Jerry Brown awaits his day in court on pension reform
EdSource's JOHN FENSTERWALD: "Six years ago, Gov. Jerry Brown cut a deal with unions and the Legislature to rescue the state’s two largest public employee pension funds from insolvency — but at a steep price for school districts and other public employers. Now, in the waning days of his administration, Brown wants a chance to persuade the California Supreme Court to relax some of the pension guarantees that have escalated the financial obligations of the state and local government agencies, including school districts."
"At Brown’s request, the Supreme Court has offered, though not yet set a date, to hear oral arguments before the end of the year in a lawsuit that a local firefighters union for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, filed over a change in benefits under Brown’s bailout legislation."
"School districts, the state and local governments will be watching closely to see if the ruling in that case — and in four related cases — could eventually lead to some relief from the billions of dollars in higher contributions that they must make over the next several years to the state’s two public pension funds: CalSTRS, which provides retirement benefits to teachers and administrators, and CalPERS, which covers other state, county and local workers, including hourly school employees like clerks and bus drivers."
Sacramento police finish investigation of Stephon Clark shooting. Now DA must decide if laws were broken
Sacramento Bee's MOLLY SULLIVAN: "Seven months after the officer-involved shooting of Stephon Clark, the Sacramento Police Department has completed its criminal investigation of the fatal encounter."
"Thursday, the department announced it had sent its investigation to Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra."
"Schubert will review the findings to determine if criminal charges should be filed against either of the officers who fired shots."
READ MORE related to Prisons & Public Safety: Police Review Commission recommends changes to policy on body-worn cameras at meeting -- Daily Californian's SABRINA DONG
In water-stressed west, an old water efficiency metric needs a reboot
Water Deeply's GARY PITZER: "PEOPLE IN CALIFORNIA and the Southwest are getting stingier with water, a story that’s told by the acre-foot."
"For years, water use has generally been described in terms of acre-foot per a certain number of households, keying off the image of an acre-foot as a football field a foot deep in water. The longtime rule of thumb: One acre-foot of water would supply the indoor and outdoor needs of two typical urban households for a year."
"The acre-foot yardstick has been a reliable standby for water agency officials to explain water use to the public, said Bill McDonnell, water efficiency manager with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, but “it was not super science.”
Sacramento inches closer to rent control. But which competing proposal will win?
Sacramento Bee's TONY BIZJAK: "Sacramento’s rent-control wars hit a boil this week. And became incredibly convoluted as well."
"A petition drive to stifle rent hikes by landlords got a boost at City Hall, albeit from a not entirely supportive City Council. The same day, a competing proposal, kinder to landlords, written by three council members, saw its first formal hearing. And a business group vowed a lawsuit to kill the petition effort."
"The mayor also pitched several steps the city may take in the coming weeks to encourage more affordable housing construction. Meanwhile, the city’s controversial Measure U sales tax hike, which is on the Nov. 6 ballot, looms as perhaps the biggest game-changer of all on the city’s affordable housing playing fields."
Health care workers claim victories in 3-day strike; UC leaders say no deal
Sacramento Bee's CATHIE ANDERSN: "Roughly 39,000 unionized employees wrapped up a three-day strike Thursday at five University of California teaching hospitals, including UC Davis Medical Center, a job action that UC leaders said moved them no closer to a contract agreement."
“We’ve seen this show before. AFSCME (Local 3299) leaders inflate strike participation numbers, and without any basis, claim victory despite the fact that they are no closer to a deal that will help their members,” said UC spokesperson Claire Doan. “We hope to meet AFSCME at the bargaining table, the only place where real progress can be made."
"Union leaders, however, said that they received reports from colleagues working on the UCD hospital floor, saying that the hospital had to postpone services for patients in the gastrointestinal clinics."
They say terrible things about Nancy Pelosi. Her response: Just win, Democrats
LA Times's MARK Z BARBAK: "The crowd outside campaign headquarters was boiling, the angry mood matching south Florida’s tropical heat, as Nancy Pelosi arrived to a shower of obscenities and crude insults in English and Spanish."
"With the doors locked and police standing guard, the Democratic congressional leader delivered her exhortation to dozens of volunteers — Make those phone calls, walk those precincts, the future of America’s at stake this midterm election! — as crisp and unruffled as her white pantsuit."
"Pelosi doesn’t care about the invective hurled her way, in whatever language. She doesn’t care that her face has appeared, menacing and twisted, in thousands of Republican attack ads. She doesn’t care that life is a full-time residency in travel hell — a blur of meals on the run, flight delays, a different hotel each night."
Judge rules against activist Yvette Felarca in lawsuit against BUSD
Daily Californian's JULIE MADSEN: "A judge ruled Oct. 19 that Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School teacher Yvette Felarca cannot block Berkeley Unified School District, or BUSD, from releasing documents about Felarca to conservative advocacy group Judicial Watch."
"As first reported by Berkeleyside, Judicial Watch filed a California Public Records Act, or CPRA, request in October 2017 asking BUSD to send any communications mentioning the words “Felarca,” “antifa,” “By All Means Necessary” and “BAMN,” in addition to Felarca’s personnel file."
"Felarca, a member of activist organization By Any Means Necessary, or BAMN, filed a lawsuit with two other MLK Middle School staff members in 2017 in response to the CPRA request."
California nurses move their 'Medicare-for-all' fight to the national stage
Sacramento Bee's ANGELA HART: "The union representing 100,000 nurses across California has shifted its “Medicare-for-all” campaign from California to the national stage, perhaps relieving political pressure on Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom to fulfill what the union sees as his top campaign promise: Delivering a single-payer health care system in the nation’s largest state."
"Until this month, the coalition, previously called “Campaign for a Healthy California,” was focused solely on passing a single-payer health care bill in California. Their campaign reached a fervor in late 2017 and early 2018, when nurses and single-payer activists stormed the California Democratic Party convention and later, the state Capitol, calling on Democratic lawmakers to approve their single-payer bill."
SCOTUS weighs whether to hear its first abortion-related case since Kavanaugh joined the bench
LA Times's DAVID G SAVAGE: "The Supreme Court could announce as early as Friday whether it will hear its first abortion-related appeal with newly seated Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh."
"The case involves whether conservative states may exclude Planned Parenthood clinics from the Medicaid program that provides healthcare for low-income women. Access to abortion is not directly at issue, but some states object to providing funds to any organization that performs them."
"The justices also will decide whether to rule on cases involving religion. One tests the constitutionality of a 40-foot cross that stands at a busy public intersection, while the other asks whether a high school football coach who is a devout Christian has a right to kneel in prayer on the field at the end of a game."
Suspicious packages addressed Cory Booker and James Clapper discovered
The Guardian's ERIN DURKIN: "Two more suspicious packages were found on Friday, addressed to New Jersey senator Cory Booker and the former director of national intelligence, James Clapper."
"There have now been 12 packages found, after pipe bombs were sent to former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and several other Democratic political figures."
"The #FBI has confirmed an 11th package has been recovered in Florida, similar in appearance to the others, addressed to Sen. Cory Booker,” the FBI said early Friday."
Two Mexican nationals charged for growing thousands of cannabis plants in national forest
Saramento Bee's VINCENT MOLESKI: "Two Mexican nationals were charged Thursday with conspiracy, growing marijuana, and damaging public lands after authorities seized a massive growing operation in Modoc National Forest."
"Agustin Rodriguez-Sandoval, 44, and Gustavo Barraza-Barboza, 33, were arrested on Oct. 12 after a raid on a marijuana cultivation site near the town of Likely, California, within the bounds of the national forest in which authorities destroyed over 3,300 live plants and seized 800 recently harvested plants, according to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California."
"Rodriguez-Sandoval and Barraza-Barboza each face anywhere from 10 years to life in prison and a fine from $250,000 to over $1 million, according to the release."
