Kamala Harris is Joe Biden's history-making pick for Vice President
LA Times's MELANIE MASON: "Joe Biden has named his onetime rival Kamala Harris as his running mate, the campaign revealed Tuesday, elevating California’s junior senator as the first woman of color to appear on a major party’s presidential ticket.
Harris, who centered her unsuccessful White House bid last year on a promise to “prosecute the case” against President Trump, was widely seen as a front-runner to be Biden’s vice presidential pick. With her statewide experience as California attorney general and four years in the U.S. Senate, Harris was among the most conventionally qualified of the half-dozen or so women under consideration in the most diverse crop of contenders ever.
“I need someone working alongside me who is smart, tough, and ready to lead. Kamala is that person,” Biden wrote in an email to supporters Tuesday afternoon. The pair are scheduled to appear together for the first time as a presidential ticket in Wilmington, Del., on Wednesday."
Kamala Harris in California: Big winner but a polarizing figure
DAVID LIGHTMAN, McClatchy Washington Bureau: "Joe Biden’s choice of Sen. Kamala Harris brings to the Democratic ticket a woman who has won three times statewide in California — but has also been a polarizing figure.
She was San Francisco’s top prosecutor from 2004 to 2011, then attorney general from 2011 until 2017. While holding statewide office, she called herself California’s “top cop,” and her actions were sharply criticized by many activists in communities of color.
Since becoming a senator in 2017, however, she’s been a congressional leader in efforts to revamp the criminal justice system, becoming notably outspoken since George Floyd died in Minneapolis May 25 while in police custody."
READ MORE related to Road to the Oval: What California Democrats are saying about Biden's VP pick of Kamala Harris -- Sac Bee's ANDREW SHEELER; Who is Kamala Harris' husband Douglas Emhoff -- from the #DougHive to the Taco Bell Chihuahua -- Sac Bee's ANDREW SHEELER; Why Kamala Harris was picked as Joe Biden's running mate -- The Chronicle's TAL KOPAN
Hiring investigation at California utility regulator finds 'highly questionable' appointments
Sac Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "Personal relationships influenced high-level hiring decisions at the state agency that regulates PG&E and other utilities when its executive director appeared to her favor former colleagues over other qualified candidates, according to a report conducted by the State Personnel Board.
The report found that California Public Utilities Commission Executive Director Alice Stebbins, named in the report by her initials, used her influence to advance past associates from her previous jobs at two California state environmental departments.
Stebbins has been placed on administrative leave while the commission conducts its own review. The personnel board wrote that some of her hiring decisions had “highly questionable legitimacy."
Coastal areas should begin prepping for sea level rise
Legislative Analyst's Office: "California’s coast could experience SLR ranging from about half of 1 foot by 2030 up to about 7 feet by 2100. Periodic events like storms and high tides will produce even higher water levels and increase the risk of flooding. Rising seas will also erode coastal cliffs, dunes, and beaches which will affect shorefront structures and recreation.
Most of the development along the coast is owned by either private entities or local governments—not the state. Additionally, most land use policies and decisions are made by local governments, and they are most knowledgeable about their communities. Local governments will need to grapple with which existing infrastructure, properties, and natural resources to try to protect from the rising tides; which to modify or move; and which may be unavoidably affected. However, given the statewide risks, the state can play an important role in encouraging and supporting local efforts and helping to alleviate some of the challenges local governments face.
The progress of SLR preparation across the state’s coastal communities has been slow. Moreover, few coastal communities have yet begun implementing projects to respond to the threat of rising seas. Coastal communities must increase both the extent and pace of SLR preparation efforts if California is to avoid the most severe, costly, and disruptive impacts in the coming decades."
De León expected to take over seat of suspended LA Councilman Huizar in October
LA Times's EMILY ALPERT REYES: "More than a month after Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar was charged in a political corruption probe and suspended from the council, Council President Nury Martinez set out plans Tuesday for a “caretaker” to manage Huizar’s district until former state Senate Leader Kevin de León is appointed in October.
De León won a March race to represent downtown-to-Eagle Rock District 14 but was not slated to be seated until December. Now the “anticipated appointment” of de León is slated for October 15, Martinez wrote in a letter to the city’s chief legislative analyst, Sharon Tso.
In the meantime, Tso said the caretaker could be any staffer she designates from her office. One possible candidate is Assistant Chief Legislative Analyst Avak Keotahian, who Tso said has served as caretaker at City Hall nearly a dozen times in the past."
Top 100: Tales From The Pandemic
Capitol Weekly STAFF: "The atmospherics surrounding the Top 100 list vary slightly from year to year, but they usually stem from such things as elections, retirements, hires, campaign staffing, bureaucratic shuffling, news stories and who’s doing what to whom. Normally, we set up interviews in coffee shops or, better yet, taverns, and pick the brains of people who know the Capitol.
Not this year.
The pandemic changed the way we put this list together. We haven’t been in a coffee shop talking about the Top 100 since February. It’s all been done remotely."
READ MORE related to Pandemic: San Quentin officials ignored coronavirus guidance from top Marin County health officer, letter says -- The Chronicle's MEGAN CASSIDY; UCSF scientists create molecules for nose spray they say can kill coronavirus -- The Chronicle's PETER FIMRITE; LA County tops 5,000 coronavirus deaths -- LA Times's JOSEPH SERNA/PHIL WILLON/LAURA J NELSON
Newsom, Pelosi get Democratic convention speaking slots
The Chronicle's TAL KOPAN: "San Francisco politicians will feature prominently in the Democratic National Convention next week, with Gov. Gavin Newsom and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joining vice presidential nominee-to-be California Sen. Kamala Harris as featured speakers.
Newsom scored a prime spot in the lineup Thursday night, the final session of the four-day convention, when presumptive nominee Joe Biden will deliver his acceptance speech. Pelosi, D-San Francisco, will speak Wednesday evening, before Harris accepts the nomination for vice president.
The convention slot is a major opportunity for Newsom, who was one of only a handful of Democratic governors chosen to speak. Historically, the national conventions have been star-making opportunities for ambitious politicians, and the former San Francisco mayor is thought to have presidential hopes of his own."
Who Newsom might pick for a US Senate seat if Kamala Harris becomes VP
Sac Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG/HANNAH WILEY/KATE IRBY: "As soon as presidential candidate Joe Biden named California Sen. Kamala Harris his running mate Tuesday, speculation began to swirl about who Gov. Gavin Newsom would pick to replace her in the U.S. Senate should she become vice president.
Newsom was quick to say he won’t make it a priority.
“It’s the furthest thing from the governor’s mind, and he won’t even entertain the question until after the November election,” said Nathan Click, communications director for Newsom. “The governor is squarely focused on leading the state’s response to COVID-19 and helping Californians during this global pandemic."
GOP zeroes in on just a handful of California House races
The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH: "With the fall election less than three months away, Republicans appear to be limiting their targets in California congressional races.
The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC that works closely with House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, said Monday that it will spend almost $2.8 million more for TV ads in the state — with all the money going to just three contests.
The group will put $400,000 on the air in Bakersfield and Fresno, where former GOP Rep. David Valadao faces Rep. TJ Cox, D-Fresno, in a rematch of their 2018 showdown."
Scott Wiener being challenged from left, as Jackie Fielder tries to unseat him in SF
The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH: "Jackie Fielder, a 25-year-old activist and college lecturer, is mounting a surprisingly strong challenge to state Sen. Scott Wiener in an only-in-San Francisco contest that features a progressive incumbent and an even more progressive opponent.
Fielder, a democratic socialist who describes herself as a “Native American ... Mexicana, and queer educator and organizer,” is making her first run for office against Wiener, a 50-year-old gay attorney who was elected to the state Senate in 2016 after serving two terms on the Board of Supervisors.
Fielder collected a third of the vote in the March primary to set up the all-Democratic general election in the 11th State Senate District. The Mission District resident is attacking Wiener from the left, arguing that he has not been progressive enough to properly represent the district, which includes all of San Francisco along with Daly City, Broadmoor, Colma and part of South San Francisco."
Mayor London Breed expects SF to spend $446M on pandemic next year
The Chronicle's AIDIN VAZIRI/DOMINIC FRACASSA: "San Francisco is expected to spend about $446 million on its ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor London Breed revealed at a news conference Tuesday.
Much of that money — about $353 million — is expected to come from a combination of reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, state grants and federal stimulus money. Breed’s budget assumes the city will cover the remainder, about $93 million.
The amount of personnel, funding and other resources marshaled as part of San Francisco’s COVID-19 response has in essence created a new, de facto city department. The $446 million Breed earmarked for the pandemic represents the rough equivalent of the budget for the city’s Fire Department."
In a ruling protecting AB5, a judge loses patience with Uber and Lyft 'nonsense'
LA Times's MICHAEL HILTZIK: "The ride-hailing gig company Uber has made its way in this complex world largely by flouting local laws and denying to its drivers the benefits of formal employment.
Courts and regulators have been taking an increasingly skeptical view of these practices. Few, however, have questioned them as bluntly as San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ethan P. Schulman.
The judge on Monday ordered Uber and Lyft, its smaller ride-hailing competitor, to reclassify their drivers as employees rather than independent contractors. (He gave the firms 10 days to comply in case they wished to appeal.)"
Pew poll finds most Latinos haven't heard of 'Latinx.' Only 3% use the term
LA Times's DANIEL HERNANDEZ: "The term “Latinx” has been embraced by 3% of Latinos in the United States, according to the first major poll on the topic by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, which closely tracks “Hispanic/Latino” demographic and social trends. The study, released Tuesday, also found that roughly three out of four Latinos in the U.S. hadn’t even heard of the term.
The Pew findings suggest that Latinx has a significant way to go before it enters fully generalized usage in the United States, despite its enthusiastic embrace at colleges and universities, in liberal corporate discourse, some news media outlets, Hollywood and among recent presidential primary candidates such as Elizabeth Warren and Julián Castro.
Among those who had heard of Latinx, 33% said it should be used to describe the Hispanic or Latino population, while 65% said it should not be used. Researchers also found that people in the United States still prefer to self-identify as “Hispanic” (61%) followed by “Latino” (29%) or their country of origin."
LA school board approves deal on remote learning; critics say it falls short on teaching
LA Times's HOWARD BLUME: "With families anxious about the quality of online learning, the Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday unanimously approved a plan that will restore structure to the academic schedule while also allowing for an online school day that is shorter than the traditional one.
The plan leaves some parents and advocates in the nation’s second-largest school system wanting more teaching hours. There also are parents who want fewer mandatory screen-time hours for their young children — a reflection of the complexities of distance learning and the widespread parent angst over the start of the school year next week at home, online.
“We’re trying to work through new problems we’ve never had to solve before,” said L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner, who praised both his team and the teachers union for working together to preserve high-quality “teacher-led instruction."
A revamped PPP coronavirus loan program is in the works. Will it help small businesses left out before?
LA Times's SARAH D WIRE: "The Paycheck Protection Program stood out as an early success of the government’s pandemic relief effort, but it ended with a whimper and left billions of dollars unallocated when small businesses got spooked by the ever-changing rules.
Even as Democrats and Republicans fight over other aspects of another major stimulus bill, they have largely agreed on how to revamp the PPP to restore its popularity and usefulness.
But groups representing the smallest business owners — independent contractors, the self-employed and minority-owned businesses who complained they were largely shut out of the earlier rounds of funding and for whom these changes are meant to help — are already questioning whether it will be enough."
Hairstylists rally for the reopening of California salons
Sac Bee's MOLLY BURKE: "Outside ain’t cutting it,” Andrew Jacobson’s sign read.
Jacobson and about 250 others were gathered on the south side of the state Capitol in Sacramento on Tuesday to protest the closure of hair salons, barbershops and nail salons.
Another sign read, “If masks work, why can’t I?"
Agitators stoke violence at protest in NorCal town
Sac Bee's MICHAEL MCGOUGH: "What began as a peaceful demonstration against police brutality in a small Northern California city turned tense and at times violent when a contingent of counterprotesters showed up to confront them.
The second group waved flags, snatched away cardboard signs and at least two men threw punches, shouting at the first set of demonstrators to get out of “our town,” dramatic videos posted online show.
It was one of two recent incidents in Nevada County where demonstrations went off the rails."
Lafayette City Council postpones decision on 315 apartments that sparked a housing war
The Chronicle's RACHEL SWAN: "Lafayette City Council delayed voting on an apartment project that changed the Bay Area’s discourse on housing, prompting two lawsuits, a ballot referendum, nine years of heated City Hall hearings and, finally, a hearing that started Monday afternoon and dragged into the wee hours Tuesday morning.
Council members will revisit the long-gestating proposal on August 24. The project sparked more than nine hours of tense, but largely civil, wrangling on Monday as residents of the affluent suburb bickered among one another and sparred with housing activists from out of town.
If approved and completed in its current form, the O’Brien Land Co. development would include 315 apartments on 22 acres of land, with 20% affordable homes, a new bike lane, and a shuttle to BART."
Trump adds grandiose promises to campaign pitch
LA Times's NOAH BIERMAN/ELI STOKOLS: "The payroll tax, a bedrock of the American retirement system since 1941, will end as soon as President Trump is reelected, he promised last weekend.
A new Iran nuclear deal will come to pass a month after that, he said Monday, around the same time as a new national healthcare plan, a middle-class tax cut and a string of trade agreements around the globe.
“If we win the election, we’ll have deals with a lot of countries very fast,” Trump vowed."
Seattle's first Black police chief quits, saying she's unwilling to sacrifice diversity
LA Times's RICHARD READ: "When Carmen Best became Seattle’s first Black police chief in 2018, her appointment was hailed as a significant step forward in diversifying departments nationwide and helping one of country’s whitest major cities work through some of its racial problems.
She quickly got to work recruiting. In 2019, the department hired 108 officers — the most in more than a decade — of whom a record 39% were people of color.
That effort has come to an abrupt end. Best announced Tuesday that she was retiring because she could not in good conscience implement the City Council’s decision to downsize the 1,400-person force by as many as 100 officers."
Hundreds arrested at Portland protests won't be prosecuted, officials say
AP: "Hundreds of people who have been arrested on suspicion of nonviolent misdemeanor offenses during the protests that have racked Portland for more than 70 days will not be prosecuted, officials in Oregon’s largest city have decided.
The new policy announced Tuesday recognizes the outrage and frustration over a history of racial injustice that has led to sustained, often violent protest in Portland as well as practical realities of the court system, which is running more than two months behind in processing cases because of COVID-19, Multnomah County Dist. Atty. Mike Schmidt said.
At least several hundred people who have been arrested in the past few months will not face criminal prosecution, according to statistics provided by Schmidt’s office. People arrested on suspicion of similar offenses in future demonstrations will also not be prosecuted, he said."
