PG&E warns of 10 years of power shut-offs. California officials don't like it
LA Times's HOWARD BLUME: "California residents face up to 10 years of widespread, precautionary forced power shut-offs until Pacific Gas & Electric Corp., the bankrupt utility giant, will be able to prevent its power transmission lines from sparking fires, the company’s top official said."
"The sobering projection came from company Chief Executive William D. Johnson at an emergency meeting Friday of the California Public Utilities Commission in San Francisco."
"While the need for widespread shutdowns should lessen every year, Johnson told commissioners, “I think this is probably a 10-year timeline to get to a point where it’s really ratcheted down significantly."
READ MORE related to Energy & Blackouts: PG&E will try to reduce blackout impact. It also says entire grid could go dark -- Sacramento Bee's DALE KASLER/MICHAEL MCGOUGH/SOPHIA BOLLAG; Additional forced blackouts? Weather conditions increase likelihood of fire and outages --Sacramento Bee's MITCHEL BOBO
Proposition 13 overhaul gets friendly summary from California AG
Sacramento Bee's JOHN WILDERMUTH: "A new effort to revise California’s landmark Proposition 13 would boost taxes on large corporations and businesses, but opponents are complaining that’s almost an afterthought in the state attorney general’s new title and summary of the proposed initiative."
"The official statement, which was released Thursday by Democratic Attorney General Xavier Becerra, will headline the petitions expected to hit the streets Monday. Backers of a plan to split the tax rolls, changing Prop. 13 for commercial property while leaving it intact for homeowners, need to collect almost 1 million signatures to qualify it for the November 2020 election."
"We’re truly disappointed in the attorney general,” said Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable, which opposes the initiative. “It’s a written title and summary that gives an advantage to the employee and educational unions” supporting the changes."
Air Force finally ejects 8-inch floppy disks long used in US nuclear strike system
Sacramento Bee's DON SWEENEY: "Years after computer floppy disks went the way of the dodo for most users, the U.S. Air Force still employed 8-inch floppy disks for a few things — like passing on orders to launch the nation’s arsenal of nuclear missiles, according to Popular Mechanics."
"No more, says Lt. Col. Jason Rossi, commander of the Air Force’s 595th Strategic Communications Squadron, reports defense news site C4isrnet."
"A new “highly-secure solid state digital storage system” replaced the old-fashioned floppy disks in June, according to the publication."
Newsom pardons 3 Californians to spare them from deportation
Sacramento Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG: "Gov. Gavin Newsom pardoned three people to spare them from deportation Friday, arguing they reformed their lives after making mistakes when they were young and should not be sent out of the country."
"They are among several clemency actions announced Friday afternoon, including two commutations for people who committed crimes when they were young but were sentenced to what the governor determined were unjustly long sentences, Newsom’s office said."
"He also pardoned Curtis Reynolds, a 59-year-old man from Sacramento Country, who was convicted of six drug felonies including possession for sale between 1998 and 2003. Since those convictions, Newsom’s office says Reynolds has become a dedicated volunteer in the community and helps people struggling with addiction."
Facing a deepening housing crisis, Newsom says he's still 'pleased' with his work on it
LA Times's LIAM DILLON: "On the campaign trail and during his first months in office, Gov. Gavin Newsom called for an unprecedented response to California’s housing crisis."
"He pledged that his administration would help spur the biggest wave of homebuilding in modern history. And he promised to launch a statewide affordable housing program on par with the nation’s effort to rebuild Europe after World War II."
"Our solutions must be as bold as the problem is big,” Newsom wrote two years ago in a Medium post unveiling his housing plan."
Hillary Clinton feuds with candidate, trolls Trump before taking SF stage
The Chronicle's EVAN SERNOFFSKY: "Hillary Clinton’s foray back into public life via a book tour with her daughter came through San Francisco on Sunday with starry-eyed supporters lining up by the hundreds to see the former presidential candidate."
"In a two-hour talk at Temple Emanu-El in the city’s Richmond District, Clinton and daughter Chelsea discussed their new work, “The Book of Gutsy Women,” a compilation of stories about women who have inspired the co-authors."
"The sold-out crowd of 1,500 shelled out $45 each for a seat at the event and a copy of the book. They hung on every word from the former secretary of state, showing that even with her loss to Donald Trump in 2016 and all the backlash, Clinton is still immensely popular in San Francisco."
SF ballot measure intended to limit 'pay-to-play' politics
The Chronicle's TRISHA THADANI: "As spending on San Francisco’s elections reaches staggering heights, supporters of a November ballot measure want voters to have a better idea of who’s funding the campaign ads that inundate their mailboxes, TVs and social media feeds."
"Proposition F — pushed by a former ethics commissioner and Supervisor Gordon Mar — would force campaigns to more prominently disclose who donated large sums of money to a cause. It would also limit contributions from those who have a land-use decision going before the city. The point? Eliminating “pay-to-play politics” that influence decisions in City Hall, said Jon Golinger, a co-author of the measure."
"San Francisco’s campaign finance laws are so opaque and rife with loopholes, he said, that voters are unable to make fully informed choices at the ballot box. At issue, he said, is the ability for independent political action committees to raise an unlimited amount of money from corporations, unions and individuals. Those committees can then donate to individual campaigns, and therefore shroud the real source of the money."
SF voters will weigh $600M affordable housing bond, the biggest in city history
The Chronicle's DOMINIC FRACASSA: "There’s a thorny problem at the heart of San Francisco’s efforts to build more affordable housing for low- and middle-income people: If the city stands any chance of creating more of it, it’s going to need money — a lot of it."
"Right now in San Francisco, bringing an affordable housing development to fruition generally takes around five years and $700,000 per unit."
"That’s a big reason why officials and advocates are rallying behind November’s Proposition A. The $600 million measure is the largest affordable housing bond in the city’s history, in part a reflection of the magnitude of the housing affordability crisis."
During Trump protests on Santa Monica Pier, man sprays crowd with bear repellent
LA Times's JOEL RUBIN: "During a scuffle on the Santa Monica Pier on Saturday between supporters and protesters of President Trump, a man wildly sprayed protesters with bear repellent, according to police and a video of the incident."
"The clash occurred around 1:20 in the afternoon after a group protesting Trump and Vice President Mike Pence made their way from the beach onto the pier, one of the region’s busiest tourist attractions, said Santa Monica Police Sgt. D. Hicks, who declined to give his full name."
"The protesters were met on the pier by a group of Trump supporters, Hicks said. The two groups traded chants and taunts for about 10 minutes and then “everything went to crap,” according to Hicks."
How will Sacramento-area schools adjust to later start times? Clock is ticking under new law
Sacramento Bee's SAWSAN MORRAR: "The morning drill for many Sacramento-area middle and high schools will get some major adjustments under a new law signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom."
"The legislation, signed Friday, prohibits California middle schools from starting before 8 a.m., and high schools from starting before 8:30 a.m."
"State Sen. Anthony Portantino, the La Cañada Flintridge Democrat who wrote Senate Bill 328, said it was based on “indisputable” science that shows students are healthier and happier they when get to sleep in a little later."
READ MORE related to Education: Students from all over California battle it out in annual robotics competition -- Sacramento Bee's VINCENT MOLESKI
Drug dealing in SF's Tenderloin more organized than it looks on the streets
The Chronicle's PHIL MATIER: "Running a drug-dealing operation in San Francisco’s Tenderloin can be both murderous and mundane, with suspected ringleaders described as ordering hits on rivals or suspected informants, dealing with high rents and slogging through commuter traffic."
"The ups and downs of today’s drug trade is laid out in wiretaps and surveillance reports submitted in court records involving 32 suspected dealers recently targeted by federal authorities."
"The suspects — mostly Honduran nationals — stand accused of participating in a complex Bay Area drug trafficking operation that allegedly sold cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine just blocks from City Hall and the Federal Building."
SF's public housing was crumbling. Is a multibillion-dollar makeover the answer?
The Chronicle's JK DINEEN: "In late October, 58-year-old Rodney Randolph will move down the hill from his public housing unit in San Francisco’s once notorious Sunnydale public housing project to a fifth-floor apartment in a new building just completed two blocks away."
"It’s a five-minute walk from the old spot to the new place. But it feels like a world away."
"Instead of facing these old Army barracks, I’m going to be facing the ocean,” said Randolph, an Army veteran who works odd jobs and volunteers for the Sunnydale Food Pantry. “I’ll sit back and look out at the water, the trees, maybe watch some birds flying."
Diplomats fight back in US-Ukraine relations probe
The Chronicle's MATTHEW LEE: "Three years of simmering frustration inside the State Department is boiling over on Capitol Hill as a parade of current and former diplomats testify to their concerns about the Trump administration’s unorthodox policy toward Ukraine."
"Over White House objections, the diplomats are appearing before impeachment investigators looking into President Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, and they’re recounting stories of possible impropriety, misconduct and mistreatment by their superiors."
"To Trump and his allies, the diplomats are evidence of a “deep state” within the government that has been out to get him from the start. But to the employees of a department demoralized by the administration’s repeated attempts to slash its budget and staff, cooperating with the inquiry is seen as a moment of catharsis, an opportunity to reassert the foreign policy norms they believe Trump has upended."
Trump's reversal on hosting G7 summit at his resort comes amid bigger battles on Syria and impeachment
LA Times's JANET HOOK: "President Trump’s reversal on hosting a major international meeting at one of his own resorts was a rare retreat for the famously stubborn man, who was taken aback by a bipartisan barrage of criticism for a proposal that smacked of self-dealing."
"Trump announced late Saturday he was abandoning plans to host the Group of 7 summit at his Doral resort near Miami in June, and on Sunday acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said in a television interview that Trump “was honestly surprised at the level of push back."
"At the end of the day, he still considers himself to be in the hospitality business, and he saw an opportunity to take the biggest leaders from around the world and he wanted to put on the absolute best show,” Mulvaney said on Fox News Sunday. “He’s in the hotel business, or at least he was before he was president."
