Police are using secret deals to hand pensions to troubled officers. Millions of taxpayer dollars support the system
The Chronicle's KATEY RUSCH: "In 2016, internal affairs investigators at the Ventura Police Department concluded that a newly promoted corporal, Josh Young, had lied in a police report. The department demoted Young, who denied wrongdoing, and informed him that dishonesty was a fireable offense.
But before the department could hand down additional discipline, Young went out on paid injury leave. He claimed his demotion was the latest incident in a campaign of religious harassment and that the punishment left him too traumatized to work. Though Ventura argued there was no evidence of an injury, the disciplinary process was paralyzed."
California legal weed industry in tumult over pesticides in pot
LAT's PAIGE ST. JOHN: "A scandal over California’s failure to keep pesticides out of legal cannabis is causing turmoil throughout the industry, with a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit, the departure of a top cannabis official, the state hiring a private investigator, and a race in the private sector to form a shadow regulatory system in the face of crumbling consumer confidence.
Product testing, confidential lab reports, public records and interviews show California regulators have largely failed to address evidence of widespread contamination, after a Los Angeles Times investigation in June found high levels of pesticides in some of the most popular vape brands. Industry leaders fear those revelations give consumers one more reason to opt out of the higher-priced, highly taxed $5-billion legal market, beset by slumping sales and rising business failures as it is out-competed by the larger, unregulated underground cannabis economy."
California Legislature’s unwritten rule: negotiate in secret with lobbyists, not in public
CALMatters's RYAN SABALOW: " State Sen. Dave Min admonished a fellow legislator recently for talking about his bill during an open hearing, saying lawmakers were forbidden from negotiating amendments to legislation in public view.
“We have a policy in the Senate … We don’t negotiate amendments from the dais,” Min told his Democratic colleague, Assemblymember David Alvarez, this summer. “We are happy to continue discussing this offline, but I just don’t think it’s appropriate – nor is it in the interest of our time – to be negotiating and discussing particular provisions from the dais.”
Mark Farrell, under fire in S.F. mayor’s race, vows to ‘hit the ground running’ if he beats London Breed
The Chronicle's J.D. MORRIS: "campaign ethics concerns and his track record, the San Francisco mayoral candidate says he’s trying to stay focused on his plans to address the city’s big challenges if elected.xz
To that end, Farrell, a former interim mayor and supervisor, on Wednesday unveiled a long list of proposals he’d seek to roll out in his first 100 days if he defeats Mayor London Breed and three other major challengers in November."
California’s students deserve climate-safe schools (OP-ED)
LILLIANA KARESH, KASCH MARQUARDT in Capitol Weekly: "We were in elementary school when the 2017 Tubbs Fire, the most destructive in state history at the time, forced schools to close down or continue lessons in smoke-filled classrooms. A year later, history repeated itself when the Camp Fire fouled the air in Northern California for weeks. In 2020, as COVID-19 upended our education, California’s wildfires scorched more than 4% of the state. Ash rained down while we sheltered in place, learning over Zoom.
Our childhoods have unfolded in a California that is on fire."
Homeless students can sleep safely in their cars at this California college. Other campuses say no
CALMatters's BRIANA MENDEZ-PADILLA: "Pink hues adorn the horizon as the sun rises on a nondescript parking lot at Long Beach City College. The lot is quiet but not empty, with the same gray asphalt and slightly faded white lines as any other one on campus. But from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., it is much more than a place to park.
The lot is a designated area for Long Beach City College’s Safe Parking Program, an initiative from the college’s Basic Needs Center that offers safe overnight parking for students and connects them to resources like showers and Wi-Fi. The program was created to address a particular student demographic: homeless students living in their cars."
UC police ask to beef up stores of weapons and ammo, alarming students
The Chronicle's NANETTE ASIMOV: "University of California police, who clashed with student protesters on several campuses last term, will ask the UC regents this week to let them buy drones, robots, pepper balls, projectile launchers and sponge bullets to bulk up their supplies of weapons and ammunition.
The regents will vote Thursday on whether to approve requests for “military equipment” from five campuses: UC Berkeley, UCSF, UCLA, UC Santa Cruz and UC Merced."
Sacramento school board to decide fate of St. Hope charter schools after issues revealed
Sacramento Bee's JENNAH PENDLETON: "The Sacramento City Unified School District board will decide the fate of two charter schools operated by St. Hope Public Schools — Public School 7 and Sacramento Charter High — at a meeting Thursday evening. In many cases, charter renewal is a formality, but the charter school organization has faced scrutiny in recent months following the release of an audit report that alleged several major violations in the school’s governance and fiscal structure which has made for a frustrating, public facing experience for both St. Hope and the school district."
California’s cap on health care costs is the nation’s strongest. But will patients notice?
CALMatters's KRISTEN HWANG: "Vickie Villegas had to pay $3,000 out-of-pocket every time she was treated for multiple sclerosis, a disease that attacks the central nervous system. Her doctor recommended she get treatments twice a year to keep the disease from worsening, but she couldn’t afford it, the Pasadena-area resident said.
“I just couldn’t keep up,” Villegas said. Her disease progressed, and she lost use of her left hand."
The S.F. medical examiner said her dad died of an overdose and sent her the ashes. But it was a colossal mistake
The Chronicle's MATTHIAS GAFNI: "For three years, Kylie Robinson mourned her father’s death. James Robinson had died on May 7, 2021, from an accidental drug overdose while in a Tenderloin hotel room, San Francisco’s medical examiner had told her.
She held a funeral in a Solano County veteran’s hall. She had him cremated. She spread some of his ashes in Hawaii. Other ashes were placed in custom-made jewelry. She erected a shrine in her living room with his decorative urn, got his name tattooed on her arm and named her son after him."
The tragic missteps of drug-induced homicide laws (OP-ED)
PETER VARGAS in Capitol Weekly: "I never wanted to be part of the war on drugs, but my family’s experience forced me into it. My son Joel’s battle with substance use exposed me to the harsh realities of drug policies, bureaucratic hurdles, and heartbreaking loss.
When we first realized Joel needed help, we turned to Google. The only treatment centers that appeared were the ones that could afford a strong online presence. We were desperate to save our son, unaware that free or low-cost options existed. We didn’t know about SAMHSA or other resources because this wasn’t a world we knew."
California’s film industry is in crisis. Can it be saved?
LAT's STACY PERMAN, CHRISTI CARRAS: "
In 2021 Vince Gervasi, president and chief executive of Triscenic Production Services, saw an opportunity.
For nearly four decades, the Santa Clarita-based company has been the largest provider of set and scenery storage, transportation and other services for the entertainment business. With the industry still in the throes of a streaming surge and the number of productions filmed in Los Angeles increasing dramatically, the company built seven soundstages."
Thousands of foster kids in California could lose their homes amid insurance crisis
LAT's REBECCA ELLIS: "Monique Lewis has figured out a few tricks to lure her foster child to school.
Some days, it’s McDonald’s frappuccinos. But on days the 13-year-old girl still struggles to get out of bed, a counselor from Aviva Family and Children’s Services is available to help out."
Mortgage rates are falling. How far will they go?
LAT's ANDREW KHOURI: "For many prospective homebuyers, the last two years have been brutal as high home prices and mortgage rates produced the most unaffordable housing market since the 2000s bubble.
Many experts don’t expect drastic improvement soon, but a shift could finally be underway."
‘A culture of silence and deference’: A sex trafficking expert analyzes the allegations against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
LAT's AUGUST BROWN: "Monday night’s indictment of Sean “Diddy” Combs escalated the rapper and mogul’s legal peril significantly. The charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution followed a high-profile federal investigation, including a raid on Combs’ Los Angeles and Miami homes. Civil suits filed by Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura and others allege sexual abuse, physical assault and a litany of other disturbing allegations that have tarnished his reputation.
On Tuesday, Combs pleaded not guilty to all charges in the indictment in a federal courtroom in Manhattan."
Can you be too old to drive in California? See state guidelines for seniors
Sacramento Bee's ANGELA RODRIGUEZ: "For many Californians, driving symbolizes a sense of independence and freedom.
What happens when age begins to interfere with safe driving?"
