Newsom vetoes bill to set up drug overdose prevention programs in some California cities
LA Times, HANNAH WILEY: “California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday vetoed a controversial bill that would have allowed supervised injection site pilot programs in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland, in efforts to prevent drug overdose deaths and connect people to treatment for addiction.
The number of safe injection sites that would have been authorized by the bill could have induced a “world of unintended consequences,” Newsom wrote in his veto message.
“It is possible that these sites would help improve the safety and health of our urban areas, but if done without a strong plan, they could work against this purpose,” Newsom said. “These unintended consequences in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland cannot be taken lightly. Worsening drug consumption challenges in these areas is not a risk we can take.””
Despite Newsom’s veto, S.F. might push ahead with supervised drug consumption sites
The Chronicle, MALLORY MOENCH: “Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have allowed pilot programs where people could use drugs under the supervision of trained staff in San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles, a blow to a long-fought battle to tackle the cities’ overdose crises.
In his veto letter, Newsom said the unlimited number of sites the legislation would have allowed could induce “unintended consequences,” mentioning “worsening drug consumption challenges.” He directed his Health and Human Services secretary and local officials to come back to the Legislature with detailed plans for a “truly limited pilot program.”
The most recent veto is a setback for many San Francisco officials who have pushed to open these sites for years to curb overdose deaths, but have held off because federal law still prohibits them and state law doesn’t provide protections for medical providers running the sites. But San Francisco could still move forward with opening a site after City Attorney David Chiu released a statement following Newsom’s veto that said he would support a nonprofit opening a site.”
Column: Does Newsom’s drug bill veto signal White House hopes?
DAN WALTERS, CalMatters: "Gov. Gavin Newsom dropped the strongest hint yet that he may be thinking about a presidential (candidacy) Monday when he vetoed a bill that would have allowed cities to set up sites where addicts could ingest drugs.
National political media had been waiting for Newsom’s action, reasoning that if he rejected a bill supported by progressives in his Democratic Party, it would indicate that he was worried that signing it would alienate moderate voters in other states.
Newsom has consistently denied harboring presidential ambitions but has drawn national media attention with his sharp attacks on red state governors and his entreaties that Democrats mount a stiffer defense in the face of conservative political and judicial gains."
What we know about the Kiely Rodni investigation as officials say body ‘likely’ found
MICHAEL McGOUGH, SacBee: "Law enforcement officials announced Monday that while they have not yet not officially confirmed the identity, the body found inside a vehicle underwater at a California reservoir is “more than likely” that of Kiely Rodni, the 16-year-old from Truckee who went missing after a party earlier this month.
A volunteer dive team known as Adventures with Purpose located Kiely’s vehicle, a Honda CR-V, upside down in about 14 feet of water at Prosser Creek Reservoir on Sunday. It was found near Prosser Family Campground, the site of a party with about 200 to 300 young people at which Kiely was last seen alive.
A body was found inside the vehicle, which was recovered and brought to shore Sunday night. “We believe it is our missing person ... it’s more than likely,” Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said at a Monday morning news conference."
Capitol Weekly Podcast: LA poliitics and much more with Robb Korinke
Capitol Weekly Staff: "Today we are joined by Robb Korinke, a principal, along with Mike Madrid, at GrassrootsLab. Korinke and Madrid met at the League of California Cities and bonded over their shared fascination with local politics.
Madrid, a prominent NorCal Republican, and Korinke, an LA Democrat, may seem like an odd couple to run a political firm, but they make it work.
We asked Robb about working with someone in the opposition, the dramatic party shift that has taken place at the local level since 2015, the LA Mayor’s race, and who HE thinks had the Worst Week in CA Politics.
California congressman becomes latest Republican to invoke Nazis to defend Trump, bash Biden
MELANIE MASON, LA Times: "Rep. Mike Garcia, a Republican who faces one of the most competitive House races in the country, likened the Biden administration to the Nazi regime during an interview on a conservative podcast last week.
Referencing the recent FBI search for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, the Florida residence of former President Trump, Garcia accused the Biden administration and what he called the “deep state” of “weaponizing federal agencies” for political purposes.
“This is literally tyranny of a majority right now that is acting more like a Third Reich than they are the United States. And this is very dangerous,” Garcia told Sara Carter, a right-leaning media personality, on her eponymous podcast."
California state union secures paid family leave in contract deal. Will others follow?
WES VENTEICHER, SacBee: "A new California public employee union contract for the first time gives rank-and-file workers paid family leave without requiring them to accept a paycheck deduction to fund the benefit.
The tentative agreement for the state attorneys union, reached Friday, provides up to six weeks of paid leave time that may be used by workers with new children or those with sick family members, according to a summary that was emailed to union members Monday morning.
The California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges, and Hearing Officers in State Employment struck the deal with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration in time for the Legislature to vote on it before the end of the legislative session on Aug. 31. The union’s dues-paying members and the Legislature must each approve the deal for it to take effect."
COVID tests at California prison’s linked to ‘potential breach’ of visitors personal data
SAM STANTON, SacBee: "California prison officials say a “potential breach” of its data systems may have compromised medical information for staff, visitors and others who were tested for COVID-19 by the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation between June 2020 and last January.
“The potential breach was discovered in early 2022, following routine maintenance on one of our information systems,” the department said in an announcement Monday. “The breach also potentially included other medical information for a portion of the incarcerated population going as far back as 2008, as well as some financial information. “Following the discovery of the potential breach, department staff took immediate action, and suspended all of the affected systems.
The department also notified authorities, and began a multi-agency investigation that concluded this summer.”
Voters dissatisfied about direction of California but still back Newsom, poll shows
LA Times, PHIL WILLON: “Nearly a year after crushing a Republican-led recall attempt, Gov. Gavin Newsom leads his GOP challenger by more than 2 to 1 in the 2022 governor’s race, even though a majority of voters express dissatisfaction about where California is headed, a new poll shows.
Newsom has the backing of 52% of registered voters, compared with 25% who favor Republican state Sen. Brian Dahle, a Northern California conservative who remains a political obscurity among most of the electorate, according to the latest UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll, co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times.
Only 19% of voters said they were undecided, making it unlikely that the Republican will have room to close the gap before the November election.”
Omicron subvariants BA.4.6 and BA.2.75 are here. How concerned should California be?
LA Times, RONG-GONG LIN II/LUKE MONEY: "As the latest coronavirus wave fueled by the super-infectious Omicron subvariant BA.5 continues to recede, health officials are turning a wary eye to what might come next.
Experts in California are closely tracking two newer subvariants, BA.4.6 and BA.2.75 — themselves members of the Omicron family. It isn’t clear whether they will eventually spread to worrisome extents in the state, but there’s reason to pay attention as they’ve caused concern elsewhere in the world.
The most pressing question is whether either can outcompete BA.5, which essentially elbowed out all other coronavirus strains during its stunning rise to dominance this summer. If they can, that could potentially point to another spin in an all-too-familiar cycle, where the emergence of an even-more-infectious strain threatens to trigger a fresh rise in cases.”
Employers couldn’t fire workers for off-site cannabis use under California bill
The Chronicle, CAMRYN PAK: “When California voters legalized recreational marijuana use in 2016, workplace regulations were left in the hands of employers. A new bill proposed by Assembly Member Bill Quirk, D-Hayward, would change that.
AB2188 would prevent employers from penalizing workers who use cannabis outside of work hours. Employees could still be fired for being impaired while on the clock. It would also set new standards for employer-administered drug-screening tests.
“Nothing in this bill says that workers are able to use cannabis and come to the workplace high,” said California Employment Lawyers Association Legislative Counsel Mariko Yoshihara. “It simply allows a person to use cannabis off the job, like any other legal substance, without facing discrimination.””
You may soon be asked to take a pay cut to keep working from home
LA Times, DON LEE: “Working from home during the pandemic became a surprising success.
Many workers enjoyed a better quality of life plus savings on commuting, office wardrobe and other expenses. Companies boosted productivity and lowered costs.
Now as remote work looks likely to survive in some form for the foreseeable future, a battle is starting to brew over who should pocket those savings, with some employers arguing that working from home is a benefit that should be offset by lower salaries.”
S.F. Bay Area warns of incoming wildfire smoke. Here’s where skies will be haziest
The Chronicle, SAM WHITING: “Smoky skies were expected to descend over the Bay Area on Tuesday, an effect of the Six Rivers Lightning Complex fires in Northern California.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued an advisory warning residents to expect hazy skies and the smell of smoke, though the air itself is not expected to reach an unhealthy level of pollution.
Kristine Roselius, spokesperson for the air district, said the effect will be strongest in the North Bay starting mid-morning and lasting into the afternoon. At that point, onshore winds were forecast to push the smoke back out of the region.”
California colleges open for fall term with relaxed Covid rules
EdSpurce, MICHAEL BURKE/ASHLEY A. SMITH: “tudents at California’s public colleges and universities will begin returning to campuses this month, and many of them will be welcomed back to full in-person classrooms, no mask mandates and few Covid-19 testing requirements. At some community colleges, students won’t even be required to be vaccinated.
More than two years into the pandemic, Covid-19 restrictions have been significantly eased across the University of California, California State University and the state’s 116-community college system, which together enroll some 2.5 million students. That’s the case even as the colleges prepare to deal with another virus, monkeypox, potentially spreading on their campuses.
It’s a stark contrast to last fall when indoor mask mandates were the norm at colleges across the state and many campuses also routinely tested all students for the virus. Amid the threat of the delta variant at that time, campuses were also preparing to move classes online if necessary. At least one CSU campus, Stanislaus State, delayed in-person classes for about five weeks at the start of the fall 2021 term.”
‘We believe it is our missing person’: Search for Kiely Rodni comes to an end
The Chronicle, MICHAEL CABANATUAN: “The two-week search for missing Truckee teenager Kiely Rodni came to a somber end Monday morning after law enforcement officials said a body found inside an SUV submerged in a reservoir was likely the 16-year-old.
Authorities said they had not officially identified the body found in Prosser Creek Reservoir as that of the Truckee teen, whose disappearance more than two weeks ago prompted a massive search that drew national attention. But Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said the body was “more than likely” Rodni.
“We believe it is our missing person,” Moon said at a news conference at the Truckee Community Recreation Center.”
