California Supreme Court puts limits on Jerry Brown's powers, denying clemency to 6 California killers
Sacramento Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG: "The California Supreme Court rejected one of Gov. Jerry Brown’s attempted commutations Monday, the seventh time the court has rejected a clemency request from the outgoing governor in recent weeks."
"The rejections mark the first time the court has blocked a governor’s clemency requests in at least half a century, according to the state’s Judicial Council. The court reviews clemency actions for inmates who have been convicted of more than one felony."
"On Monday, just hours before the expected release of Brown’s annual Christmas Eve clemency actions, the court announced that it rejected Brown’s attempt to commute the sentence of Kenny Lee, who robbed and murdered a cab driver in 1992."
Tiny salamander in NorCal could spell big problem for plans to heighten the Shasta Dam
LA Times's HANNAH FRY: "A trio of tiny salamander species could mean big trouble for federal officials spearheading a controversial $1.4-billion public works project to heighten the Shasta Dam in Northern California."
"Two environmental organizations — the Center for Biological Diversity and the Environmental Protection Information Center — filed a federal lawsuit last month asking a judge to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine whether the Shasta salamanders should be protected under the Endangered Species Act."
"The Center for Biological Diversity asked the wildlife service in 2012 to declare the amphibians either endangered or threatened, but the agency never made a decision, said Jenny Loda, an attorney for the environmental group."
Camp Fire victims get Christmas pardons
Sacramento Bee's ADAM ASHTON: "Almost 20 years ago Heather Steels Burnett tried to restart her life with “nothing but a criminal record.”
"Today, she’s starting over again. She and her husband lost their home a month ago when the Camp Fire tore through Paradise."
"But that criminal record? That’s a thing of the past."
Private woodlands lost to California wildfire -- and may not be replaced
The Chronicle's PETER FIMRITE: "Tens of thousands of acres of private woodlands in California are being gobbled up by wildfires as the state gets warmer, winters get shorter and fuel gets drier — and these dense stands of burned trees, crucial in the fight against global warming, are often lost forever."
"The fires, larger and more damaging each year, pose a major threat to the state’s 33 million acres of forested land, 40 percent of which is on private property. But they are especially problematic for the individuals and families who own a cumulative 9 million acres of heavily wooded property in the state."
"Many of these small property owners don’t have the money or resources to clear out and replace trees when wildfires sweep over the landscape."
An 8-year-old Guatemalen child dies in US custody on Christmas Eve after being treated for a cold
LA Times's LAURA KING: "An 8-year-old Guatemalan boy died late Christmas Eve in the custody of U.S. immigration authorities, the second death in less than three weeks of a child in detention and a searing new emblem of Trump administration border policies that critics are lambasting as cruel and inhumane."
"The boy’s death at a New Mexico hospital marked yet another grim inflection point in the wider immigration struggle that has roiled U.S. politics this year, stirring partisan passions and fueling outrage over the ongoing separation of hundreds of children from their parents at the border."
"Monday’s death, announced by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, comes against the backdrop of a separate migration-related battle: the partial government shutdown over President Trump’s demand of $5 billion for a border wall. There is no indication that the shutdown had anything to do with the child’s death, however. Customs and Border Protection agents are considered essential employees and remain on the job."
READ MORE related to Immigration: Among Vietnamese, a generational divide arises in fight against deportation threat -- LA Times's ANH DO/MOLLY O'TOOLE
'This is our land': Native Americans see Trump's move to reduce Bears Ears monument as an assault on their culture
LA Times's KURTIS LEE: "Thick red mud clung to Jonah Yellowman’s boots as he sidestepped down the embankment into a narrow valley of sagebrush. When he spotted perfect stems — not too dry, not too long — he snapped them from the waist-high bushes."
"Every few months for much of his life, the 66-year-old Navajo spiritual leader has trekked from his nearby home to this slice of land in southeastern Utah, not far from the base of the Bears Ears buttes, to gather sage. Throughout the year, he uses the plant in ceremonies, often sharing it with people seeking wisdom or health, or as a way to offer thanks."
"This is our land and our herb,” Yellowman said. “It has to be protected. It’s all we have."
Fund benefited Point Reyes, many other parks. Congress let it expire
The Chronicle's KURTIS ALEXANDER: "Three months ago, one of the nation’s largest programs for land conservation suffered a quiet demise."
"The 53-year-old Land and Water Conservation Fund authorized the U.S. Treasury to direct millions of dollars from oil and gas royalties to the acquisition of parks, wilderness areas and historical sites in California and across the country."
"But Congress allowed the program to expire Sept. 30, leaving no money coming in for new real estate purchases, the likes of which have given rise to Muir Woods, Point Reyes National Seashore, Mount Diablo State Park and Redwood National Park."
'An outstanding model': Sacramento County has permanently housed 416 homeless people
Sacramento Bee's ALEXANDRA YON-HENDRICKS: "At night, when Elizabeth Bise hears rain pouring down outside the window of her new apartment, she can’t help but cry tears of relief, remembering how different her life was just a few months ago on the streets of Sacramento."
"I cry and say a prayer of joy. I paid my dues,” said the 45-year-old, who had spent more than five years living in various spots between Carmichael and downtown Sacramento. “I was outside alone for a very, very long time. ... I haven’t slept through the night, one whole night, yet. It’s been such an adjustment."
"Bise is one of 416 people who were permanently housed in recent months through one of four expanded county homelessness initiatives. The programs are paid for by $10.3 million in annual county funding that began in October of 2017, according to Ann Edwards, director of Sacramento County’s Department of Health and Human Services."
Capitol Corridor passenger trains just got the bgigest safety upgrade in a century
Sacramento Bee's TONY BIZJAK: "Two years ago an Amtrak Capitol Corridor passenger train outside Sacramento jolted so violently that passengers thought it would derail."
"The engineer had mistakenly sped at double the limit through a track crossover. Coffees, laptops and some bodies went flying. Two people were slightly injured. Ultimately, two train operators were disciplined. But the human-error incident left several passengers saying they wondered if rail officials were really focused on safety."
"Now, corridor train officials say, an incident like that is unlikely to happen again."
Trump: "I can't tell you when' government will reopen
AP's DARLENE SUPERVILLE: "President Donald Trump said Tuesday that parts of the federal government will stay closed until Democrats agree to put up more walls along the U.S.-Mexico border to deter criminal elements. He said he's open to calling the wall something else as long as he ends up with an actual wall."
"In a Christmas Day appearance in the Oval Office, Trump issued a lengthy defense of his desire for a wall, saying it's the only way to stop drugs and human traffickers from entering the country. In a nod to the political stakes he's facing, Trump said he wants the wall by "election time" in 2020."
"The promise of a border wall was a central component of Trump's presidential campaign."
READ MORE related to POTUS45: The government shutdown will hit home for many after Xmas with many federal offices shuttered -- AP
Mexico invites US experts to investigate helicopter crash
AP: "Mexico has invited experts from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board to investigate a helicopter crash that killed the governor of the western state of Puebla and her
husband."
"Mexico's assistant transportation secretary says the invitation was made "to leave no doubts" about the Monday crash that killed opposition Gov. Martha Erika Alonso and her husband, ex-Gov. Rafael Moreno Valle."
"Carlos Moran said Tuesday that the manufacturers of the helicopter and its engines will participate in the investigation, and it was too early to determine whether mechanical problems played a role."
