Newsom rejects California housing bill that would have raised billions for projects
Sacramento Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Sunday that he’d vetoed a bill to authorize up to $2 billion in annual state funding for affordable housing projects in California."
"Days before he vetoed Senate Bill 5, Newsom indicated he wasn’t likely to sign off on expensive measures due to the budget’s financial limitations."
"The one thing that concerns me and should concern everybody is our ability to balance the books, balance the budget,” Newsom said to reporters last week. “There are a lot of things I want to do but there are certain fiscal constraints that preclude us from doing it. So I think you will see a number of bills where I wish we were in a position to support those bills, but the economic conditions do not necessarily support those bills. Those are the toughest ones for me."
READ MORE related to Legislation: Governor vetoes bill to require walkable, bike-friendly roadways -- The Chronicle's RACHEL SWAN; Newsom veto lets California cities share sales tax with Amazon, other retailers -- Sacramento Bee's HANNAH WILEY; Newsom vetoes canine blood bank bill, saying he wants lawmakers to do more for pet safety -- Sacramento Bee's ANDREW SHEELER
SFV residents return home as Saddleridge fire containment grows
LA Times's LAURA J NELSON: "Tens of thousands of Los Angeles residents who evacuated from the path of the Saddleridge fire returned home late Saturday and early Sunday, days after the wind-driven blaze tore through the hills at the northern edge of the San Fernando Valley."
"Fueled by fierce Santa Ana winds, the blaze chewed through more than 7,900 acres in two days, driving residents from their homes as it made its way from Sylmar to Porter Ranch. At its peak, the blaze burned through roughly 800 acres an hour."
"As the Santa Ana winds died down Saturday night, they were replaced by cool ocean breezes with more moisture, helping to boost containment of the fire from 33% to 41% by early Sunday, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Nicholas Prange."
Lower Bay Area temps expected this week, keeping PG&E shut-offs at bay
The Chronicle's TATIANA SANCHEZ: "The huge Pacific Gas and Electric Co. power shut-offs that left an estimated 2 million people without electricity for several days has left communities across Central and Northern California shaken and anxious over what’s to come."
"But PG&E customers will be spared this week as lower temperatures settle into the Bay Area."
"Temperatures across the region will remain lower through next weekend, with slightly warmer weather expected Tuesday and Wednesday, according to David King, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service."
READ MORE related to Blackouts: For Newsom, PG&E power outages offer political rewards -- and some big risks -- The Chronicle's TARYN LUNA/PHIL WILLON; Newsom's blackout dilemma: Anger is easy, but fixes are tough -- The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH; PG&E shut-offs will continue; what's next? Here's what you need to know -- The Chronicle's TATIANA SANCHEZ; After outages, PG&E faces cloudy future in Sacramento -- The Chronicle's JD MORRIS/DUSTIN GARDINER
New law delays start times at California schools: No class before 8 AM
Sacramento Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "Hit the snooze button, kids. You now have a little longer to sleep in before your day starts."
"A new law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed on Sunday forbids California middle schools from ringing the opening bell before 8 a.m., and prohibits high schools from starting class before 8:30 a.m."
"Schools must adopt the law before July 1, 2022, or sooner if they have collective bargaining units that allow negotiation before the deadline."
READ MORE related to Education: California becomes first state in the country to push back school times -- LA Times's TARYN LUNA
Moderators urged to ask about homelessness at Democratic presidential debate
The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI: "One of the most important issues to Californians has barely been mentioned in the presidential debates: homelessness."
"That may change in Tuesday’s Democratic primary debate on CNN, which starts at 5 p.m. PDT. Housing activists are pressuring the moderators online to ask about housing issues. Most of the 12 candidates on the debate stage have detailed housing plans, but questioners haven’t asked them about the top issue to those most likely to vote, according to a nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California survey out this month."
"The enormity of the situation in California, where approximately 90,000 people are homeless, has shocked some candidates."
California beaches and parks to be tobacco-free under new smoking, vaping ban
Sacramento Bee's BRYAN ANDERSON: "California will no longer allow people to smoke or vape at state parks and beaches, under a new law signed Gov. Gavin Newsom signed on Friday."
"The law prohibits more than just cigarettes with tobacco. It also applies to marijuana and electronic cigarettes. Even so, people will still be allowed to smoke in parking lots and on roads outside state parks and beaches."
"Senate Bill 8 will require the state’s Department of Parks and Recreation to post an estimated 5,600 signs at a total cost of $1.1 million to inform visitors of the prohibition. Once posted, people caught smoking may be fined up to $25."
Sacramento cannabis king linked to Ukrainian who was indicted with Giuliani associates
Sacramento Bee's THERESA CLIFT/DALE KASLER/RYAN SABALOW: "A Ukrainian-born man indicted in a campaign-finance scheme along with two associates of Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s personal attorney, is an officer in a Sacramento cannabis dispensary controlled by a local businessman with a considerable share of the city’s pot business, records show."
"Andrey Kukushkin was among four men indicted last week in an intricate plan to funnel foreign campaign donations to U.S. politicians and enter the legal pot business in Nevada and other states. Two of the defendants, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, are associates of Giuliani and were reportedly helping him investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, one of the leading candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination, and his son."
"Now, that international scandal has unraveled a considerable subplot in Sacramento."
10 months, nearly 30 visits to SF's psychiatric ER and a suicide
The Chronicle's ARIANE LANGE: "On July 29, 2015, police brought a 27-year-old woman to the psychiatric emergency room at San Francisco General Hospital. Her name was Summer."
"She’d been hallucinating when she was picked up and seemed agitated even after multiple rounds of antipsychotic drugs. Unsure whether Summer might have an underlying physical illness, medical providers moved her between the psychiatric ER and the medical ER for at least two days before she was sent home with no follow-up care."
"Over the next 10 months, as her mental health worsened and she became homeless, medical records show she cycled in and out of the psychiatric ER at least 28 times, repeatedly discharged with instructions to seek help from the same piecemeal services for low-income and homeless San Franciscans that weren’t working for her."
In the rush to harvest body parts, death investigations have been upended
LA Times's MELODY PETERSEN: "When 69-year-old Marietta Jinde died in September 2016, police had already been called to her home several times because of reports of possible abuse. A detective described conditions at the woman’s home in Gardena as “horrendous."
"She was so emaciated and frail that the hospital asked Los Angeles County adult protective services officials to look into her death."
"Yet by the time a coroner’s investigator was able to examine Jinde’s 70-pound body, the bones from her legs and arms were gone. Also missing were large patches of skin from her back. With permission from county officials and saying they did not know of the abuse allegations, employees from OneLegacy, a Southern California human tissue procurement company, had gained access to the body, taking parts that could have provided crucial evidence."
READ MORE related to Police & Public Safety: How organ and tissue donation companies worked their way into the county morgue -- LA Times's MELODY PETERSEN/DAVID WILLMAN
Nobel Prize in economics goes to 3 for their work toward alleviating poverty
AP: "The 2019 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences has been awarded Monday to Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty."
"Banerjee and Duflo are both at Massachusetts Institute of Technology while Kremer is at Harvard University. Duflo is the second woman to win the economics prize."
"Duflo, who was woken up by Goran Hansson, secretary general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Monday, said that getting the prize “incredibly humbling."
SF protesters support Kurds under attack in Syria, oppose US withdrawal
The Chronicle's ANNA BAUMAN: "Shayee Khanaka smiled and twirled the dangling sleeves of her purple dress toward a woman on Market Street who flashed a thumbs-up as the crowd marched past."
"The Berkeley resident, originally from Kirkuk, Iraq, was one of about 150 people who gathered Sunday afternoon in San Francisco’s Union Square to express support for Rojava. The Kurdish-majority region in northeast Syria is under attack by neighboring Turkey after President Trump announced the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the region."
"In 2019, we cannot sit idly and watch genocide take place before our very eyes,” said Deellan Khanaka, Shayee’s daughter and one of the rally organizers."
Joe Biden's son Hunter to step down from Chinese board
AP: "Facing intense scrutiny from President Trump and his Republican allies, Hunter Biden said Sunday that he will step down from the board of directors of a Chinese-backed private equity firm at the end of the month as part of a pledge not to work on behalf of any foreign-owned companies should his father win the presidency."
"Biden, the 49-year-old son of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, revealed his plan in an internet post written by his attorney, George Mesires, who outlined a defense of the younger Biden’s work in Ukraine and China, which has emerged as one of Trump’s chief lines of attack against Joe Biden despite no proof of impropriety."
"Hunter makes the following commitment: Under a Biden administration, Hunter will readily comply with any and all guidelines or standards a President Biden may issue to address purported conflicts of interest, or the appearance of such conflicts, including any restrictions related to overseas business interests. In any event, Hunter will agree not to serve on boards of, or work on behalf of, foreign-owned companies,” Mesires wrote."
