Rough&Tumble California Policy and Politics

California Policy and Politics Monday Morning

State budget deal: Most Californians will get stimulus payments -- Most Californians would receive stimulus payments ranging from $200 to $350 per person under a budget deal that Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislative leaders announced Sunday night. Sophia Bollag in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/27/22

California Republican Rep. David Valadao, who voted to impeach Trump, survives primary -- Valadao, of Hanford, will face Assemblymember Rudy Salas, a moderate Democrat, in the contest to represent the 22nd Congressional District in the general election. The Central Valley district includes parts of Kern, Kings and Tulare counties. Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times$ Gillian Brassil in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 6/27/22

Walters: Raw politics determine Californians’ medical care -- Medical care in California is a patchwork of federal, state and local government services, plus those financed by employers and — rarely — individual people. It’s also, by far, the largest single component of California’s $3.4 trillion economy with upwards of 2 million workers and at least $450 billion in spending from all sources, an average of more than $11,000 per Californian. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 6/27/22

Abortion

Abortion rights activists continue protests across Los Angeles on Sunday -- For the third day in a row, demonstrators gathered downtown to express grief and anger over the Supreme Court’s decision to end a constitutional right to abortion. Connor Sheets, Laura Newberry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/27/22

Man accused of burning officer with makeshift blowtorch during Roe vs. Wade protests -- A 30-year-old Los Angeles man has been jailed on a charge of attempted murder after being accused of injuring an L.A. police officer with a makeshift blowtorch during protests over the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of the Roe vs. Wade decision. Paul Pringle in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/27/22

Jodie Sweetin says ‘our activism will continue’ after LAPD shoves her at Roe protest -- “Full House” star Jodie Sweetin spoke out Sunday after police officers pushed her to the ground this weekend at an abortion rights demonstration in Los Angeles. On Saturday, L.A. photographer Michael Ade uploaded an Instagram video of LAPD officers shoving Sweetin, who was protesting the Supreme Court’s recent reversal of the landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision. Christi Carras in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/27/22

Joy, fear, anger at Sunday church services shows widening divide over abortion -- For Pastor Netz Gómez and the 1,500 members of his Houses of Light church in Northridge, the Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn Roe vs. Wade was an answer to their prayers and decades of hard work. Heidi Perez Moreno, Emily Alpert Reyes, Colleen Shalby, Deborah Netburn in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/27/22

How the abortion debate will impact California elections after the Roe decision -- While the Supreme Court’s decision to eliminate the constitutional right to abortion after almost 50 years does not alter Californians’ access to services, it has quickly become a rallying cry for Democratic leaders and progressive activists across the Bay Area looking to energize voters in the months ahead. Maggie Angst, Shomik Mukherjee and Kayla Jimenez in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 6/27/22

Her illegal abortion paved the way for Roe. 56 years later she shares her story -- “This” was an illegal abortion. The year was 1966, the place, California, and Cheryl Bryant was out of options. She had plans to graduate college and become a teacher, and her boyfriend, Clifton Palmer, to be a school psychologist. They were “poor as church mice,” she recalled, and couldn’t afford a baby. Brittny Mejia, Jackeline Luna, Irfan Khan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/27/22

Garofoli: California has made itself an abortion haven. A federal ban could wipe that all away -- California is a haven for now, at least. That could change. Quicker than you’d think. And it could happen on a lot of other issues that Californians take for granted, too. There is a foreboding warning in Friday’s dissent from Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/27/22

Amtrak

Amtrak collision with car leaves 3 dead, 3 injured at ‘recipe for disaster’ track site -- Aubert said the collision occurred in a rural area without rail guards or signals at the crossing. “It’s a bad crossing,” he said, with trains traveling at about 80 mph. “It’s just a recipe for disaster, unfortunately.” Victims’ names were not released, but officials said the people killed were believed to be adults. Megan Cassidy in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Jakob Rodgers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 6/27/22

Street

Mysterious Bay Area criminal organization had nationwide reach, law enforcement imposter, ties to shootings and notorious murder, feds say -- On April 13, 2020, a white Jeep Cherokee pulled up alongside a Honda containing Antioch resident Kameron Booth and one other person as it drove past the 23rd Street exit on Interstate 880, then opened fire. Mortally wounded from gunfire, Booth pulled over, stumbled to the trunk, and in desperation offered a passing motorist $10,000 for a task: He said he had $400,000 in cash that needed to be delivered to another person. Before he could hand over the money, Booth collapsed. Nate Gartrell and Harry Harris in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 6/27/22

Also . . .

DoorDash driver arrested, leading a Placer County Probation officer to finish delivery -- When officers arrested the man, he was in the process of delivering a DoorDash order from McDonald’s by car. Wilson, who the release said “never leaves a job unfinished,” completed the delivery order himself after the man had been taken into custody. Lucy Hodgman in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 6/27/22

Sunday Updates

Trump lawyer John Eastman’s Jan. 6 notoriety was decades in the making in California -- The theme of the third congressional hearing on the Jan. 6 insurrection was unmistakable: John Eastman was not just a peripheral figure in the panel’s investigation, but a main character. If Eastman was tuning in, though, the proceedings may have struck him as something else — a bizarro episode of “This Is Your Life.” Melanie Mason in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/26/22

Smith: In a chaotic post-Roe world, here’s what it will take for women to still get abortions -- Brittany Fonteno never wanted to imagine the chaos of a post-Roe world. One of desperate, angry women begging healthcare workers for an abortion — and then leaving clinics distraught with only vague ideas of where to turn next for help. Erika D. Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/26/22

Chabria: After a week of guns, abortion and insurrection, California’s resistance matters more than ever -- An editor at this paper recently posed the question: What holds Los Angeles together? Is there any unifying force in this city of angels and demons that we can all agree on? Anita Chabria in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/26/22

McManus: Jan. 6 hearings have become Trump’s third impeachment — and a road map for prosecuting him -- The House of Representatives launched its hearings on the Jan. 6 insurrection in the face of grimly low expectations. Didn’t we already know what happened? After two impeachments and innumerable disclosures, was there anything new to learn about the misrule of Donald Trump? The conventional wisdom turned out to be wrong. Doyle McManus in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/26/22

GOP lawmaker calls Roe ruling ‘victory for white life’ as Trump rally cheers -- A Republican lawmaker called the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the nationwide right to abortion established nearly 50 years ago in Roe v. Wade a “victory for white life,” which was met with cheers at a rally held by former president Donald Trump. “President Trump, on behalf of all the MAGA patriots in America, I want to thank you for the historic victory for white life in the Supreme Court yesterday,” Rep. Mary E. Miller (R) said at the rally Saturday night in Mendon, Ill., referring to Trump’s former campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.” Jennifer Hassan in the Washington Post$ -- 6/26/22

Walters: Recession could wreck California’s spending plans -- The 2022-23 fiscal year will begin in less than a week and Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders are still negotiating — or arguing — over how to divvy up a nearly $100 billion projected budget surplus. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 6/26/22

Street

California imprisoned her for killing the abusive father of her unborn son. Now free, she fights for change -- Instead, Cumpian’s story is one of transformation, if not redemption. It’s one of a troubled student and convicted criminal turned doting mother and fierce advocate for incarcerated parents and their children. It’s one of learning about motherhood from a former member of the Manson family and of battling for freedom against movie star California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Jason Pohl in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 6/26/22

‘Her blood is on their hands.’ Bay Area social workers were repeatedly told Sophia was abused. They failed to stop the child’s death -- Inside the bathroom of the modest two-story home in north Merced, a tiny, 55-pound body lay decomposing in a tub. The roaring exhaust fan and burned incense failed to mask the putrid smell. Maggie Angst in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 6/26/22

PG&E

PG&E fined $1.27 million for problems with corrosion protection in pipelines -- Following an investigation, the state oversight commission concluded that PG&E did not address issues in 127 natural gas pipeline locations in a timely manner. The locations specifically lacked adequate cathodic protection systems, which are required to protect pipeline corrosion. Some locations had deficient systems for over three years, according to the citation. Olivia Wynkoop Bay City News Foundation in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 6/26/22

Workplace

As staffing declines, Contra Costa County labor unions push for better contract -- Public defenders and district attorneys are usually on opposing sides in the courtroom, but staff members from both departments have marched in lockstep at recent rallies, urging Contra Costa County to recruit and retain more people to lighten their workloads. Shomik Mukherjee in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 6/26/22

Homeless

How the brother of a 9/11 firefighter stepped in to help homeless veterans in L.A. -- With its donations swelling, a charity formed by the older brother of a firefighter who died in the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center was ready to up its game. Its mission of paying the mortgages of fallen first-responders’ families and building housing for critically injured veterans was no longer enough, Tunnel to Towers founder Frank Siller decided. Doug Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/26/22

Also . . .

California could get a new national park honoring César Chávez -- California could open its first national park in almost a decade under a recently revived plan to commemorate labor leader César Chávez and the saga of farmworkers. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/26/22