How California channeled money to for-profit schools — while they were under investigation
CALMatters' ADAM ECHELMAN: "When state education investigator Leslie Feist visited Dolphin Trucking School in 2021, a teacher gave her a warning: Don’t stand near the truck while it’s moving. A tire might explode.
In fact, most of the trucks on the training lot “did not appear to be roadworthy,” Feist also observed in her report. Over the next two years, investigators found that Dolphin hired instructors who lacked the experience necessary to teach and that the school didn’t give students enough instruction, leaving graduates unprepared for the state’s truck driving exam. "
Obama passes the mantle of hope in fierce, fervent endorsement of Harris
LAT's JAMES RAINEY, DANIEL MILLER, FAITH E. PINHO: "Former President Obama delivered a buoyant and occasionally fierce address to cap the second night of the Democratic convention Tuesday, urging his party and all Americans to reject the divisive leadership of Donald Trump and to elect Kamala Harris as president to “build a country that is more secure and more just, more equal and more free.”
Obama’s 33-minute speech harked back to the one he gave two decades earlier at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. As a little-known Illinois state senator, he insisted that many of the country’s supposed divisions — between political parties, races and ethnicities — could be healed. The speech made him a national figure."
Newsom went all in for Biden. His brief DNC speech shows how much things have changed
The Chronicle's SOPHIA BOLLAG: "When Gov. Gavin Newsom addressed the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, he spoke for only about two and a half minutes, hailing Vice President Kamala Harris as “a star” and California as a land of “dreamers and doers and entrepreneurs.”
“The thing we pride ourselves most on is we believe the future happens in California first,” he said when announcing California’s delegates cast their votes for Harris to be the Democratic nominee for president from the floor of the convention hall. “I’ve had the privilege for over 20 years to see that future taking shape with a star in an Alameda courtroom by the name of Kamala Harris.””
Former White House press secretary tells DNC: Trump called own supporters ‘basement dwellers’
LAT's STEVE PADILLA: "Former President Trump’s onetime White House press secretary told delegates at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday that Trump, when out of the public eye, would mock his supporters and refer to them as “basement dwellers.”
Stephanie Grisham, who said she would be voting for Vice President Kamala Harris, began her remarks at the United Center in Chicago by saying, “I wasn’t just a Trump supporter. I was a true believer — one of his closest advisors.”"
CA120: Harris surges – and softens – in latest polls
PAUL MITCHELL in Capitol Weekly: "As Vice President Kamala Harris takes the stage on Thursday as the official presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, she will face a short 74-day campaign, with California voters getting their ballots in just over 6 weeks.
The Capitol Weekly poll has continued to survey California voters as the campaigns have navigated the twists and turns of this unique and frenetic Presidential campaign. In the latest poll, completed the weekend prior to the convention, Harris appears to have lost some of the pop from the Biden withdrawal from the race, but still has plenty to be feeling good about."
Mark Farrell’s venture capital success questioned in mayoral bid. These firms are struggling
The Chronicle's J.D. MORRIS: "When Mark Farrell, the former San Francisco mayor now running to get his old job back, was asked by a pair of college students to talk about the most successful investment that his venture capital firm had made, he didn’t hesitate.
“For sure our most successful one has been Sonder,” Farrell said in the 2021 video, referring to an Airbnb-like short-term rental company in which his firm, Thayer Ventures, was an early investor. “We’re huge, huge supporters of what they do. Definitely believe in their long-term vision. I think they’re still just getting going. But they’ve done incredibly well. It’s been a great financial investment for us and our fund.”"
Is S.F.’s government structure in need of reform? Here’s Mayor Breed’s road map to change
The Chronicle's MAGGIE AIMST : "San Francisco Mayor London Breed is pushing a comprehensive reform of the city’s charter, which outlines the powers of the mayor, the Board of Supervisors and other key officials. The goal is to streamline government services and boost accountability, Breed’s office said.
Breed issued an executive directive Tuesday instructing the city controller and city administrator to establish a public process to vet proposed changes to city government operations and create a November 2026 ballot measure that would revise the city charter, which outlines the powers of the mayor, the Board of Supervisors and other key officials."
Tom Girardi’s underlings warned of likely criminal charges, federal agent testifies
LAT's MATT HAMILTON and BRITTNY MEJIA: "Federal prosecutors have warned at least four lawyers who worked for years alongside the now-disgraced former attorney Tom Girardi at his Los Angeles law firm that they, too, could face criminal charges as part of an ongoing investigation.
The revelation came this week in the trial of Girardi, 84, who is defending against four counts of wire fraud and is accused of perpetrating a decade-long scheme to swindle his clients out of more than $15 million in settlement funds."
California law helps tribes keep kids out of foster care. A new court ruling strengthens their hand
CALMatters' SHAANTH NANGUNERI: "For nearly a century, California and other states forced Native American youth into boarding schools, aiming to erase their cultural practices while separating children from parents, placing them in a foster system that often left them without any ties to their communities.
It was only in the late 1970s that the federal government passed a law to protect families from separation, ensuring that child welfare agencies inquire about Native ancestry and work to keep tribes, relatives and communities together. Decades later, contested cases continue to appear regularly before California courts, where state protections are stronger than federal law."
Plan to regulate access to online porn in California dies quietly in Legislature
CALMatters' RYAN SABALOW: "A bipartisan bill that would have required Californians to prove they’re adults to visit pornographic websites has died in the Senate amid concerns of potentially high costs and infringements of First Amendment rights.
Under Assembly Bill 3080, California would have joined several other states, most with conservative legislatures, that recently passed similar laws requiring some form of age verification to access online pornography."
See COVID’s toll on California’s life expectancy in new CDC longevity report
LAT's KAREN KAPLAN: "It was the year COVID-19 vaccines became widely available, and the pandemic’s startling death toll in California and elsewhere appeared close to being reined in.
Instead, life expectancy in California fell by more than 8 months in 2021, dropping the Golden State to 10th place in the nation, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
Taxpayers cover tuition at California’s for-profit schools. The results? Low-wage, high-turnover jobs
CALMatters' ADAM ECHELMAN: "Kiana Munoz didn’t have much time. She had a baby to care for and needed to earn money after just graduating from high school. When she saw that Premiere Career College, a for-profit school in Los Angeles County, promoted its ability to help her get a job as a medical assistant, she enrolled.
But after graduating, she couldn’t find work. She said she spent months searching for a job at doctors’ offices, but eventually gave up and started working at Sears instead. More than six years later, she said she still owes the college more than $5,500."
Southern California electric bills are soaring. Here’s why, and how to save money
LAT's KAREN GARCIA: "It’s no surprise that Southern Californians are seeing their monthly electricity bills surge this summer. As increasing rates have met with increasing temperatures, there have been anecdotal reports that, for some consumers, bills have skyrocketed, even by hundreds of dollars.
And Californians are looking for answers."
Feds poised to kill thousands of invasive owls in order to save native California species
The Chronicle's JULIE JOHNSON: "Jack Dumbacher recalled the somber silence after the shot.
The wildlife geneticist had called out into the dark of the Klamath National Forest, mimicking the hoots of a barred owl, and lured a bird out of the shadows and into his colleague’s flashlight beams. Dumbacher took aim and fired."
Popular California beach closes after crowd of sea lions invade
The Chronicle's TARA DUGGAN: "A crowd of sea lions has taken over San Carlos Beach in Monterey, carpeting the sand with their rotund bodies and filling the air with their scents and loud barks. The city was forced to close the beach on Monday.
“We want residents and visitors to be safe while visiting the coastline, and remind you to enjoy and watch the sea lions from a distance of at least 50 yards,” the city said in a social media post that referenced federal law protecting the animals. “Please remember, we humans are sharing this space with other species.”"
‘The industry changed under my feet’: Reality TV workers on losing jobs to overseas production
LAT's MEREDITH BLAKE, YVONNE VILLARREAL: "For Gretchen Kinder, there’s nothing quite like making reality TV. She worked her way up the ranks over two plus decades from production assistant to line producer and executive, using her skills to pull off dazzling logistical feats — like the time she was up at 4 a.m. to get a boat captain to sign off on using his vessel so they could load in crew by 6.
“Unscripted TV is incredibly challenging. Those challenges keep you on your toes more than scripted TV,” she said."
