McCarthy bans Schiff, Swalwell from House Intelligence Committee
LA Times, NOLAN D. MCCASKILL: "House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday blocked fellow California Reps. Adam B. Schiff and Eric Swalwell from continuing to serve on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
The denial follows through on a pledge by McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) to remove Schiff (D-Burbank) and Swalwell (D-Dublin) from the panel in retaliation for a move by Democrats — and some Republicans — in the last Congress to strip GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona of their committee assignments.
“I appreciate the loyalty you have to your Democrat colleagues,” McCarthy wrote in a letter to Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who requested over the weekend that Schiff and Swalwell retain their seats on the panel. “But I cannot put partisan loyalty ahead of national security.”"
California tops deadliest month of mass shootings in at least a decade
BANG*Mercury News, ELISSA MIOLENE/SCOOTY NICKERSON: "It took only 23 days into 2023 to make this California’s deadliest month of mass shootings in at least a decade.
And it seems like everybody is feeling it. Six dead in the San Joaquin Valley town of Goshen. Five days later, 11 gunned down in the LA suburb of Monterey Park. Two days after that, seven killed in Half Moon Bay. In all, during a month known for renewal, 27 people have been killed in five mass shootings. Another 20 have been injured."
California reeling from back-to-back shootings that killed 24: ‘Too much bloodshed’
LA Times, SALVADOR HERNANDEZ/JEONG PARK/RUBEN VIVES: "As mourners were gathering Monday evening for a candlelight vigil in Monterey Park for 11 people killed by a gunman at a dance studio, word spread of another mass shooting in Half Moon Bay.
Siu Fong, a Monterey Park retiree who volunteers at the Langley Senior Center, knew two of the victims of that shooting. With another spasm of violence less than two days later, she was left wondering: What is happening in California?
“I would say there needs to be a little bit more gun control,” she said. “Of course, a lot of people say they need guns to protect themselves, but the thing is, maybe they need stronger background checks. I don’t want people going to gun shops to get guns.”"
A vigil, another mass shooting
CALMatters, SAMEEA KAMAL: "It’s difficult to explain a senseless act of violence.
But after every mass shooting — in just the last two days, the total in 2023 went from 33 to 39 nationwide — we (the media, the public and policymakers) try anyway.
The motive remains unclear as law enforcement continues to investigate the massacre in Monterey Park, near Los Angeles, that claimed its 11th fatality on Monday — although some reports cited recent personal disputes and emotional problems."
Newsom, California leaders demand federal action on assault weapons in wake of Half Moon Bay shootings
The Chronicle, DUSTIN GARDINER: "State political leaders reacted with horror and demanded Congress help pass a ban on assault weapons and other gun-safety legislation after a series of mass shootings — including Monday’s in Half Moon Bay and Oakland — claimed the lives of 19 Californians over three days.
“Where has the Republican Party been on gun-safety reform? They’ve blocked it every step of the way,” Newsom told reporters in Half Moon Bay on Tuesday. “Gun safety works, we will not back away from the resolve. But we can’t do this alone, and with all due respect, we feel like we are.”
Newsom and much of California’s federal delegation began renewing calls for federal bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines after the Monterey Park shooting outside Los Angeles over the weekend, when a man used an assault weapon to fire into the crowd at a Lunar New Year celebration. Eleven people were killed and nine others injured during the rampage."
‘What the hell is going on?’ Newsom doubles down on gun control after Half Moon Bay shooting
BANG*Mercury News, MARISA KENDALL: "As he stood before a community still reeling from a mass shooting targeting immigrant farm workers, Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed to continue fighting for stronger gun control laws — while blasting Republicans for their lack of action on the issue.
Fresh from Monterey Park, where another shooting at a dance hall Saturday night killed 11 people, Newsom expressed frustration and dismay that he had to add another to the list of tragedies this year. The nation has seen 39 mass shootings just in the first 24 days of this year, he said, and Monday’s, which left seven people dead at two farms in Half Moon Bay, hit especially close to home.
“What the hell is going on?” he asked."
Half Moon Bay’s close-knit farmworker community reels from massacre
The Chronicle, ELENA KADVANY/J.K. DINEEN/KURTIS ALEXANDER/ERIN ALLDAY: "Half Moon Bay’s close-knit farmworker community was reeling Tuesday after a man shot and killed seven people and injured an eighth Monday afternoon, in what authorities described as a “workplace violence” attack at two local nurseries.
Authorities described the victims as five men and two women, all Asian or Latino farmworkers, and Mexico’s consultate office in San Francisco said three were Mexican nationals, including the survivor. That injured person is an adult man who remained hospitalized Tuesday morning.
The suspected shooter was also a farmworker who was employed at California Terra Garden, the site of the first attack where four people were shot and killed and a fifth was wounded, authorities said. Chunli Zhao, 66, was taken into custody in the parking lot of the Half Moon Bay Sheriff’s Office substation around 4:40 p.m. Monday, about two hours after the first shooting."
Half Moon Bay suspect lived at mushroom farm where shootings occurred
LA Times, STAFF: "The shooting rampage Monday in Half Moon Bay that left seven people dead appears to be a case of workplace violence, law enforcement officials said. The gunman allegedly targeted specific co-workers in the coastal agricultural community in San Mateo County.
“The only known connection between the victims and the suspect is that they may have been co-workers,” San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus said at a news conference Tuesday. “All the evidence we have points to this being the instance of workplace violence.”
According to Half Moon Bay Vice Mayor Joaquin Jimenez, the suspect — identified by authorities as Chunli Zhao, 66 — lived with farmers who were attacked in Monday’s deadly rampage at two locations."
Half Moon Bay shooting labeled ‘workplace violence,’ suspected shooter’s dark history comes to light
BANG*Mercury News, STAFF: "A day after a mass shooting at two mushroom farms shook this seaside community, horrific details began to emerge of farm workers hiding in portable toilets as a suspected gunman with a dark history opened fire, killing seven.
Officials said Chunli Zhao, the alleged 66-year-old shooter, lived with his wife in what locals describe as a ramshackle collection of trailers and tent-like structures housing a community of Asian and Latino immigrant workers. Court records suggest he may have been prone to violence, attempting to suffocate and threatening to “split (the) head” of a former roommate.
He also worked at Mountain Mushroom Farms, the first of the two shooting-spree locations. On Tuesday, law enforcement officials described Zhao was a “disgruntled” employee who showed up Monday with a semi-automatic pistol he purchased legally."
How to help families impacted by Half Moon Bay mass shooting
BANG*Mercury News, JASON GREEN: "An effort is underway to raise funds for the 40 families affected by Monday’s deadly mass shooting in Half Moon Bay.
Organized by Farmworker Caravan founder Darlene Tenes, the Half Moon Bay Farmworker Shooting & Flood Victims GoFundMe aims to raise at least $40,000.
The fundraiser has been verified and all funds donated will go directly to the San Jose Parks Foundation for emergency services to support the families, as well as the hundreds of farmworker families who have lost everything and have no work because of recently flooded fields, GoFundMe spokesperson Nicole Santos said in an email."
Why police took hours to warn public that Monterey Park mass shooter was on the loose
LA Times, RICHARD WINTON/HANNAH FRY/BRITTNY MEJIA/NOAH GOLDBERG: "As the investigation into the Monterey Park mass shooting continues, police officials are facing scrutiny over how long it took them to notify the public that the gunman was still on the loose.
For roughly five hours after 72-year-old Huu Can Tran opened fire inside Star Ballroom Dance Studio on West Garvey Avenue and fled late Saturday night, Monterey Park and Los Angeles County authorities made no announcements about the gunman’s location.
Instead, the death toll and the gunman’s escape in the chaos was revealed through government sources in other agencies and radio broadcasts."
Katie Porter wants Dianne Feinstein’s Senate seat. Is that possible?
Sac Bee, DAVID LIGHTMAN: "Katie Porter, the feisty congresswoman from Orange County, is running for Senate. But does anyone north of the Los Angeles area know who she is? Does she have a chance?
And will the incumbent, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, run again?
Porter, 49, last week became the first Democrat to formally enter the race. Feinstein, who will be 91 on election day 2024, has had memory problems and decided not to become Senate President Pro Tem, which would have put her third in line for the presidency."
These California Democrats want to raise billionaires’ taxes. Will they succeed this time?
Sac Bee, MAYA MILLER: "Raising taxes on the super wealthy is a hurdle that even the nation’s most left-leaning states have yet to overcome.
But that hasn’t discouraged a coalition of Democratic California lawmakers from trying again.
Assemblymember Alex Lee, a San Jose Democrat, has reintroduced a bill that would tax California’s billionaires at a rate of 1.5% starting in 2024. In 2026, those worth over $50 million would face a 1% tax."
Californians to vote on overturning a new law that could raise fast-food worker wages
LA Times, SUHAUNA HUSSAIN: "A California law seeking to increase wages and improve working conditions for fast-food workers has been set aside for now, after state officials said an effort by major restaurant and business trade groups to overturn the law had qualified as a measure on next year’s ballot.
The referendum seeking to overturn Assembly Bill 257 gathered sufficient valid voter signatures, the office of California Secretary of State Shirley Weber certified Tuesday. The group of businesses backing the effort, called the Save Local Restaurants, had until Dec. 5 to submit roughly 623,000 California voter signatures. The proponents submitted more than 1 million signatures, of which more than 712,000 were deemed to be valid, according to the secretary of state’s office.
The announcement means the law, also known as the Fast Recovery Act, approved last year by the Legislature is suspended until California voters decide on the November 2024 ballot whether to repeal the law."
Will California start to see even more electric vehicles? Experts say sales are at ‘tipping point’
The Chronicle, DUSTIN GARDINER: "Sales of electric vehicles in California soared to a record high last year, accounting for 18.8% of all new cars sold in the state and leading some analysts to suggest exponential growth could lie ahead.
More than 345,000 cars sold in the state were fully or partially electric models, a dramatic jump from about 145,000 cars two years ago, or less than 8% of the new car market, according to data from the state Energy Commission."
Are we still in a pandemic? Do antivirals work? We ask a California infectious disease expert
Sac Bee, HANH TRUONG: "We’re about to enter the fourth year of the coronavirus in the United States, but there’s still uncertainty ahead.
The Sacramento Bee posed several reader questions alongside our own to Dr. Dean Blumberg, chief of pediatric infectious disease at UC Davis Health.
Below, in a video interview edited for brevity and clarity, he answers: Are we still in a pandemic? Will COVID ever end? Is my wedding plan safe enough? What about masking in schools? Some readers gave The Bee permission to publish their names, and others preferred to remain anonymous."
Critics say Newsom's proposal for low-performing students fails most Black students
EdSource, EMMA GALLEGOS/JOHN FENSTERWALD/DANIEL J. WILLIS: "Aplan by Gov. Gavin Newsom to increase oversight of all low-performing student groups and focus additional money on the state’s poorest schools has angered a coalition of Black education and civil rights organizations that had pressed him for extra state funding to help Black students.
Lengthy discussions with the governor took a different turn because Newsom’s legal advisers warned that targeting Black students, whose academic performance trails every other racial and ethnic group, could run afoul of Proposition 209. The constitutional amendment, which California voters passed in 1996 and reaffirmed in 2020, bars state action based on race.
Rather than target funds to all Black students, Newsom’s plan would target the lowest-income schools that educate about 5% of all students and only 6% of Black students, an EdSource analysis shows. Black students make up 5.1% of the state’s students."
S.F. school board progressive majority regains control after split vote
The Chronicle, JILL TUCKER: "A progressive majority took control of the San Francisco school board Tuesday, less than a year after moderates began running the oversight body for the district.
Despite pleas from many parents to keep the status quo in the top leadership role, a new president will now run the board after a close vote Tuesday night, although the board split the ticket, giving the second seat to one of the more moderate members."
East Bay school district investigating after video appears to show teacher attacking student
The Chronicle, NORA MISHANEC: "The West Contra Costa Unified School District launched an investigation this week after a video posted Monday appeared to show a student attacked by a substitute teacher at Richmond High School.
The video, first reported by KTVU, appears to show an argument that escalates when the teacher violently throws the student to the floor. The footage appears to begin with the teacher goading the student to “swing” and saying, “I ain’t swinging; my hands are behind my back.”"
Can I file my taxes for free in Sacramento? These preparers are taking 2022 tax returns
Sac Bee, BRIANNA TAYLOR: "Let’s be honest, filing your taxes can be tricky — and expensive.
Sacramento is loaded with free options to get your taxes done, you just have to know where to look. The Bee compiled a list of organizations offering free file services in Sacramento, including tax preparation companies, the California Franchise Tax Board and the American Association for Retired Persons, or AARP, and more.
Here’s the list:"
S.F. supervisor wants to let nonprofits sue the city if it doesn’t meet affordable housing goal
The Chronicle, J.D. MORRIS: "One of San Francisco’s progressive supervisors wants to let nonprofits sue the city if it fails to meet an ambitious affordable housing production goal.
The state is requiring the city to plan for 82,000 new homes under a housing roadmap approved unanimously Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors, with more than half of the overall goal — about 46,000 units — meant to be affordable to low- and moderate-income residents."
Federal judge slams Oakland police amid alleged misconduct scandal
The Chronicle, JOSHUA SHARPE: "A judge managing federal oversight of the Oakland Police Department on Tuesday expressed frustration with officials over a simmering scandal involving an alleged coverup of a police officer’s misconduct.
“I am profoundly disappointed,” U.S. District Court Judge William H. Orrick said. “The report … demonstrates that the significant cultural problems within the department remain unaddressed.”
He said the episode threatened to derail plans to end two decades of federal oversight in May and ordered the city to detail a plan to come into compliance with court-ordered reforms."
Oakland police investigate gang connections in mass shooting that killed 18-year-old and injured 4
The Chronicle, SARAH RAVANI: "Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said Tuesday that she was “heartbroken” about the mass shooting that killed one person and injured four and vowed to fight for “common-sense” gun control.
“The best way we keep our community safe is to prevent crimes from occurring,” Thao said during a news conference at City Hall, thanking police and community leaders who flanked her."
