Big Beverage reaffirms its clout in California, blocks 5 of 5 bills on sugary beverages
LA Times's PATRICK MCGREEVY: ""California is known as the state that took on the tobacco industry, challenged the NRA on firearms restrictions and passed other legislation framed as breakthroughs in safeguarding public health."
"But over the last two years, California health advocates have been unable to overcome the beverage industry’s clout as they pushed legislation to regulate sugary drinks and sodas."
"On Tuesday, a bill to place warning labels on sugary drinks was shelved, meaning that state lawmakers have rejected or shelved all five bills introduced this year to reduce consumption of sugary drinks."
California police reported 628 use-of-force incidents last year -- that's a drop
Sacramento Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "Agencies reported 628 incidents last year that involved serious bodily injury, death or the discharge of a firearm, according to a crime report published by the state Department of Justice on Tuesday. That’s a dip from 782 incidents in 2016, and from 707 a year later."
"In these instances, which involved close to 680 civilians and more than 1,550 officers, 94 percent of the civilians were male and roughly half were Hispanic. Another 20 percent were black and close to a third were white. Nearly three quarters of the incidents ended in arrest."
"A third of the civilians were shot and 146 were killed during use-of-force incidents. Three officers also died and 255 were injured."
California stem cell agency winding down
From DAVID JENSEN in Capitol Weekly: "The $3 billion California stem cell agency on Monday served up the bad news with only a smattering of sugar coating."
"No more applications for research funding are being accepted. The cash is running out, perhaps as early as the end of August."
"In a posting on its blog, The Stem Cellar, the agency declared, “It’s never easy to tell someone that they are too late, that they missed the deadline. It’s particularly hard when you know that the person you are telling that to has spent years working on a project and now needs money to take it to the next level. But in science, as in life, it’s always better to tell people what they need to know rather than what they would like to hear.”
READ MORE related to Health: (OP-ED) A fight against price-gouging in dialysis treatment -- CRISTINA CASTRO in Capitol Weekly
Trump admin backs off citizenship question. What that means for California
Sacramento Bee's BRYAN ANDERSON: "The Trump administration is preparing to print the 2020 census without a citizenship question and ending its battle in court to place a question about immigration status in the once-a-decade count."
"Justice Department attorneys revealed the administration’s plan on Tuesday in an email to lawyers who’d challenged President Donald Trump’s effort to ask a citizenship question on the full census."
"We can confirm that the decision has been made to print the 2020 Decennial Census questionnaire without a citizenship question, and that the printer has been instructed to begin the printing process,” a U.S. Department of Justice attorney wrote in an email to plaintiffs in the case."
READ MORE related to Immigration: Dozens in Sacramento join nationwide protest against immigrant detention camps -- Sacramento Bee's ELIZABETH SHWE
As Harris surges and Biden slides, what's up with Sanders?
The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI: "Former Vice President Joe Biden has lost support in three major polls released since the first Democratic debates. But the candidate who has been No. 2 in most polls — Sen. Bernie Sanders — hasn’t picked up new support. Instead, it’s Sens. Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren who have surged."
"A CNN poll out Monday showed Biden’s lead shrinking to just five percentage points over Harris after her strong debate performance last week, when she went after the former vice president for his opposition to forced school busing and self-professed ability to work with segregationist Southern senators in the 1970s."
"The survey found that 22 percent of registered Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents surveyed supported Biden, while 17 percent backed Harris, 15 percent were for Warren and 14 percent lined up behind Sanders. Biden has dropped 10 points since CNN’s May poll, and Sanders has lost four points, while Harris has gained nine points and Warren eight."
State sues former Bay Area venture capital firm for sexual harassment
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "The state accused a former Bay Area venture capital firm Monday of sexually harassing a female employee, who allegedly was touched repeatedly by a company executive without her consent."
"The Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued Silicon Valley Growth Syndicate I in San Francisco, where the company formerly was headquartered. It is now based in Little Rock, Ark., and invests money in startup businesses."
"The suit focused on the conduct of Lee McNutt of Dallas, the company’s co-founder and owner of another firm, International Direct Mail Consultants, that jointly employed the woman cited in the lawsuit. According to the Silicon Valley Growth Syndicate’s website, McNutt has led 53 U.S. trade missions for internet and direct marketing abroad and has consulted with more than 50 firms worldwide."
Gun rights groups sue California to challenge age restrictions on buying firearms
Sacramento Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "A coalition of California gun rights groups has sued the state in federal court to prevent the enactment of a law prohibiting people younger than 21 from buying firearms."
"Once individuals turn 18, they are adults in the eyes of the law,” said Carlsbad attorney John W. Dillon, lead counsel for the plaintiffs. “Law-abiding adults are entitled to fully exercise all of their fundamental rights, including their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for all lawful purposes, not just hunting or sport."
"The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. That’s the same district where Judge Roger Benitez struck down California’s ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines earlier this year."
New California gun law expands background checks to ammo
The Chronicle's MEGAN CASSIDY: "Few customers who ventured into Imbert & Smithers gun shop in San Carlos were shopping for rounds on Monday, the inaugural day of a law that makes California the first state to require background checks for every ammunition purchase."
"That may have been by design. In the weeks leading up to July 1, store owner Jeana Rolsky-Feige watched her ammunition sales spike 50% to 60%, as customers braced for a law they consider overly intrusive."
"It’s a fear factor,” she said, noting that many customers expressed concern for either their privacy or for widespread confusion at the onset of the landmark law. “It’s totally a big-brother situation."
PG&E says it could pay 2017, 2018 wildfire victims. Here's why that needs Legislature's OK
Sacramento Bee's DALE KASLER/BRYAN ANDERSON: "PG&E Corp. is floating a plan in the California Legislature to repay victims of the 2017 and 2018 wildfires by having the state issue billions of dollars in new bonds. The bankrupt utility’s shareholders would repay the bond out of future profits, a source familiar with PG&E’s plan said Tuesday."
"The plan is designed to augment the insurance plan proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, which is meant to raise funds for victims of future wildfires caused by equipment owned by PG&E and the California’s other major utilities. Newsom’s plan, AB 1054, leaves it up to PG&E to find a way to pay for the billions of dollars it owes victims of the 2017 wine country fires and November’s Camp Fire."
"Under the PG&E plan, the state would issue tax exempt notes called “equity contribution bonds,” according to the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter."
School board faces mural dilemma: free speech or racial justice
The Chronicle's JILL TUCKER: "The debate over a controversial mural had reached a fever pitch."
"Those who wanted to destroy the racially charged fresco at Washington High School argued that preservationists were asserting white privilege to save an offensive painting."
"Those who wanted to save it held that erasing the mural is no better than book-burning censorship."
When it comes to panhandling, BART largely looks the other way
The Chronicle's PHIL MATIER: "Whether it’s dancers parading through the trains and passing the hat or women holding babies begging in the stations, panhandling — even aggressive panhandling — is pretty much a fact of life on BART."
"And the BART Board of Directors appears content with keeping it that way."
"Just look at the numbers:"
READ MORE related to Transportation: A tip from the highway patrol: Carpooling with the dead doesn't mean you get to use the HOV lane -- LA Times's DAVID MONTERO; Toyota expands Prius recall, reveals up to 20,000 hybrid inverters failed -- LA Times's RALPH VARTABEDIAN
Fact check: Is Trump right when he says homelessness is a 'new phenomenon' in California?
Sacramento Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "California’s population included nearly 130,000 homeless residents every day as of January 2018, according to a report from the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. More than 10,800 veterans, more than 6,700 families and more than 34,000 people defined as “chronically homeless” were among them."
"In an interview aired Monday with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, President Donald Trump said, “We’re looking at it very seriously, we may intercede, we may do something to get that whole thing cleaned up."
"Trump’s remarks came up as Carlson, a conservative commentator, asked the president about “filth” in American cities as compared to cities in Japan, where Trump was visiting for the G20 Summit."
READ MORE related to Housing & Homelessness: More housing for skid row -- but not enough for those in need, advocates say -- LA Times's GALE HOLLAND
Trump uses the trappings of the White House for reelection bid to unprecedented degree
LA Times's NOAH BIERMAN: "Government watchdogs say President Trump has moved more audaciously than any predecessor in modern times to use the power of the White House to further his reelection effort, dispensing with even the appearance of separating the trappings of his office from his political imperatives."
"While Trump is hardly the first incumbent to take advantage of the White House for political purposes, his conduct and that of his appointees have set a new standard which in some cases has openly flouted federal law."
"Their actions have drawn particular attention in recent days because of two events:"
