Gov. Newsom nominates Justice Patricia Guerrero as California’s next chief justice
LAT, KEVIN RECTOR: “Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday nominated Justice Patricia Guerrero to be the next chief justice of the California Supreme Court, elevating a Latina to California’s top judicial post for the first time.
Newsom, a Democrat, also nominated Alameda County Superior Court Judge Kelli Evans to fill the associate justice spot that would be vacated by Guerrero. Evans, who is Black, would be the first openly lesbian woman on the high court.
The nominations follow current Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye’s announcement two weeks ago that she would not seek a second term when her current term ends in January.”
‘It’s a life sentence’: California lawmakers seek to seal felony records for past offenders
The Chronicle, DUSTIN GARDINER: “It’s been more than 15 years since Fiani Johnson was sentenced to a year in prison for having marijuana in the trunk of her car. But the counselor from Fremont can’t seem to shake her old record.
Every time she applies for a job, Johnson, 44, said she feels a wave of anxiety because she knows she will be questioned about her conviction. Even as she works to complete her master’s degree, she worries a state board might not approve her counseling license. And she still struggles to find housing in a nice neighborhood.
“I feel today that it’s still, still haunting me,” she said. “Once they see that charge, they really don’t want to know the details. It’s hard to process rejection when you’re doing the right thing.””
For water conservation, lawmakers should okay ‘decoupling’ (OP-ED)
Capitol Weekly, ROBERTO BARRAGAN: “With climate change, our boom and bust cycle of rainy vs dry years will mean fewer rainy years and longer, more frequent dry years. We’ve all been doing our part to conserve water during this drought, but according to figures provided by state water regulators, it’s not enough.
We urge the legislature to pass and Gov. Newsom to sign SB 1469 which offers water providers a powerful tool to help encourage customers to save water and fight the drought.
SB 1469 makes permanent a program called decoupling which sounds technical but is really a very simple concept to conserve water.”
U.S. gas prices dip just below $4 for the first time in 5 months
AP: “Gasoline prices dipped to just under the $4 mark for the first time in more than five months — good news for consumers who are struggling with high prices for many other essentials.
AAA said the national average for a gallon of regular was $3.99 on Thursday.
Prices have dropped 15 cents in the past week and 68 cents in the last month, according to the auto club.”
Speech by Justice Alito made news for a joke — but it’s raising alarm for a different reason
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: “In a recent speech in Rome, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito drew laughs, and news coverage, for saying former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson “paid the price” for criticizing Alito’s June 24 opinion that overturned the constitutional right to abortion. His chief topic attracted less attention but was more noteworthy: the need to protect religious freedom from what the justice described as increasing public indifference, if not outright antagonism.
There is “growing hostility to religion, or at least the traditional religious beliefs that are contrary to the new moral code that is ascendant in some sectors,” Alito said. He did not describe the “new moral code,” but conservative religious groups have used similar terminology to refer, for example, to support for same-sex marriage and transgender rights.
It is challenging, Alito said, “to win the battle to protect religious freedom in an increasingly secular society.” These days, he said, American society appears to be sending the message that it’s acceptable to worship in the privacy of one’s home or church, but “when you step outside into the pubic square in the light of day, you had better behave yourself like a good secular citizen.””
Mercedes driver’s movements, mindset, medications at center of deadly crash probe
LAT, RICHARD WINTON: “Authorities investigating the crash in Windsor Hills that left five people dead are trying to sort out the actions and mindset of the nurse who prosecutors say plowed her Mercedes into the intersection.
Investigators are still trying to get a full account of what brought Nicole Lorraine Linton, 37, to the corner of Slauson and La Brea avenues on Thursday afternoon.
Linton, who has been charged with multiple counts of murder and vehicular homicide, was speeding more than 90 mph when she approached the busy intersection, authorities said.”
S.F. lawyer who fought to end cash bail wins confirmation to state appeals court
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: "Jeremy Goldman, a lawyer in the San Francisco city attorney’s office who fought to end cash bail in the city and earlier took part in the successful legal challenge to the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, won confirmation Wednesday to the state Court of Appeal, where he had been nominated by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The state Commission on Judicial Appointments unanimously approved Goldman’s appointment to the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco, He fills the vacancy created when Newsom named another justice on the court, Alison Tucher, as presiding justice of a different division of the First District.
Goldman, 53, has worked for the city attorney’s office since 2014 and most recently served as a supervisor of its appellate cases. When the city was sued in 2015 by criminal defense advocates who argued that the bail system was unfairly keeping poor people in jail before trial, City Attorney David Chiu said, it was Goldman who persuaded the office that the system was not worth defending and should be overhauled, the first local government in California to make such a decision.”
This energy source doesn't exist in California. But it could account for 25% of the state's electric power in the future
The Chronicle, TARA DUGGAN: “California regulators amped up the state’s clean energy goals Wednesday by voting in new ambitious targets for offshore wind development.
The new targets, unanimously approved by the California Energy Commission, call for the state to produce 25 gigawatts from offshore wind by 2045 — which would be more than 11 times the capacity of the state’s last remaining nuclear plant.
Academics at UC Berkeley believe that, with aggressive action, offshore wind could eventually account for a quarter of the state’s electricity needs.”
Walgreens fueled San Francisco’s opioid epidemic with thousands of ‘suspicious orders,’ judge rules
LAT, SUMMER LIN: “A federal judge ruled Wednesday that pharmacy giant Walgreens could be held liable for fueling the opioid epidemic in San Francisco by shipping and dispensing hundreds of thousands of “suspicious orders” of prescription drugs, the latest legal reckoning over America’s prescription drug crisis.
More than 100 million prescription opioid pills were dispensed by Walgreens in the city between 2006 and 2020, and during that time, the pharmacy giant failed to investigate hundreds of thousands of orders deemed suspicious, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer wrote in his 112-page opinion in a lawsuit filed by San Francisco against major prescription drug sellers.
“Walgreens has regulatory obligations to take reasonable steps to prevent the drugs from being diverted and harming the public,” Breyer wrote. “The evidence at trial established that Walgreens breached these obligations.””
California monkeypox response is bumpy, but builds on some lessons from COVID
CALMatters, KRISTEN HWANG: “Hundreds waiting hours for a monkeypox vaccine only to be turned away. Residents taking to social media to detail struggles getting diagnosed and treated. State and local leaders demanding federal action. Emergency orders declared.
At face value, these details paint the picture of a country and state in crisis, struggling to apply lessons learned from the past two and a half years of COVID-19 response. However, scientists, public health leaders, and physicians who spoke with CalMatters said infrastructure and resources augmented during the COVID-19 pandemic have, in fact, aided the monkeypox response.
Still, it has its faults.”
Fears of losing battle to control monkeypox in California, U.S. as cases surge
LAT, RONG-GONG LIN II/LUKE MONEY/MELODY GUTIERREZ: “Monkeypox cases are rising exponentially in some gay and bisexual communities, dimming hopes that officials can quickly gain control of the virus that has the potential to establish a lasting foothold in the United States.
The U.S. is reporting about 450 monkeypox cases a day for the seven-day period that ended Tuesday, according to Our World in Data. That’s double the rate from two weeks earlier. Los Angeles County reported 683 cumulative cases as of Tuesday — doubling in the last 10 days. An additional 29 cases were reported in the county on Wednesday.
More than 1,800 monkeypox cases have been reported in California as of Wednesday, according to a Times tally of data from L.A. and San Francisco counties and the state Department of Public Health.”
Bay Area eyes major new shift in monkeypox vaccination: ‘There’s no other choice’
The Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI: “With sky-high demand for the nation’s limited supply of monkeypox vaccine, U.S. officials approved a new injection method to stretch out doses, but that does not mean the pressure for shots in places like San Francisco will ease right away.
Bay Area officials say they still need the federal government’s playbook on changing the way shots are given, with additional training needed for many vaccination staff.
The new method will use just a fifth of the previously administered dosage, but “you have to get it just right,” and that means ensuring health providers are trained in the precision nuances, said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert with UCSF.”
Conservative S.F. billionaire emerges as central figure in city's latest political controversy
The Chronicle, SOPHIA BOLLAG: "The revelation that San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins was paid six figures by a nonprofit organization founded by a top donor to the Chesa Boudin recall has put a spotlight on the man behind the nonprofit and the campaign: San Francisco billionaire Bill Oberndorf.
Oberndorf made headlines as one of the big Republican donors who bucked the party in 2016 and supported Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. He donated more than $1.5 million to boost former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s bid for the Republican nomination that year, according to federal campaign contribution records.
He was registered as a Republican as recently as 2017 but later switched his party affiliation to the American Independent Party, according to voter records. The American Independent Party is a far-right political group that many people mistakenly select when trying to register as political independents.”
California colleges now have centers to help students with basic needs like food and housing
EdSource, BETTY MARQUEZ ROSALES: “As community college students return to their campuses, many will find one new resource to count on: a hub where they can seek support in meeting their basic needs.
Known as basic needs centers, the resources offered differ from campus to campus, but most tend to help students who are experiencing housing and food insecurity. Others also offer other support like paying for auto insurance, finding low-cost medical care, paying for internet and applying for public benefits.
The centers are the result of a new policy that went into effect on July 1 requiring every campus to hire a basic needs coordinator to begin establishing a physical center. Some campuses have long offered food and housing support and will now add to the resources offered to students.”
UC admits record number of Californians and far fewer out-of-state students
LAT, TERESA WATANABE: “In a revised playbook guiding University of California admissions, the system’s nine undergraduate campuses accepted a record number of California first-year students for fall 2022, while significantly narrowing entry to out-of-state and international applicants amid widespread demands to preserve coveted seats for state residents, according to preliminary data released Wednesday.
The UC system admitted 85,268 California first-year applicants — a 1.2% increase of 1,045 students over last year. Offers to out-of-state applicants declined by 19%, or 5,359 students, and those to international students decreased by 12.2%, or 2,442 students.
Campuses also set records for diversity, as students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups increased to 43.8% of the admitted first-year class. For the third straight year, Latinos were the largest ethnic group at 37.3%, followed by Asian Americans at 35%, white students at 18.6% and Black students at 5.7%. Overall, both applications and admission offers increased for Latino, Asian American, Black and Native American students and declined among white and Pacific Islander students.”
UC Berkeley just admitted its smallest freshman class in 3 years. Here’s why
The Chronicle, MICHAEL CABANATUAN: “After a tumultuous year of lawsuits and legislation over campus growth, the University of California’s flagship Berkeley campus admitted the lowest number of first-year students in recent years.
Cal offered admission to 14,600 new students for the fall semester, which begins next week. That compares to 16,400 admissions issued in 2021’s fall semester — and is the lowest number of potential new students since 2018, when 13,559 students were offered the chance to enroll in their first-year. How many students actually enroll won’t be known until late fall.
Despite the legal and legislative battle over Cal’s plans to expand its campus, university officials said the reason for the reduced number of admittance offers was a result of standard enrollment planning, designed to keep enrollment stable.”
Google is making these changes to its search engine to fight misinformation
The Chronicle, CHASE DIFELICIANTONIO: “Tech-savvy digital natives may be more confident at the keyboard, but a broad swath of people across generations and continents — around two thirds — said they believe they are bombarded with false or misleading information online every week. And not all of them deal with it in the same way.
That is according to a survey conducted by YouGov with support from Google that surveyed 8,585 people in the U.S., Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, Nigeria, India and Japan.
The report found that younger people are more confident when it comes to parsing fact from fiction online and are far more concerned about older family members believing or sharing misinformation in cyberspace than they are.”
Man suspected of shooting Arcadia police officer in custody after hours-long standoff
LAT, CHRISTIAN MARTINEZ/GREGORY YEE/RICHARD WINTON/MATTHEW ORMSETH: “A man suspected of shooting his brother and an Arcadia police officer was taken into custody after an hours-long standoff Wednesday night.
The man, who is in his 40s, was arrested around 10:40 p.m., said Deputy Miguel Meza, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson.
A source told The Times the officer was stable and was undergoing surgery at Huntington Memorial Hospital for a gunshot wound to the side of his face affecting his jaw area.”
Column: Tax provisions may be Democrats’ most unexpected victory in the inflation bill
LAT, MICHAEL HILTZIK: “The budget reconciliation bill just passed by the Senate and heading for final congressional approval offers dramatic improvements in American policies aimed at fighting global warming and improving healthcare.
There’s too much in this legislative smorgasbord that Democrats have dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act to cover in one sitting, so I’ll focus on one topic that’s sure to interest almost everybody: taxes.
The measure addresses tax policy in two major ways. One is a steep increase in funding for the Internal Revenue Service.”
Trump invokes 5th Amendment under questioning in New York financial probe
AP, MICHAEL BALSAMO/MICHAEL R. SISAK: “Former President Trump says he invoked the 5th Amendment and wouldn’t answer questions under oath in the long-running New York civil investigation into his business dealings.
Trump arrived at New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James’ offices in a motorcade shortly before 9 a.m. Wednesday for his deposition, but sent out a statement more than an hour later saying he “declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution.”
“I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?’ Now I know the answer to that question,” the statement said. “When your family, your company, and all the people in your orbit have become the targets of an unfounded politically motivated Witch Hunt supported by lawyers, prosecutors and the Fake News Media, you have no choice.””
