"Now, the South Coast Air Quality Management District is considering a proposal to regulate warehouses, rail yards and large development projects as indirect sources of pollution due to the droves of diesel trucks, locomotives and construction equipment they attract."
"But the district's governing board again appears poised to reject much of its staff's proposal at a public meeting Friday."
READ MORE related to Energy & Environment: SoCal family gets $1.6 million after 3-year-old was scarred by bedbugs -- The Chronicle's CHRISTINA CARON; California's nearly dismal snow year a harbinger of things to come -- Water Deeply's TARA LOHAN; In Napa, Watershed and woodlands initiative clashes with wineries -- Water Deeply's ROBIN MEADOWS; Tensions high as nations meet to set climate plan for global shipping -- Oceans Deeply's JESSICA LEBER; LA plugs in giant solar array on roof of Convention Center, ranks No. 1 for solar power cities in America -- SGV Tribune's STEVE SCAUZILLO; Top EPA ethics official says he lacked key facts about Pruitt's condo rental -- WaPo's JULIET EILPERIN/BRADY DENNIS
In surprise move, CFPB appeals judgment against CashCall slashed by judge
LA Times's JAMES RUFUS KOREN: "When President Trump appointee Mick Mulvaney took over as interim director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in November, he pledged to use a light hand, saying the bureau works for lenders just as much as it works for consumers."
"Since then, the bureau has dropped a lawsuit against lenders affiliated with a Northern California Native American tribe, sought to roll back rules reining in payday lenders and, most recently, asked Congress to curb the bureau's power to make new rules."
"And yet the bureau took steps last week to continue legal action against high-cost Orange County lender CashCall Inc., a move that consumer finance attorneys called surprising and seemingly out of keeping with Mulvaney's marching orders."
READ MORE related to Development & Economy: A nervous, frustrated Washington braces for a US-China trade war -- McClatchy DC's LINDSAY WISE/LESLEY CLARK; Sweeping California housing bill attacked on author's home turf -- BANG's KATY MURPHY
YouTube shooting: Family of nasim Najafi Aghfdam says it warned cops
The Chronicle's PETER FIMRITE/KEVIN FAGAN: "Anguished relatives of the disgruntled YouTube video maker who drove from Southern California to shoot three people and kill herself at the company’s San Bruno headquarters said Wednesday they warned police the woman could be dangerous — but Bay Area law enforcement officials said they had no idea violence could erupt."
"A woman who came to the family home of shooter Nasim Najafi Aghdam on Wednesday said the video maker and animal-rights advocate “was angry” at the company, and that the family had warned police to “be careful."
READ MORE related to Youtube Shooting: Police tape taken down, autopsy done, probe continues -- Mercury News's ROBERT SALONGA; Women shooters a rare breed -- The Chronicle's JASON FAGONE; Growing voice against gun violence: trauma surgeons -- The Chronicle's ERIN ALLDAY; Employees return to work day after chaos -- The Chronicle's TRISHA THADANI/SOPHIE HAIGNEY; Nasim Aghdam raged at YouTube, but her family is stunned it ended in gunfire -- LA Times's PALOMA ESQUIVEL/JAMES QUEALLY/SARAH PARVINI/RICHARD WINTON; Dark consequences of search for social media celebrity -- Mercury News's KAREN D'SOUZA; What if YouTube shooter had an assault rifle? -- Mercury News's PATRICK MAY; How YouTube shooter turned from defiant to deadly -- BANG's JULIA PRODIS SULEK/SCOTT SCHWEBKE/STEPHANIE SCHULTE
Capitol Weekly Podcast: Kevin Eckery
Capitol Weekly STAFF: "Twenty two years ago this week, federal authorities arrested Ted Kaczynski — known as the Unabomber — in his remote cabin near Lincoln, Montana, ending a 17-year reign of terror."
"While the Unabomber had no strong ties to the Sacramento region, both his first and final murders occurred here. It was in 1995 that Kaczynski, a Harvard-trained mathematician and forest recluse, claimed his final victim, Sacramento timber lobbyist Gil Murray. Murray was killed by a powerful bomb that tore through the California Forestry Association offices on I Street."
"William Strampel, then dean of MSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, was arrested this week on charges of harassing, propositioning, sexually assaulting and soliciting pornographic videos of female students."
"The arrest came as part of a broader probe into MSU’s handling of complaints against former sports doctor Larry Nassar, whom Strampel supervised. Nassar was sentenced in January to up to 175 years in prison after more than 150 girls and young women — some of them Olympic gymnasts — testified he sexually assaulted them under the guise of medical treatment over two decades."
Chemical attack at UC Berkeley leaves female employee with burns
The Chronicle's SOPHIE HAIGNEY: "A man entered a building on UC Berkeley’s campus early Wednesday morning and assaulted a female school employee in a chemical attack, authorities said."
"At approximately 1:35 a.m., the woman entered a restroom in Wheeler Hall, a building on campus that houses the school’s English department. She encountered a man and told him to leave because the building was closed, according to the UC Berkeley Police Department."
Tuition hikes drive budget fight between Jerry Brown and California universities
Sacramento Bee's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "Under intense pressure not to raise tuition for the second consecutive year, California's public university systems have delayed votes to increase student fees and turned their attention back to the Capitol to lobby the state for more money."
"Hundreds of California State University students and faculty, joined by Chancellor Timothy White, rallied in Sacramento on Wednesday, calling on Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers to cover the cost of an anticipated 4 percent tuition hike in the forthcoming state budget. University of California students, facing a possible fee increase of nearly 3 percent next year, visited the Capitol last week."
"Legislative leaders are supportive of their efforts. Both Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon spoke at Wednesday's rally."
READ MORE related to Education: Facing unprepared kindergartners, a rural school district restores preschool for all -- EdSource's ASHLEY HOPKINSON; Student activist from Oakland appointed to California's Board of Education -- EdSource's THERESA HARRINGTON; LAUSD board member Ref Rodriguez taken into custody for suspected public drunkenness -- Daily News
Timeline: Despite GOP's failure to repeal Obamacare, the ACA has changed
CHL's JULIE ROVNER: "Congress in 2017 failed to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act. But the health law has been changed in many other ways over the past year and a half. Some changes were made by Congress, some by President Donald Trump and his administration and some by state officials. Here is a timeline of the most consequential events that have shaped the health law:"
"Jan. 20, 2017:"
"On his first day in office, Trump issues an executive order to “minimize the unwarranted economic and regulatory burdens” of the health law. It includes instructions to agencies to “exercise all authority and discretion available to them to waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of any provision or requirement of the Act that would impose a fiscal burden.”
READ MORE related to Health & Health Care: Older Americans are hooked on vitamins despite scarce evidence they workc -- CHL's LIZ SZABO; 'Scary' lung disease now afflicts more women than men in US -- CHL's ANNA GORMAN
Facebook says Cambridge Analytica harvested data of up to 87 million users
NYT's CECILIA KANG/SHEERA FRENKEL: "Facebook on Wednesday said that the data of up to 87 million users may have been improperly shared with a political consulting firm connected to President Trump during the 2016 election — a figure far higher than the estimate of 50 million that had been widely cited since the leak was reported last month."
"Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s chief executive, also announced that Facebook would offer all of its users the same tools and controls required under European privacy rules. The European rules, which go into effect next month, give people more control over how companies use their digital data."
"Facebook had not previously disclosed how many accounts had been harvested by Cambridge Analytica, the firm connected to the Trump campaign. It has also been reluctant to disclose how it was used by Russian-backed actors to influence the 2016 presidential election."
