California’s drought regulators lose big case. What it means for state’s power to police water
DALE KASLER and RYAN SABALOW, SacBee: "California’s drought regulators have lost a major lawsuit that could undermine their legal authority to stop farms and cities from pulling water from rivers and streams.
With California in its third punishing year of a historic drought, an appeals court ruled Monday that the State Water Resources Control Board lacks the power to interfere with so-called “senior” water rights holders and curtail their diversions of water from rivers.
The case stems from orders imposed by the state board in 2015, during the previous drought, when it halted farms and cities throughout the Central Valley from taking water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers."
Killings, robberies, extortion. California can’t stop its booming illegal cannabis stores
The Chronicle, MATTHEW ORMSETH: “When the cannabis dispensary Hierba opened on Cesar Chavez Avenue in October, customers had “sticker shock,” Guillermo Menjivar, the general manager, recalled.
Even with a 30% opening week discount, shoppers still couldn’t understand why, for instance, a gram of First Class Funk cost $15.
They could be forgiven: Until Hierba — the first legal dispensary in the city’s Boyle Heights neighborhood — opened its doors, the only options in the area were unlicensed storefronts that charge far less for cannabis products because they don’t abide by the raft of taxes and regulatory obligations that state and local officials impose on legitimate operations.”
California barely avoided blackouts during heat wave. Was that a win or a wake-up call?
DALE KASLER, SacBee: "It was a 10-day test of California’s ability to keep the lights on and maintain its green-energy crusade, an unprecedented heat wave that pushed the state’s power grid to the brink of rolling blackouts.
And as far as California policymakers are concerned, the state did just fine. Despite one close call on the worst night, the Independent System Operator, which manages the grid, got through the relentless 110-degree weather without ever running out of electricity.
“We are squeaking by, and I think that is a remarkable achievement,” said Michael Wara, a Stanford University climate expert who’s advised the Legislature on energy issues. “We are leading the the world in building a grid that is clean and reliable and always works, even in times like this.”
Firefighters hold line in Foresthill after flare-up pushes Mosquito Fire past 50,000 acres
MICHALE McGOUGH andf SAM STANTON, SacBee: "The Mosquito Fire erupted again on Tuesday afternoon, spreading toward Placer County towns that have been under mandatory evacuation orders since the middle of last week when the wildfire made its first explosive, destructive run.
Another huge pyrocumulus plume of smoke materialized within a matter of minutes, seen on AlertWildfire Network cameras near Todd Valley and Foresthill beginning around 2:15 p.m.
The fire was rapidly spreading toward the north just before 3 p.m. amid the sudden, major flare-up. Aircraft mapped a large spot fire, which crossed the Middle Fork of the American River, at more than 300 acres around 4 p.m."
HIV infections rose in S.F. for first time in a decade, perhaps due to pandemic
The Chronicle, ERIN ALLDAY: “San Francisco recorded its first year-over-year increase in new HIV infections in nearly a decade in 2021, though at least some of those cases likely were in people who became infected in 2020 and only tested positive last year due to pandemic lockdowns and other restrictions that led to testing delays.
According to the city’s annual HIV/AIDS report released on Tuesday, 160 people tested positive for HIV in San Francisco last year, a 16% increase from 2020, when 138 new cases were recorded, and the first time that number has climbed since 2012. That was still fewer new infections than 2019, when 173 cases were reported, before the COVID pandemic caused major disruptions in access to testing and treatment.
Health officials could not say how many of the new infections reported last year were actually from 2020 but only identified in 2021 due to testing lags. HIV testing dropped about 45% across San Francisco during the first year of the pandemic.”
S.F. Mayor Breed responds to Castro merchants’ protest over drugs, homelessness by pledging police help
The Chronicle, MALLORY MOENCH: “Mayor London Breed pledged during a public meeting Tuesday to coordinate city efforts in the Castro around homelessness and addiction after neighborhood merchants threatened weeks ago to withhold taxes if officials didn’t take action. Breed said, if necessary, police can step in to ensure people who refuse shelter or treatment multiple times don’t wreak havoc.
The Castro Merchants Association sent a letter to city officials on Aug. 8 urging the city to step in - and threatening to stop paying city taxes and fees if officials don’t respond. In the letter, they said people living on the streets “regularly experience psychotic episodes” and have vandalized storefronts and harassed business owners, employees, residents and tourists.
City officials who work on homelessness and public health responded that they too were concerned and working hard on the issues.”
65% of San Franciscans say life in the city is worse now than when they moved here
The Chronicle, NOAH ARROYO: “Nearly two-thirds of San Franciscans say life in the city is worse today than when they moved here, according to a comprehensive local survey conducted by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Of the 65% of respondents who said the city had gone downhill, the group reporting greatest dissatisfaction was people aged 50-65, with 78% saying things had worsened.
Older people were not far behind, at 71%. Long-time residents were also particularly disaffected — of those who moved to San Francisco before 2009, 69% said city life had deteriorated. Otherwise, the disappointment was consistent across racial groups and income brackets.”
Dutch Fire: New wildfire in Placer County is 30% contained
The Chronicle, JORDAN PARKER: “A wildfire burning near Dutch Flat had torched 30 acres and prompted evacuations in Placer County Tuesday afternoon, Cal Fire said.
The blaze, called the Dutch Fire, ignited near Interstate 80 and Ridge Road around 3:45 p.m. By 7 p.m. the fire was 30% contained, according to Cal Fire.
Both directions of Interstate 80 were closed Tuesday afternoon but the eastbound lane near Gold Run reopened around 6 p.m. The westbound direction reopened around 7 p.m.
Four years and $300 million later, what’s California’s dialysis ballot proposition really about?
OWEN TUCKER SMITH, SacBee: "Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, or SEIU-UHW, evolved into one of California’s fiercest political players in 2018 when it bankrolled a ballot initiative to more stringently regulate the state’s for-profit dialysis industry.
California voters rejected it by a wide margin, and did so again in 2020. Both sides spent a total of nearly $300 million for what union leaders called a fight for reform, and what the industry says is a strategy of economic attrition to force it to the bargaining table.
In November, UHW will return to the ballot, this time in the form of Proposition 29.
Problems plague California school district data system, putting funding at risk
CALMatters, JOE HONG: “The data management system for California’s K-12 schools has been on the fritz for months after it was updated in April then rolled out with minimal testing, potentially jeopardizing school district funding.
The California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System, or CALPADS, stores information for the state’s 6 million public school students. It’s how the state knows how many students have learning disabilities, are experiencing homelessness or qualify as English learners. The California Department of Education uses this demographic data to calculate how much funding will go to the state’s more than 1,000 school districts. Districts with more high-needs students get more money based on that data.
While one department official said nearly all the state’s schools will still get their full funding, the recent malfunctions have alarmed some district officials.”
S.F. school district paid $14 million for a new payroll system. Now, it needs a $2.8 million fix
The Chronicle, JILL TUCKER: “The San Francisco school board is expected to vote Wednesday on whether to spend more than $2.8 million to fix a new $14 million payroll system that has resulted in eight months of frustration and errors in paying staff.
The EMPower payroll system has been full of bugs and problems since it was launched in January, resulting in hundreds of issues in teacher and staff paychecks, including some not getting paid at all.
Teachers and other workers have cited the payroll fiasco as a reason for leaving the district. In one case, a principal wrote a personal check for $4,500 to a teacher to help cover her rent until the district paid her for the month. Others have staged sit-ins at the district office to protest the problems.”
Here’s how many San Franciscans say they’ve been the victim of a crime, according to new poll
The Chronicle, RACHEL SWAN: “Opinions and feverish debates about public safety have shaped the most momentous political decisions in San Francisco this year, from Mayor London Breed declaring a state of emergency in the Tenderloin, to the historic recall of a district attorney.
But in a city where leaders are constantly groping for solutions, some residents still feel afraid to walk home alone or lock their bikes downtown. A sweeping poll commissioned by The Chronicle drew sobering results: Nearly half of respondents said they were victims of theft in the last five years, while roughly a quarter were physically attacked or threatened. The majority had negative impressions of law enforcement.
The SFNext poll asked a random sample of 1,653 city residents more than 90 questions about numerous aspects of life in San Francisco. It was conducted in late June and July, and respondents reflect the city’s demographics. More details on the survey’s methodology are available here.”
Laguna Honda officials, citing progress, hope to ward off Nov. 13 closure
The Chronicle, NANETTE ASIMOV: “San Francisco’s beleaguered Laguna Honda nursing home is racing against the clock to make fixes that health officials hope will persuade federal regulators not to halt funding on Nov. 13 and avoid shutting down the facility.
The 156-year-old Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center lost certification in April. Its closure would displace more than 600 medically fragile people, many of whom are very poor and have nowhere else to go.
Chief executive Roland Pickens told the Board of Supervisors Tuesday that he hoped to be able to apply for recertification before the Nov. 13 deadline — but he wasn’t sure the facility would be ready.”
EU court largely upholds $4-billion Google Android antitrust fine
AP: “One of the European Union’s highest courts has largely upheld the bloc’s biggest-ever antitrust fine, issued to Google by the EU’s competition enforcers in 2018 over its Android mobile operating system.
The European Court of Justice’s General Court on Wednesday mostly confirmed a decision by the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, to fine Google more than 4 billion euros ($3.99 billion) for stifling competition through the dominance of Android.
The court said that “in order better to reflect the gravity and duration of the infringement,” it’s appropriate to give Google a fine of 4.125 billion euros, according to a press summary of the decision. That’s slightly lower than the original 4.34-billion-euro penalty, and the court said its reasoning differed “in certain respects” from the commission’s.”
Zelensky visits recently retaken city as Ukrainian troops press counteroffensive
AP, ELENA BECATOROS/HANNA ARHIROVA: “Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the recently retaken city of Izyum on Wednesday, greeting soldiers and thanking them for their efforts in retaking the area as the Ukrainian flag was raised in front of the burned-out City Hall building.
Russian forces left the war-scarred city last week as Ukraine pressed forward in a sweeping counteroffensive that has reclaimed vast swaths of territory in the country’s northeastern Kharkiv region in a matter of days.
Much of Izyum has been devastated. Apartment buildings are blackened by fire and pockmarked by artillery strikes. The entire center of one residential building had collapsed, a gaping hole and piles of rubble where homes used to be.”
Bill Richardson, frequent hostage envoy, visits Moscow amid effort to free Brittney Griner
AP, ERIC TUCKER: “Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson, a frequent emissary in hostage negotiations who has worked to secure the releases of WNBA star Brittney Griner and another American, Paul Whelan, imprisoned in Russia, held meetings with leaders in Moscow this week, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday night.
The visit came as U.S. officials have continued to press Russia to release Griner, who was sentenced last month to nine years in prison in a drug possession case, and Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive serving a 16-year sentence on espionage-related charges. The U.S. regards both as wrongfully detained.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken announced in July that the U.S. had made a “substantial proposal” to Russia to facilitate a prisoner swap. Although he did not detail the terms, a person familiar with the matter said the U.S. had offered to release convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.”
