"If the signatures are verified by elections officials, the law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in August would be suspended until voters decide whether to overturn it, allowing bail agents to continue doing business before the industry’s future in California is decided..."
"The court recommended that the governor grant a pardon, according to Jorge E. Navarrete, the clerk of the court. Brown’s office has signaled he is likely to grant clemency in the case before he leaves office in January."
“As the Board of Parole Hearings has found, Sen. Wright's application presents a favorable case for a pardon,” Peter A. Krause, the governor’s legal affairs secretary, said in a letter to the court last month."
Camp Fire update: 81 dead and 870 missing, while rain could soon help wildfire fight
From VINCENT MOLESKI in the Sacramento Bee: "The number of reported dead in the Butte County Camp Fire increased by two Tuesday for the second day in a row, bringing the total up to 81, according to a Cal Fire incident report."
"The number of missing people in the area reached 870, an increase of 171 since yesterday due to detectives’ sifting through a backlog of voicemails, according to the Butte County Sheriff’s Office."
"There are now 1,864 people accounted for, an increase of 195 since yesterday, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Two human remains were discovered inside in the city of Paradise and of the 81 fatalities, 56 have been tentatively identified, according to the Sheriff’s Office."
PG&E-friendly wildfire bill being prepared by state lawmakers in wake of lethal Butte County inferno
From GEORGE AVALOS, Mercury News: "Even before the cause of the deadly Camp Fire is determined, California lawmakers are drafting legislation to shield PG&E from massive liabilities connected to the blaze."
“We want to send a signal to the financial markets that we are not going to leave the utilities flapping in the wind,” Kellie Smith, chief consultant for the state Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee, said Tuesday. The legislation is expected to be introduced by Democratic Assemblyman Chris Holden of Los Angeles County, who is the chairman of the key legislative panel."
"The bill is expected to protect California’s major investor-owned utilities from wildfire liabilities."
READ MORE about Camp Fire: ‘Wallywood’ camp grows in Walmart lot in Chico. Walmart asks them to go -- MOLLY SULLIVAN and RYAN LILLIS, Sacramento Bee; Plenty of Shelters But No New Temporary Housing As Butte County Braces for Rain -- JEREMY SIEGEL and POLLY STRYKER, KQED; Where to go? Camp Fire evacuees look to life after shelters -- ERIN BALDASSARI and ANNIE SCIACCA, Mercury News; Their houses were spared by Camp Fire, but ‘lucky’ ones debate whether to stay -- TRISHA SALDANI and MEGAN CASSIDY, SF Chronicle; In Paradise, the grim search for bodies after California fire: 'We’re finding remains in various states' -- RUBEN VIVES, LA Times; Inside Pulga, Artist Refuge at the Center of the Camp Fire -- KQED's SAM LEFEVBRE
Bullet-train land acquisitions are moving so slowly a judge hearing the cases calls it a ‘lifetime job’
From the LAT's RALPH VARTABEDIAN: "Once a month, Judge Edward M. Ross packs his car and drives 200 miles to preside over the biggest government taking of private land for one project in recent California history."
"At a modern courthouse in the quaint farming town of Hanford, Ross, 85, dons his black robes and hears land disputes involving the California bullet train where it slices through one of the richest agricultural belts in the nation."
"The judiciary depends on the previously retired Manhattan Beach jurist since every Kings County Superior Court judge has refused to hear the cases. The workload — much like the commute — seems to drag on."
The ‘Trump effect’ worked well for Democrats
From CALmatters' DAN WALTERS: "Blowout."
"The full dimensions of this month’s Democratic sweep emerged last weekend when the last of the major races were settled, all in favor of the party that already dominated California politics."
"Not only did Democrats retain 100 percent occupancy of all statewide offices, but captured six of the Republicans’ already paltry 14 congressional seats and bigger-than-ever legislative supermajorities."
READ MORE about elections: Gavin Newsom has 3,100 jobs to fill. Find out how to get one -- ADAM ASHTON, Sacramento Bee; Record number of women candidates win in California’s 2018 election -- BEN BRADFORD, CALmatters; Alex Villanueva inches closer to an upset in race for L.A. County sheriff -- MAYA LAU, LATimes
Capitol Weekly Podcast: Dennis Mangers
From Capitol Weekly: "Dennis Mangers, a former lawmaker who represented Orange County’s 73rd Assembly District for two terms, was elected in 1976 — swept to power in a Democratic wave that followed the Watergate scandals."
"But the district reverted to form in 1980 when Mangers lost his seat to Republican Nolan Frizzelle — a loss attributable in part to President Jimmy Carter, who announced his defeat for reelection before the polls closed in California at 8 p.m. Political observers believe the early concession discouraged Democrats from voting, and a number of Democrats lost their seats on the West Coast."
