Meet the 41 candidates running to replace Newsom in the California recall
Sac Bee, LARA KORTE: "Forty-one people are hoping to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom in the recall election in September, according to a new list released by the Secretary of State’s Office.
The ballot will be comprised of 21 Republicans, eight Democrats, two Green party candidates, one Libertarian and nine no-party-preference candidates.
The number of candidates this year is much smaller than the 135 people who ran in the recall of Democratic Gov. Gray Davis in 2003. Ultimately, Davis was voted out and succeeded by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger."
READ MORE on RECALL CANDIDATES: Field of candidates in Newsom recall election shrinks by half in new state list -- EMMA TALLEY, Chronicle
High fire danger ahead for Bay Area amid dry lightning forecast
The Chronicle, JILL TUCKER: "The risk of dry lightning and gusty winds pitched a large swath of the Bay Area into a red flag warning scheduled to start Sunday morning and last until Monday evening.
The forecast and warning, announced by the National Weather Service, centered on the higher elevations, including the North Bay and Santa Cruz mountains as well as the East Bay hills and Diablo Range.
The warning indicates critical fire weather conditions, with a combination of low humidity, high temperatures and strong winds."
READ MORE WILDFIRE NEWS --- Massive Sugar fire and two other blazes sweep Northern California, fed by dry, gusty conditions -- LA Times, MARISA GERBER; Gusting winds fan explosive Tamarack Fire; new evacuations ordered for Dixie Fire -- The Chronicle, JESSICA FLORES/JULIE JOHNSON;
Law enforcement unions donate to California Democrats ahead of police reform vote
Sac Bee, HANNAH WILEY: "California law enforcement unions are contributing tens of thousands of dollars to influential Democratic lawmakers as the Legislature advances a controversial police reform bill that would allow departments to strip badges from officers with serious misconduct records.
The donors have spent months lobbying against Senate Bill 2, which aims to increase investigations into problematic behavior and decertify law enforcement officers.
They’re trying to influence lawmakers in a Legislature where Democrats hold super majorities in both houses, and where some leading members called for new police reform measures in 2020 after a white Minneapolis police officer was filmed killing George Floyd, a Black man."
New California union president's agenda at standstill after failed SEIU Local 1000 meeting
Sac Bee, WES VENTEICHER: "The new president of California state government’s largest union is at a standstill with the union’s board of directors two and a half weeks into his term.
SEIU Local 1000 President Richard Louis Brown was expected to face obstacles from the union’s 65-member board in carrying out his unconventional campaign promises like ending political spending and reducing the cost of dues.
His first scheduled meeting with the board on July 6 sputtered to a halt before it officially began."
Capitol Weekly Podcast: Assemblymember Kevin McCarty
Capitol Weekly Staff: "We are joined this episode by Asm. Kevin McCarty of Sacramento, who walks Capitol Weekly’s John Howard and Tim Foster through some of the groundbreaking investments in education that are enshrined in the 2021-22 state budget, signed last Monday by Gov. Newsom.
McCarty, a Democratic member of the Assembly Budget Committee, takes a victory lap, touting the unabashedly progressive education agenda outlined in the Budget – an unprecedented expansion of programs."
Who is the coronavirus surge impacting in San Francisco?
The Chronicle, SUSIE NEILSON: "The extra-contagious delta variant has driven a recent surge in coronavirus cases nationwide, and San Francisco is no exception. Case rates have risen citywide this month, primarily among unvaccinated people.
The Chronicle looked at data from the San Francisco Department of Public Health to see where in the city these infections are occurring. The data shows that new cases are predominantly hitting residents who have suffered disproportionately from the virus since the pandemic began: Black and Latino people.
Our analysis found that from July 1 through 10, ZIP codes in which at least 20% of residents identify as Black or Latino had an average of 7.9 new cases per 10,000 residents, compared with just 4.7 per 10,000 in ZIP codes where less than 10% identified as Black or Latino."
READ MORE CORONAVIRUS/DELTA-VARIANT NEWS --- LA County now requires masks indoors. But will people follow the rules? -- LA Times, RONG-GONG LIN II/LUKE MONEY/HANNAH FRY; LA County coronavirus spike hits alarming levels, with 10,000 infected in a week, as Delta variant spreads -- LA Times, RONG-GONG LIN II/SEAN GREENE/THOMAS SUH LAUDER
Caltech 'deeply' regrets drilling holes in sacred Native American petroglyph site
LA Times, LOUIS SAHAGUN: "Inside federal Ranger Chris Mason’s patrol truck, the radio crackled with alarming news: People were seen lugging bags of heavy equipment into a protected site containing prehistoric rock carvings.
Archeologists know the site as the Volcanic Tablelands, an otherworldly landscape of pink-hued cliffs and terraces shaped by wind, rain and earthquakes. It was also an area where it was not unusual to find looters armed with shovels and saws prowling for anything that could be sold in the illegal antiquities market.
But when Mason arrived at the scene on Earth Day 2017, he determined that the suspicious activity involved a faculty member and students from Caltech, the prestigious private research university in Pasadena known for its strength in science and engineering, and for managing NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory."
READ MORE EDUCATION NEWS --- More California schools adding yoga to school day -- EdSource, CAROLYN JONES
Folsom keeps growing. But will the city have enough water to meet its grand ambitions?
Sac Bee, TONY BIZJAK/DALE KASLER/PHILLIP REESE: "On the surface, the city of Folsom would seem to be water rich.
Perched at the foot of Folsom Lake, where snowmelt funnels into the Sacramento Valley, the city taps into large intake pipes plumbed deep into Folsom Dam’s inner face to send cool water to nearby homes and businesses.
That easy access is turning into a mirage."
READ MORE WATER NEWS --- Wastewater virus levels shed light on intensity of Sacramento's current COVID surge -- Sac Bee, MICHAEL MCGOUGH
Oakland is making its first big investment in holistic approaches to violence reduction. Will it work?
The Chronicle, SARAH RAVANI: "A small Oakland department that until recently had few resources is now central to the city’s effort to fight a resurgent homicide rate and reduce other violent crimes.
Oakland created the Department of Violence Prevention in 2017, but the department lacked substantial funding and leadership. In 2019, the city hired a respected anti-violence expert to head the agency, but it wasn’t until June that officials directed significant resources to it.
That happened when the City Council rebuffed Mayor Libby Schaaf, directing more than $17 million away from her proposed police budget and into the fledgling department’s coffers. Now the agency is likely to gain more attention, along with pressure to show results in a city that’s seen a nearly 80% increase in homicides this year over 2020."
Florida man faces first felony sentence to be handed down in US Capitol riot
AP, MICHAEL TARM: "A Florida man who breached the Senate chamber carrying a Trump campaign flag is scheduled to become the first participant of the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot sentenced for a felony, in a hearing that will help set a benchmark for punishment in similar cases.
Prosecutors want Paul Allard Hodgkins to serve 18 months behind bars, saying in a recent filing that he, “like each rioter, contributed to the collective threat to democracy” by forcing lawmakers to temporarily abandon their certification of President Biden’s election victory and to scramble for shelter from incoming mobs.
Video shows Hodgkins, 38, wearing a “Trump 2020" T-shirt, the flag slung over his shoulder and eye goggles around his neck inside the Senate. He took a selfie with a self-described shaman in a horned helmet and other rioters on the dais behind him."
Biden admin blames China for massive Microsoft email software hack
AP, ERIC TUCKER: "The Biden administration on Monday blamed China for a hack of Microsoft Exchange email server software that compromised tens of thousands of computers around the world earlier this year.
The administration and allied nations also disclosed a broad range of other cyber-threats from Beijing, including ransomware attacks from government-affiliated hackers that have targeted companies with demands for millions of dollars. China’s Ministry of State Security has been using criminal contract hackers, who have engaged in cyber extortion schemes and theft for their own profit, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters about the investigation on the condition of anonymity.
Even though the finger-pointing was not accompanied by any sanctions against Beijing, the official said that the U.S. had confronted senior Chinese officials and that the White House regarded the multi-nation public shaming as sending an important message."
