Rep. Nunes leaving Congress to head Trump social media group
LA Times, SEEMA MEHTA and JENNIFER HABERKORN: "Rep. Devin Nunes, a controversial San Joaquin Valley Republican and ardent supporter of Donald Trump, is leaving Congress by the end of the month to head a social media company created by the former president.
“I will deeply miss being your congressman,” Nunes said in a message to his constituents on Monday.
Shortly after he sent the note, the Trump Media & Technology Group announced that Nunes, 48, would be its chief executive officer beginning in January."
READ MORE about Devin Nunes: Nunes quits Congress for Trump Media job -- JEREMY B. WHITE, Politico; Trump shell company faces SEC investigation -- KATY O'DONNELL, Poliitico; Trump Media Company Names Devin Nunes as CEO -- SIOBAHN HUGHES, Wall Street Journal; Filing with SEC by Digital World Acquisition Corp. -- SEC; Devin Nunes Will Quit the House to Take Over Trump’s Media Company -- JONATHAN WEISMAN, NY Times.
Former head of DWP agrees to plead guilty to bribery charge
LA Times, DAKOTA SMITH: "The former top executive of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has agreed to plead guilty to a bribery charge in a widening corruption case involving the utility and City Atty. Mike Feuer’s office, prosecutors said Monday.
David H. Wright, 62, of Riverside accepted bribes from a lawyer in exchange for supporting a $30-million, no-bid DWP contract, officials said. Wright also admitted in the plea agreement that he participated in several other corrupt schemes while serving as head of the DWP.
Paul Paradis, the attorney whose company received the contract, agreed last week to plead guilty to one count of bribery in a scheme that involved him receiving a $2.2-million kickback from another attorney. Paradis was “covertly cooperating” with the FBI by late March 2019, prosecutors said Monday."
UC avoided one big strike, but more are in the works at California colleges. Here’s why.
JEONG PARK, SacBee: “Workers at California’s universities are frustrated.
Days after the University of California reached a contract with its lecturers in mid-November, two more of its unions authorized a strike. California State University faculty is at an “impasse” in its negotiation with the system for a new contract. Resident assistants at the University of Southern California and Stanford, two of California’s top private colleges, have gone on strike or plan to do so.
Altogether, those groups make up some 50,000 California’s higher education workers.
Alameda judge orders a statewide halt to use of pesticide harmful to honeybees
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: "A judge has sided with environmental groups and announced a statewide halt to use of the pesticide sulfoxaflor, which kills insects on many crops but is toxic to honeybees.
The state Department of Pesticide Regulation, under Gov. Gavin Newsom, lifted California’s ban on sulfoxaflor and approved limited use of the chemical in the spring of 2020. The department said its application on crops would have an overall beneficial effect and, in court filings, dismissed predictions of damage to bees as “speculative.”
But Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch said opponents had presented substantial scientific evidence of significant harm to bees and other pollinators, evidence that was not seriously addressed by either the state agency or manufacturers of the pesticide."
Facing record labor shortages, trucking firms battle fiercely for drivers
LA Times, DON LEE: "Dawn hasn’t broken when Jerrett Sellers spots a promising target in the mostly deserted streets of South Carolina’s capital: a lone truck driver climbing down from his cab at a gas station.
Sellers looks for encouraging signs. Shoulders slumped with fatigue? A clean and tidy appearance? Liking what he sees, Sellers moves quickly, approaching the driver with a piece of paper in his hand.
“You got a quick sec to talk?” he calls to the man. “We’re looking to hire.”
Here are 22 new laws Californians must start following in 2022
The Chronicle, ALEXEI KOSEFF: "Even as state lawmakers scaled back their agendas to accommodate another session upended by the coronavirus pandemic, the California Legislature passed hundreds of bills, big and small, this year. Many of them take effect on Jan. 1, changing the rules on everything from how we vote to whether you can order a margarita with your Mexican takeout. Here are 22 new laws coming to California in 2022:
Will the California suburbs ever be the same? After several years of battles over single-family zoning and housing density, legislators passed SB9 by Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, which creates a streamlined process to split lots, add second units to the properties and convert homes into duplexes. Experts estimate it could help add hundreds of thousands of homes across the state by allowing up to four units on some properties that had just one before, though some cities have already rushed to limit its impact on their communities.
Another new measure to build out existing neighborhoods, SB10 by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, was targeted with a lawsuit almost as soon as it was signed. It allow cities to rezone some parcels in urban areas, including those near public transit, for up to 10 units without going through extensive environmental reviews. Wiener’s SB487 also tries to address California’s housing shortage by loosening regulations that limit square footage for a project based on lot size, which could clear the way for more small apartment buildings."
Sacramento clears 160 vehicles used by homeless from business park. Are more sweeps coming?
THERESA CLIFT, SacBee: “The city of Sacramento on Monday cleared 160 vehicles and trailers used by homeless individuals from a North Sacramento industrial park — signaling a potential crackdown in how the city responds to vehicles used as shelter.
By 9:30 a.m., Commerce Circle was a flurry of activity. Dozens of tow trucks and city vehicles with flashing lights lined the roads. People worked on the ground under cars and trailers trying to quickly get them to run so they could move before they were towed. Some ran around looking for tires or tools.
Those who were able to move their vehicles without an issue came back to help others. Alice’a Stanley lives in an inoperable camper on Commerce Circle with her two children, ages 14 and 7. Her car was towed Monday.
Rain, snow and chill are heading to SoCal this week
LA Times, HAYLEY SMITH: "A pair of storms are expected to deliver an early dose of winter in the form of rain, snow and cooler temperatures in Southern California this week, officials said.
The first, weaker system will bring the potential for light rain to Los Angeles on Tuesday morning, according to the National Weather Service. A stronger system will bring a better chance of rain and mountain snow Thursday.
Both should deliver a few tenths of an inch of moisture, said David Sweet, a meteorologist with the weather service in Oxnard."
Supreme Court rejects Bay Area developer's appeal of $3.6M cleanup fine
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: "The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal Monday by a Bay Area developer who was fined $3.6 million and ordered to clean up landfill he deposited into Suisun Bay to make room for a duck-hunting club and a kite-surfing center on an island he owns.
John Sweeney bought the 39-acre island, Point Buckler, for $150,000 in 2011. The island, on the eastern edge of Grizzly Bay in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, had been a site for duck hunters until the 1990s.
Sweeney rebuilt levees around the island, opened a kite-surfing center and announced plans to re-establish the club for duck hunters, whose prey swim in ponds maintained by the levees and tidal gates. In the process, he deposited 8,500 cubic yards of soil from trenches into the waters."
Even as state lawmakers scaled back their agendas to accommodate another session upended by the coronavirus pandemic, the California Legislature passed hundreds of bills, big and small, this year. Many of them take effect on Jan. 1, changing the rules on everything from how we vote to whether you can order a margarita with your Mexican takeout. Here are 22 new laws coming to California in 2022:
