California Policy & Politics This Morning

Mendocino Complex fire keeps growing; 68 homes lost, more evacuations ordered -- The Mendocino Complex fire continued to grow at an alarming rate, burning 254,000 acres by Sunday morning and becoming fifth largest in California history. The massive blaze was burning in vast wilderness on both sides of Clear Lake, forcing more evacuations in rural areas of three Northern California counties. Joseph Serna, Jack Dolan and Javier Panzar in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/5/18

California wildfires claim ninth victim, continue to grow -- Northern California’s raging wildfires claimed their ninth victim Saturday — a PG&E worker in the Carr Fire — as Mendocino Complex blazes near Clear Lake forced evacuations in two more counties. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/5/18

As wildfires rage, California frets over a future of greater perils and higher costs -- Smoke from the Carr Fire hovers over Northern California, including the state capital, Sacramento, providing a dramatic backdrop for one of the most consequential policy debates in years — about who should pay for the growing number of increasingly destructive fires, now and in a hotter, drier future. Scott Wilson in the Washington Post$ -- 8/5/18

California's deadly wildfires to be major focus of attention as Legislature returns to work -- A thin layer of smoke has stretched across Sacramento for the past week, coming from the deadly wildfires burning to the north and east. The smoke serves as a powerful reminder of a topic likely to dominate the work of lawmakers returning to the state Capitol this week. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/5/18

PG&E backs ratepayer financing plan for 2017 wildfire damage that critics call ‘bailout’ -- Facing multibillion-dollar claims for damage done by last year’s Northern California wildfires, PG&E is pushing for a state-authorized financing plan to cover liability claims and compensate survivors, proposing the utility’s ratepayers pick up the tab. Guy Kovner in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- 8/5/18

Harris blasts critics of 'identity politics' -- Sen. Kamala Harris accused critics of “identity politics” of weaponizing the term to diminish issues of race, gender and sexual orientation, pressing Democrats on Friday to address those issues head on. David Siders Politico -- 8/5/18

Willie Brown: Trump’s road show: It’s entertaining, and the audience doesn’t demand much -- President Trump’s arena tour is the “Mission: Impossible” of American politics — how is he ever going to overcome all his many enemies and prevail? But unlike Tom Cruise’s character, he doesn’t have to deliver any results at the end of the show. Willie Brown in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/5/18

Walters: Warm and fuzzy book about Browns falls short -- Jerry Brown’s longest-ever, two-stage governorship is coming to a close and a book that examines his extensive legacy, and that of his father, the late Gov. Pat Brown, in detail and context would be a valuable addition to the political literature of California. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 8/5/18

GOP candidate for California governor John Cox shares his tax returns — partially -- Republican candidate for governor John Cox earned more than $2.1 million in 2016 and 2017, mostly from investments in apartment buildings in the Midwest, according to abbreviated portions of his tax returns released by his campaign Friday. Cox’s disclosure came more than a year after his rival in the governor’s race, Democrat Gavin Newsom, released six years of his federal and state tax returns. Phil Willon in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/5/18

State shuts down Pasadena-based ‘Celebrity Rehab’ center over death, repeated violations -- State health regulators are moving to revoke the license of a well-known Pasadena drug rehabilitation center made famous by the reality television show “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.” Jason Henry in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 8/5/18

Inked with a skull in a cowboy hat, L.A. County sheriff’s deputy describes exclusive society of lawmen at California station -- The lawman said he was taken to a local tattoo parlor as a reward for his integrity. Other officers watched as his left ankle was etched with a symbol of a skull wearing a cowboy hat. The group drank and celebrated the inking of a fresh recruit. He was now part of the club. Maya Lau in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/5/18

Wildfire  

Mendocino blazes grow rapidly — PG&E worker reported killed near Carr Fire -- The two wildfires scorching Mendocino and Lake counties forced more evacuations as they grew rapidly Saturday, while in Shasta County, a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. worker was reported killed near the Carr Fire. Sarah Ravani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/5/18

Mendocino Complex fire explodes to 229,000 acres, making one of largest on record -- A massive pair of fires burning on either side of Clear Lake, about 100 miles north of San Francisco, exploded to nearly 230,000 acres Saturday night, making it one of the largest on record in California and the most pressing of 17 large wildfires across the state. Joseph Serna and Jack Dolan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/5/18

California Request for Presidential Major Disaster Declaration Approved -- California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced Saturday that the White House had approved the state's request for a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for Shasta County, where the historic Carr Fire continues to burn. According to Governor Brown's office, the request was submitted to the President and approved in the same day. Shahan Ahmed NBCLA -- 8/5/18

Wildfire alerts didn’t reach everybody in danger. Gov. Brown is open to changes -- California’s intensifying wildfires, which have killed at least 50 people since October, have sparked forceful calls by state lawmakers to improve emergency alert systems that the public relies on to be notified of danger during disasters. Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday said he would consider legislation this year to do so. Angela Hart in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/5/18

Wildfires have changed. The technology to fight them hasn’t — yet -- California prides itself on technological innovation. But as brutal fires scorch the state, its arsenal remains traditional: axes and fire trucks on the ground, and planes and helicopters dropping water and foam. Carolyn Said in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/5/18

Burning money: The facts on California's soaring cost to fight wildfires -- California’s current year-round fire season is producing more extreme and destructive blazes than in the past. Two recent examples are the Carr Fire that’s destroyed more than 1,000 homes in and near Redding — it's already the sixth-most destructive in state history — and the Ferguson Fire that forced the closure of part of Yosemite National Park in late July, at the height of tourist season. As these fires grow in frequency and severity, the state’s cost to fight them is also increasing — dramatically. Chris Nichols, Sami Soto Politifact CA -- 8/5/18

No time to grieve: Wildfires hit emergency workers hard -- For the past week, Robert Tierney Jr. has been registering patients at a Northern California hospital in the mornings and checking out possible rentals after work, trying to count his blessings even though his house is one of the more than 1,000 destroyed in a deadly wildfire. Janie Har Associated Press -- 8/5/18

At ‘Thicker than Smoke’ event, fire survivors share their stories -- From Hanover Place to Crown Hill to Parker Hill, they kept running. Sakaki was barefoot, and they often had to stop to catch their breath or shield themselves from the embers. But they kept going. In the middle of the thick, black smoke, she saw two circles of light and thought she was hallucinating. It turned out to be the headlights of a car approaching with two Santa Rosa firefighters. “I don’t remember screaming,” Sakaki said. But the firefighters remembered. Susan Minichiello in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- 8/5/18

Fire siege leaves Yosemite empty of humans, filled with smoke during peak summer season -- Scott Gediman was explaining how the poolside and patio of the Majestic Yosemite Hotel would usually be full of politicians, dignitaries and others lapping in its luxury when his eyes beheld a sight made possible by smoke and fire. “Big bear — really big bear,” Gediman whispered excitedly as he scurried through bushes to get a better view. Jaclyn Cosgrove in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/5/18

Wildfires Reignite Old Trauma for Survivors of Last October's Blazes -- Confronting constant reminders of what fire can do has become a terrifying reality for people who survived last year's flames and are still piecing their lives back together. Lesley McClurg, Kat Snow KQED -- 8/5/18

Tahoe visitors choking on smoke from California wildfires -- There’s no fire in Lake Tahoe. No flames are threatening its bucolic towns and no evacuations are in order. But the smoke is here, obscuring the mountains in the distance and choking the air. Lizzie Johnson and Trisha Thadani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/5/18

Taxes, Fees, Rates, Tolls, Bonds 

Over-billings on water meters in San Diego topped $2 million -- When customers started complaining early last year about spiking water bills, authorities downplayed the situation. Joshua Emerson Smith in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/5/18

Homeless  

After protests and talk of a recall, Wesson and Korean American community agree on shelter site -- After more than a month of behind-the-scenes talks, L.A. Council President Herb Wesson and Korean community representatives have agreed on a site on the outskirts of Koreatown to temporarily shelter homeless residents, city officials said Friday. Victoria Kim in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/5/18

Housing  

As L.A. vowed to stop apartments from becoming hotels, this company made it a business -- Long before she got fed up and moved out, Whitney Harchanko said, weird things began to happen in the halls of the Hollywood building she had lived in for years. People rang her doorbell at odd hours, confused about which apartment they were seeking. Drunk strangers sprawled next to the pool. Housekeepers flitted around during the day. Emily Alpert Reyes and Andrew Khouri in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/5/18

Immigration, Border, Deportation 

Judge Orders Trump Administration To Fully Restore DACA -- A Washington, D.C.-based federal judge ruled on Friday that the Trump administration must fully restore the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, saying the government's rationale for dropping it is inadequate. Vanessa Romo NPR -- 8/5/18

Cannabis

Mom Desperate to Help Her Son Drove the First Cannabis Pharmaceutical to Market -- The first prescription medication extracted from the marijuana plant is poised to land on pharmacists' shelves this fall. Epidiolex, made from purified cannabidiol, or CBD, a compound found in the cannabis plant, is approved for two rare types of epilepsy. Lesley McClurg KQED -- 8/5/18

Health 

Lazarus: Health insurance for dummies: Why we cover pre-existing conditions -- It never fails to astonish that the biggest critics of Obamacare seem to have no clue how insurance works. David Lazarus in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/5/18

Can stand-alone psychiatric hospitals fix San Diego's treatment crisis? -- Lots of people remember the menacing Nurse Ratched in the 1975 film “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” and for good reason. The movie captured some of the serious problems of patient abuse and neglect at mental hospitals that led to widespread closures of large, state-run facilities, starting in the 1960s. Paul Sisson in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/5/18

Guns

Sunnyvale bans anyone younger than 21 from buying semi-automatic rifles -- Starting next month, no one younger than 21 will be allowed to buy a semi-automatic centerfire rifle from any of Sunnyvale’s five gun shops. Khalida Sarwari in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/5/18

L.A. councilman wants to make it illegal to download blueprints for a printable gun -- The idea has set off alarm bells among gun control advocates: A do-it-yourself plastic firearm that can be manufactured using digital blueprints on a 3-D printer. Now a Los Angeles councilman is trying to make it a misdemeanor to download those blueprints. Dakota Smith and Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/5/18

Environment 

Lopez: A legendary protector of California's beaches is now branded a traitor over access fight -- If and when California builds a Hall of Fame for the state’s heroes of coastal protection and beach access, Mark Massara will be one of the first inductees. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/5/18

A vicious climate cycle: Droughts are becoming hotter, raising risk of wildfire, scientists say -- Droughts don’t just make a place drier. As new research shows, they also make it hotter. Amina Khan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/5/18

Video, photos capture Telegraph Hill's famous parrots settling into other neighborhoods -- Amid the transplant exodus from the Bay Area, one group of punky internationals continues to spread its wings in San Francisco with no intention of flying the coop. Red-masked parakeets — better known among San Franciscans as wild parrots — exist in small feral flocks throughout the city and have been appearing in all kinds of social media posts. Ted Andersen in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/5/18

Bees are at risk from common crop pesticides, California study finds -- California farmers could face more restrictions on how they combat crop-eating insects after a state report concluded that one class of pesticide poses a significant risk to bees that pollinate almonds and other crops. Geoffrey Mohan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/5/18

Threatened snowy plovers successfully nested and fledged 4 chicks at Huntington State Beach -- State park biologists found a pair of adult plovers with two chicks in May during routine monitoring for the shorebirds. Two days later, a group of students participating in a beach cleanup found a second plover nest. Priscella Vega in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/5/18

Also . . . 

Golden Gate Bridge suicide barrier construction begins -- Construction has begun on a steel net to prevent people from jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge, after years of debate over whether such an obstacle would mar the bridge’s romantic image. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/5/18

Gump’s, a 157-year-old San Francisco retailer, files for bankruptcy protection -- The company said it is seeking a buyer. It plans to liquidate merchandise to pay off lenders, with Hilco Merchant Resources and Gordon Brothers handling sales. The company and its affiliates reported $61 million in assets and $64 million in liabilities in the Nevada bankruptcy filings. Roland Li in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/5/18

POTUS 45  

Trump at a precarious moment in his presidency: Privately brooding and publicly roaring -- In private, President Trump spent much of the past week brooding, as he often does. He has been anxious about the Russia ­investigation’s widening fallout, with his former campaign chairman standing trial. And he has fretted that he is failing to accrue enough political credit for what he claims as triumphs. Philip Rucker, Robert Costa and Ashley Parker in the Washington Post$ -- 8/5/18

Trump’s worst political nightmare? Democrats with subpoena power -- A Democratic takeover of either chamber of Congress stands to set off investigations into President Trump and his personal finances, members of his family, and senior administration officials, an onslaught that raises the stakes for the midterm elections. Mike DeBonis in the Washington Post$ -- 8/5/18