Nancy Pelosi says attack on her husband may affect her decision to stay in leadership role
The Chronicle, RACHEL SWAN/SHIRA STEIN: "The recent, stunning attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband will play into the speaker’s deliberation over whether to stay in her leadership position.
“Well, I have to say my decision will be affected about what happened in the last week or two,” Speaker Pelosi said in an interview with CNN journalist Anderson Cooper Monday night
.
Pelosi wouldn’t commit to whether she had made a decision on her political future, but she did say she was “optimistic” about the midterms on Tuesday."
Used car dealer misled customers, agrees to $35 million settlement with California
The Chronicle, JOEL UMANZOR: "A settlement totaling $35 million has been reached in the false advertisement civil case against between California and the now-defunct Paul Blanco's Good Car Company, according to Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office.
In the settlement ruling, Paul and Putu Blanco admitted to 670,000 violations of California’s Unfair Competition and False Advertising Laws, court records show. The couple are principal executives of the company that operated eight used-car dealerships in California and two in Nevada from 2013 to 2020.
The corporation itself is now permanently banned from the California auto sales industry and the Blancos are both banned for 10 years from “participating in any way in motor vehicle sales, distribution or finance industries” and creating or publishing any motor vehicle dealership advertisement, the judgment said."
COVID in California: Positive-test rate creeps back up in S.F.
The Chronic, DOMINIC FRACASSA/AIDIN VAZIRI: "A potentially dangerous confluence of three respiratory viruses — the coronavirus, the flu and RSV — have raised the specter of a “tripledemic” this winter. Apple said COVID restrictions in China were impeding its ability to manufacture and ship certain new iPhone models. As coronavirus variants continue to evolve and become more difficult to detect, so do COVID symptoms, allowing more people to spread the virus without realizing it.
The seven-day rolling coronavirus test positivity rate in San Francisco has started to creep back up after falling steadily since July. It was 5.1% as of Oct. 31, the most recent date with reliable data, after dropping as low as 4.5% the previous week. Since then, the rate has gradually increased and reached 6.2% as of Nov. 2, the latest date with preliminary data.
The average number of new COVID-19 cases in the city has also turned around, jumping from 64 to 80 in the same period, with 106 cases reported on Nov. 2. The increases come as the average number of tests collected by city officials has dropped to its lowest level since April 2020. There were 50 patients hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 in San Francisco as of Nov. 3, including four in intensive care unit beds. The statewide coronavirus test-positive rate also increased to 4.5% last week, according to health department data."
Podcast: 022 election preview with Jim Brulte and Garry South
CAPITOL WEEKLY, STAFF: With the 2022 election just days away, we asked longtime political party animals Jim Brulte and Garry South to weigh in on what they expect to see on Tuesday and make their predictions.
Brulte, the former head of the California Republican Party, sees a good night for Republicans nationally and expects tight CA congressional districts to swing the GOP’s way. Garry
South, a high profile Democratic strategist, suggests that it will be very difficult for Dems to retain control of the House, but expects good news in California races.
And, we tell you who had the worst week in California politics."
It will be a stormy L.A. election day for the first time in years. Will rain hurt turnout?
LAT, SUMMER LIN/GRACE TOOHEY: "An early November storm could dampen the chances for high in-person voter turnout Tuesday for California’s midterm election as Southern California braces for strong winds, several inches of rain and up to 2 feet of snow in the mountains.
A storm originating from the Gulf of Alaska is expected to peak Tuesday before tapering off Wednesday and dissipating into scattered showers, according to the National Weather Service. The system could dump between 1 to 3 inches of rain on lower elevations in Los Angeles County and between 2 to 3 inches in mountain areas.
A flood watch has been issued Monday night through Tuesday evening for portions of L.A. County, including the Antelope, Santa Clarita and San Gabriel valleys. The downpour has the potential to create flash flooding, rockslides and debris flows in recent burn scar areas."
A total lunar eclipse will kick off Election Day. Here’s a timeline for the rare ‘blood moon’
The Chronicle, KELLIE HWANG: "Election Day will get off to a weird start in the Bay Area this year, with an apparently unprecedented total lunar eclipse unfolding in the early morning hours Tuesday.
It’s the first full lunar eclipse ever to officially fall on a federal Election Day in the U.S., according to the website EarthSky — at least, under the definition by Congress as the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November during even-numbered years.
The total lunar eclipse, known colloquially as a “blood moon,” will start just after midnight on Tuesday, Nov. 8, in the Bay Area. It will be the second full lunar eclipse this year — the first occurred in May — and will be the last for three years, according to NASA."
Here’s what to watch as results for the midterm elections roll in
LAT, MELANIE MASON: "Election day has finally arrived, and with it, the end of this unsettled campaign season is in sight. That’s not to say the results will come quickly. In fact, in many key races across the country, it could take days or weeks to count ballots — so be wary of any premature declarations of victory.
While the nation waits for polls to close — and then waits and waits some more — here’s a primer on the key questions of this election cycle.
The fundamentals of this election have always been in Republicans’ favor. Historical precedent is not kind to the party that occupies the White House during a midterm election and stubborn inflation and President Biden’s lackluster approval ratings haven’t done the Democrats any favors. In recent weeks, polls show these economic concerns are top of mind, especially for crucial independent voters."
On Election Day, we’re driving from Pelosi’s house to McCarthy’s house to ask voters what’s at stake. Join our California roadtrip
Mariachis, soccer and a vice presidential visit: Bass and Caruso in a final, frenzied sprint
LAT, BENJAMIN ORESKES/JULIA WICK: "The marathon campaign for mayor of Los Angeles turned into a sprint in the last few days, with Rick Caruso and Karen Bass crisscrossing the city — each in their own double-decker bus — in the hope of locking down undecided voters and turning out their supporters ahead of Tuesday’s election.
Bass brought out some political star power, appearing at a UCLA rally Monday with Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. At points over the weekend, Bass’ Starline Tours bus seemed like a rolling party, with a rotating cast of about 50, including actress Alfre Woodard, former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and a host of young supporters.
Caruso spent part of Monday meeting supporters from a business organization at a Ventura Boulevard restaurant. That followed a weekend of barnstorming that included a visit to Boyle Heights, a stop at the MLS Cup championship game and some hand-shaking at homecoming festivities at USC, his alma mater. Caruso was accompanied mostly by aides on his azure-blue double-decker."
We asked the leading candidates for S.F. D.A. six key questions. Here’s what they said
The Chronicle, MEGAN CASSIDY: "Five months after recalling progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin, San Francisco voters on Tuesday will determine who will finish out his term and take the helm of a critical law enforcement agency in a city polarized over public safety.
Brooke Jenkins, who helped lead the successful recall campaign against Boudin, was appointed by Mayor London Breed in July to serve as interim top prosecutor pending the special election. She is running against criminal defense attorney John Hamasaki and civil rights attorney Joe Alioto Veronese, who are both former city police commissioners, as well as attorney Maurice Chenier.
The Chronicle asked the three leading candidates the same six questions, asking them to describe in their own words why they deserve San Franciscans’ votes. Their responses have been edited for space and clarity."
Your last-minute guide for voting in 2022 Los Angeles city elections
LAT, STAFF: "It has been described as one of the most pivotal elections in decades for Los Angeles.
Voters will pick a new mayor and face generational and ideological choices for other key races that could bring major changes at City Hall.
L.A. is struggling to recover from the pandemic at the same time that it is grappling with housing affordability and homelessness crises. A series of corruption scandals have tainted the public’s view of City Hall. And that was before a racist audio leak caused the president of the City Council to step down and prompted calls for two other council members to follow her out of politics."
‘We’ll never be San Francisco:’ New York Gov. Hochul combats criticism about crime in NYC
The Chronicle, MALLORY MOENCH: "New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared in an interview over the weekend that the Big Apple will “never be San Francisco,” pushing back against criticism that New Yorkers, feeling unsafe, feared their city was becoming like San Francisco.
The comment came during an interview where MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle grilled Hochul, a Democrat fighting in Tuesday’s election to win her first full term, about public safety.
Ruhle described walking into her local pharmacy and seeing everything under lock and key because of shoplifters — an experience many San Franciscans can relate to. The host also stated that she wasn’t going in the subway because of safety fears. (Given that most New Yorkers don’t own a car, avoiding public transit is a luxury few can afford.)"
L.A. Unified's bilingual program for deaf students hailed as a model for California schools
EdSource, CAROLYN JONES: "Michele Bergeron knows that her 5-year-old son, who’s deaf, likes watermelon and pizza. He’s obsessed with airplanes, wants to play football, likes books about Spider-Man and someday wants to be tall like his dad.
“Without sign language, I never would have known any of this,” said the Fremont mother. “Sign language is the most important thing for deaf children and their families to learn. How else are you going to communicate? How will you know your child’s hopes and dreams?”
Her son, Lennon, attends California School for the Deaf in Fremont, a public K-12 school for deaf and hard-of-hearing students from throughout Northern California. Students as young as 14 months learn to sign at the same time they learn to read and write in English, which allows them to master both languages and communicate with their deaf peers and the hearing world alike."
Will Elon Musk paywall the entire Twitter site? Report says he’s discussing the idea
The Chronicle, SABRINA PASCUA: "After a tumultuous week of mass firings at Twitter following Elon Musk’s takeover of the social media company, Musk has been discussing using a paywall on the entire site as his signature project Twitter Blue readies to launch, according to a report by Platformer.
Musk and his adviser David Sacks, a venture capitalist, have discussed the idea in recent meetings of charging most or all users a subscription fee, Platformer reported. One of those plans, for example, may allow a user to access Twitter for a limited amount of time each month but then require a subscription to continue scrolling, a source told Platformer.
It is unclear how serious Musk is about the paywall, Platformer reported, but his plan to relaunch a new version of the Twitter Blue subscription, which would allow anyone to get a verification badge, began its rollout over the weekend."
From S.F. to Hawaii and beyond, housing costs are pushing people out of increasingly expensive cities
The Chronicle, CHASE DIFELICIANTONIO: "Maggie Larson has lived on Hawaii’s Big Island for more than 50 years. Despite buying property decades ago, the cost of everything from gas to food has made her life there increasingly untenable, driving more than an hour each way to her job at a hotel in Kailua-Kona — since she cannot afford to live in town. That amounts to somewhere between $500 to $600 a week in gas.
“I can barely make it,” Larson said.
Hawaii may seem a world away from the Bay Area, but Larson’s story reflects the choices residents in places along the West Coast — and beyond — with ballooning housing prices have to contend with daily. And while San Franciscans think of their city as unique in so many ways, it’s the same as other costly Pacific cities and regions in one key way: High housing costs are pushing people further away from the cities, or causing them to seriously consider leaving."
