178 evacuated from coronavirus hotzone are 'glad to be home'
Sac Bee's DARRELL SMITH/CATHIE ANDERSON: "Applause greeted 178 Americans as they exited a plane from China that arrived at Fairfield’s Travis Air Force Base in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, said Dr. Henry Walke, an official with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The passengers are coming from China’s Hubei province, where there was intense and escalating community-wide spread of the new coronavirus, so they have been classified as at high risk of exposure, Walke said. At the same time, he said, medical personnel are concerned about the mental health of all the evacuees and are trying to keep their spirits up.
All the people and families are facing 14 days of quarantine at Travis, one of five military installations where U.S. citizens, a number of them government employees, are being housed around the nation. Another planeload of U.S. citizens touched down at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar near San Diego."
READ MORE on coronavirus: Four hospitalized as coronavirus quarantine starts in San Diego -- PAUL SISSON, U-T.
Fears of the coronavirus translate to discrimination and xenophobia
The Chronicle's ANNA BAUMAN/TATIANA SANCHEZ: "Lilian Wang returned from a bachelorette trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, this week and encountered a Lyft driver at San Francisco International Airport who refused to unlock the door until her white friend, who ordered the ride, approached.
After they climbed in, the driver confronted the women: Where were they coming from? Was Wang the same person with a Chinese name he had just canceled a ride for? Were they sure they hadn’t come from China? The driver told them that someone — it was unclear who — advised him to refuse rides from passengers with Asian-sounding names, said Wang, 31, a San Franciscan of Chinese and Taiwanese descent.
“It was a little terrifying,” said Wang, who said she believed the Sunday night incident was a response to the coronavirus outbreak centered in Wuhan, China."
An 'urgent' bill could change voter rules just 4 weeks before election
Sac Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "California lawmakers are speeding a bill through the Legislature that could affect the way Californians vote as soon as next month’s presidential primary.
The proposal would allow voters to change their party preference or residence address within two weeks of election day without having to re-register to vote.
Senate Bill 207, sponsored by Sen. Melissa Hurtado, D-Sanger, cleared an Assembly floor vote Monday, 60-12, and is set to be re-considered soon by the Senate for a final vote before going to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk."
Kirk Douglas dead at 103; ‘Spartacus’ star helped end Hollywood blacklist
From the LAT's DENNIS MCCLELLAN: "Kirk Douglas, the dimple-chinned screen icon who was known for bringing an explosive, clenched-jawed intensity to a memorable array of heroes and heels in films such as “Spartacus” and “Champion” and for playing an off-screen role as a maverick independent producer who helped end the Hollywood blacklist, has died. He was 103."
"Douglas, who continued to act occasionally after overcoming a stroke in 1996 that impaired his speech, died Wednesday in Los Angeles, surrounded by family, his son Michael said in a statement."
“To the world he was a legend, an actor from the golden age of movies who lived well into his golden years, a humanitarian whose commitment to justice and the causes he believed in set a standard for all of us to aspire to,” Michael Douglas said on Instagram."
SF Mayor Breed wants to take battle for housing to voters, amping up fight with supes
The Chronicle's DOMINIC FRACASSA: "In the midst of an unrelenting housing crisis, Mayor London Breed is turning to San Francisco voters for help in her crusade to “build more housing and build more housing, faster.”
On Wednesday, Breed will announce the launch of a signature-gathering petition for a November ballot measure meant to simplify and accelerate housing production in San Francisco.
It takes an average of nearly four years to shepherd a housing project with more than 10 units through the city’s permitting process, a 2018 study from UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation found. If voters pass Breed’s measure, it would require the Planning Department to cut that time down to six months."
Controversial head of EPA's SF headquarters is dismissed
The Chronicle's PETER FIMRITE: "The controversial head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s San Francisco headquarters was abruptly dismissed without explanation Wednesday after less than two years on the job.
Mike Stoker, a 63-year-old former Santa Barbara County attorney, had been widely criticized for trying to oversee more than 600 San Francisco employees from his home in Los Angeles. He had also come under investigation after a complaint was filed accusing him of excessive travel. Still, it wasn’t clear what led to his sudden departure.
“I would like to thank Mike Stoker for his service to EPA,” wrote EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler in an internal memorandum obtained by The Chronicle. “I wish him and his family the best in their future endeavors."
Republican proposes political donation ban for PG&E
Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "A California Republican wants to ban Pacific Gas and Electric Co. from donating to state politicians and candidates, marking the latest Capitol rebuke of the bankrupt utility blamed for several deadly wildfires.
Assemblyman Kevin Kiley of Rocklin announced legislation on Wednesday to prohibit campaign contributions from PG&E, arguing it’s time to end the “uniquely intertwined” relationship between California and the company responsible for recent tragedies like the 2018 November Camp Fire that killed 85 and left the town of Paradise in ruins.
The company donated in 2017 and 2018 more than $5 million to Assembly, state Senate and statewide campaigns, ballot measures, and local and city council races, among others. Kiley accepted $4,000 from PG&E, but his office said he donated the money back to a nonprofit for wildfire victims in late 2018."
Newsom seeks peace with Trump in California water wars. Enviros are ready to fight
Sac Bee's RYAN SABALOW/DALE KASLER/SOPHIA BOLLAG: "Two months ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom seemed poised to file yet another suit against President Donald Trump — this time, over a federal plan to pump more water to Trump’s farming allies in the San Joaquin Valley.
Instead, Newsom announced a compromise this week that aims to avoid another protracted legal battle. The Democratic governor outlined a sweeping, $5.2 billion water-sharing agreement that Newsom’s team hopes will put an end California’s never-ending tension’s between shipping river water to farms and cities and protecting critically endangered fish species.
A year into his administration, Newsom is grappling with forces nearly every California governor has struggled to control: powerful water interests in Southern California, wealthy farmers in the Valley, entrenched environmentalists and, this time, a combative Republican administration in Washington."
California's newest union? Childcare workers turn in petitions
Sac Bee: "Child care workers delivered 10,000 union cards to the state Public Employment Relations Board to qualify for an election after a rally Wednesday at the Capitol.
“We’re here delivering 10,000 votes from child care providers across the state in support of the election of our union,” said family care provider Rasiene Reece.
Assemblywoman Monique Limón, D-Goleta, paved the way for some 40,000 childcare workers to unionize and collectively bargain with the state last year through her Assembly Bill 378."
Political operatives seek to gut SF campaign ad measure
The Chronicle's DOMINIC FRACASSA: "A handful of prominent San Francisco political operatives are seeking to gut a ballot measure voters overwhelmingly passed last year that pulls back the curtain on who’s paying for campaign advertisements.
In a federal lawsuit filed last week, a group sued the city to neuter the key provisions of Proposition F, which its supporters named the “Sunlight on Dark Money Initiative.”
Prop. F, which passed with 77% of the vote and took effect in December, forces political campaigns to disclose their top three contributors of $5,000 or more in their advertising materials, along with exactly how much they gave. That threshold was previously $10,000."
This 'Census' form in your mailbox isn't from the govt. here's who sent it out and why
Sac Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "Some Northern California voters are receiving documents that resemble U.S. Census forms, but they are in fact fundraising appeals from the Republican National Committee.
The document, printed on heavy paper, is labeled “2020 Congressional District Census,” with the words “DO NOT DESTROY OFFICIAL DOCUMENT” on the envelope.
“You have been selected to represent voters in California’s 6th Congressional District. Enclosed, please find documents registered in your name,” the document reads."
Detroit business partners acted as FBI informants in Nuru corruption investigation
The Chronicle's EVAN SERNOFFSKY: "Two Detroit businessmen acted as FBI informants and secretly recorded San Francisco Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru and restaurateur Nick Bovis, helping the government build a sweeping public corruption case that jolted City Hall last week, The Chronicle has learned.
Under the threat of a pending federal investigation, Samir Mashni and Noureddine “Dean” Hachem began cooperating with the FBI and recorded phone calls and in-person meetings with Bovis and Nuru for months beginning in January 2018, according to a federal complaint and sources with knowledge of the investigation.
The probe led to fraud charges against Bovis and Nuru while revealing at least five alleged schemes, including the centerpiece of the government’s case: an alleged plot to bribe an airport commissioner."
State govt ramps up recruitment in tight labor market
Sac Bee's WES VENTEICHER: "California state government is making it easier to get a job in public service as its vacancies rise amid historically low unemployment.
Department recruiters are showing up in underserved and rural areas and hosting rapid-hire events along with its recruitment at colleges and the other usual places, said Brandon Littlejohn, CalHR’s state recruitment coordinator.
The recruiters are targeting workers who have been laid off from private sector jobs, those with developmental disabilities and others who might have been overlooked in the past, Littlejohn said."
Nia Wilson murder trial: Surveillance footage shows teen's brutal stabbing
The Chronicle's MEGAN CASSIDY: "The attack was quick and horrific. Two rapid stabs into one victim’s neck and then two into another victim’s neck. Then the assailant disappeared from the camera’s frame, leaving 18-year-old Nia Wilson to bleed out on the MacArthur BART Station platform.
Gasps and muffled sobs echoed in the Oakland courtroom Wednesday during opening statements in John Cowell’s murder trial, as jurors and Wilson’s family and friends viewed graphic security footage of the knife attack and the young woman’s final moments.
“Evil exists in this world,” Alameda County prosecutor Butch Ford told jurors in his opening statements. “That evil causes terrible things to happen. The evil, in this case, has a name. That name is John Lee Cowell."
Senate votes to acquit Trump in impeachment. What's next?
Sac Bee's JARED GILMOUR: "The U.S. Senate voted Wednesday to acquit President Donald Trump on impeachment charges brought by the House of Representatives late last year.
That means Trump won’t be removed from the White House and can remain in office through at least January 2021, when the winner of the November 2020 presidential election will take office.
Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah announced Wednesday that he would cross party lines to join Democrats in supporting Trump’s conviction. Romney supported the article charging Trump with abuse of power, but voted against the article charging him with obstruction of Congress."
Partisans battle for the few on the fence
The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI: "The Senate’s acquittal of President Trump on Wednesday in his impeachment trial was predictable, given the partisan map of the GOP-controlled Senate.
All Republicans but Utah Sen. Mitt Romney voted to acquit Trump of abusing his power, and they all voted not guilty on the charge that he obstructed Congress. All Democratic senators voted to convict on both counts.
Equally predictable is how Trump’s acquittal will probably affect most voters — not much at all."
