New fan amenities added to Sacramento soccer stadium design, driving above $300M
Sacramento Bee's TONY BIZJAK: "The price tag for downtown Sacramento’s soon-to-be-built Major League Soccer stadium has jumped by $50 million and is now expected to top $300 million. Some of the increase is due to rising construction costs, but upgrades to the stadium design – including an upper-level patio-style fan venue with panoramic city views for premium ticket holders – are also contributing to the new price tag."
"Republic FC team president Ben Gumpert said the new ownership group wants a world class facility that’s “not just a cool stadium, but something that reflects the story of Sacramento.”
"The facility’s initial estimated price, set several years ago, was $252 million. The current $305 million price is also a pre-construction estimate. That cost will be privately financed by the investor group. The city of Sacramento plans, however, to kick in $33 million worth of incentives, including a loan of up to $27.2 million."
San Diego State student dies; frats suspended
LA Times's ANDREA LOPEZ-VILLAFAÑA: "Questions continued to swirl over the weekend around an incident so severe that it led to the hospitalization and death of a 19-year-old San Diego State freshman and the indefinite suspension of 14 fraternities."
"The student, Dylan Hernandez, is alleged to have attended a Phi Gamma Delta fraternity event on Wednesday before being taken to a hospital the next morning. University officials announced Monday that Hernandez had died."
"Rumors and media reports surrounded the incident, but the university released few details, including the nature of Hernandez’s injuries."
PG&E Is Offering $13.5 Billion in Compensation to Wildfire Victims
From Bloomberg News' MARK CHEDIAK and MARK DEVEAU: "Bankrupt utility giant PG&E Corp. is trying to offer $13.5 billion in compensation to the victims of wildfires sparked by its power lines as part of a restructuring plan, according to people with knowledge of the situation."
"In doing so, the San Francisco-based power company would be providing the same amount that a group of its creditors -- led by Pacific Investment Management Co. and Elliott Management Corp. -- has agreed to pay victims in a rival reorganization proposal, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are private. The two sides are at odds, however, over how to structure the payout and how much should come in the form of cash and stock, they said."
LA Times's MORGAN COOK: "Shortly after a judge granted Rep. Duncan Hunter permission on Friday to travel abroad ahead of his criminal trial in January, the lawmaker canceled plans to leave the country."
"U.S. Magistrate Judge William V. Gallo signed off on Hunter’s request to accept an invitation to travel to Belgium from Dec. 13 through Dec. 16, according to court records. Hunter, R-Alpine, was invited “in honor of his military service” to join a congressional delegation traveling to Belgium for the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge."
"Michael Harrison, a spokesman for Hunter, told the San Diego Union-Tribune on Friday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invited Hunter on the trip. Harrison referred further questions to Pelosi’s office. Her office did not immediately respond to a request for comment."
California brewery's "F*** PG&E" beer prompts backlash -- and an apology
Sacramento Bee's JARED GILMOUR: "A Northern California brewery is apologizing and trying to set the record straight after releasing a beer called “F--- PG&E."
"Shady Oak Barrel House in Santa Rosa announced the profanely named brew last week, describing the beer in a Wednesday Facebook post as “a classic California pale ale, featuring Cashmere and Simcoe hops and a touch of malt sweetness."
"While the name drew praise from commenters who condemn Pacific Gas & Electric Co. for corporate greed, it triggered backlash among those worried that anti-PG&E sentiment could be directed at rank-and-file utility workers."
California passed a law letting troops buy CalPERS pensions. It has never worked
Sacramento Bee's ADAM ASHTON: "California National Guard Capt. Steve Sonza thought he found a good deal for his retirement earlier this year. He learned about a program that would let him buy into CalPERS and secure a state-backed pension for life."
"It’s an awesome retirement benefit. It’s one of the best in the country,” Sonza, 38, said."
"But Sonza, a military intelligence officer, soon found what dozens of California National Guard members before him already knew. The program never provided the benefit lawmakers promised when they wrote a law in 2007 opening the California Public Employees’ Retirement System to part-time soldiers."
PG&E helped fund the careers of Calif. governor and his wife. Now he accuses the utility of ‘corporate greed.’
From WaPo's DOUGLAS MACMILLAN and NEENA SATIJA: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom has accused his state’s largest utility company of mismanaging funds he said it should have used to upgrade an aging electrical grid prone to deadly wildfires."
"But over the past two decades, Newsom (D) and his wife have accepted more than $700,000 from the Pacific Gas & Electric Co., its foundation and its employees as the utility has supported his political campaigns, his ballot initiatives, his inauguration festivities and his wife’s foundation, including her film projects, according to records reviewed by The Washington Post."
"The contributions illustrate Newsom’s ties to the company responsible for wildfires that have killed at least 85 people and caused billions of dollars in damage over the past three years. The governor has slammed PG&E for paying bonuses to executives and cash dividends to its investors instead of spending more on infrastructure upgrades that could have prevented the fires."
Former California lawmaker paid for Asia vacation with campaign funds, investigation finds
Sacramento Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "A former California Assemblyman is facing a $150,000 penalty for years of misusing campaign money for international travel and personal use, according to a Fair Political Practices Commission audit into Joseph Canciamilla’s election committees."
"Canciamilla, a Democrat, served in the state Assembly from 2000 to 2006 and was appointed to his post as the Contra Costa County clerk-recorder and registrar of voters in 2013."
"The penalty centers on two local fundraising committees he created, one in 2011 while he was a candidate for judge in the county’s Superior Court and the second in 2012 for his latest position."
How liberal or conservative is your community? Search every California city here
Sacramento Bee's PHILLIP REESE: "You can make a decent guess about a Californian’s political beliefs based on his or her address."
"The odds of running into a Republican in Berkeley are ... slim. (Just one in 35 registered voters in the Bay Area college town are Republican.) Point at a random voter in the Placer County suburb of Loomis, however, and there is a barely one-in-five chance you’ve found a Democrat."
"New statistics from the California Secretary of State show about 20.3 million registered voters in California. About 44 percent are Democrats, 27 percent declined to state a party preference, and 24 percent are Republicans. The rest belong to a “third” party."
California might not require solar panels on new homes, after all
LA Times's SAMMY ROTH: "California became the first state in the nation last year to require solar panels on newly built homes."
"But it’s starting to look like the mandate wasn’t quite a mandate."
"The California Energy Commission also gave home builders the option of supplying solar power from an off-site facility, mollifying critics who said rooftop solar would raise the cost of housing. Now the commission is poised to approve the first off-site solar program for new housing — over the objections of home solar installers, who say the agency is creating an escape clause so broad it could render the rooftop solar requirement meaningless."
Amazon plans new grocery store in LA as it thinks about how to conquer the industry
LA Times's JAMES F PELTZ: "When Amazon.com Inc. rolled out its grocery delivery service in 2013, some wondered whether the move was a harbinger of a new era."
"When it bought Whole Foods Market in 2017, there was speculation Amazon would revolutionize the supermarket industry."
"Change hasn’t been quite so quick — but the e-commerce giant hasn’t lost its appetite."
How California schools' HVAC systems are 'silently undermining' your child's chance at success
Sacramento Bee's CATHIE ANDERSON: "Even when California schools install new heating and ventilation systems, the contractors aren’t properly adjusting or programming the units to provide enough ventilation to protect the health and welfare of students or their teachers, according to a study released this week by researchers at the University of California, Davis."
"Even in ... classrooms with new HVAC equipment, 85 percent of them were under-ventilated. We went to 104 classrooms across 11 schools,” said Theresa Pistochini, engineering manager at the UC Davis Western Cooling Efficiency Center. “There is very little awareness about this problem. The issue is you don’t know what you don’t measure."
"If classrooms lack proper ventilation, students and teachers are exposed to unhealthy levels of carbon dioxide and air pollutants such as volatile organic compounds, including formaldehyde. While the VOCs are given off as gas from building materials, finishes and furniture, the ratio of CO2 rises as the students and teachers exhale it."
California changed its rules on college athlete pay. Now White House looking into it
McClatchy's BRIAN MURPHY/FRANCESCA CHAMBERS: "The White House is meeting with congressional offices as it considers a response to a new California law that permits college athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness."
"There’s interest in the Hill on it, and we have some interest in it,” White House Domestic Policy Council Director Joe Grogan told McClatchy in an interview. “California has created a lot of interest in the subject, the California law specifically has created some angst in the athletic community."
"California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the state’s Fair Pay to Play Act at the end of September, becoming the first state in the nation to allow college athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness which is currently banned by the NCAA. Several other states, including Florida, have introduced similar legislation."
Disney's massive streaming gamble has arrived. It may change the TV industry forever
LA Times's RYAN FAUGHNDER/MEG JAMES: "Television may never be the same."
"After two years of planning, the Walt Disney Co. on Tuesday finally launches Disney+, the much anticipated streaming service that marks one of the Burbank company’s biggest gambles to date."
"Disney has spent more than $3 billion on technology and content in an ambitious bid to take on Netflix at its own game. The $6.99-a-month service boasts a deep library, including movies and TV shows from Pixar Animation, “Star Wars,” Marvel Studios and classic Disney fare."
Former President Jimmy Carter enters hospital for surgery
AP's JAY REEVES/SHAMEKA DUDLEY-LOWE: "Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter was admitted to a hospital on Monday evening for a surgery to relieve pressure on his brain, caused by bleeding due to his recent falls, his spokeswoman said."
"The procedure is scheduled for Tuesday morning at Emory University Hospital, Deanna Congileo said in a statement."
"Carter has fallen at least three times this year, and the first incident in the spring required hip replacement surgery. He traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, and helped build a Habitat for Humanity home after getting 14 stiches following a fall on Oct. 6. And he was briefly hospitalized after fracturing his pelvis on Oct. 21. He received a dire cancer diagnosis in 2015 but survived and has since said he is cancer-free."
