Two leading critics of California's public pension system said they have dropped plans to put a pair of measures before voters this year in November.
From the Bee's Jon Ortiz: "Beleaguered by fundraising doubts and attacks from organized labor, two former California officials said Monday they are backing off plans to place a measure on the November ballot intended to curb public pension benefits."
"Instead, former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and former San Diego Councilman Carl DeMaio said in a joint announcement, “We have decided to re-file at least one of our pension reform measures later this year for the November 2018 ballot.”
"Reed said in a telephone interview that he is disappointed but undeterred. Professional fundraisers and potential donors, he said, believed that economics, politics and a pending U.S. Supreme Court decision would strengthen the likelihood of passing a pension measure in two years."
A group of protesters who chained themselves together briefly caused the mother of all traffic jams on the Bay Bridge, forcing vehicles to stop Monday afternoon all the way back to I-80 in Oakland.
From the Chronicle's Rachel Swan, Michael Cabanatuan and Jenna Lyons: "California Highway Patrol officers arrested 25 demonstrators after the group used the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday Monday to chain themselves and their vehicles across all five westbound lanes of the Bay Bridge, bringing traffic to a standstill as they demanded racial equity."
"The activists froze traffic for about 30 minutes before they were arrested on suspicion of public nuisance, unlawful assembly and obstructing free passage,CHP Officer Vu Williams said."
"The protesters apparently drove onto the bridge in five cars shortly before 4 p.m., stopping near the new eastern span tower — one in each of the five lanes. They stepped out on Interstate 80, just east of Yerba Buena Island, and strung chain through each of the cars and across the lanes, forcing traffic to back up well into the MacArthur Maze in the East Bay."
Porter Ranch, near the site of a natural gas leak that has forced a mass evacuation, resembles a crime scene and those responsible should be held to account, the mayor of Los Angeles says.
From Brenda Gazzar in the L.A. Daily News: "The leak, which Gas Co. officials say was detected at the Aliso Canyon Storage Facility on Oct. 23, has sickened many nearby residents, forced thousands from their homes and prompted the relocation of students at two schools."
“This is an unprecedented environmental disaster for Los Angeles and every hour, every day, every minute we can shave off of that well being completely capped, we’re working on it,” Garcetti said in an interview following a breakfast in honor of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Boys and Girls Club of San Fernando Valley in Pacoima."
“But I’m also worried about home prices completely devastated, businesses that may go out of business and this feels like a crime scene...There should be resolution not just in the short term, but long term accountability.”
Speaking of Porter Ranch, officials say safety concerns put a halt to a plan to burn the leaking gas.
From the LAT's Matt Hamilton: "Southern California Gas Co. said Monday that it has abandoned a plan to capture and burn the leaking natural gas that has forced thousands of Porter Ranch residents to relocate, citing safety concerns."
"The announcement came just two days after the South Coast Air Quality Management District announced that the company’s proposal to burn the gas would be placed on hold because of the risk of a catastrophic explosion. The AQMD said the burn plan needed approval from state and federal regulators, along with fire officials."
"The state Public Utilities Commission had given the gas company until Tuesday to address concerns about capturing and burning the gas, noting that the design calls for blowers with electric motors that could spark an explosion."
Gov. Jerry Brown, 14 years in to his job of running California, shows no sign of losing his political muscle.
From the LAT's George Skelton: "Besides any governor's intimidating power to sign or veto bills, one source of Brown's strength is his high job-approval rating among voters: 56%, according to a new Field Poll. Another is a chubby cache of campaign funds — nearly $24 million at last count. He can empty that political arsenal on any ballot measure he chooses. So far he's keeping his powder dry."
"He almost certainly will spend some of it fighting a "no blank checks" initiative bankrolled by a native of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The measure would require voter approval of any project with a price tag exceeding $2 billion if it's to be financed by state revenue bonds..."
"The initiative sponsor is Dean Cortopassi — a food processor whose goal is to block Brown's proposed delta water tunnel project, a $15.5-billion monstrosity. It consists of twin 30-mile tunnels, each 40 feet in diameter, siphoning fresh water from the Sacramento River before it flows through the estuary and pouring it into southbound aqueducts."
And from our "Walk and Chew Gum at the Same Tme" file comes the tale of the drug store thief who stole not drugs, but gum.
"Canadian police are searching for a man accused of staling over $1,500 worth of chewing gum from a local pharmacy."
"Surveillance footage posted to YouTube by York Regional Police shows the man entering the pharmacy in Markham holding a garbage bag after arriving by taxi."
"A few moments later he re-enters the store, fills another garbage bag with chewing gum and walks out again," York Regional Police said in a statement posted to Facebook. "It is believed that the man loaded both garbage bags into the taxi that was waiting for him and left."
"Police estimate the cost of the gum at $1,528 and are seeking the public's help to identify the suspect."
Hope it was Double Bubble or Jucy Fruit ....
