California Coastal Commission OKs desalination plant in Orange County
LAT, HAYLEY SMITH: “Less than six months after rejecting a proposal for a major desalination plant in Huntington Beach, the California Coastal Commission on Thursday approved plans for a different, smaller project in Orange County that could serve as a model for future projects.
The commission gave unanimous approval — with conditions — to the Doheny Ocean Desalination Project near Pacific Coast Highway and San Juan Creek in Dana Point. The facility, which will convert seawater to drinking water, will be operated by the South Coast Water District.
Unlike the Poseidon Water project, which was rejected in May because of dangers it posed to marine life and other issues, the Doheny plant will tie in to an existing municipal system and feature a better environmental design, officials said. But while some championed the project as an example of desalination “done right,” opponents said there are more efficient and economical methods that should be explored first.”
As Supreme Court considers affirmative action case, University of California offers cautionary tale
EdSource, MICHAEL BURKE: “The U.S. Supreme Court is set to soon decide whether race-based programs in admissions are lawful. California, where voters banned affirmative action in 1996, has already been down that road, and University of California officials have asked the court to allow race-conscious admissions policies elsewhere.
The proof of their need, officials and college access advocates say, is in UC’s series of failed efforts to increase diversity without affirmative action. The system’s latest attempt to make admissions more equitable was its high-profile decision to eliminate standardized test scores, but that too has so far had little impact in improving racial diversity.
The conservative-leaning Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on Oct. 31 in two cases, against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and could overturn a long-standing precedent allowing the consideration of race in college admissions.”
Californians can now get digital license plates for their cars. Here’s what you need to know
The Chronicle, JESSICA FLORES: “Drivers in California can now buy digital license plates for their cars, after a new state law made a pilot program official.
Under the program created in 2018, digital license plates created by Foster City company Reviver Auto began appearing on vehicles throughout the state.
The tablets are the same size as conventional license plates (6-by-12 inches) and have a sleek look, with a sequence of letters and numbers on the screen.”
‘We’re not going to close the equity gaps’: Despite progress, California Community Colleges won’t reach Newsom’s aspirational goals
CALMatters, MIKHAIL ZINSHTEIN: “In 2017, barely a half-year into his tenure as chancellor of the country’s largest system of higher education, Eloy Ortiz Oakley threw down the gauntlet. Under his leadership, the California Community Colleges unveiled a series of unprecedented academic goals dubbed the Vision for Success.
If met, the achievements would catapult California’s moribund community college system to new heights, leading to thousands more students annually earning degrees, certificates and transferring to universities.
The deadline to meet most of those goals came and went last month.”
Nearly 40% of students absent at San Diego school as wave of illness signals fierce flu season
PAUL SISSON, LAT: "Alarming surges of respiratory illness at a San Diego high school and the region’s only children’s hospital are strong evidence that a fierce flu season has arrived early this year.
About 1,000 of the 2,600 students at Patrick Henry High School in San Carlos were absent Wednesday, with the majority said to have gotten sick in the week after homecoming weekend. Hundreds of them, school officials told parents in a notice, tested negative for COVID-19 , causing public health officials to say they suspect the unprecedented outbreak was caused by the flu. Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, could also be playing a role.
Dr. Cameron Kaiser, a deputy public health officer for San Diego County, said his office is monitoring the outbreak due to its sheer size. No school has come close to seeing 40% of its student body call out sick during the COVID-19 pandemic."
Rising prices set to gobble up Americans’ Thanksgiving budgets
LAT, DON LEE: “That turkey you’re planning for the big family get-together is going to give you a nasty peck on the pocketbook. So will the flour for the gravy and the butter for the rolls.
The latest government report on consumer prices, released Thursday, showed poultry prices are up a whopping 17% from a year ago. Flour is up 24%. Butter and margarine are up 32%.
The pain did not stop with the traditional holiday menu. Almost across the board, inflation showed few signs of slacking. And in areas central to most consumers’ everyday lives, prices are rising at faster rates than many Americans have seen in their lifetimes.”
What the big Social Security increase means for Bay Area residents and retirees
The Chronicle, KATHLEEN PENDER: “Retirees will get an 8.7% increase in their Social Security benefits next year, the largest since 1981 when inflation was also running hot.
The cost of living adjustment (COLA) will boost the average retiree’s monthly Social Security benefit by $146 per month to $1,827, the Social Security Administration announced Thursday.
And unlike past years, when increases in Medicare Part B Premiums ate up a good chunk of a retiree’s cost-of-living adjustment, Medicare premiums are going down in 2023 for the first time since 2012.”
Biden can’t quit L.A., or its complex politics, even as racist audio leak rocks the city
LAT, BENJAMIN ORESKES/ELI STOKOLS: “What a moment for the leader of the free world to show up in the Southland.
President Biden landed Wednesday at Los Angeles International Airport on a West Coast swing originally designed mostly around political fundraising.
But with the city’s political establishment reeling from the disclosure this week of racist statements made by City Council members, the visit took on a broader significance, redirecting the city’s attention to national Democrats circling the wagons.”
L.A. City Hall in limbo as pressure builds for Cedillo, De León to step down
LAT, JULIA WICK/DAVID ZAHNISER: “With two of its members refusing to resign over their involvement in a leaked racist recording, the Los Angeles City Council found itself in limbo Thursday, unable to muster enough members to meet Friday and lacking clarity about what happens next.
Acting City Council President Mitch O’Farrell canceled a meeting that had been scheduled for Friday after it became clear that neither Councilman Gil Cedillo nor Kevin de León would immediately follow the lead of former Council President Nury Martinez.
She resigned Wednesday from her office after a furious backlash over racist and derogatory comments she made in that recorded conversation.”
For Black Angelenos, recording stokes anger, fears of losing hard-fought gains
LAT, KAILYN BROWN/ANGEL JENNINGS: “Watching the news in her View Park home, Helen Ray sat in stunned disbelief as she listened to the now infamous tape of three Los Angeles City Council members and a labor leader privately strategizing about redistricting.
It wasn’t the casual racist rhetoric that upset her most. It was the topic: They sounded as if they were plotting a backroom deal to disenfranchise Black voters.
“This feels like a betrayal almost akin to Jan. 6,” said Ray, 76. “Donald Trump tried to overturn the election results and discount Black votes so he could be reelected president. Now, I feel the same kind of betrayal coming from City Council members.”
What would Rob Bonta do next as California attorney general?
CALMatters, BEN CHRISTOPHER: “California’s attorney general is often described as the state’s top prosecutor, but that shorthand doesn’t do the position justice. At least not according to Rob Bonta, the current holder of that office.
Since Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed him to the role in March 2021, Bonta has broadened the scope and emphasis of the Department of Justice into areas of the law once considered the principal domain of local prosecutors, elected officials and private litigants.
Taking on the role of housing enforcer, Bonta has threatened lawsuits against apartment-averse cities, while issuing guidance to locals on where they can permit new construction. “
