L.A. versus S.F.: How the ‘cultural divide’ is determining housing policy in California
From the LAT's LIAM DILLON: "The push to remake California from a state of single-family homes and suburban sprawl into one of apartments near transit stops and jobs has run into a brick wall: Los Angeles."
"Nearly unanimous opposition from senators from L.A. County last week dealt the decisive blow to Senate Bill 50, which would have forced cities and counties to allow mid-rise apartments near mass transit and fourplexes in single-family neighborhoods. The lawmakers argued that SB 50 would fail to deliver enough affordable housing, wipe out local control over development decisions, harm the preservation of historic neighborhoods and promote building in communities at risk of wildfires."
"But the intensity of L.A.’s resistance belied what the real effects of SB 50 likely would have been. The bill probably would have led to a lot more development in the Bay Area than in the Southland, according to independent analyses of the legislation, with Los Angeles potentially exempt from SB 50’s most aggressive provisions."
Top EPA official in California says firing was '100% personal'
The Chronicle's PETER FIMRITE: "The call demanding Mike Stoker’s resignation came as a complete shock to the Environmental Protection Agency’s top official in California. When he refused, he was fired and, he says, nobody will tell him why."
"The reason for the sudden dismissal Wednesday of the EPA’s Pacific Southwest region administrator is unknown, but Stoker speculated that his friendly relationships with some Democrats and a personality clash with a top Washington administrator may have been reasons. Politics within the Trump administration also may have played a role."
"I have no clue. It doesn’t make sense,” Stoker said Thursday in a telephone interview with The Chronicle. “I asked for the reason why, and they said, ‘We’re not going to give any reasons. I assure you it’s nothing personal."
Less than a third of California students met or exceeded standards on new science test
EdSource's SYDNEY JOHNSON: "At a time when California is placing a greater emphasis on science education, most students did not score at a proficient level on the state’s new science test, with scores especially low among several student groups."
"The results of the test were released this week. They represent the first scores on the California Science Test, a new test developed by the California Department of Education, to measure progress on the Next Generation Science Standards adopted by California in 2013."
"Statewide, 32 percent of 5th-graders, 31 percent of 8th-graders and 28 percent of high school students met or exceeded standards on the California science test aligned to the new standards."
Califorina to pay $310K to former lawmaker's employee who reported sexual harassment
Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "Nearly two years after state Sen. Tony Mendoza resigned in the wake of a sexual harassment investigation, the California Senate agreed to a $310,000 lawsuit settlement with a former employee who reported his behavior."
"Adriana Ruelas was one of three aides Mendoza fired in September 2017 as complaints were filed alleging he harassed a 23-year-old fellow working in his office to the Senate Rules Committee. Ruelas filed a complaint with the Legislature in January 2018 alleging retaliation."
"The Sacramento Bee originally reported that Mendoza, D-Artesia, had invited the female fellow back to his home to review resumes after a downtown party and had allegedly “engaged in a pattern of inappropriate behavior” with the woman."
Coronavirus impact: No China flights in or out of SFO, SJC for close to six weeks
The Chronicle's MALLORY MOENCH: "The last air link from the Bay Area to China will end Feb. 16 when China Southern Airlines halts its route from San Francisco International Airport to the city of Guangzhou."
"There are currently no flights to mainland China scheduled from any Bay Area airport from mid-February to the end of March because of the coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 560 people and infected more than 28,000 people, mostly in China."
"SFO usually sees around 90 roundtrip flights a week to China and Hong Kong in the month of February. That schedule will be reduced after Feb. 16 by 68% to 28 flights per week."
Mental illness cases up in California jails
JESSICA HICE in Capitol Weekly: "Mental illness cases in California jails have significantly increased since 2009, health policy experts reported Thursday."
"California Health Policy Strategies, a Sacramento-based consulting group, gathered administrative data from the Board of State and Community Corrections and discovered a 42 % increase in mental health cases reported and an 80 % increase in inmate medication prescriptions over the last 10 years."
"David Panush, president of California Health Policy Strategies said the report sheds light on a “problem we have been talking about for a long time."
AB5 may ease caps for writers, photographers; more gig-law changes coming
The Chronicle's CAROLYN SAID: "The author of AB5, California’s new gig-work law, said Thursday that she’ll seek amendments that remove some restrictions on freelance journalists and photographers, and is eyeing further changes for musicians, small businesses and others, as well as an assistance fund to help small nonprofit arts groups comply."
"Based on dozens of meetings with freelance journalists & photographers, we have submitted language to legislative counsel that we hope to have available next week to put into AB1850 which will cut out the 35 submission cap & instead more clearly define freelancer journalism,” tweeted Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego. She also said she will make more prominent the bill’s exemptions for businesses serving other businesses and specify that freelance writers can take advantage of them."
"Writers and photographers filed suit over the bill in December,saying AB5 was an unconstitutional restraint of free speech and the media. They particularly objected to its “irrational and arbitrary” limit of 35 submissions per year, per client."
After Bee investigation, Newsom ends long-distance commuting deals for state executives
Sac Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG/WES VENTEICHER: "California government stopped paying for officials to commute across the state last year after The Sacramento Bee reported on a department director’s regular travel between Sacramento and San Diego, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office told The Bee this week."
"The change affects a handful of officials who had long-distance commuting agreements under former Gov. Jerry Brown, according to Newsom’s office."
"The Bee reported in June that taxpayers paid more than $21,000 for former Caltrans director Laurie Berman to commute to Sacramento from San Diego for a year."
Meet the FBI informants who targeted Mohammed Nuru
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."
READ MORE related to SF Corruption Probe: Nuru, Bovis in court as employment probe takes a turn -- The Chronicle's DOMINIC FRACASSA
Sharing 'revenge porn' would get you on the sex offender list under proposed California law
Sac Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "Sharing “revenge porn” could lead to more prison time and a spot on California’s sex offender registry under a proposed law carried by former California Highway Patrol officer."
"California in 2013 became the first state to outlaw revenge porn when it made it a misdemeanor to share “intimate images” of a person without their consent. The current penalty for a first offense is six months in jail."
"Assemblyman Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale, thinks the sentence needs to be tougher."
These California state workers are still waiting for raises 4 months after new contract
Sac Bee's WES VENTEICHER: "A group of blue-collar state workers who operate state machinery and water plants still has not received special raises Gov. Gavin Newsom authorized in October."
"The union representing the 900 workers filed a grievance with CalHR last week over the delay in getting a batch of raises for groups of specific workers."
"The special salary increases of 5 percent or more will go to workers who live in remote or high-cost areas, those who have held their jobs for at least seven years and those with special certifications, among others."
Buffing up SF's historic piers to survive sea level rise
The Chronicle's JOHN KING: "When the now-historic finger piers along San Francisco’s Embarcadero were built, you can bet the builders never expected that a century later, there would be engineering studies on how to prepare the gaunt sheds for seas that could rise nearly 7 feet."
"But that’s what the port has done — spending more than $100,000 on conceptual scenarios, such as raising the floors inside the sheds above flood level. Or adding solid railings around the edge of the piers. Or at the very least, waterproofing the lower few feet of a pier’s outer walls."
"The report being released Thursday captures the dilemma facing San Francisco and other coastal cities. In a world where aged waterfronts have become civic treasures, how do we strike a balance between preparing for climate change and protecting the urban environment?"
California man killed a trophy deer on his rural property. Now he's facing a huge penalty
Sac Bee's RYAN SABALOW: "A 70-year-old Sacramento County man will pay a $20,000 fine after pleading no contest this week to shooting a trophy buck out of season on property he owns in rural El Dorado County."
"The hefty fine is one of the first under a law passed in 2017 that allowed judges to slap poachers with bigger penalties if they’re convicted of illegally killing deer, elk, pronghorn, bighorn sheep and wild turkey with certain characteristics such as big antlers that classify them as trophy animals."
"The case began in 2017 when state game warden Dave Moskat drove by property William Vaden of Elverta owns southeast of Placerville near the community of Somerset, said Lt. Stacey LaFave of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife."
Offspring of California's famous wolf, OR-7, found dead in Shasta County; investigation under way
The Chronicle's LAUREN HERNANDEZ: "California wildlife officials are investigating the death of an endangered, female gray wolf that was found in Shasta County on Wednesday after traveling thousands of miles."
"The collared wolf, OR-54, was the daughter of OR-7, a wolf that made headlines for being the first wild gray wolf to live in California in 100 years. OR-7 eventually moved back to Oregon, where he found a mate and had several litters of pups."
"One of those pups, OR-54, left Oregon in Jan. 2018 and radio signals showed she had traveled more than 8,000 miles through portions of Butte, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou and Tehama counties, wildlife officials said. She traveled into Oregon twice, but spent most of her time in California, officials said."
Caltrain board signs off on building affordable housing near tracks
The Chronicle's MICHAEL CABANATUAN: "Caltrain already planned to build a more modern commuter railroad with new trains and electrified rails, but directors decided Thursday that it should also include trackside housing — and much of it will be affordable."
"The three-county board that runs the 156-year-old railroad unanimously agreed that it’s time to develop housing where it can be squeezed in along Caltrain’s 51-mile right of way."
"The transit-oriented development policy, created after a series of sometimes contentious meetings with housing advocates last year, lays out a framework for building along the tracks. Caltrain officials acknowledged that it might be more profitable to sell off the land to office or hotel developers, but directors said the need for housing — and affordable housing — is paramount."
