Five takeaways from the GOP debate: DeSantis’ not-so-big night, Trump’s absence
LA Times, NOAH BIERMAN: "Eight Republican presidential candidates faced off Wednesday night in Milwaukee at the first primary debate, which was hosted by Fox News.
Former President Trump, the overwhelming front-runner, did not attend, opting instead to release a counter-programmed interview with Tucker Carlson."
Trump tries to undercut GOP debate with Tucker Carlson interview on eve of his Georgia surrender
LA Times, SARAH D. WIRE: "Former President Trump called the four criminal indictments he’s facing “trivia, nonsense, bulls—,” during an interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson that was released just before the Fox News GOP primary debate Wednesday.
On the eve of his expected surrender to authorities in Fulton County, Ga., on Thursday, Trump continued his attempts to cast as political persecution the indictment he faces there over efforts to keep him in power despite his 2020 election loss. Though subject to a bond condition that restricts him from threatening those involved in the case, Trump kept up his criticism of Dist. Atty. Fani Willis and her indictment naming him and 18 other defendants."
Debates are about winning over voters. But the GOP field was too afraid of Trump to try
The Chronicle, JOE GAROFOLI: "Without Donald Trump monopolizing the stage, eight top Republicans vying for the GOP nomination had a wonderful opportunity at Wednesday’s first presidential debate to show how they were different from the former president, who is facing four different criminal indictments.
Instead, they whiffed."
News Analysis: Some clear losers in first GOP debate, but the absent Trump emerges largely unscathed
LA Times, SEEMA MEHTA, DAVID LAUTER: "Like a chorus line awaiting its leading man, eight Republican presidential hopefuls opened their first debate Wednesday night without the party’s main attraction, hoping to show they can solve a puzzle that has bewildered GOP politicians for eight years: how to get past Donald Trump.
For most of the first hour of the two-hour confrontation, however, the candidates largely tried to ignore Trump’s dominating presence. Instead, it was the campaign’s political newcomer, Vivek Ramaswamy, who quickly became the center of attention, rebutting accusations by former Vice President Mike Pence that he’s unqualified."
Russian mercenary chief and mutineer Prigozhin killed in jet crash, state media say
LA Times, LAURA KING, NABIH BULOS: "Yevgeny Prigozhin, the notorious mercenary chieftain who led a failed uprising against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government two months ago, was aboard a private jet that crashed north of Moscow on Wednesday with no survivors, Russian officials said. His Wagner Group also reported the death.
Russia’s Tass news agency said the Federal Air Transport Agency published the names of all passengers and crew members who were on board the Embraer aircraft that was traveling from the capital to St. Petersburg — including the 62-year-old Prigozhin."
Mega-merger will push grocery workers over the unemployment cliff
Capitol Weekly, MARK RAMOS: "The “hot labor summer” gripping Southern California shows no signs of cooling down. Hollywood actors have joined forces with TV and movie writers in walking off the job. Striking hospitality workers made headlines calling on Taylor Swift to postpone her tour. These stories are a stark reminder that corporate profits almost always come at the expense of workers’ livelihood.
It’s a price grocery workers across California could soon be forced to pay, if state lawmakers don’t take action to protect them."
California considers permanent ban on watering grass at businesses, even in non-drought years
BANG*Mercury News, PAUL ROGERS: "California’s most-recent drought is over. Reservoirs are full. Ski season lasted until July.
But despite the wet winter, an effort is gaining momentum in the state capitol to add manicured green grass to the list of business trappings — like fax machines, pagers and typewriters — that have become obsolete in a changing world."
California legislature introduces new reparations bill that could spark policy talks
Sac Bee, MARCUS D. SMITH: "One of the California Reparation Task Force Committee’s 115 recommendations to disseminate forms of restitution to those eligible has been introduced by the state’s Legislature.
The Legislature has introduced SB 490 which would create the California American Freedmen Affairs Agency, a state agency responsible for overseeing the infrastructure behind administering reparations."
California Democrats have long failed to tax guns, ammunition. Could this year be different?
Sac Bee, LINDSEY HOLDEN: "California Democrats have long struggled make headway on one gun safety measure: a state excise tax on firearms and ammunition.
vGun control advocates say 2023 could be the year legislators finally make it happen."
3 killed, 6 injured in mass shooting at Orange County biker bar
LA Times, STAFF: "A gunman killed three people and six were taken to hospitals after a shooting Wednesday night at a landmark biker bar in Trabuco Canyon, according to the Orange County sheriff.
The gunman was also killed, the Sheriff’s Department posted on social media."
Wednesday was S.F.’s hottest day this year. Warm ocean temperatures are partly to blame
The Chronicle, ANTHONY EDWARDS, TARA DUGGAN: "San Francisco recorded its hottest day of the year on Wednesday, hitting 85 degrees. Oakland checked in at 87 degrees, above normal but just shy of Sunday’s high of 88.
Those are some of the unusual weather patterns that Bay Area coastal areas have experienced in recent days, with record warm ocean waters leading to more heat and unusual humidity on land."
Deep-sea octopus garden off California Coast is largest-known octopus gathering in the world
The Chronicle, TARA DUGGAN: "Off the coast of Monterey Bay, at least 20,000 female octopuses gather to tend their eggs in frigid water nearly two miles deep. Seeking out crevices where warm water escapes through cracks in the ancient crust of the sea floor, they curl their tentacles over their heads to brood for almost two years and then die.
Those are some of the findings of a new study on what’s called the “octopus garden,” which was discovered by scientists in 2018 and researchers now say is the largest known gathering of octopuses in the world."
Experts Expound: single payer healthcare
Capitol Weekly, STAFF: "A single payer health care system is the Holy Grail for progressive Californians. But is it realistic or just a pipedream? We put the question to our experts.
“Not in our lifetime. The billions in costs will crush the state budget, and “undoing” the current system is like putting toothpaste back into the tube. If they couldn’t get it done with the promise-breaking Newsom, it isn’t going to happen at all, other than a feel-good bill in the legislature.”"
Rising COVID cases prompt Bay Area hospital to reinstate mask mandate
The Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI: "As the Bay Area experiences a resurgence of COVID-19 cases, one of its most prominent health care providers is requiring patients, staff and visitors to mask up again.
Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa Medical Center has reinstated a temporary mask mandate for people within its facilities. The measure is a direct response to the increasing number of individuals testing positive for the coronavirus, according to an official statement made on Wednesday."
New bill would shift restitution from juveniles to State
EdSource, BETTY MARQUEZ ROSALES: "Xochtil Larios entered adulthood with a $3,500 restitution debt to her name after years in the foster and juvenile justice systems. She was determined to move forward, but the restitution debt from a crime she was charged with as a teenager felt insurmountable.
The debt impacted her “mentally, physically, financially, spiritually, and I couldn’t sleep at night,” said Larios. “I can’t worry about who I’m becoming because I still have to fix my past.”"
Why UC workers say they must sleep in their cars to do their jobs for the wages paid
Sac Bee, CATHIE ANDERSON: "Veronika Honcharuk drives 133 miles one way to get to her job in San Francisco from her home in Placerville. She logs patients’ admission information in the emergency department at UCSF’s Helen Diller Medical Center.
She works 12 hours a shift, three days a week. To clear enough money to cover her parking ($300), gas ($600) and her car payment ($400) each month, she must put in a week and a half at her job."
The studios went public with their WGA offer. Was it a mistake?
LA Times, MEG JAMES, WENDY LEE: "Signaling increasing frustration with the Writers Guild of America, Hollywood studios took the unusual step of publicizing their latest offer to the guild.
Late Tuesday, top studio executives met with WGA’s negotiators to encourage them to accept a deal that would end the 114-day WGA walkout, which has crippled film and television production. But after WGA leaders refused to bend, the studios made their deal points public — despite the usual practice of honoring a news blackout during negotiations."
Darrell Steinberg announces new response, led by Sacramento Fire Department, to homelessness
Sac Bee, ARIANE LANGE: " The Sacramento Fire Department will lead the city’s new inter-agency emergency response to homelessness, Mayor Darrell Steinberg announced Wednesday in his second of three State of the City addresses.
Assistant Fire Chief Brian Pedro will head up the effort, which will include the Department of Community Response, the Sacramento Police Department, code enforcement, behavioral health workers from Sacramento County, park rangers and outside nonprofit providers that contract with those agencies."
L.A. City Council signs off on police raises amid warnings of financial risk
LA Times, DAVID ZAHNISER: "The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved a four-year package of raises and bonuses for rank-and-file police officers over the objections of critics who said the deal is too expensive and will put the city’s money toward the wrong things.
The council, on a 12-3 vote, signed off on the agreement with the Los Angeles Police Protective League, giving the union’s members four year-to-year pay increases, bigger retention bonuses and other incentives aimed at encouraging officers to join the LAPD and stay throughout their career."
This S.F. deputy earns $2.2 million in overtime by clocking more than 100 hours a week
The Chronicle, MEGAN CASSIDY: "For the better part of the last decade, nearly every waking hour of San Francisco Deputy Sheriff Barry Bloom’s life was spent on the clock.
Bloom, a public safety monitor at San Francisco City Hall, was on duty an average of 95 hours a week since 2016, and more than 100 hours a week over the last two fiscal years, according to city data. His workload of late leaves roughly 10 hours a day remaining for sleeping, eating and just about anything else not tied to his job as a sheriff’s deputy."
