How much will cities profit from California's marijuana legalization? We'll soon find out
LA Times' DAVID GARRICK: "San Diego expects to get a windfall of new revenue from the city’s tax on recreational marijuana sales that begin Monday, but officials concede they are taking guesses at how many millions per year the tax will generate."
"Estimates presented to the City Council this month predict $5.5 million per year initially, with steady increases up to $13.7 million in the budget year that ends in June 2023."
"That’s below the $22 million to $35 million of annual revenue predicted last year by the city’s independent budget analyst, and the finance officials responsible for the new estimates say they erred strongly on the conservative side."
Bakersfield focus in bullet train battle
Capitol Weekly's DOROTHY MILLS-GREGG: "At the heart of the dispute over California’s bullet train project is Bakersfield, where a legal battle has sent ripples through the multibillion-dollar system."
"We have adversely affected all of Southern California,” said Adam Cohen, a Bakersfield transportation and planning consultant who closely monitors the high-speed train’s path and station through his city."
"The core issue is where the track will go from Poplar Avenue north of Shafter to one of two proposed locations in Bakersfield – to the original Truxtun Avenue station, also served now by Amtrak, or to a new location on F Street. The issue remains under review because of lawsuits by local governments three years ago."
Ballot measure adds twist to SF race for District 2 supervisor
The Chronicle's RACHEL SWAN: "A candidate in a tightly contested race to represent San Francisco’s Marina district is financing a June ballot measure to set lifetime term limits at the Board of Supervisors, which would disqualify his main challenger."
"Nick Josefowitz, who serves on BART’s Board of Directors, has thrown $82,000 toward a measure that would bar anyone from serving as mayor or supervisor in San Francisco for more than two four-year terms. It would prevent former Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier from running against him in November to represent District Two, the posh northern area of the city that includes the Marina, Cow Hollow, Pacific Heights and the Presidio."
"Alioto-Pier, who has announced her intention to run, would oppose Josefowitz and two other candidates for the seat of termed-out Supervisor Mark Farrell."
Regulators warned against housing near freeways due to health risks. Now they're warming to it.
LA Times' TONY BARBOZA/DAVID ZAHNISER: "Twelve years ago, California air quality officials delivered a warning to cities and counties: Avoid putting new homes in high-pollution zones within 500 feet of freeways."
"That advice, which relied on years of research linking traffic pollution to asthma, heart attacks and other health problems, was aimed at keeping “children and other vulnerable populations out of harm’s way,” according to the state Air Resources Board’s 2005 handbook."
"But earlier this year, the air board shifted its stance. It issued a new advisory that emphasizes design rather than distance, recommending anti-pollution features such as air filters, sound walls and thick vegetation as “promising strategies” to reduce the health risks from freeways. With those measures, communities can build “while simultaneously reducing exposure to traffic-related pollution,” the air board said."
READ MORE related to Housing & Homelessness: Three California housing issues to watch in 2018 -- LA Times' LIAM DILLON
Residents line up to pay tax bills early after Trump tax plan alters deductions
Sacramento Bee's HUDSON SANGREE: "Residents lined up before the doors opened Tuesday at the Sacramento County Administration Building to do something people aren’t normally so eager to do: pay their taxes early."
"Many were intent on saving money while they can."
"The Republican tax plan signed by President Donald Trump last week limits deductions of state and local taxes to $10,000 starting next year. It also nearly doubles the standard deduction for single filers to $12,000 and for married couples to $24,000."
Drivers were watching the Space X rocket. They should have been watching the road, video shows
Sacramento Bee's JARED GILMOUR: "The SpaceX rocket launch last Friday captivated a huge, wide-eyed audience on earth, whether viewers caught the sight on the ground in California or by watching on social media."
"But at least a few rocket viewers — these ones driving on the 10 Freeway in Banning, Calif., during the launch — should have been paying more attention to the road than to the out-of-this-world spectacle. One car’s dash cam footage captured a three-car accident the launch appears to have caused on the evening of Dec. 22 on that stretch of road east of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reports."
"Wow, look at that thing,” a man can be heard saying on the dash cam video as the rocket appears in the darkening sky. “That’s a rocket, man."
Price of 40-year-old cancer drug hiked 1400% by new owners
MoneyWatch's JONATHAN BERR: "Prices for a cancer drug called lomustine have skyrocketed nearly 1,400 percent since 2013, putting a potentially life-saving treatment out of reach for patients suffering from brain tumors and Hodgkin's lymphoma. Though the 40-year-old medication is no longer protected by patents, no generic version is available."
"According to the Wall Street Journal, lomustine was sold by Bristol-Myers Squib for years under the brand name CeeNU at a price of about $50 a capsule for the highest dose. The drugmaker sold lomustine in 2013 to a little-known Miami startup called NextSource, which proceeded to hike lomustine's price nine times since. It now charges about $768 per pill for the medication."
"According to an analysis done for the Journal by Truveen Health Analytics and Elsevier, NextSource this year raised prices for the drug, which it rebranded as Gleostine, by 12 percent in November following a 20 percent increase in August."
How big tech is going after your health care
NYT's NATASHA SINGER: "When Daniel Poston, a second-year medical student in Manhattan, opened the App Store on his iPhone a couple of weeks ago, he was astonished to see an app for a new heart study prominently featured."
"People often learn about new research studies through in-person conversations with their doctors. But not only did this study, run by Stanford University, use a smartphone to recruit consumers, it was financed by Apple. And it involved using an app on the Apple Watch to try to identify irregular heart rhythms."
"Intrigued, Mr. Poston, who already owned an Apple Watch, registered for the heart study right away. Then he took to Twitter to encourage others to do likewise — suggesting that it was part of a breakthrough in health care."
READ MORE related to Technology: Bitcoin's boom is a boon for extremist groups -- WaPo's CRAIG TIMBERG
Name-drawing in tied Va. House race delayed after Democrat announces court challenge
WaPo's LAURA VOZZELLA: "The Virginia State Board of Elections has postponed plans for a name-drawing on Wednesday to decide the winner of a deadlocked House of Delegates race — and possibly which party controls the chamber — after one of the candidates announced plans for a court challenge over whether the election was really a tie."
"The rare spectacle of filling a legislative seat by drawing one of two candidates’ names out of a pitcher has drawn widespread interest, in no small part because a Democratic victory would mean that the House, where Republicans had a 16-seat majority before the Nov. 7 elections, would be split 50-50 when the legislature convenes Jan. 10."
"Democratic challenger Shelly Simonds said Tuesday that she would file a motion in Newport News Circuit Court on Wednesday, asking judges to reconsider their decision to count a disputed ballot as a vote for Republican incumbent David Yancey and declare the race a tie."
READ MORE related to Blue Flood: GOP intraparty clash poised to shape US Senate contest in Mississippi -- WaPo's SEAN SULLIVAN/MICHAEL SCHERER
Inspector general says mishandling of sexual harassment complaints at Justice Department is 'systemic' problem
WaPo's SARI HORWITZ: "The Justice Department has “systemic” problems in how it handles sexual harassment complaints, with those found to have acted improperly often not receiving appropriate punishment, and the issue requires “high level action,” according to the department’s inspector general."
"Justice supervisors have mishandled complaints, the IG said, and some perpetrators were given little discipline or even later rewarded with bonuses or performance awards. At the same time, the number of allegations of sexual misconduct has been increasing over the past five years and the complaints have involved senior Justice Department officials across the country."
"The cases examined by the IG’s office include a U.S. attorney who had a sexual relationship with a subordinate and sent harassing texts and emails when it ended; a Civil Division lawyer who groped the breasts and buttocks of two female trial attorneys; and a chief deputy U.S. marshal who had sex with “approximately” nine women on multiple occasions in his U.S. Marshals Service office, according to investigative reports obtained by The Washington Post under a Freedom of Information Act request."
READ MORE related to Sexual Harassment: Complaint accuses luxury Terranea Resort of human trafficking violations, exploiting foreign interns -- LA Times' ANDREA CASTILLO
$180bn investment in plastic factories feeds global packaging binge
The Guardian's MATTHEW TAYLOR: "The global plastic binge which is already causing widespread damage to oceans, habitats and food chains, is set to increase dramatically over the next 10 years after multibillion dollar investments in a new generation of plastics plants in the US."
"Fossil fuel companies are among those who have ploughed more than $180bn since 2010 into new “cracking” facilities that will produce the raw material for everyday plastics from packaging to bottles, trays and cartons."
"The new facilities – being built by corporations like Exxon Mobile Chemical and Shell Chemical – will help fuel a 40% rise in plastic production in the next decade, according to experts, exacerbating the plastic pollution crisis that scientist warn already risks “near permanent pollution of the earth."
READ MORE related to Environment: Starfish making comeback after syndrome killed millions -- AP
OP-ED: Charitable giving could drop by $21 billion a year because of the tax changes
Market Watch's PATRICK ROONEY: "The tax-code overhaul that Republican lawmakers approved and President Trump signed into law will raise the price of charitable giving for millions of Americans, surely reducing how much money the nation gives."
"As an economist and a scholar of philanthropy who researches how public policies shape charitable giving, I anticipate that the tax tweaks will lead Americans and U.S. companies to donate roughly $21 billion less per year to charity."
"My colleagues and I expect giving to be reduced chiefly through two of the tax plan’s key features — significantly boosting the standard deduction and cutting the top marginal tax rate."
Chinese ships spotted selling oil to N. Korea
The Chosunilbo's YU YONG-WEON: "U.S. reconnaissance satellites have spotted Chinese ships selling oil to North Korean vessels on the West Sea around 30 times since October."
"According to South Korean government sources, the satellites have pictured large Chinese and North Korean ships illegally trading in oil in a part of the West Sea closer to China than South Korea."
"The satellite pictures even show the names of the ships. A government source said, "We need to focus on the fact that the illicit trade started after a UN Security Council resolution in September drastically capped North Korea's imports of refined petroleum products."
READ MORE related to North Korean Crisis: US announces sanctions on North Korea missile makers -- REUTERS
READ MORE related to KremlinGate: Trump's tweets about FBI could be witness intimidation, former WH lawyers say -- Newsweek's MAX KUTNER; Bernstein: FBI isn't tainted, Trump's presidency is -- The Hill's JOHN BOWDEN
More Americans want to see Donald Trump impeached than would vote for him in 2020, poll finds
Independent's EMILY SHUGERMAN: "Donald Trump has once again shattered records with his historically low approval rating."
"More voters would like to watch impeachment hearings for Mr Trump than would vote for him in the next presidential election, a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey found."
"The December 2017 poll surveyed public opinion of Mr Trump, his policies, and his party as he moved towards the end of his first year in office."
READ MORE related to POTUS45: Trump golfs a day after 'back to work' tweet -- ABC News' BENJAMIN SIEGEL; Trump partly blamed Sessions for Alabama Senate loss: report -- The Hill's JACQUELINE THOMSEN; Israeli minister plans to name Western Wall train station after Trump -- AP; Mitch McConnell had a tough year, and Donald Trump to thank -- McClatchy DC's EMMA DUMAIN
Eagles' Don Henley helps 'Let's Buy a Mountain' group preserve 17 acres in Laurel Canyon
City News Service: "Preservation groups Tuesday announced the purchase of a 17-acre mountain ridge for open space and wildlife habitat in Laurel Canyon."
"The property between Lookout Mountain Avenue and Stanley Hills Drive was purchased for $1.6 million as the result of the “Let’s Buy a Mountain” non-profit donation campaign led by Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife (CLAW) and the Laurel Canyon Association, which aimed to turn the land over to the Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority for management and permanent preservation."
"Government agencies, neighborhood special events, resident and community donations, philanthropic support, and even gifts from some of Laurel Canyon’s storied former residents helped complete the purchase."
Poachers shoot down anti-poaching drone in the Gulf of California
LA Times' LAURA TILLMAN: "Tensions between poachers and conservationists in the Gulf of California escalated over the weekend after a fisherman shot down a drone being used to monitor illegal activities."
"The drone belonged to the U.S. conservation group Sea Shepherd, which has two ships in the northern part of the Sea of Cortez as part of an effort to save the critically endangered vaquita porpoise."
"The vaquita have been inadvertently caught in nets that poachers use to catch the endangered totoaba fish. Fishermen can make huge sums on the black market for dried totoaba swim bladders, which are sold in China for their supposed medicinal properties."
Flight from LA to Tokyo turns around after four hours due to 'unauthorised person'
The Guardian's JUSTIN MCCURRY: "A Japanese airliner bound for Tokyo was forced to turn around over the Pacific Ocean and return to Los Angeles on Tuesday after the discovery of an “unauthorised person” among the 150 passengers on board."
"The flight made an unscheduled U-turn four hours into the 11-and-a-half-hour journey."
"There was no security or safety threat involved, however – it appears that the rogue passenger, who has not been identified, managed to proceed from check-in all the way to the final boarding pass check at LAX and board the wrong plane."
Utah officer punches through frozen pond, dives in to rescue 8-year-old boy
NBC News' ALEX JOHNSON: "A sheriff's officer who threw off his gear and dived into a frozen pond to save an 8-year-old Utah boy on Christmas Day refused to be labeled a hero on Tuesday."
"The officer, Washington County sheriff's Sgt. Aaron Thompson, responded to the frozen pond in New Harmony, in the southern part of the state, after the boy's friend called for help late Monday afternoon, authorities said."
"The boy, whose name hasn't been made public, was chasing his dog when he fell through the ice, authorities said. His condition hasn't been disclosed. Thompson suffered only cuts, bruises and symptoms of hypothermia, and he was back at work Tuesday."
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The Roundup is compiled by Associate Editor Geoff Howard. Questions? Comments? Feedback? Email him at geoff@capitolweekly.net
