AT&T Park, a deal that sets the stage for the key residential and office complex to break ground next fall.""

 

"Tishman Speyer and the Giants will be “co-master developers and general partners” in Mission Rock, which will eventually bring up to 1,400 housing units, 1.4 million square feet of office space and 8 acres of parkland to the swath of waterfront hardtop that has long been used by fans for parking and tailgating."

 

"Giants President Larry Baer said the team talked to a wide range of potential partners before settling on Tishman Speyer, a New York firm that has been one of San Francisco’s most active builders over the past dozen years."

 

New crack found at San Francisco's sinking Millennium Tower

 

AP: "Inspectors have issued a violation to management of a sinking condominium building after a large crack formed in a 36th-floor window of the building dubbed the Leaning Tower of San Francisco."

 

"KNTV of San Jose reported Tuesday that Millennium Tower residents heard creaking sounds, then heard a popping noise around 2:30 a.m. Saturday. A homeowner found the crack in a window of his unit at the corner of the 58-story high-rise."

 

"City officials have blocked off part of the sidewalk as a precaution and ordered management to report back on the extent of the problem and soundness of the building's facade."

 

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey keeps his cool before Congress

 

AP's BARBRA ORTUTAY: "A chill, bearded and nose-ringed Jack Dorsey appeared unflappable as he faced hours of questioning from members of Congress Wednesday on issues as wide-ranging as political bias, hate speech, school safety and election manipulation."

 

"At 9:30 a.m., he began at the Senate intelligence committee, alongside Facebook's practiced and polished chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and an empty chair in place of the absent Google co-founder Larry Page. In the afternoon, a 1:30 hearing featured a solo Dorsey before the 54-member House Energy and Commerce Committee."

 

"Dorsey, who meditates regularly, live-tweeted his opening statement and answered questions in a low, measured tone. He repeatedly declined to rise to the bait offered by sometimes scathing legislators, instead holding forth as the nerdy and earnest CEO who just wants to improve his company and its role in the world."

 

Roe VS Wade: What Kavanaugh may have meant by 'precedent on precedent'

 

The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO:  "Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s newly minted category for the court’s abortion-rights rulings — “precedent on precedent” — isn’t easy to decipher. But legal analysts said Wednesday it suggested that Kavanaugh would prefer to avoid overturning the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision, at least for now, and instead try to chip away at it."

 

"Testifying on the second day of his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Kavanaugh — whose record tilts decidedly against abortion — seemed intent on convincing skeptics on the committee and the general public that he hadn’t made up his mind."

 

"He’s the consummate politician,” said Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor and veteran judicial commentator. “He’s got to know that if (the court’s justices) blatantly overturn Roe, that’s a disaster for the Republican Party,” in view of public support for the ruling and reproductive rights."

 

READ MORE related to SCOTUS: Kavanaugh sticks to his position on guns, dodges questions about abortion and presidential power -- LA Times's DAVID G SAVAGE/JENNIFER HABERKORN/SARAH D WIRE

 

House plans to vote on second phase of tax cuts this month, Paul Ryan says

 

LA Times's LAURA DAVISON/KAUSTUV BASU/ALLYSON VERSPRILLE: "House GOP leaders are forging ahead with a plan to vote on a second phase of tax cuts this month, despite dissension from Republicans in high-tax states who say the measure would hurt their voters."