Updating . .
Lawsuit says California budget violates school funding guarantee -- California school boards want a judge to force changes to the June state budget that would provide more money for schools, among the interests that fared best in this year’s plan. Jim Miller in the Sacramento Bee -- 9/29/15
California anti-smoking drive cut rates in half -- However, there are very large discrepancies in smoking rates by gender, age, ethnicity and geography. And the report notes the sharp increase in use of electronic cigarettes, approaching the use of conventional smokes in the 18-24 age bracket. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee -- 9/29/15
Conditions ripe for explosive wildfire season in Southern California -- With thousands of homes burned and at least a half-dozen people dead, 2015 is already shaping up to be one of California's most challenging fire seasons. Rosanna Xia in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/29/15
L.A. and Orange County home prices jump -- Home prices in Los Angeles and Orange counties posted strong gains in July, rising 6.1% from a year earlier, according to a closely tracked gauge released Tuesday. Andrew Khouri in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/29/15
San Diego Home Prices Rose in June and July -- Only two of the 20 major cities in the U.S. outperformed San Diego’s monthly climb in the cost of housing, according to the indices. However, 10 cities outdid the annual increase. Debbie L. Sklar Times of San Diego -- 9/29/15
Test scores indicate more students ‘college ready’ in English language arts -- The recently released Common Core-aligned test results show the percentage of California high school students identified as ready, or on pace to be ready by the time they graduate, for college-level English coursework increased; but for math, the percentage decreased compared to last year Fermin Leal EdSource -- 9/29/15
Tom Brady says he's really not endorsing Donald Trump after all -- Tom Brady has backed off a statement that sounded like he was supporting Republican candidate Donald Trump as the next U.S. president. Chuck Schilken in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/29/15
Edward Snowden joins Twitter, immediately gets more followers than NSA -- The NSA did not immediately respond to The Times' request for comment about Snowden, who has been granted asylum in Russia to avoid espionage and theft charges in the U.S. related to his 2013 leaks about the NSA. But Twitter's interim CEO, Jack Dorsey, had a telling response to Snowden's first tweet: Matt Pearce in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/29/15
Boxer, Feinstein urge Obama to exonerate 'Port Chicago 50' -- Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein are urging President Barack Obama to exonerate a group of African-American sailors convicted of mutiny during World War II, adding their voices to a chorus of lawmakers and advocates seeking justice for the men known as the "Port Chicago 50." Lisa P. White in the Contra Costa Times$ -- 9/29/15
Drought Is Driving Beekeepers and Their Hives From California -- The drought in California over the past four years has hit the agriculture industry hard, especially one of the smallest farm creatures: honeybees. A lack of crops for bees to pollinate has California’s beekeeping industry on edge. Ezra David Romero NPR -- 9/29/15
Google maps: New project will measure smog neighborhood by neighborhood -- Millions of people use Google maps to find directions and dodge traffic jams. Coming soon, they'll be able to discover something else: how much smog is in their neighborhoods. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/29/15
A New Way To Track California’s Biggest Political Cash -- It’s a staggering number: California political spending funneled through independent campaign committees topped more than $80.6 million in the election cycle that ended in 2014, a total that’s grown almost eightfold since 2002. John Myers KQED -- 9/29/15
Jeffe&Jeffee: Reforms Loosen Grip of Legislative Leaders -- After California’s stringent term limits were enacted in 1990, the legislative power equation in Sacramento shifted noticeably. For nearly a quarter of a century, clout has been concentrated in the offices of the Senate President pro Tempore and the Speaker of the Assembly. Sherry Bebitch Jeffe & Doug Jeffe Fox & Hounds -- 9/29/15
Hiltzik: A huge water district defends a secret handout -- The Westlands Water District, which reached a legal settlement with the federal government earlier this month after months of confidential negotiations, takes issue with my description of the deal as a secret arrangement that guarantees the district a permanent water supply while hamstringing policy-makers' ability to plan for drought and climate change. Michael Hiltzik in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/29/15
California Policy & Politics This Morning
Gov. Brown vetoes off-hours use of L.A. County carpool lanes -- Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a measure Monday that would have allowed, during off-peak hours, all motorists to use carpool lanes on the 134 Freeway from North Hollywood to Pasadena, and on the 210 Freeway from Pasadena to Glendora. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times David Siders in the Sacramento Bee -- 9/29/15
Prison reforms have not yielded savings or spike in crime -- Landmark changes in California's criminal justice system four years ago have not saved the state money or reduced the rate of convicts who are quickly back behind bars as proponents had promised, but the changes also did not produce a feared spike in violent crime, an independent research organization said Monday. Don Thompson Associated Press Christopher Cadelago in the Sacramento Bee Joe Nelson in the San Bernardino Sun -- 9/29/15
Banks: Prop. 47 promises a new start for ex-offenders carrying years-old burdens -- Proposition 47 has been blamed for a lot since it passed last fall: a rise in crime, a surge in homelessness, throngs of emboldened drug users and thieves who aren't worried anymore about going to jail. Sandy Banks in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/29/15
Foes of California vaccine law file petitions for referendum -- Opponents of California’s tough new vaccine law filed petitions Monday seeking to put a referendum on the issue on the November 2016 ballot, but it may be a month before elections officials determine whether the ballot measure qualifies. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times Juliet Williams Associated Press Jessica Calefati in the Contra Costa Times$ -- 9/29/15
Kevin McCarthy announces bid to become House speaker -- House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield formally launched his bid to become speaker of the House on Monday afternoon, telling restive colleagues he plans to share more authority if elected to the most powerful job in Congress. Noah Bierman in the Los Angeles Times Carolyn Lochhead in the San Francisco Chronicle Jake Sherman Politico Paul Kane in the Washington Post -- 9/29/15
Central Valley sees hope in Rep. Kevin McCarthy's potential rise -- Every so often, Rep. Kevin McCarthy tosses out a catch phrase that's popular in this southern tip of the San Joaquin Valley: "Once a Driller, always a Driller." Phil Willon in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/29/15
Mitch Katz poised to lead L.A. County's consolidated healthcare agency -- Amid a major reorganization of Los Angeles County's healthcare bureaucracy, physician and administrator Mitch Katz is poised to become arguably the most powerful nonelected official in the nation's largest local government. Abby Sewell in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/29/15
Jesse is a typical boy in probation-run foster care: unwanted -- Jesse Opela hunched on a plastic chair in the "music room" at Central Juvenile Hall, a cramped space with no air conditioning, an old CD boombox, a keyboard and a bookshelf filled with aging bestsellers. Tears rolled down the sturdy 17-year-old's face as he apologized to his probation officer. Abby Sewell in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/29/15
Walters: Sunshine disinfects California’s campaigns -- The pejorative term “dark money” got a heavy workout three years ago regarding the mysterious origins of $15 million spent on two ballot measures. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee -- 9/29/15
Peele: California's bad public records laws can shock outsiders -- It's around this time each year that a student from another state reacts incredulously to something I've said about government access in California during a lecture at the Graduate School of Journalism at Berkeley. A hand shoots up. "What do you mean you can't get police reports?" "What do you mean the courts charge for on-line searches?" Thomas Peele in the Contra Costa Times$ -- 9/29/15
Ex-inmates want L.A. County to stop dumping mentally ill inmates on skid row -- A group of former Los Angeles County jail inmates said Monday that a recent legal settlement between the Sheriff's Department and federal authorities will perpetuate the cycle of people with untreated mental illness bouncing back and forth between jail and skid row. Abby Sewell, Cindy Chang in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/29/15
Jim Cooper: Law enforcement’s man at the Capitol -- When fellow Legislative Black Caucus members sought this year to pass bills responding to a year of police killings, Cooper aligned himself with law enforcement at every turn. Jeremy B. White in the Sacramento Bee -- 9/29/15
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
California housing will get even less affordable, UCLA forecast says -- Housing in California — already considered unaffordable to many — will become even less affordable over the next two years, with construction unable to keep up with demand, according to a UCLA economic forecast released Monday. The item is in the San Bernardino Sun -- 9/29/15
Farm worker pesticide rules tightened -- The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday established the first minimum-age requirement -- 18 -- for farm workers applying pesticides to fields. Geoffrey Mohan in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/29/15
Greenhut: Pension problems have not gone away -- Nearly two years ago, this column reported on an official financial forecast from the northern California city of Stockton’s bankruptcy proceedings showing that within a few years after exiting bankruptcy the city was likely to re-enter it. Steven Greenhut in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 9/29/15
Drought
Grape Growers Treat, Reuse Wastewater On Vineyards -- Vineyards don't just use water to grow the grapes. They also need water to wash bottles, clean floors and wash barrels. And some California grape growers are using that wastewater to irrigate vineyards. A new study says other agricultural producers could do the same. Ed Joyce Capital Public Radio -- 9/29/15
Education
Colleges to offer new joint application website -- Starting next year, high school students will have a new online alternative to the much-used and sometimes criticized Common Application if they seek admission to a group of colleges with high graduation rates and healthy financial aid, officials announced Monday. Larry Gordon in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/29/15
Immigration / Border
LA, others let immigration agents in the jails, rules vary -- After a backlash to immigration enforcement in U.S. jails, local sheriffs' agencies are coming up with new ways to assist federal efforts to ensure immigrants with serious criminal convictions aren't released back onto the streets. Amy Taxin Associated Press -- 9/29/15
Environment
Will the ‘yuck factor’ sink California water recycling? -- Prune-dry California may soon be going down the toilet — for its drinking water. The prospect of sewer water being treated and redirected back into faucets is the future of California if the water crisis continues, according to water managers throughout the state. Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/29/15
California lawmakers put focus on climate change -- The Legislature may have scuttled the centerpiece of Gov. Jerry Brown’s climate change plans, but it still approved ambitious new environmental policies that will impact the economy and lives of Californians. Kate Galbraith Calmatters -- 9/29/15
When VW cheated on emissions, it cheated on health -- The engines that VW tweaked to run quickly and efficiently also spewed out a form of pollutant that, over time and in big numbers, can be lethal. Susan Carpenter in the Orange County Register -- 9/29/15
‘Killer bees’ found in the Bay Area for the first time -- An Africanized breed of honeybees, sometimes known as “killer bees” because of its swarming, aggressive and deadly nature when its colony is threatened, has found its way to the Bay Area for the first time, researchers say. Kevin Schultz in the San Francisco Chronicle Matthias Gafni in the Contra Costa Times$ -- 9/29/15
Health
Mexican Indigenous Immigrants’ Dire Need for Medical Interpreters -- Imagine you are rushed to the hospital as pain radiates through your chest. Doctors whirl around you, but you don’t know what’s happening because everyone is speaking a foreign language. That’s what happened to farmworker Angelina Diaz-Ramirez, 50, after she had a heart attack in a Monterey County green bean field in 2012. Jeremy Raff KQED -- 9/29/15
Also . . .
MacArthur 'genius' grant winner creates artificial leaves that photosynthesize -- It took nature millions of years to figure out how to turn energy from the sun into chemical energy that can be stored for a cloudy day - a process known as photosynthesis. It took Peidong Yang, a chemist at UC Berkeley, about 10 years to accomplish a similar feat with the help of semiconductor nanowires and bacteria. Deborah Netburn in the Los Angeles Times Kevin Schultz in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/29/15
'You idiots! What did you do?': Grand jury testimony in insurance fraud case is released -- Jennifer Milone woke up from shoulder surgery in excruciating pain. Her temperature spiked. Her wound swelled. After six weeks, she worried she had gangrene and returned to the clinic where she'd had the operation. Marisa Gerber and Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/29/15
Former Sheriff Lee Baca will not get immunity at Paul Tanaka’s trial -- Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca will not be immune from prosecution if he is called to testify in the corruption case against his former second-in-command and reveals any criminal activity that occurred in the jails under his watch. Sarah Favot in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 9/29/15
Firefighting inmates in California fill a void, gain a lot -- While some may see them as felons in jumpsuits, California residents of cities affected by threatening wildfires know inmate firefighters as the "angels in orange." Katrina Cameron in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/29/15
In Vicious Fire Season, an Endurance Test for California Crews -- The firefighters collapse in driveways and fields to steal a moment’s rest. They sleep in their engines, sprawled across fire hoses or slumped over steering wheels. Jack Healy in the New York Times$ -- 9/29/15
California Freeway Signs to Issue Hit-And-Run Alerts -- California's freeway message signs will soon warn drivers about more than just snarled traffic and severe droughts. Chris Nichols Capital Public Radio -- 9/29/15
Dozen Arrested in Protest Linking Banking Industry to Climate Change -- Twelve people were arrested and 200 marched through the streets of San Francisco’s Financial District, in a Monday morning protest targeting the banking industry’s ties to climate change. Andrew Stelzer KQED -- 9/29/15
Beltway
The Obama-Kanye political-music revue coming to San Francisco’s Warfield -- Old- and new-school politics will hook up when President Obama appears at an Oct. 10 political fundraiser in San Francisco with rapper Kanye West, who’s already sort of declared his intention to run for the White House in 2020. Carla Marinucci in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/29/15
Kevin McCarthy, speaker-in-waiting, lays out foreign policy vision -- The heir apparent for speaker of the House delivered his vision for America’s foreign policy future Monday afternoon and it boils down to this: America should be tougher. Karoun Demirjian in the Washington Post -- 9/29/15
Leadership honeymoon could be brief for a Speaker McCarthy -- House Speaker-in-waiting Kevin McCarthy of California announced Monday he’s ready to seize the summit of Capitol Hill. His next climb would be even steeper – governing. Michael Doyle and David Lightman McClatchy DC -- 9/29/15
Trump's tax plan more conventional than radical -- Donald Trump's often glib, policy-free campaign has produced a detailed and even conventional Republican tax reform plan. Brian Faler Politico -- 9/29/15
Tax plan is classic Trump: Looks populist, but helps the rich -- Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s new tax plan, released Monday, obscures the boon it brings for corporations and wealthy individuals with a sheen of populism. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/29/15