Admissions scandal: Prosecutors seek longest prison sentences yet for four California parents
From LAT's MATTHEW ORMSETH: "Calling them “far and away the most culpable” of the parents who have admitted their guilt in the college admissions scandal, federal prosecutors recommended Tuesday that a judge sentence four parents to prison terms ranging from 18 to 26 months, heavier penalties than any handed down in the case so far."
"The four parents — Douglas Hodge, the former chief executive of Pimco; Michelle Janavs, heiress to a frozen foods fortune; Manuel Henriquez, a Bay Area venture capitalist, and his wife, Elizabeth — will be sentenced in federal court in Boston in the next two months."
"Beneath the threat of new charges, the four admitted late last year that they rigged their children’s college entrance exams, misrepresented them as top-notch athletes and, in the process, conspired with William “Rick” Singer, the Newport Beach consultant at the center of the scandal, to commit fraud and money laundering."
CSU faculty, workers air concerns
JESSICA HICE, Capitol Weekly: "The fiscal outlook at California State University is good and the sprawling, 23-campus system that serves nearly a half-million students is in the midst of expansion."
"But there appear to be segments of CSU that aren’t all that happy — the faculty and the university’s workers."
"The California Faculty Association addressed trustees with concerns last week as they presented bargaining proposals."
Macy's to lay off 831 SF workers, close local tech arm as it shuts 125 stores nationwide
The Chronicle's SHWANIKA NARAYAN/ROLAND LI: "Macy’s is laying off 831 employees in San Francisco at its Macys.com division amid plans to shift tech operations to Atlanta and New York, amid a broader retrenchment that is seeing it close 125 stores nationwide."
"In a letter filed with the state of California on Monday, the retailer said the layoffs would take place between April and August of this year and impact everyone from software engineers to technical leads. The division has its own office at 680 Folsom St. in San Francisco and includes Macy’s product and digital revenue and technology teams."
"After careful consideration, Macy’s offices in San Francisco will close. We believe these changes will eliminate any duplication of efforts, bringing these teams closer to our business teams and strategy,” Emily Workman, a Macy’s spokeswoman, said in an email."
Newsom wants to halt PE exams in California schools
Sac Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG/SAWSAN MORRAR: "California students would get a break from physical fitness tests, which include timed 1-mile runs, for three years under a proposal from Gov. Gavin Newsom."
"Newsom argues the tests can lead to body shaming and bullying of transgender and special education students, said H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the governor’s Department of Finance."
"The test assesses physical fitness, including strength, endurance and flexibility. Students must complete a variety of activities, including a one-mile run, push-ups and a modified pull-up. The test also determines students body mass index, or BMI."
Can the Bay Area win billions from the oil industry for climate change?
The Chronicle's KURTIS ALEXANDER: "A handful of California cities and counties want billions of dollars from the oil industry for the problems arising from climate change, and their far-reaching legal push is about to face a crucial test in a Pasadena courtroom."
"On Wednesday, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments from three counties and five cities, including San Francisco and Oakland, on why their lawsuits against several oil companies should proceed in state court rather than federal court. The widely watched challenges are thought to have better odds in state court."
"The eight California communities behind the suits are at the forefront of a small but growing effort nationwide to hold oil companies financially responsible for rising seas, wildfires and other climate-related havoc. The new legal tactic, now being employed by New York, Baltimore and other cities and counties, comes as global warming has become a low priority during the Trump administration."
Rent control coming once again to a ballot near you
Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "California voters will get the chance to consider a statewide rent control initiative on the November ballot, just two years after they soundly rejected a similar initiative."
"The Secretary of State’s office announced on Monday it had reviewed and validated a sample of the nearly 1 million signatures submitted in December to qualify the initiative. The measure only needed 623,212 signatures, 5 percent of the votes for governor in 2018."
"The initiative takes aim at the 25-year-old Costa Hawkins Rental Act, which limits the ability of local governments to establish rent control in buildings constructed after 1995 and in single-family homes and condos. While some cities have established certain rent restrictions, including in Sacramento, the current law is considered an obstacle to stronger protections."
State housing authorities crackdown on landlords breaking voucher law
Sac Bee's THERESA CLIFT: "The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing has selected Sacramento as the first county to launch an enforcement action to crack down on landlords who continue to illegally post advertisements that say they do no accept potential tenants with Section 8 vouchers."
"A state law that took effect Jan. 1 prohibits landlords from discriminating against potential tenants who hold housing vouchers, either with the advertisement, on the phone, or in other ways."
"The state’s decision to crack down on landlords came after a Sacramento Bee analysis found more than 60 advertisements for Sacramento-area rentals online last month that said “no Section 8,” referring to the former name for the federal Housing Choice Voucher Program."
California's vote count likely to be chaos-free -- but don't expect quick results
The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH: "An election night, Iowa-style voting debacle isn’t going to happen in California on March 3. But that doesn’t mean primary voters — and anxious Democratic presidential candidates — are going to know the winners that night, or even that week."
"California is a huge state with millions of voters, which is reason enough to ensure that nothing moves quickly. Combine that with a statewide commitment to ensure that the most people possible have their votes accurately tallied, and the result is a slow-moving count."
"Californians should be assured that elections officials across the state work diligently to ensure an accurate and secure vote count,” Secretary of State Alex Padilla said in a statement Tuesday. “All aspects of every election — from the printing and mailing to the counting of ballots — are administered by professional elections officials, not political parties."
Iowa debacle boosts California primary's clout
The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI: "The main cachet of the Iowa caucuses is to give its winner “big mo” — momentum, as 1980 GOP state winner George H.W. Bush called it — and provide the rest of America a first peek at what heartland voters want in their next president."
"On Tuesday the only message coming from Iowa was chaos — the kind that will taint every Democrat in the field and reshuffle the race in a way that gives the March 3 California primary more clout."
"Iowa Democratic Party officials finally released partial caucus results late Tuesday after technological breakdowns prevented them from doing so Monday night. With 62% of the vote counted, Pete Buttigieg, the former South Bend, Ind., mayor, led with 26.9% of the delegates allotted, followed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders with 25.1%, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren with 18.3% and former Vice President Joe Biden with 15.6%. In the raw vote total, Sanders had a lead of nearly 1,200 votes over Buttigieg."
Travis AFB taking 1st coronavirus evacuees
Sac Bee''s DARRELL SMITH/CATHIE ANDERSON/SAM STANTON: "As many as 250 evacuees bound for California from Wuhan, China will arrive at Travis Air Force Base near Fairfield as early as Wednesday and could spend two weeks at the air base, federal sources with knowledge of the matter told The Sacramento Bee."
"None of the evacuees to the Solano County base from the coronavirus zone have the virus. They are among an estimated 550 aboard a pair of flights headed for California, a U.S. official with knowledge of the situation told CNN in a Tuesday report."
"The news was among a flurry of coronavirus-related developments across California from an incoming traveler from China placed into quarantine late Monday after landing at Los Angeles International Airport; to a child in federal quarantine now hospitalized with fever at a Riverside-area hospital; to two Central Valley coronavirus patients whose worsening conditions prompted them to be isolated at a San Francisco hospital."
READ MORE related to Coronavirus: Hospital workers sent home after exposure to coronavirus -- The Chronicle's ERIN ALLDAY
Top SF officials give glimpse into city corruption investigation
The Chronicle's DOMINIC FRACASSA: "Amid the widening public corruption scandal surrounding disgraced Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru, two top San Francisco officials provided a glimpse into the contours of the city’s internal investigation into Nuru’s suspected wrongdoing."
"City Attorney Dennis Herrera and Controller Ben Rosenfield released a joint statement Tuesday outlining the scope of what their respective agencies are probing to keep the public informed about a matter that has further corroded the public’s faith in city government."
"When the integrity of San Francisco’s government is called into question, it is our duty to get to the bottom of it and change what isn’t working,” Herrera said in the statement."
Uber, Lyft drivers tell state to enforce AB5, get back wages
The Chronicle's CAROLYN SAID: "Uber and Lyft drivers did not become employees when AB5,California’s landmark gig-work law, took effect Jan. 1. The ride-hail companies are battling to keep drivers as independent contractors rather than converting them into employees, as the law envisions."
"On Wednesday over 100 Uber and Lyft drivers statewide are escalating the matter by filing wage claims with the state Labor Commissioner’s Office, The Chronicle has learned. They are seeking to be classified as employees and reimbursed for back wages, overtime and expenses for the past three years — amounts that for some drivers add up to over $100,000 each."
"Here we are a month into (AB5) and we don’t see big enforcement coming,” said Nicole Moore, who drives for Lyft in Los Angeles and serves on the organizing committee of Rideshare Drivers United. That statewide group, which numbers about 10,000 Lyft and Uber drivers,including a couple of thousand in the Bay Area, was behind this week’s action, which they are naming the “People’s Enforcement of AB5."
Homeless sue Sacramento, police over portable toilet removal at downtown camp site
Sac Bee's SAM STANTON/THERESA CLIFT: "Homeless residents looking for access to bathroom facilities filed suit in federal court Tuesday against the city of Sacramento and its police department, alleging that officers ordered the removal of a port-a-potty that had been placed near an encampment."
"The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status for 30 homeless people living at the site near Seventh and North B streets, was filed by Sacramento civil rights attorney Mark Merin and seeks a court order prohibiting the city from removing a port-a-potty that has replaced the one that was ordered removed earlier."
"While politicians fret and pay consultants to plan and advise, but still neither provide shelter or restrooms, a few private citizens have stepped up to (plate) and service port-a-potties where homeless encampments have sprung up,” the lawsuit says. “What does the city do? Order the portable toilets removed endangering public health and depriving the homeless people who use the port-a-potties of dignity and the opportunity to dispose of their human waste in sanitary fashion."
Sacramento councilman seeks to pull out of 'Live Rescue' reality show
Sac Bee's THERESA CLIFT: "Sacramento City Councilman Steve Hansen is calling for the city to stop participating in a controversial reality television show in which film crews follow around firefighters and paramedics as they respond to 911 calls."
"The request comes the day after The Sacramento Bee published a story about “Live Rescue,” which Fire Chief Gary Loesch says improves recruitment and transparency, but critics say exploits vulnerable Sacramentans in their worst moments."
"“I particularly find it distasteful that we’re exploiting people’s trauma largely in my district and that I didn’t know about it,” Hansen said during a meeting of the City Council’s Law & Legislation Committee Tuesday afternoon."
Susan Collins says she will vote to acquit Trump
LA Times's SARAH D WIRE: "Sen. Susan Collins — seen as a swing vote in President Trump’s impeachment trial — said Tuesday she supports acquittal, further reducing Democrats’ chances of obtaining a bipartisan guilty vote in the Senate."
"While Collins (R-Maine) said Trump’s actions were “improper and demonstrated very poor judgment,” she concluded they did not meet the threshold for removal from office."
"I do not believe that the House has met its burden of showing that the president’s conduct, however flawed, warrants the extreme step of immediate removal from office, nor does the record support the assertion by the House managers that the president must not remain in office one moment longer,” Collins said."
Trump paints strong economy as vindication as he tries to move past from impeachment
WaPo's DAVID NAKAMURA: "President Trump on Tuesday made a theatrical prime-time appeal for the success of his divisive and turbulent stewardship after three years, projecting confidence that a strong economy and a reset of U.S. standing in the world has put the nation on the right path despite the historic impeachment that has marred his term."
"In his third State of the Union address — and final one before voters will cast their verdict on his presidency this fall — Trump made no mention of the impeachment battle that has consumed him for months, even as he faced down his Democratic adversaries in the House chamber where they had voted to charge him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress less than two months ago."
