Despite failure, housing bill still has slim chance to reach Newsom's desk
Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "A high-profile proposal to address California’s housing crisis by compelling cities to build more homes failed to pass the Senate on Wednesday, but lawmakers left the bill’s author one more chance to pass the measure."
"The author, Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, said he is determined to get his housing legislation to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk."
"Wiener’s Senate Bill 50 failed on a vote of 18 to 15. Six senators did not vote on the bill. The Senate agreed to consider the bill one more time and it would pass if three more lawmakers vote for it."
READ MORE related to Housing: California bill to dramatically increase homebuilding in the state falls short for third year in a row -- LAT's LIAM DILLON, TARYN LUNA; Possible Fatal Blow For Contentious Housing Bill SB 50 As It Falls Short In California Senate -- CHRIS NICHOLS, Capital Public Radio.
Public has right to see AG's records of police shootings and misconduct, court rules
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "News media and the public have a right to see records of police shootings and officer misconduct that the state attorney general’s office has received from law enforcement agencies throughout California, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday."
"Police personnel records were sealed from the public under longstanding California laws, but a new law effective last year provided for disclosure of records of shootings, use of force resulting in death or serious injury, sexual assault or findings of dishonesty by an officer."
"After state courts ruled that the law applied to records created before 2019, some police departments, including San Francisco’s, have granted requests by news organizations for their records, while others have resisted. And many local police files have been turned over to Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s office, in at least some cases because that office conducts its own investigations of serious misconduct."
Newsom doubles down on state takeover of PG&E
The Chronicle's MALLORY MOENCH/J.D. MORRIS: "Exactly one year after PG&E Corp. filed for bankruptcy, Gov. Gavin Newsom said PG&E “no longer exists” and doubled down on a state takeover if the utility doesn’t shape up by June 30."
"There’s going to be a new company or the state of California will take it over,” Newsom said at an event with the Public Policy Institute of California in Sacramento about the future of the state’s energy Wednesday."
"Because if PG&E can’t do it, we’ll do it for them. Period, full stop. We’re sick of excuses and delays,” he said."
The final moments of Kobe Bryant's fatal flight, turn by turn
LA Times's MATT STILES/SWETHA KANNAN/CASEY MILLER/ANDREA ROBERSON: "Investigators are focusing on what occurred in the moments before the helicopter crash that killed Lakers great Kobe Bryant and eight others in Calabasas on Sunday."
"A reconstruction of the flight by The Times tracks the helicopter's path starting at a crucial moment near the end when the pilot left the San Fernando Valley above the 101 Freeway. Fog and cloudy weather had descended on the region, limiting visibility."
"On its route toward Camarillo Airport, the Sikorsky S76-B traveled above the freeway at about 160 mph. Near Mureau Road, the helicopter appears to have come within 100 feet of striking a hill, a Times analysis of flight data shows."
How many paid holidays do state workers get?
Sac Bee's WES VENTEICHER: "Most California state workers get 11 paid holidays, one more than their counterparts in federal government."
"Columbus Day, falling on Oct. 12 this year, is a paid holiday for federal workers but not for state workers."
"California state workers, unlike federal employees, are off on Tuesday, March 31 for Cesar Chavez Day. California state workers also get the day after Thanksgiving off."
UCSF expert working on quicker diagnostic test to stop spread of coronavirus
The Chronicle's ANNA BAUMAN: "An infectious disease expert at UCSF is working on a quick diagnostic test for the deadly coronavirus, which has rapidly spread from Wuhan, China, to spark global concern and prompt public health preparations in at least two Bay Area counties."
"Dr. Charles Chiu, a professor of laboratory medicine and infectious diseases and director of a center that studies emerging pathogens, has partnered with San Francisco company Mammoth Biosciences to create a simple test that could diagnose the new coronavirus within several hours."
"The only way to currently diagnose the virus, officially known as 2019-nCoV, is a six-hour molecular test conducted in laboratories by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Chiu said. But the overall turn-around time can be up to 24 hours when transport time is included. The CDC plans to deploy these testing materials to state and county public health labs across the country."
READ MORE related to Coronavirus: China counts 170 coronavirus deaths, as new countries find infections -- AP
Some Democrats fearing a Bernie Sanders nomination work aggressively to prevent the Progressive's ascension
LA Times's JANET HOOK/MARK BARABAK: "With Sen. Bernie Sanders gaining traction, his rivals for the presidential nomination and other top Democrats have begun aggressive efforts to slow the favorite of the party’s progressive wing, fearing he may become unstoppable and cost Democrats their shot at retaking the White House in November."
"There are risks, however. The attacks may backfire by galvanizing Sanders’ fervent supporters, who embrace him precisely because he is an anti-establishment figure."
"The result is that days before voting in the 2020 race kicks off with Monday’s Iowa caucuses, Democrats are turning their fire inward just as President Trump is enduring an impeachment trial in the Senate."
Here's what a POTUS46 Joe Biden would mean for California
The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH: "A Joe Biden presidency would get California Attorney General Xavier Becerra out of federal court, but it’s not going to end intrastate battles, legal and otherwise."
"Californians could find themselves simply moving to different courthouses with Biden’s campaign pushing a number of controversial — and litigation-friendly — state issues."
"Biden, for example, wants to see California’s high-speed rail project completed, which plenty of people, Democrats and Republicans alike, characterize as an overpriced boondoggle rather than a much-needed effort to link the state’s rural interior with San Francisco and Los Angeles."
SFO official, target of alleged Nuru graft scheme, resigns post
The Chronicle's DOMINIC FRACASSA: "The San Francisco International Airport Commissioner whom federal officials allege Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru and restaurateur Nick Bovis sought to bribe resigned Wednesday."
"Linda Crayton cited a struggle with “multiple, severe medical conditions for several years” in her resignation letter to Mayor London Breed."
"Nuru and Bovis were charged with wire fraud Tuesday in connection with schemes that involved trying to exchange cash and gifts for contracts at SFO and the Transbay transit center. The complaint alleges the men tried to bribe Crayton in exchange for voting to approve an airport lease for Bovis’ chicken restaurant."
US life expectancy rises for the first time in 4 years -- but just a little
AP: "Life expectancy in the United States is up for the first time in four years."
"The increase is small — just a month — but it marks at least a temporary halt to a downward trend. The gain is due to lower death rates for cancer and drug overdoses."
"Let’s just hope it continues,” said Robert Anderson, who oversaw the report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
CSU trustees delay decision to require extra high school class for admission
EdSource's MICHAEL BURKE: "California State University trustees on Wednesday voted to move forward with an independent analysis of a controversial proposal to require four years of high school math or related courses in freshman admissions."
"The vote was applauded by education advocacy groups, who had called for CSU to conduct such a study before voting on whether to approve the requirement that could also be achieved through a quantitative reasoning course. Trustees originally had planned to vote Wednesday to formally authorize the requirement. They will now wait until 2022 to hold that vote."
"Any major admissions change has to be data-driven, evidence-based, and centered on equity. We are encouraged about the chancellor’s recent decision to delay the quantitative reasoning proposal and instead call for a yearlong, independent study,” said Elisha Smith Arrillaga, executive director of The Education Trust-West, an organization focused on closing achievement gaps and one of the groups leading the opposition to the math proposal."
Twin Rivers votes against closing 5 schools, will restructure grade levels at others
Sac Bee's SAWSAN MORRAR: "Twin Rivers Unified School District voted against closing five schools, after about a year of consideration and review."
"The district was considering closing four elementary schools and a middle school in the district that serves North Sacramento, including the Natomas neighborhoods, as well as northern Sacramento County including North Highlands and Rio Linda."
"But the school board voted 6-1 against the initial proposal with Michelle Rivas, president of the district board of trustees, being the sole member to vote in favor of the plan."
A guide to the most political Super Bowl ever
The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI: "This will be one very political Super Bowl. It will start with President Trump’s pregame interview with his Fox News confidant, Sean Hannity — which is likely to be about as interrogative as a foot massage — and continue through the booze-soaked postgame chaos."
"Sunday will become even more political, should the winning team be from San Francisco, the city Trump has mocked as a “dangerous and disgusting slum,” located in a district represented by his nemesis, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi."
"(Shhh. Don’t tell the president that the team is based in Santa Clara, which would make it represented by Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna. Not as good for the post-game tweeting.)"
Trump touts USMCA trade deal in latest effort to upstage impeachment trial
LA Times's NOAH BIERMAN/ELI STOKOLS: "President Trump grinned and gave a thumbs up as he strutted to the South Lawn of the White House on Wednesday, hoping to shift public attention from his Senate impeachment trial to the signing of a long-promised trade deal with Mexico and Canada."
"But even as he made good on his 2016 campaign pledge to replace NAFTA — once Canada ratifies the deal — he kept bringing up impeachment."
"Before signing the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, known as USMCA, Trump joked to Republican senators at the crowded ceremony that he was only being nice to them because he needed them to acquit him at the trial."
Feinstein and Harris are heard from, but not seen, in Trump impeachment trial
The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH: "California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris were virtually invisible Wednesday in President Trump’s impeachment trial, and that’s exactly the way the proceedings were designed."
"The seventh day of the Senate trial was devoted to eight hours of questioning, but it was Chief Justice John Roberts who read the written questions provided by the senators and the House impeachment managers and the president’s legal team who provided the answers."
"No finger-wagging, no thundering denunciations, no playing to the crowd, none of the rhetorical flourishes so beloved by political orators. Instead, just handwritten questions read in a monotone by the black-robed and bespectacled Roberts."
GOP optimism grows on blocking witnesses as Democrats focus their questions on what Bolton might know
LA Times's JENNIFER HABERKORN/SARAH D WIRE/ANNA M PHILLIPS/ERIN B LOGAN: "Former national security advisor John Bolton loomed large in Democratic senators’ inquiries during the question-and-answer phase of President Trump’s impeachment trial Wednesday, but Republicans are increasingly confident that by the end of the week they will have the votes to rebuff calls to subpoena him and other witnesses."
"The key question now facing the Senate is whether to move toward an acquittal vote — which some GOP leaders say could take place as early as Friday — or vote to hear additional testimony from Bolton and perhaps others."
"It is a question that grew more difficult after the disclosure this week of new allegations in Bolton’s upcoming book. Bolton reportedly writes that Trump told him he would not release nearly $400 million in U.S. aid to Ukraine until it opened investigations into a political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden. That strikes at the heart of the House’s impeachment of Trump."
