Campaign finance in California: See who's donating to state races
The Chronicle, SOPHIA BOLLAG: "A San Francisco Chronicle analysis of campaign finance data filed with the secretary of state shows the two sports betting ballot measures have attracted the most money.
Dialysis companies have poured more than $80 million into the campaign to oppose Proposition 29, a measure that would increase regulations on dialysis clinics, making it the next most expensive ballot measure this year. In contrast, opponents of Proposition 1, which would enshrine abortion rights into the California Constitution, have raised a paltry $166,000, compared with supporters’ $15 million.
No groups are spending to oppose Proposition 28, which would increase how much California spends on arts and music education in public schools."
LAPD launches criminal probe of racist leak at request of Martinez, De León, Cedillo
LIBOR JANY/RICHARD WINTON/CONNOR SHEETS: "Los Angeles police Chief Michel Moore announced Tuesday that his department has launched an investigation into the source of the leaked racist recordings that thrust City Hall into a harsh national spotlight.
Speaking to reporters at a briefing, Moore confirmed that the incident was under investigation by the department’s Major Crimes Division, the results of which would be presented to “the appropriate prosecuting agency” for possible criminal charges.
“The department has initiated a criminal investigation into the allegation of eavesdropping into the L.A. Fed meeting involving then-Councilperson Nury Martinez, Councilmember Gil Cedillo and Councilmember Kevin de León and the Fed president Mr. [Ron] Herrera,” Moore said, referring to the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor."
California Gaming with Richard Schuetz (CW PODCAST)
Capitol Weekly, STAFF: "Gambling is big business in California, and it could be even bigger business, depending on what happens with propositions 26 and 27, each of which would expand sports betting opportunities in the state – albeit in very different ways. However, current polling indicates serious trouble ahead for each of these measures: despite nearly $600 million spent by various factions, the most likely outcome appears to be a continuation of the status quo.
Though we have covered gaming expansion attempts many times over the years, we’re no gambling experts – but our guest, Richard Schuetz, is. Schuetz’ resume is fascinating: he got his start as dealer in Las Vegas casinos, and he worked his way up to heading one of the largest gaming operations in the country.
He has extensive experience in both commercial and tribal gaming enterprises, and Gov. Jerry Brown appointed him to the Gambling Control Commission in 2011, where he served until 2015. He joined us this episode from Pennsylvania, where he weighed in on the current proposals, the history of online gaming, the profound differences between commercial gaming operations and those operated by tribal organizations, and what tattoo Prop. 27 backers should get."
Bass and Caruso differ on public safety and policing. But not as much as many think
LAT, LIBOR JANY: "On a campaign stop last spring in the San Fernando Valley, billionaire developer and Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso was flanked by a who’s who of old-school heavyweights from the Los Angeles Police Department.
Former Chiefs William J. Bratton and Charlie Beck — joined by Jim McDonnell, an LAPD veteran who later became Los Angeles County sheriff — were there to send a message, one that’s a bedrock of the campaign: Only a tough-minded leader can clean up the city and get crime under control — and Caruso is that man."
They made good money but left L.A. because it didn’t go far enough. Will they return?
LAT, SUMMER LIN: "Bethany Jansen and her husband, Andrew, decided to pack up their 500-square-foot Venice apartment and move to Bethany’s hometown near St. Louis and start a new life and business.
Jansen, who was working in downtown Los Angeles before the COVID-19 pandemic, commuted two hours a day. Jansen, 32, and her 34-year-old husband were making about $150,000 combined a year, but they felt it was not enough to afford a house in neighborhoods where they wanted to live.
Now in St. Louis, the couple make less money but said it goes much further — and without the intense commute."
He traveled to Turkey to bring his wife home. Then the U.S. government went silent on them
The Chronicle, JOSHUA SHARPE: "Holed up in an Airbnb in Turkey with expired visas, an Oakland man and his wife long for the United States to tell them when, at last, they can come home.
Saleh Khalaf, 28, and Fatimah al-Adhmawee, 23, of southern Iraq, have waited since 2019 for the U.S. State Department to process the wife’s visa application so she can join her husband in California. The couple’s attorney said immigration officials gave them the impression last summer that their wait was over, provided they could travel to the U.S. Embassy in the massive Turkish capital of Ankara.
They arrived four months ago and were told in September that al-Adhmawee would be imminently approved for an immigrant visa granting her permanent residency, but U.S. officials then inexplicably went silent, documents and correspondence shared with The Chronicle show."
Building with nature: Can reviving a marsh save this California town from sea level rise?
LAT, ROSANNA XIA: "Standing on the edge of a repurposed marina, at the end of a long wooden walkway that harked back to more prosperous times, Brenda Buxton took in the disorienting landscape.
Directly before her were the remnants of an industrialized, salt-encrusted pond that stretched for what felt like miles. Here along the southernmost edges of San Francisco Bay, the water glimmered a strange tinge of red. Its flatness belied the threat of rising seas.
She scanned the horizon for signs of wildlife and envisioned the wetland she wished she could see instead: Sweeping acres of marsh grass swaying gently with the breeze. Thousands of shorebirds and a special red-bellied mouse that exists nowhere else in the world. She could almost smell the slightly earthy air of this once-muddy shoreline resetting each day with the tide."
California correctional officer union paid $2.3 million for property where its president lives
WES VENTEICHER and DARRELL SMITH: "The union representing California state correctional officers spent $2.3 million early this year to buy a 5-acre Elk Grove property with a four-bedroom house, a swimming pool and two large warehouses, according to Sacramento County records, an online listing and union representatives.
The California Correctional Peace Officers Association bought the property in February, but many of the union’s members learned of it Friday, when a law enforcement-focused Instagram account spotlighted the purchase after the union’s board of directors discussed it at a meeting in Sacramento.
Some people commenting on the social media post questioned using union dues to buy the property. Others wondered whether members would be able to visit."
Remote workers could be the first to go in the next round of recession layoffs
LAT, DON LEE: "Ernanda White’s layoff was sudden and swift. Eight months of steady work ended in a 15-minute Zoom call.
No office goodbyes. No desk to clean out — not for White, who like millions of others across the country had been working from home.
As recession winds blow and the prospect of layoffs grows, many remote workers are beginning to worry about a potential downside to the at-home arrangement that took hold during the pandemic and has continued even as the crisis recedes."
Why some schools saw their scores soar despite Covid — and others didn't
EdSource, CAROLYN JONES: "Monday’s Smarter Balanced results showed widespread declines in reading and math scores, but a closer look at individual districts shows a more nuanced – and even hopeful – picture of student progress during the pandemic.
Mountain Valley Unified, a diverse, predominantly low-income K-12 district in the remote mountains of Trinity County, had some of the state’s largest increases: 13 points in reading and 17 points in math, with overall results far above the state average.
Lost Hills Union Elementary District, amid the pistachio and almond orchards northwest of Bakersfield, saw reading and math scores jump 12 and 17 points, respectively. Eastern Sierra Unified, a K-12 district in Mono County, also saw significant improvements. Math scores rose more than 6 points, with 32% of eighth graders scoring at the highest level."
Hundreds of East Bay homes have been named as using too much water. Many are repeat offenders
The Chronicle, KURTIS ALEXANDER/MICHAEL CABANATUAN: "Hundreds of East Bay residents are being fined for using too much water during dry times, including many of the same people who snubbed local water limits during last decade’s drought.
Former Chevron Vice Chairman George Kirkland consumed an average of 5,223 gallons of water per day at his Danville estate over the summer, making him one of the region’s top 10 biggest water users and subject to an “excessive use” penalty, according to the East Bay Municipal Utility District. In 2015, Kirkland was fined for averaging 12,578 gallons of water a day.
Steven Burd, former Safeway CEO and Alamo resident, was also a repeat offender, using an average of 5,498 gallons per day over the summer, records show. So was Alamo resident Tom Seeno, member of a powerful local family known for developing land across Contra Costa County. He ranked as the top user this summer averaging 9,138 gallons of water per day. Average household water use in the region is about 200 gallons of water daily."
An S.F. tech founder ‘reclaimed’ an empty lot to plant a garden. Not everyone was happy
The Chronicle, NORA MISHANEC: "Fed up with a fenced-in parking lot in their San Francisco neighborhood, a group of neighbors decided to reclaim the space this past weekend in an act that might be described as guerrilla urban planning.
“There’s a 26,000 sqft lot in SF with no known owner,” wrote Zach Klein, founder of Dwell and Vimeo. “This weekend some neighbors and I opened the fence.”
What followed, in 16 tweets posted late Monday, turned into a polarizing story highlighting the enduring tensions in San Francisco over how to best utilize open spaces."
Bay Area leads a record drop in luxury home sales. This S.F. mansion illustrates market’s woes
The Chronicle, STAFF: "A historical San Francisco mansion listed for sale just before the pandemic is still struggling to find a buyer — one example of a dramatic reversal in the Bay Area’s luxury housing market, which just recorded its lowest September sales volume in at least a decade, with a year-over-year decline twice as severe as the record drop in the rest of the country.
And the outlook for the rest of the year is bleak, according to one of the listing agents for the property at 2698 Pacific Ave., just off Billionaire’s Row in Pacific Heights. “Many agents are quietly quitting the rest of 2022,” said Herman Chan of Golden Gate Sotheby’s International Realty.
With the November election and typical holiday slowdown nearing, and mortgage rates still rising, “some agents are just laying low, regrouping, planning for 2023,” he said."
