Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting: 3 killed, 15 wounded, gunman dead
The Chronicle's STEVE RUBENSTEIN/LAUREN HERNANDEZ/GWENDOLYN WU/DOMINIC FRACASSA: "A gunman with an assault-type rifle opened fire at the Gilroy Garlic Festival on Sunday evening, killing three and wounding 15 others, some critically, before being killed by police, Gilroy police said. A 6-year-old boy was among the dead."
"Witnesses reported a second suspect, and a search continued late Sunday night for that person, police said."
"Police Chief Scot Smithee said the gunman and a companion accessed the festival through a creek and cut through a perimeter fence to avoid metal detectors. Gilroy police did not know what motivated the shooter or how the second suspect may have been involved."
READ MORE related to Gun Violence Pandemic: 4 dead, including shooter, during attack at Gilroy Garlic Festival. 6-year-old killed -- Sacramento Bee's JOSHUA TEHEE/JAIMIE DING; 'Complete chaos' erupts at Gilroy Garlic Festival as gunman opens fire, witnesses say -- Sacramento Bee's DON SWEENEY
California redistricting panel struggles for diversity
The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH: "The commission that will redraw California’s political lines after the 2020 census is looking for a few good men — and a whole lot more good women, Latinos and Asian Americans."
"A lack of diversity in a group designed to represent all of California is a growing concern as the Aug. 9 deadline for applications nears for the panel that will draw new boundaries for congressional and state legislative districts."
California's biggest oil spill in decades brings more defiance than anger from locals
Sacramento Bee's LOUIS SAHAGUN: "Near the jagged western edge of Kern County, where the Temblor Range gives way to a landscape of steam pipes, fuel lines and bobbing pumpjacks, there’s a definite mood in this dusty little oil town: Defiance."
"Hardly a day goes by without reports of the growing oil leak in nearby Cymric oil field. So far, more than 900,000 gallons of oil and brine have oozed from a Chevron Corp. well, and filled a dry creek, creating a hazardous black lagoon."
"The residents of McKittrick, population 145, understand why people are upset by the images. Also, there’s no avoiding the worry that prolonged exposure to crude oil might one day trigger health issues."
Ninth Circuit ruling could wipe out hundreds of family-separation convictions
The Chronicle's TAL KOPAN: "A federal appeals court in California substantially narrowed the government’s ability to charge people for crossing the border illegally — a case that could invalidate hundreds of prosecutions that were at the core of the Trump administration’s separations of migrant families last year."
"The ruling comes as the federal law in the case, which makes it a crime to cross the border without authorization, is under scrutiny in the Democratic presidential campaign, with several candidates arguing it should be done away with altogether."
"Wednesday’s ruling by a three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena could bolster the Democrats’ argument that the Trump administration is misusing the law to criminalize well-intentioned immigrants seeking asylum. It also adds further questions to the administration’s widely criticized prosecutions that resulted in thousands of family separations last year."
Ahead of Tuesday's exam, State Bar of California leaks essay topics to law schools
Sacramento Bee's ELAINE CHEN: "The State Bar of California said Sunday that it inadvertently leaked essay topics for Tuesday’s bar exam, one of the toughest in the nation, to sixteen law school deans last week."
"After finding out about the leak, the State Bar emailed the essay topics to all test-takers on Saturday night in “an attempt to level the playing field” in case any test-takers saw the email to the law school deans. The topics cover the written portion of the bar exam, which makes up half of test-takers’ scores. Roughly 9,000 people are expected to participant in the two-day exam."
"Apologizing in the release, the State Bar said that the email they sent Thursday to some California law school deans — an invitation to observe a grading session of the bar exam — is typically sent after the exam."
These California DMV employees took bribes for licenses. Now they're going to prison.
Sacramento Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "A former California Department of Motor Vehicles employee will serve more than two-and-a-half years in federal prison after pleading guilty to accepting bribes in exchange for commercial driver licenses."
"Kari Scattaglia, 40, of Sylmar stands convicted of conspiracy to commit bribery, to commit identity fraud, and to commit unauthorized access of a computer."
SF could soon make PG&E 'attractive offer' for power lines
The Chronicle's J.D. MORRIS: "San Francisco is not abandoning its consideration of buying Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s local power lines even though a new state wildfire law would complicate the effort if the city decides to follow through."
"Mayor London Breed and City Attorney Dennis Herrera sent Gov. Gavin Newsom a letter Wednesday outlining their rationale for looking at buying PG&E electric equipment serving the city and asking to meet with him soon. Also, a Board of Supervisors committee is set to hold a hearing Monday about the city’s potential shift to full-fledged public power."
Aaron Peskinn took a swipe at Amazon. He's also doing well with its stock
The Chronicle's PHIL MATIER: "One of the most vocal critics of the impact of the tech economy on San Francisco has been Supervisor Aaron Peskin. So it was no surprise when he tweeted that on Amazon’s Prime Day 2019, “I stand with the workers demanding a fair wage, job security and benefits while their corporate overloads (sic) reap billions in profits, evade taxes, kneecap our community corridors and facilitate border separations."
"Peskin should know. According to his statement of economic interest, he owns betxxween $100,000 and $1 million in Amazon stock."
"“It’s true. I bought it years ago for a handful of dollars as part of my self-employment pension plan,” Peskin said."
Italian police investigate blindfolding of California man held in officer's killing
LA Times's TOM KINGTON: "Italian police have launched an internal investigation after a young California man arrested in connection with the killing of a Rome police officer was handcuffed and blindfolded during interrogation."
"A photo published by Italian media on Sunday showed Gabriel Christian Natale Hjorth, 18, sitting in an office of Italy’s Carabinieri police with his head bowed, his hands cuffed behind his back and a piece of cloth tied around his eyes."
Glen Park BART Station could soon be an official national treasure
The Chroincle's JOHN KING: "San Francisco remains a city whose architectural worth for many people is measured by colorful Victorian homes, or such nostalgic icons as the Ferry Building. But the merits of a much different local structure are now being extolled — a cavernous BART station with rough concrete walls."
"The stark subject of merit is BART’s Glen Park Station, which opened in 1973. The California State Historical Resources Commission will vote Thursday on whether the station and 10 other buildings statewide should be nominated for placement on the National Register of Historic Places. The list includes another San Francisco treasure, 1907’s Swedish American Hall on Market Street in the Castro neighborhood."
Federal grant helps providers screen and vaccinate hepatitis B patients in Sacramento
Sacramento Bee's THEODORA YU: "A new federal grant could help end the spread of hepatitis B virus in Sacramento County."
"The $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health will help health care service providers screen patients, primarily pregnant women, as well as Asian Americans, the population found to have the highest percentage of diagnosed cases for hepatitis B. Regardless of race or ethnicity, providers would vaccinate those who are not infected and link individuals at risk to care."
"The project, called “End B,” is a partnership effort between the Sacramento County Division of Public Health, UC Davis Health and the Health and Life Organization (HALO) Sacramento community clinics."
What is a concentration camp? It's an old debate that mostly started in California
LA Times's TERESA WATANABE: "What’s a concentration camp — and, more importantly, who owns the term?"
"U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) ignited a national debate last month when she compared the government-run facilities packed with migrant detainees near the U.S.-Mexico border to Nazi “concentration camps.”"
"Many Republicans have pushed back in recent weeks, including Stephen Miller, a senior advisor to President Trump, who said that the comments outraged him “as a Jew."
Charles Manson's murderous imprint on LA endures as other killers have come and goned
Times's MARIA L. LA GANGA: "Hearing the retired prosecutor recount the bloody crimes that scarred Los Angeles, it is easy to forget that the savage murders happened half a century ago."
"Stephen Kay runs one hand slowly down his cheek, describing the mark a thick rope scraped along actress Sharon Tate’s face. The rope was tied around her neck and looped over a living room beam in her rented Benedict Canyon home. She was 8 ½ months pregnant. Clad in just a white bra and panties. Still alive, though not for long."
"He recounts, as if it were yesterday, how Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were tied up and dragged into separate rooms in their Los Feliz home, where they too died at the hands of Charles Manson’s brutal “family."
Trump picks loyalist to replace Dan Coats as US intelligence chief
LA Times's CHRIS MEGEREIAN: "President Trump said Sunday he was replacing Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, whose views on the threat posed by Russia often conflicted with the president’s, with Rep. John Ratcliffe, a Texas Republican and Trump loyalist."
"“I am pleased to announce that highly respected Congressman John Ratcliffe of Texas will be nominated by me to be the Director of National Intelligence,” Trump tweeted late in the afternoon, a few hours after news became public about a meeting last week between Coats and Trump that resulted in the decision to part ways."
"Trump said Ratcliffe, 53, who was first elected to Congress in 2014, will “lead and inspire greatness for the Country he loves."
