More blackouts hit California. PG&E, bowing to Newsom, says it will compensate customers
Sacramento Bee's DALE KASLER: "Hundreds of thousands of Northern Californians lost electricity again Tuesday, but Pacific Gas and Electric Co. says it plans to compensate customers for their troubles."
"As PG&E instituted another big “public safety power shutoff,” the third in less than a week, Chief Executive Bill Johnson, responding to Gov. Gavin Newsom, said the utility plans to offer some form of compensation to show some “recognition” of the hardships customers have endured. The company initially shrugged off Newsom’s demand."
"The “one-time bill credit” will be applied only to the 738,000 customers affected by the Oct. 9 shutoff, which the company has said it botched by allowing its website to crash and its call center to get overwhelmed. “We did not live up to (customers’) expectations when it came to communicating about this event,” Johnson said in a statement released by the company late Tuesday."
READ MORE related to PG&E/Blackouts: PG&E says it may be ready to begin restoring power to frustrated, restless residents -- The Chronicle's CATHERINE HO/STEVE RUBENSTEIN/JD MORRIS; VA chief to Newsom: Do something about outages -- The Chronicle's ALEXEI KOSEFF; Newsom says PG&E agrees to offer credits amid shutoffs: 'It's the least they can do' -- Sacramento Bee's BRYAN ANDERSON; PG&E will credit customers subject to Oct. 9 blackouts, but not current ones -- The Chronicle's JD MORRIS/TRAPPER BYRNE
Kincade Fire at 119 sq.mi. as Sonoma County braces for more gale-force winds
Sacramento Bee's BENJY EGEL/SAM STANTON: "Thousands of firefighters battling the Kincade Fire made good progress Tuesday in strengthening fire lines and protecting homes and businesses, but were bracing for a new onslaught of overnight winds that threatened to spawn new spot fires throughout Sonoma County’s famed wine country."
"By 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Cal Fire said the blaze had grown to 76,138 acres and was 15 percent contained, and that clear weather through Tuesday morning had allowed firefighters to attack the 119-square mile blaze through the day."
"But forecasters were predicting new, heavy winds would sweep through the area late in the day and continue until 2 a.m."
READ MORE related to Fire Season: Overnight battle: Cal Fire's army of 4,900 vs. Kincade Fire -- The Chronicle's SARAH RAVANI/KEVIN FAGAN/MEGAN CASSIDY/EVAN SERNOFFSKY; Which California state parks are affected by wildfires, smoke and power cuts? -- Sacramento Bee's DON SWEENEY; 'Where do you put 200,000 people?' Kincade Fire evacuees fan out in search of shelter -- Sacramento Bee's DON SWEENEY
Uber, Lyft, DoorDash back ballot measure to weaken California''s new gig workers law
Sacramento Bee's BRYAN ANDERSON: "A group representing three major tech companies announced on Tuesday that it plans to file a ballot measure to weaken a new California law that would compel its members to provide full-time employment benefits to more workers."
"The proposal, which is backed by Uber, Lyft and DoorDash, would allow the companies to continue classifying their drivers as independent contractors, while giving workers a few additional benefits if they meet certain criteria."
"It would undo part of Assembly Bill 5, the labor-backed law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in September that redefines which kinds of workers can be exempted from benefits like unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation."
Study raises concern about e-cigarette waste
From ELI WOLFE in Capitol Weekly: "Nearly two years ago, Jeremiah Mock heard a student in Marin County complain that her school was littered with e-cigarette waste. A health anthropologist by training, Mock did some shoe-leather investigating in a student parking lot, where he found a significant amount of e-cigarette and tobacco trash."
"Surprised, Mock went further."
"From July 2018 through April 2019, he and a colleague, Yogi Hendlin, collected tobacco, cannabis and e-cigarette waste from 12 public high school parking lots across the San Francisco Bay Area. They discovered that e-cigarette waste made up 19 percent of that recovered litter – trash that a mere a decade ago would scarcely have existed on high school campuses anywhere."
Stem cell agency eyes ballot perils
From Capitol Weekly's DAVID JENSEN: "The 29 directors of the California stem cell agency are hearing a warning this week that certain types of their possible activities on behalf of a proposed $5.5 billion ballot initiative could lead to a criminal investigation by state or local law enforcement agencies."
"While that would seem to be an unlikely event, it has caught up another California public enterprise (the Bay Area Rapid Transit District). That’s because state law restricts the use of public funds in connection with ballot campaigns. It is a complex subject, however, and laden with lots of gray areas."
"James Harrison, the former and longtime general counsel for the state stem cell agency, is scheduled to brief the board Thursday on the subject of “the permissible” and “the impermissible.” Harrison is well-known and respected for his work on election law and initiatives."
Trump wins one against California on climate rules. Carmakers side with White House
Sacramento Bee's DALE KASLER/MICHAEL WILNER: "President Donald Trump has scored a key victory over California and Gov. Gavin Newsom in their increasingly nasty fight over climate change and rules limiting greenhouse gas emissions from cars."
"Leading automakers such as General Motors and Toyota sided with the Trump administration this week in a major lawsuit regarding the standards for fuel economy and carbon emissions."
"The Association of Global Automakers and the Coalition for Sustainable Automotive Regulation — a group including GM, Toyota, Mazda, Fiat Chrysler and Mitsubishi — split with four other automakers that had agreed to follow tougher rules enacted by California."
Ex-Trump aide George Papadopoulos seeks former California Rep. Katie Hill's House seat
AP: "George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign aide who was a key figure in the FBI’s Russia probe, is running for the U.S. House seat left vacant by California Democrat Katie Hill."
"Papadopoulos filed paperwork Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission."
"Hill, of Santa Clarita, announced her resignation Sunday amid an ethics probe into allegations she had a relationship with a congressional staff member."
Where the Democratic candidates stand on California crisis
The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI: "During a recent campaign stop in San Francisco, Andrew Yang asked his rally audience who was responsible for the wildfires and blackouts in California."
"PG&E!” they yelled back."
"This is an emblem of what’s gone wrong in the United States,” said the entrepreneur and Democratic presidential candidate. “Our government has failed, capitalism is failing us, and it’s up to us to do better."
California disability law has costly effects: Docouments disappear as state spends millions
Sacramento Bee's WES VENTEICHER: "Dozens of wildfire reports disappeared from Cal Fire’s website as this year’s fire season began."
"Thousands of water science reports vanished from the Department of Water Resources website."
"More than 2 million documents, ranging from environmental impact reports to internal human resources guides, went missing from remote corners of Caltrans’ website."
DA Jackie Lacey faults errors by Sheriff's Department, coroner's investigator in Ed Buck probe
LA Times's JAMES QUEALLY: "Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey told a political club Monday night that errors committed by Sheriff’s Department deputies and a coroner’s office investigator may have played a significant role in the decision not to criminally charge Ed Buck in the death of a man who overdosed in his West Hollywood home in 2017."
"Speaking to the Los Angeles chapter of the Stonewall Democratic Club, which posted a video of the event to Facebook, Lacey told the group that responding deputies illegally searched a red toolbox inside Buck’s home that was found near the body of Gemmel Moore in July 2017. The deputies, who were assigned to the West Hollywood station, did so based on the erroneous advice of a coroner’s department investigator at the scene, she said."
"They noticed around Mr. Moore’s body that there was a red toolbox. And they wanted to search that toolbox for evidence. A coroner’s investigator gave them information that turned out to be incorrect,” she said."
Bay Area air quality gets boost from windstorm, but smoke expected to linger
The Chronicle's MICHAEL CABANATUAN/ANA BAUMAN: "Smoke is expected to settle over the Bay Area beginning late Wednesday, and it could linger for days as residents deal with prolonged power outages and cold temperatures at night, officials said."
"The Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued a Spare the Air alert for Wednesday, the third consecutive day the region expects unhealthy air quality as strong winds push the haze from wildfires toward the ocean. Winds are projected to die down Wednesday, which is good for fighting blazes like the 75,000-acre Kincade Fire in Sonoma County, but the calm could also allow smoky air to settle “for days to come."
“By Wednesday night, there could be smoke again from the fire throughout the whole Bay Area,” said Tina Landis, an air district spokeswoman."
READ MORE related to Climate & Environment: Worst winds of the season batter California, bringing prospect of more blackouts, fires and evacuations -- LA Times's JULIA WICK/HAILEY BRANSON-POTTS/RUBEN VIVES/ALEJANDRA REYES-VELARDE
California groups demand UC drop the SAT, alleging it illegally discriminates against disadvantaged students
LA Times's TERESA WATANABE: "A letter delivered to UC regents by lawyers representing the Compton Unified School District, the Community Coalition and others demanded that the university “immediately stop this discriminatory practice” or face litigation. It marks the first step in what could be the nation’s first lawsuit seeking to end the use of the controversial tests, which have been dropped as admission requirements by more than 1,000 colleges and universities across the nation, including the University of Chicago and University of San Francisco."
"UC spokeswoman Claire Doan said the university had no immediate response to the letter."
"ACT and the College Board, which owns the SAT, took strong exception to charges that their tests are discriminatory. They said that differences in test scores reflect social inequities in access to quality education, not their exams. They argue that their tests are predictive of college performance and offer a uniform yardstick that allows colleges to compare students across a range of states and high schools."
Army officers gives Dems fresh ammo on Trump/Ukraine
LA Times's ELI STOKOLS: "A decorated Army officer assigned to the National Security Council told a House panel Tuesday that he was so alarmed by White House efforts to press Ukraine to investigate President Trump’s political foes that he repeatedly complained to a superior, giving Democrats fresh ammunition in the fast-moving impeachment inquiry."
"Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman, the top Ukraine expert at the National Security Council, is the first serving White House official to testify in the impeachment probe, and one of the first to provide direct, firsthand confirmation of numerous details in the anonymous whistleblower’s complaint that first fueled the inquiry."
"The testimony, which took place behind closed doors, came as Democrats introduced a resolution that could be approved Thursday to formalize procedures for their probe. It would be the first formal House vote on the impeachment inquiry that began five weeks ago, and aims to counter complaints from Trump and his allies that the process is illegitimate, unfair and lacking due process."
