California created a fund to cover utilities' wildfire costs. PG&E may be first to use it
Sacramento Bee, DALE KASLER: "PG&E Corp. had been driven into bankruptcy by wildfire damages and Gov. Gavin Newsom was worried that the state’s ever-increasing wildfire hazards could swamp California’s other major utilities as well.
So, just months after taking office, Newsom persuaded the Legislature to create a giant wildfire insurance fund for the big utilities, paid for by shareholders and ratepayers alike. The plan “treats wildfire victims fairly and protects California consumers,” he said.
The fund is about to get its first claim."
PG&E says Dixie Fire will cost $1.15B -- and is being probed by federal offiicials
Sacramento Bee, DALE KASLER: "PG&E Corp. says the Dixie Fire will cost the utility at least $1.15 billion — and has triggered a federal investigation.
Already under investigation by Cal Fire in connection with the second-largest wildfire in the state’s history, PG&E said in a regulatory filing Monday that it has received a subpoena by the U.S. attorney’s office in Sacramento over its potential role in the mega-fire. The Dixie Fire burned 963,309 acres over a three-month span and destroyed much of the small Plumas County community of Greenville.
The disclosure to the Securities and Exchange Commission comes as other legal woes pile up on California’s largest utility. The Shasta County district attorney has filed criminal charges over last year’s Zogg Fire, which killed four people in a rural area west of Redding. PG&E also is under indictment in connection with the 2019 Kincade Fire, which prompted massive evacuations in Sonoma County."
Rival gambling initiatives vie for voters' attention
Capitol Weekly, CHUCK MCFADDEN: "Voters are facing the possibility of deciding among at least three fiercely competing ballot initiatives next year – all of them involving tens of millions of dollars and a revolution in California’s gambling industry.
One of the three has already qualified for the November 2022 ballot. The remaining two must still gather signatures.
The already-qualified measure is sponsored by a coalition of Indian Tribes – The California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) and the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations (TASIN). It would make currently illegal sports betting legal in tribal casinos and horse racetracks, but not online. It would also create a 10 percent tax on profits from betting at horse racetracks, with the income divided among the state’s Department of Mental Health, Bureau for Gambling Control and the General Fund."
A confusing array of sports betting measures
DAN WALTERS, SacBee: "Memo to California voters: Prepare to be confused because you could be facing four competing ballot measures next year to legalize sports wagering.
Indian tribes that now have a monopoly on casino gambling in California, big on-line sports betting corporations, horse racing tracks, and local poker parlors are jousting for control of what could be countless billions of dollars in bets on sporting events.
Following a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that made sports betting legal, a number of other states have accepted it, and the major professional sports leagues, which condemned sports betting for decades, have struck deals with major on-line betting operations."
Sacramento Bee, LARA KORTE: "Several tribes are airing a proposed ballot initiative that would give them control of sports betting in California while blocking card rooms and commercial giants like DraftKings and FanDuel from opening operations here, according to a memo obtained by The Sacramento Bee.
If they move forward, it would make the fourth proposed online sports betting initiative that California voters could see on their ballots in 2022.
Placing bets on sports has only recently been legalized in the United States. Following a 2018 Supreme Court ruling, 32 states and Washington, D.C. have legalized the practice, and now, several groups are jockeying to bring it to California."
CW Podcast: Bob Stern on behested payments
STAFF: "We are joined today by Bob Stern, one of the authors of the The Political Reform Act of 1974, and a former counsel for California’s Fair Political Practices Commission. We asked him about Behested Payments – donations made to a charity or public program at the request of an elected official. The practice comes around for scrutiny by California’s political media every so often… most recently when Governor Newsom drummed up over $200 million in donations from supporters during the pandemic.
The practice isn’t illegal, but strict reporting rules do apply. Elected officials are required to report behested donations of $5,000 or more. Behested payments were largely unknown when the The Political Reform Act was passed in 1974 – but have emerged as a big factor since campaign finance reforms were enacted.
Plus, we look at a #WorstWeekCA for an LA City Councilmember – probably not the one you think."
California changed the country with weed legalization--is it high time for the feds to catch up?
LA Times, EAN HALPER: "The horrific ride to the top of the San Francisco skyscraper is still seared in Paul Scott’s memory a quarter century later.
On a sales call for the elevator company that employed him in the mid-1990s, Scott stepped out at the penthouse level to find all the exits to the outside bolted shut — meant to deter desperate AIDS victims in a city gripped by a public health crisis.
Some were jumping to their deaths."
What is PM2.5 and why is it bad for you?
The Chronicle, ABHINANDA BHATTACHARYYA and STEPHANIE ZHU: "Fine particles called particulate matter (PM) 2.5 are tiny but incredibly dangerous.
Many scientists now view these inhalable particles with a diameter of 2.5 microns (micrometers) or less as the most damaging source of pollution for Bay Area residents, and for many other communities across the globe. Particulate matter consists of a combination of liquid droplets and small solid particles.
PM2.5 levels in the Bay Area were on a downward trend between the early 2000s and the mid 2010s. Then, as wildfires intensified across the state, they began to climb again. Last year, the region blew past the record for Spare the Air alerts, recording a total of 52 by December, driven largely by high PM2.5 concentrations from wildfires. The daily average PM2.5 concentration in the Bay Area from 2018 to 2020 was more than 15% higher than it was between 2015 and 2017."
Some California Democrats want to stop taking fossil fuel money. Others say not so fast
Sacramento Bee, LARA KORTE: "California Democrats went to Glasgow this week to show off the trend-setting climate policies they adopted in the last year and a half, including phasing out the sale of gas powered cars and even lawn mowers.
They say those dramatic policies are necessary because of the imminent threat of climate change, which is manifesting in their state as massive wildfires and torrential weather.
But even as they call for the international community end its reliance on oil, some Democrats are not ready to give up fossil fuel contributions to their own campaigns."
Why state lawmakers are fired up over a derailed SF housing project
The Chronicle, ALEXEI KOSEFF: "The decision last week by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to reject a proposed 495-unit apartment building on a Nordstrom parking lot quickly rippled far beyond the city.
Officials expressed surprise and anger from Sacramento, where a state housing agency is now investigating whether the board acted improperly, to Orange County, where a legislator suggested the vote exacerbated California’s housing crisis — an illustration of the growing tension as the state intensifies pressure on local communities to build more homes.
Major legislation in recent years has aimed to streamline the approval process for massive developments, backyard cottages and duplex conversions, removing some veto power from local governments in an effort to make it easier and cheaper to produce all types of housing that California needs to address its shortage. The administration of Gov. Gavin Newsom has also stepped in to require that cities plan for far more new housing over the next decade and ramped up its enforcement of those goals."
As Sheriff Villanueva blasts vaxx mandate, LASD falls further behind LAPD in shots
LA Times, ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN/KEVIN RECTOR/RICHARD WINTON: "For weeks, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has blasted the county’s vaccine mandate for employees, saying he won’t force his deputies to get inoculated.
It’s a decidedly different stance from the one taken by Michel Moore, chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, who has agreed to enforce the vaccination rules city officials put in place.
And it shows in their vaccination figures. About 53% of 16,070 Sheriff’s Department employees, both sworn and civilian, have had at least one dose of a vaccine, compared with 74% of 12,143 LAPD employees, according to figures released by each agency."
Not all the unvaxxed are diehards, but the 'wait and see' crowd is shrinking
LA Times, EMILY ALPERT REYES/HAILEY BRANSON-POTTS: "When Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong stopped by an Orange County vaccination site in late October, she asked people why they had waited so long to get their COVID-19 shots.
Some said they had not made the time, she said. One was nervous about needles, but had been prodded by an employer mandate.
“It’s not that they were against vaccines, but they just need that extra push,” said Chinsio-Kwong, a deputy health officer with the Orange County Health Care Agency."
Monterey County to mandate masks indoors even as Bay Area looks toward loosening restrictions
The Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI: "Monterey County residents will be required to wear masks indoors in public spaces starting Friday, just as parts of the Bay Area move toward loosening their rules for face coverings.
The mandate was triggered by the county’s move into the orange “substantial” coronavirus transmission category on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 transmission map. Monterey County was previously in the yellow “moderate” tier — albeit briefly — with county officials recommending but not requiring masks inside.
An ordinance that went into effect on Oct. 29 said that masks become mandatory, regardless of vaccination status, seven days after Monterey County moves into either the “substantial” or red “high” community spread tier."
California inmate firefighters demand answers for why their release dates are pushed back
Sacramento Bee, SAM STANTON: "Sean McGivern thought he was going home in September, finally due for release from one of California’s prison fire camps after serving six years on convictions out of Santa Clara County for robbery with a firearm, false imprisonment and assault with a deadly weapon.
The 41-year-old inmate said he has spent the past three years at the Fenner Canyon Conservation Camp in Los Angeles County, and on Sept. 7, he received a “legal status summary” document from prison officials showing he had served 2,102 days — including his pretrial custody in jail — and had zero days remaining.
His wife, Kristine Lonero, bought a plane ticket to fly from the Bay Area to pick him up, but McGivern is still in custody."
SF school teachers, families criticize district plan to cut $125M in spending
The Chronicle, JILL TUCKER: "A San Francisco Unified School District plan on how to strip $125 million from its budget drew criticism and significant questions Tuesday from teachers, families and school board members, with concerns focused on proposed cuts to classrooms.
The city’s school board reviewed the numbers for the first time during a public meeting. The district faces a deadline of Dec. 15 to submit a specific plan to state officials on how to balance the budget next year. The school board must approve the district plan by that deadline.
Based on the district’s shortfall, which equals more than 10% of its $1.2 billion annual spending, the state has stepped in and appointed a fiscal expert to oversee the process and prevent a state takeover."
UC Hastings leaders move to change name linked to Native American massacres
The Chronicle, NANETTE ASIMOV: "The governing board of the UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco voted unanimously Tuesday to work with state lawmakers to change its name.
The ugly truth about its founder, Serranus Clinton Hastings, a wealthy 19th century rancher and former chief justice of the California Supreme Court who sponsored massacres of Native American people in Mendocino County, has come increasingly to light in recent years, to the horror of the school’s leaders, alumni and the descendants of the Yuki and other victimized tribes.
That legacy “is a stain associated with the name and the college. To move forward with this is the right thing to do,” Claes Lewenhaupt, a great-great grandson of Hastings and a member of the school’s Board of Directors, said of the name change."
LA just changed its entire approach to homelessness. Does it place politics above need?
LA Times, BENJAMIN ORESKES/DOUG SMITH: "The city of Los Angeles has undertaken a major shift in its approach to homelessness, one that puts a priority on clearing unsightly street encampments even when insufficient permanent housing exists for the people being moved.
In the past month, City Council members have identified nearly 300 locations where they would like to ban camping under a new law that was passed in August.
There is widespread agreement that the street encampments, which have spread from skid row to almost all parts of the city, are unsafe, unsanitary and inhumane, reflecting a profound societal failure. But there is also a concern that the change in policy elevates politics over need, creating a squeaky-wheel strategy of clearing those street encampments that have become the biggest liabilities to members of the City Council."
Biden returns from Europe to Democratic turmoil over Virginia election loss
LA Times, CHRIS MEGERIAN, ERIN B LOGAN and MELANIE MASON: "While President Biden attended the United Nations summit on climate change in Glasgow, Scotland, television cameras caught him appearing to doze while listening to speeches, a reminder of how exhausting overseas travel can be.
But if he was hoping for a reprieve after returning to the White House on Wednesday, he’ll be disappointed. Waiting for Biden is a storm of political challenges that threaten his agenda on Capitol Hill and that have sent Democrats into spasms of fear over their prospects in the upcoming midterm election.
Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate for governor in Virginia, was defeated in a state that his party had considered safe ground. He trailed Glenn Youngkin, the Republican, by a little more than two percentage points in Tuesday’s election. Priorities USA, a leading Democratic super PAC, called the outcome “a warning for all Democrats.”"
