Crews gain 5% containment around Kincaide fire as focus turns to PG&E equipment
The Chronicle's JILL TUCKER/PETER FIMRITE/MEGAN CASSIDY/JD MORRIS: "In what could be another devastating blow to PG&E Corp., the troubled utility told California regulators Thursday that a transmission tower malfunctioned near the spot where the Kincade Fire ignited in northern Sonoma County."
"In an incident report filed with the Public Utilities Commission, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. reported that it found a “broken jumper” on the 230-kilovolt line near Kincade and Burned Mountain roads in the area between Cloverdale and Geyserville. PG&E has already come under intense criticism because of the 2017 and 2018 wildfires, particularly last November’s Camp Fire in Butte County."
"It wasn’t immediately clear whether the tower trouble caused the Kincade Fire, which burned at least 10,000 acres and prompted the evacuation of 2,000 residents. Cal Fire said earlier Thursday it doesn’t know what caused the fire."
READ MORE related to Blackouts, Energy & Wildfires: Fires explode across California, from wine country vineyards to SoCal subdivisions -- LA Times's PHIL WILLON/TARYN LUNA/HANNAH FRY/ALEJANDRA REYES-VELARDE; PG&E reports faulty transmission tower near Geyserville wildfire site -- The Sacramento Bee's DALE KASLER; Brush fires -- four reported in four hours -- erupt across SoCal -- Sacramento Bee's DARRELL SMITH; See which counties are alerting residents to get prepared -- The Chronicle's ANNA BAUMAN/DOMINIC FRACASSA; Weekend outage could be massive, throughout Bay Area -- The Chronicle's LAUREN HERNANDEZ; Blackouts could hit nearly every zone of service area by Sunday -- The Chronicle's JD MORRIS
Times investigation: LA councilman Wesson helped apartment executives while his son received rent break
LA Times's DAVID ZAHNISER/EMILY ALPERT REYES: "Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson’s son received preferential treatment on his rent for years at an L.A. apartment building while his father helped the building’s executives win approval of a controversial high-rise, according to interviews and records reviewed by The Times."
"Wesson helped shepherd the 27-story Koreatown residential tower through the city’s review process amid opposition from city staff and the planning commission. During the same period, his son was living in a building owned by Rosewood Corp., a company headed by tower developer Michael Hakim and one of his relatives."
"The councilman’s son, Herb Wesson III, went more than five years without a rent increase at the apartment building on Rosewood Avenue, even as many other tenants saw their rent go up, a Times analysis of city records found."
San Mateo County scrutinized after transferring immigrants to ICE
The Chronicle's TATIANA SANCHEZ: "San Mateo County is taking heat from immigration advocates for its continued cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, even as neighboring counties in the Bay Area have pushed to keep the agency at arm’s length in their communities."
"Law enforcement officers in San Mateo County turned over 46 immigrants to ICE from November to August, Sheriff Carlos Bolanos said during a public forum before the Board of Supervisors Wednesday. Bolanos said the transfers targeted individuals who had committed serious crimes and that the county “does not enforce federal immigration law."
"There are times where individuals that come into our custody present a threat to public safety,” said Bolanos. “And my department does cooperate with ICE in these instances as allowed by law."
Davis professor acquitted in Turkish court, but says country's academics still suffering
Sacramento Bee's MITCHEL BOBO: "A professor at a local university has been acquitted, but he calls it a “minor victory."
"Baki Tezcan with University of California, Davis, was cleared in a Turkish constitutional court Thursday after facing charges of “spreading terrorist propaganda” which was critical of the country’s army."
"In 2016, the history professor joined more than 2,000 academics in signing a petition accusing the Turkish army of “massacring” Kurdish residents while fighting a Kurdish terrorist organization. The government has since indicted more than 700 signatories."
These are California's most financially strapped cities. Is yours on the list?
Sacramento Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "The state budget is flush with a $21 billion surplus. The longest-ever economic expansion in California history has unemployment at historic lows."
"But the wealth is not spread evenly among California cities, where some local government budgets are straining with debt and declining revenue."
"The California State Auditor’s Office on Thursday unveiled a new online dashboard revealing the fiscal health, or lack thereof, of 471 cities in the Golden State, paying special attention to 18 “high risk” communities."
Laguna Honda Hospital scandal details shared amid ongoing investigation
The Chronicle's DOMINIC FRACASSA: "An investigation into the patient-abuse scandal at Laguna Honda Hospital unearthed dozens of photos, videos, text messages and other potential patient privacy violations, city health officials told a Board of Supervisors committee Wednesday."
"The public, city-run facility serves as a live-in hospital, nursing home and rehabilitation center for 780 patients."
"Health department representatives provided the most detailed picture yet of the findings of the extensive and ongoing investigation launched following revelations of patient abuse that came to light in June. The details were shared at a Government Audit and Oversight Committee hearing."
CalPERS board members are losing their iPads. Why the pension funds says data isn't at risk
Sacramento Bee's WES VENTEICHER: "CalPERS board member Margaret Brown has reported losing two state-issued iPhones and an iPad since she was elected to her seat overseeing the $380 billion pension fund two years ago, according to device records."
"Brown’s losses of the devices, while representing relatively minor security risks for the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, stand out compared to other board members’ handling of their devices, according to records CalPERS provided under the Public Records Act."
"In the last five years, three other board members among the 20 officials listed in the records reported losing one iPad each."
Would Obama endorse Biden? Don't be so sure
The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI: "Former Vice President Joe Biden hasn’t been shy about mentioning the guy he worked for in the White House for eight years as he tries to win the Democratic nomination to run against President Trump."
"Yet Biden said he asked former President Barack Obama not to endorse anyone in the primary — including Biden. “Whoever wins this nomination should win it on their own merits,” Biden said shortly after announcing his candidacy in April."
"But would Obama have endorsed him, even without that request? Steven Levingston, the author of the new book “Barack and Joe: The Making of An Extraordinary Partnership,” isn’t so sure."
Can Elizabeth Warren afford to be all in on 'Medicare for all'?
LA Times's EVAN HALPER/JANET HOOK: "Elizabeth Warren built her brand on confronting government’s most vexing challenges with plans that sell sweeping change as common sense. But every day that a workable solution to the nation’s healthcare woes eludes Warren, that brand risks erosion."
"For weeks she caught flak for hedging when asked who will cover the immense price tag for the “Medicare for all” system she has endorsed in principle."
"In an effort to still the criticism, Warren is now promising to produce a detailed blueprint laying out how she would make it all pencil out. Doing so could give the candidate her biggest political test since she surged to the front of the large pack of Democratic White House hopefuls."
DOJ opens probe into possible spying on Trump
Bloomberg News's CHRIS STROHM: "The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into whether Donald Trump or his 2016 presidential campaign was illegally spied upon, according to a person familiar with the matter, escalating the controversy surrounding an inquiry that has remained largely secret for months."
"John Durham, the federal prosecutor leading the effort, now has the authority to convene a grand jury and issue subpoenas to compel witnesses to testify or turn over documents."
"Trump and his allies have long contended that the investigation into Russian interference in the election, which led to the inquiry headed by special counsel Robert Mueller, originated with false accusations and was politically motivated."
US officials try to contain the damage and assure allies after Trump's Syria withdrawal
LA Times's TRACY WILKINSON/NABIH BULOS: "As President Trump claims victory in the Turkish-Russian takeover of northern Syria, members of his government are traveling the globe in an attempt to control the damage and reassure spooked allies about U.S. intentions."
"Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Thursday attended an uncomfortable session of NATO in Brussels where members harshly criticized Turkey’s incursion into Syria and apparent U.S. acquiescence. Turkey’s bloody military operation that killed scores of Kurdish fighters formerly allied with the U.S. came after Trump essentially greenlighted the move by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan."
"Turkey put us all in a very terrible situation, and I think the incursion’s unwarranted,” Esper said ahead of the meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The 29-member post-World War II transatlantic body includes most of Western Europe and Turkey, along with the United States."
