As Newsom promotes California climate in China, state’s greenhouse gas emissions rose last year
Sacramento Bee, ARI PLACHTA: "California needs to reduce planet-warming gases — and quickly — if it is going to meet its ambitious climate targets and stave off the worst effects of global warming.
But the amount of carbon pollution released into the atmosphere by the state’s residents actually increased last year."
Supreme Court could upend how U.S. cities deal with homelessness. It all hinges on one case
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: "The U.S. Supreme Court will decide soon whether to take up a critical issue for San Francisco, other cities across the country and their homeless populations: whether people can be evicted from street camps without an offer of available shelter.
Gov. Gavin Newsom wants the court to overturn an appeals court decision that requires cities to have adequate shelter space available before sweeping homeless encampments. San Francisco Mayor London Breed says the ruling has undermined the city’s “compassionate attempts to address the homelessness crisis.”"
Republicans hoped to downplay abortion bans. The new antiabortion speaker makes that harder
LA Times, DAVID LAUTER: "Leading Republicans have strenuously tried this year to soft-pedal their party’s support for abortion bans as they seek to avoid losses like those suffered in last year’s midterm elections.
That strategy has been clear in statements by former President Trump, who in September called Florida’s passage of a six-week abortion ban a “terrible thing and a terrible mistake.” Trump has refused to specify what limits he would back if he were once again in the White House."
A new proposal on dealing with the high volume of bills (OP-ED)
Capitol Weekly, CHRIS MICHELI: "Since my suggestion of reducing bill limits in the California Legislature does not appear to be taking hold, I have a new proposal to stimulate some discussion about this topic and would welcome feedback. Here is my proposal: How about requiring bills to be introduced at least one month earlier in the year?
What would this proposal require? First, it would require legislators and their staff to consider and decide upon their likely legislation in November and December and then submit those proposals to the Office of Legislative Counsel a month or so earlier. While some offices do that already, many others would have to adjust."
Californians need Newsom to back the transition to greener, healthier homes (OP-ED)
Caoutik Wekly, STAFF: "California homes and offices provide a crucial layer of defense against some of the worst impacts of climate change, most notably shielding residents from dangerous heat storms. Perhaps ironically, too many of these buildings are also making the environmental crisis worse, spewing cancer-linked pollution from fossil fuel-powered equipment such as air conditioning units, water heaters and stoves.
Our residents deserve better. That’s why 75 local governments in California representing about a quarter of the state’s population, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento, have taken steps to phase out gas hookups in new construction."
Sean Loloee’s troubles: A timeline of investigations related to the Sacramento city councilman
Sacramento Bee, THERESA CLIFT: "Federal agents shut down several of Sacramento City Councilman Sean Loloee’s Viva Supermarkets Thursday during an apparent raid.
The action from federal agents is the latest in a string of alleged violations since 2009 relating to the grocery chain. Last year the U.S. Department of Labor filed a federal lawsuit against Loloee and his businesses, first reported by The Sacramento Bee, which brought to light years of investigations."
Phil Isenberg: 1939-2023
Capitol Weekly, DAN MORAIN: " Phil Isenberg, a former Sacramento mayor and one of the most influential Democratic members of the Assembly in the 1980s and 1990s, died Thursday after a short illness. He was 84.
A UC Berkeley-educated lawyer whose public career spanned 50 years, Isenberg worked for a time for Willie Brown’s San Francisco law firm as he rose in Democratic politics in the 1960s."
California city first in U.S. to officially back Palestinians, accuses Israel of ‘ethnic cleansing’
LA Times, NATHAN SOLIS: "The Richmond, Calif., City Council voted early Wednesday to support the Palestinian people of the Gaza Strip with a resolution that accuses Israel of “ethnic cleansing and collective punishment” nearly three weeks after war broke out in the Middle East.
The resolution is believed to be the first show of support by a U.S. city for the Palestinian people after the Oct. 7 attack carried out by Hamas on Israel."
Maine mass shooting leaves 18 dead; shelter-in-place orders extended as manhunt expands
LA Times, STAFF: "When a man with an assault rifle stormed into Schemengees Bar & Grille in Maine, Joseph Walker grabbed a long-bladed knife. He wanted to save lives. He didn’t stand a chance.
Moments later, he was dead. Seventeen others would also die in a mass shooting that unfolded in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday night, prompting extended shelter-in-place orders while a widespread, urgent hunt for the gunman continued. Thirteen people were also injured in the shooting."
Panel discusses how to reduce the dizzying cost of textbooks for California college students
EdSource, EMMA GALLEGOS: "California’s public institutions of higher education have launched efforts — some more extensive than others — to dramatically reduce or eliminate the cost of course materials, which can sometimes rival the price of tuition.
Textbook costs affect academic success
Higher education leaders and advocates, including leaders from California Community Colleges and the California State University system, discussed the biggest successes and hurdles for California colleges during a Thursday panel “Free college textbooks: Dream or reality?” hosted by EdSource."
Oakland’s teachers union owes the district more than $400,000. Why hasn’t it paid?
The Chronicle, JILL TUCKER: "The Oakland teachers union owes the city’s schools more than $400,000, a growing debt that the labor group has failed to pay for more than a year and during months of tense contract negotiations and a teacher strike in the spring.
The debt by the Oakland Education Association started to mount in the 2021-2022 school year, with a few missed payments for the salary and benefits of district staff on leave for union work. Then, during the last school year, the labor group made no payments, despite receiving invoices from the district."
S.F. drug dealers could face murder charges as Newsom, Breed create new OD task force
The Chronicle, J.D. MORRIS: "California and San Francisco law enforcement officials plan to begin investigating some opioid overdose deaths in the city as homicides and expect to pursue murder charges against drug dealers starting next year, a major escalation of the government’s ongoing attempts to crack down on open-air drug markets.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, Mayor London Breed, San Francisco’s district attorney and police chief said Friday that they are forming a new task force that will respond to fatal overdoses using the same evidence-gathering procedures and investigative techniques as homicide cases as they look for new ways to disrupt drug sales and impose tougher penalties against dealers."
Bay Area parents scramble for ADHD drugs amid nationwide shortage
The Chronicle, CATHERINE HO: "When Courtney McCook first sought to get her six-year-old son Lee treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), she thought the medication trial phase — finding the type and dosage that’d work best for him — would take a few weeks.
Instead, it’s been nearly a year, and most of that time has been spent waiting for pharmacies to restock the medications amid a nationwide shortage of ADHD drugs attributed to a mismatch between surging demand and murky manufacturing hold-ups that have throttled supply."
This is where AI doesn’t belong, according to experts
The Chronicle, CHASE DIFELICIANTONIO: "High-profile hearings on Capitol Hill. A flurry of executive orders from President Joe Biden and Gov. Gavin Newsom. A broad-strokes bill from State Sen. Scott Wiener. All these are early stabs at coming to grips with artificial intelligence — an emerging technology whose power for good may be matched only by its potential for misuse.
The stakes are high. Next week’s expected presidential order and a global summit on AI safety taking place in Britain are attempts at figuring out how to control and regulate the increasingly powerful software that could extend its reach into virtually every aspect of life, from politics and policing to health care and education."
‘Crazy loophole’: How lawmakers plan to make it easier to prosecute S.F. car break-ins
The Chronicle, NORA MISHANEC: "‘State Sen. Scott Wiener on Thursday unveiled a bill to close a loophole in prosecuting car break-ins for the third time after previous iterations of the legislation failed.
Under current laws, prosecutors must prove that a car door was locked at the time of a break-in, even if the evidence shows that the defendant bashed in a window. The bill would eliminate the need for victims to testify or provide evidence that the door was locked, making proof of forcible entry sufficient to prove the crime."
Facing ‘fiscal cliff,’ BART directors suggest consolidating with other Bay Area transit agencies
The Chronicle, RICARDO CANO: "Several BART directors say they want the rail system’s officials to explore merging with other Bay Area transit agencies as the region’s largest operators fight for financial survival.
Consolidating some of the Bay Area’s 27 transit agencies is not a new concept. The idea of merging BART and, say, Caltrain or the region’s broader rail network as one entity has long been debated by transit riders and advocates, though has historically met resistance from the agencies, themselves."
What caused speeding BMW to crash, killing 4 Pepperdine students? Dueling claims amid murder charges
LA Times, RICHARD WINTON, JEREMY CHILDS, KAREN GARCIA: "More details are emerging — as well as disputes about the circumstances — in the crash on Pacific Coast Highway that killed four Pepperdine University students last week.
Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir and Deslyn Williams were sisters in the Alpha Phi sorority and seniors at the university. Authorities say they were standing near several parked vehicles in the 21600 block of PCH in Malibu when a BMW barreled into the cars and then struck the women shortly before 9 p.m. Oct. 17."
READ MORE -- Behind the beauty, PCH in Malibu takes a deadly toll. Why it’s getting more dangerous -- LA Times, TERRY CASTLEMAN/KAREN GARCIA
