California will have another 'historic budget surplus' next year, Gov. Newsom says
Sacramento Bee, SOPHIA BOLLAG: "California will have another “historic budget surplus” next year, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday.
The Democratic governor made the announcement during an interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd at the Milken Institute’s 24th Global Conference.
Newsom in July signed a $262 billion budget that relied on a projected $75 billion surplus, based on estimates from January."
L.A. City Council votes to suspend Mark Ridley-Thomas amid federal charges
DAKOTA SMITH, JULIA WICK and BENJAMIN ORESKES, LA Times: "The Los Angeles City Council doesn’t have the power to fire any of the 15 members who represent L.A.'s 4 million residents.
But the government body can bar members from doing their job. And for the second time in less than two years, the City Council on Wednesday suspended one of its own.
The council voted 11 to 3 to immediately suspend Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, a veteran South Los Angeles politician who has been indicted on federal bribery, conspiracy and other charges. Hours later, city officials announced he would no longer receive his $223,800 salary."
Bank of America’s California Partnership, Long Flourishing, Is Roiled by Unemployment Fraud
BEN EISEN and CHRISTINE MAI-DUC, Wall Street Journal: "Bank of America Corp. BAC 1.31% thought helping states such as California hand out unemployment benefits would be good business. Then millions of Americans lost their jobs at once.
The bank is the longtime middleman for California’s unemployment program, loading jobless benefits onto prepaid debit cards. Normally the task is mundane, but that changed with the pandemic last year. Unemployment claims surged, and so did related fraud.
To fight back, the state and bank cut off benefits to hundreds of thousands of recipients. Many were out-of-work Californians with legitimate claims, who soon took to social media or called state legislators to complain about both the government and the bank. Bank of America wants to stop distributing the benefits for California but the state has told it no, locking the two into an uneasy union."
How much money did women lose in California due to gender pay gap? What a new study found
Sacramento Bee, JEONG PARK: "California women and people of color are still getting paid substantially less than white men despite new state laws and policies designed to promote equal wages, according to recent analyses of data.
On average, full-time female workers in California earned 87.6% of what full-time male workers earned in 2020, according to a report released earlier this month by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Another analysis from the human resources firm Trusaic found that California women in 2020 lost $46 billion due to the gender pay gap and that people of color in the state lost $61 billion due to the race pay gap."
Wildfire smoke harms more people in the Eastern U.S. than West, study shows
KASHA PATEL, Washington Post: "On July 20, a curious haze blanketed the sky across the eastern half of the United States. Sunsets appeared redder than normal, the atmosphere looked gray and dense and air quality plummeted. People from Washington to Philadelphia to New York snapped pictures of the abnormal hues — only to learn that the cause originated from wildfires nearly 3,000 miles away.
As large fires smolder in the western United States, the smoke can travel across the country, blanketing large population centers. Now, a recent study shows that smoke, from both western wildfires and local sources, may be more harmful to residents in the eastern United States than many think.
Over most of the past decade, researchers found that about three-quarters of all smoke-related cases of asthma visits to emergency departments and deaths occurred east of the Rocky Mountains, due to higher population densities. Incidences of asthma-related hospital visits were the highest from April to August."
Thousands of Bay Area residents without power as storm delivers new punch
The Chronicle, ANDRES PICON: "Nearly 11,000 Pacific Gas & Electric Co. customers in the Bay Area were without power Wednesday night, probably as a result of weather-related issues, the utility said.
The East Bay led the way with more than 8,600 customers affected around 9 p.m. The utility’s outage map showed that thousands of people were experiencing power outages in and around Livermore, Fremont and Orinda.
San Francisco had about 1,070 affected customers, while the South Bay had about 840 customers without power, according to PG&E."
What to know as 'bomb cyclone' heads for NorCal
Sacramento Bee, MICHAEL MCGOUGH: "A series of storms hitting Northern California in the next several days will include a powerful “bomb cyclone” system, expected to drop heavy precipitation over the weekend and early next week.
The system is developing off the coast of the Pacific Northwest and is also expected to batter the coasts of Oregon and Washington.
“There’s a big, deep (pressure) drop that’s kind of remaining off of the Pacific Northwest. It’s bringing in multiple waves,” said Emily Heller, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office."
L.A. County reports 76% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes
JACLYN COSGROVE, LA Times: "Anti-Asian hate crimes increased by 76% in Los Angeles County last year, mirroring a disturbing trend in many other jurisdictions as physical and verbal attacks on Asian Americans rose during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of the 44 anti-Asian hate crimes reported in L.A. County in 2020, more than three-quarters involved physical violence — a marked increase from 58% in 2018, the L.A. County Commission on Human Relations said in a report released Wednesday.
In 2019, 25 anti-Asian hate crimes were reported."
The final Newsom recall results are in at last. They show California is getting even more polarized
The Chronicle, NAMI SUMIDA: "The final results for the unsuccessful September recall election targeting Gov. Gavin Newsom are in, and the data shows a more polarized California electorate compared to 2018, when Newsom was elected governor.
Counties had to report final vote counts for the recall election to the Secretary of State by last Friday. With no remaining unprocessed ballots, The Chronicle compared the results to Newsom’s margin in the 2018 gubernatorial election.
The data shows Newsom increased his margins in counties where majorities voted for him in 2018. For instance, roughly two-thirds of voters (68%) in Contra Costa County voted for Newsom in 2018. That grew three percentage points to 71% voting to keep him in office in 2021. Similar shifts occurred in most of the Bay Area counties to varying degrees."
Using new law, L.A. City Council bans homeless encampments at 54 spots
BENJAMIN ORESKES, LA Times: "The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved a ban on camping at certain locations, in the first use of new laws that passed over the summer.
In a 12-2 vote, the council outlawed sitting, sleeping and lying at 54 locations in three of its districts. Amid contentious debate over the summer, the council enacted new rules regulating sitting, sleeping and storing property near fire hydrants, building entrances, driveways, libraries, parks, elementary schools and several other locations.
The council also asked that resources for outreach to homeless people in these locations be expanded and for city departments to draft new procedures to ensure people sleeping on the sidewalk aren’t forced to move without proper notice. Though the new procedures have been drafted, the city has yet to hire the staff to provide more outreach to accompany the new rules."
You could be waiting months if you need an interview with EDD about unemployment
Sacramento Bee, DAVID LIGHTMAN: "If you require a phone interview to see if you’re eligible for unemployment benefits, you may have to wait up to 26 weeks for someone at the state’s Employment Development Department to talk with you.
Such interviews are necessary if EDD has questions about whether you quit your job or were fired. Or whether you accurately reported your income and other eligibility criteria, or if you could be involved in a scheme to falsely claim benefits.
For those and other reasons, EDD requires that you have a call with an agency official to determine if you qualify for weekly payments from the eligibility-based unemployment insurance program."
How Stanford responded to an elite East Coast college's move to end legacy admissions
The Chronicle, ANDRES PICON: "Stanford University says it will continue its current policy of “holistic” admissions decisions that consider all aspects of an applicant’s record after Amherst College in Massachusetts said Tuesday it is ending a longstanding policy giving preference to applicants whose parents graduated from the school.
The two schools represent different approaches to handling pressure from alumni to favor their children in the admissions process. Stanford keeps track of such so-called “legacy” applicants but gives them no special advantage, whereas at Amherst the offspring of graduates previously had an inside track.
Amherst’s change of policy, which was coupled with an announcement that the college will increase financial aid offerings, comes as debates over equity, fairness, and affirmative action have raised questions about admissions practices at some of higher education’s most renowned institutions."
Officials say they're ready to announce what killed a family hiking in Mariposa County
The Chronicle, MATTHIAS GAFNI: "Mariposa County investigators will end the mystery of how a family and their dog died together on a remote hiking trail when they announce their causes of death Thursday.
The Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday it will hold a news conference “regarding the cause of death and final investigative update on the Gerrish/Chung case.”
“No interviews or information will be given prior to the conference,” the sheriff’s office said in a brief announcement. The sheriff will announce the findings 2 p.m. Thursday."
Trump announces launch of media company, social media site
AP, JILL COLVIN: "Nine months after being expelled from social media for his role in inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, former President Donald Trump said Wednesday he's launching a new media company with its own social media platform.
Trump says his goal in launching the Trump Media & Technology Group and its “Truth Social" app is to create a rival to the Big Tech companies that have shut him out and denied him the megaphone that was paramount to his national rise.
“We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced," he said in a statement. “This is unacceptable.”"
Dr. Phil and CBS sued after teen allegedly was sexually assaulted at Utah center
LA Times, MEG JAMES: "A woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted at a Utah ranch is suing Phil McGraw and ViacomCBS for negligence, claiming that the popular TV doctor recommended she be treated at the facility on the day she appeared on his show.
In a lawsuit filed this week in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Hannah Archuleta seeks unspecified damages for the harm she said she allegedly suffered in Utah after an appearance with her parents on the “Dr. Phil” show in October 2019, when she was 17. The show is produced on the Paramount Pictures lot in Hollywood.
According to the lawsuit, McGraw and staff members of his show allegedly pressured the family to immediately send Archuleta to Turn-About Ranch in Escalante, Utah, for treatment. The complaint says she had been suffering suicidal thoughts when her family reached out for help from McGraw, whom the suit notes is not licensed to practice psychology (he holds a doctorate in clinical psychology)."
