Burned out Paradise resident: 'I'm suing.' Is PG&E is financial peril?
Sacramento Bee's TONY BIZJAK/SOPHIA BOLLAG/ALEXEI KOSEFF: "Doreen Zimmerman of Paradise lost her home of 29 years last week, fleeing with her new litter of a dozen puppies in the family car as flaming embers rained down."
"She isn’t sure if she will return. “Will I be able to sleep if I live there?” she asks. “I don’t know."
"One thing she says she knows: She’s suing."
READ MORE related to Fire: As death toll rises to 56, hope fades for those missing in Paradise fire -- LA Times's NICOLE SANTA CRUZ/ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN/COLLEEN SHALBY; A list of those still missing in Camp Fire -- Chico ER's STAFF; Refugee camps for fire survivors? Butte County on 'edge' of humanitarian crisis after Camp Fire -- Sacramento Bee's RYAN SABALOW/RYAN LILLIS/DALE KASLER/SAM STANTON/PHILLIP REESE; Norovirus hits shelter for fire evacuees in Chico, second shelter may be affected -- Sacramento Bee's DALE KASLER/THERESA CLIFT; Feds to Butte County: 'You're not going to be able to rebuild Paradise the way it was' -- Sacramento Bee's DALE KASLER; 'We're traumatized but we're alive': Survivors come forward as Camp Fire death toll rises to 56 -- Sacramento Bee's RYAN LILLIS/ALEXANDRA YOON-HENDRICKS/MOLLY SULLIVAN/SAM STANTON; After Camp Fire, cops patrol a ruined Paradise: 'There's really no one to watch over' -- The Chronicle's LIZZLIE JOHNSON; As city burns around it, a newspaper staff rises to cover unspeakable tragedy -- LA Times's BENJAMIN ORESKES; DA: Camp Fire investigators wrapping up probe near Pulga -- Chico ER's ANDRE BYIK/STEVE SCHOONOVER; For wildfire safety, only particular masks guard against toxic particulate matter -- California Healthline's SAMANTHA YOUNG/ANA B IBARRA
California's state budget is so flush words can't describe it
Sacramento Bee's ADAM ASHTON: "Gov. Jerry Brown’s parting gift to Gov. elect Gavin Newsom is a state budget so flush with unrestricted tax revenue that top fiscal analysts struggled to find the right words to describe it."
"The budget is in remarkably good shape,” reads the annual fiscal outlook by the Legislative Analyst’s Office. “It is difficult to overstate how good the budget’s condition is today."
"Economic trends are so sunny that the analyst’s office projects a state budget surplus of $14.8 billion next year, unless the Legislature chooses to spend the money or cut taxes."
On election night, all anyone saw was a ripple. But the blue wave came and the Republicans wiped out.
LA Times's GEORGE SKELTON: "It didn’t even look like a blue wave on election night. Now it’s looking like a potential tsunami, at least in California."
"As late votes poured in, largely from mailed ballots, the Democrats’ tally rose and swept away Republicans."
"What happened in the final days of the election season to generate energy for a big blue wave? President Trump kept blowing hot air. That’s the educated guess of many political pros."
Jerry Brown picks a new California Supreme Court justice
Sacramento Bee's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday nominated his senior adviser for judicial appointments to a seat on the California Supreme Court that has been vacant for more than a year."
"Joshua Groban, 45, of Los Angeles, served as the legal counsel for Brown’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign and oversaw the appointment of approximately 600 state judges over the past two terms, according to a release from Brown’s office."
“Josh Groban has vast knowledge of the law and sound and practical judgment,” Brown said in a statement. “He’ll be a strong addition to California’s highest court."
Make college affordable and accessible, Californians tell Gavin Newsom
The Tribune's ANDREW SHEELER: "A majority of Californians view the state’s higher education system as unaffordable, according to a poll released Wednesday night."
"The poll, from the Public Policy Institute of California, found that 58 percent of those surveyed view college affordability as a big problem, while another 25 percent said it is somewhat of a problem."
"Most Californians want the new governor to change course when it comes to public higher education, with fewer than half saying it is going in the right directions,” PPIC CEO Mark Baldassare said in a statement."
READ MORE related to Education: New California coalition agrees on next steps to improve schools, student achievement -- EdSource's JOHN FENSTERWALD
Trump's proposed regulations limiting benefits for immigrants could hurt many US-born children
EdSource's ZAIDEE STAVELY: "Hundreds of thousands of immigrant parents in California may disenroll their children from health insurance, food stamps and other federally subsidized programs because they fear that receiving these benefits will make it impossible for them to become permanent residents in the United States."
"Their fears have been triggered by new regulations proposed by the Trump administration that expand the number of benefits that immigration officers can take into account in deciding whether to deny an immigrant permanent residence in the United States. Federal law allows immigration officials to deny green cards to immigrants if authorities decide they are likely to become a “public charge” — someone who relies excessively on government benefits to survive. "
"The draft regulations are currently open for public comments until Dec. 10th."
Farm animals may soon get new features through gene editing
AP's CANDIC CHOI: "Cows that can withstand hotter temperatures. Cows born without pesky horns. Pigs that never reach puberty."
"A company wants to alter farm animals by adding and subtracting genetic traits in a lab. It sounds like science fiction, but Recombinetics sees opportunity for its technology in the livestock industry."
"But first, it needs to convince regulators that gene-edited animals are no different than conventionally bred ones. To make the technology appealing and to ease any fears that it may be creating Franken-animals, Recombinetics isn't starting with productivity. Instead, it's introducing gene-edited traits as a way to ease animal suffering."
READ MORE related to Energy & Environment: Air quality in South Bay worsens, "unhealthy" levels throughout Bay Area -- BANG's MARK GOMEZ
Fake heads used in daring Alcatraz escape re-created by FBI
The Chronicle's EVAN SERNOFFSKY: "It took the convicts on Alcatraz months to fashion the fake heads."
"Using soap, concrete dust, swiped paint, bits of wire and even hair smuggled from the barber shop, they constructed the remarkable decoys used in the most famous prison escape in history."
"Each night, inmates Frank Morris, along with brothers John and Clarence Anglin, placed the decoy heads in their cell beds as they undertook the months-long effort to tunnel out of their cells. On the night of June 11, 1962, they climbed to the roof and slipped into the chilly waters of San Francisco Bay, never to be seen again."
House Republicans elect McCarthy as leader with eye to 2020
Sacramento Bee's LISA MASCARO: "Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy on easily won an internal party election to take over the shrunken House GOP caucus, handing the seven-term Californian a familiar role of building the party back to a majority as well as protecting President Donald Trump's agenda."
"With Speaker Paul Ryan retiring and the House majority gone, the race for minority leader was McCarthy's to lose Wednesday. But rarely has a leader of a party that suffered a major defeat — Democrats wiped out Republicans in GOP-held suburban districts from New York to McCarthy's own backyard — been so handily rewarded."
"After defeating Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the conservative House Freedom Caucus co-founder, McCarthy will be tested by Republicans on and off Capitol Hill who remain angry and divided after their midterm losses, and split over how best to move forward."
Zinke says Trump behind him '100 percent' after 'vicious attacks'
Sacramento BEe's DALE KASLER: "Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, facing an ethics probe over land dealings, insisted Wednesday he still has President Donald Trump’s full support."
"Zinke, after touring the damage from the deadly Camp Fire in Paradise with Gov. Jerry Brown, also told The Sacramento Bee he has no recollection of meeting in 2017 with wealthy Sacramento land baron Angelo Tsakopoulos, as first reported by the Washington Post."
"Zinke is being investigated on multiple fronts. In what is considered the most serious matter, the Interior Department’s acting inspector general has referred to the Justice Department an investigation into whether the former Montana congressman acted improperly in connection with a land deal in Whitefish, Mont., with the head of oil-services conglomerate Halliburton. As secretary, Zinke oversees oil and gas drilling operations on federal lands."
Michael Avenatti arrested in LA on domestic violence charge
AP's MICHAEL BALSAMO/ANDREW DALTON: "Michael Avenatti, who skyrocketed to fame as a critic of President Donald Trump and the lawyer for porn actress Stormy Daniels, was arrested Wednesday and booked on a felony domestic violence charge, Los Angeles police said."
"The alleged victim in the case had visible injuries, according to Officer Tony Im, a police spokesman. But Avenatti slammed the allegation as "completely bogus" and "fabricated and meant to do harm to my reputation" in a statement released by his law firm."
