California Policy & Politics This Morning

Mendocino Complex fires now largest in state history -- The ravenous Mendocino Complex fires, a pair of wildland blazes that have displaced tens of thousands of people and cut a path of destruction through three counties, had become the largest wildfire in modern California history, reaching 283,800 acres by Monday evening. Martin Espinoza and Randi Rossmann in the Santa Rosa Press DemocratJoseph Serna, James Queally, Alene Tchekmedyian in the Los Angeles Times$ Peter Fimrite and Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Julia Sclafani and Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/7/18

14,000 Firefighters Battling 18 Major California Blazes -- Some 14,000 firefighters, including inmate volunteers, are battling 18 major blazes burning thousands of square miles throughout California with aircraft, assorted vehicles and picks and shovels. Paul Elias Associated Press -- 8/7/18

Out-of-control brush fire burns 4,000 acres in Orange County; canyon residents evacuated -- A fast-moving fire broke out Monday in the Cleveland National Forest, burning more than 4,000 acres and forcing evacuations in two Orange County canyons. James Queally, Joseph Serna, Alene Tchekmedyian, Shelby Grad in the Los Angeles Times$ Megan Barnes, David Whiting, Scott Schwebke in the Orange County Register -- 8/7/18

Why did they call it the Carr Fire? Explaining the names behind the flames -- When you name a wildfire, you have at most a few minutes. The names that have become part of California’s annals of tragedy — Tubbs, Nuns, and now Carr and Ferguson — were christened in the midst of chaos. Erin Stone in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/7/18

Hiltzik: In a strikingly ignorant tweet, Trump gets almost everything about California wildfires wrong -- No one would mistake President Trump for an expert on climate change or water policy, but a tweet he issued late Sunday about California’s wildfires deserves some sort of award for most glaring misstatements about those two issues in the smallest number of words. Michael Hiltzik in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/7/18

Politifact CA: California wildfires made worse by hot, dry conditions, not water policy, as Trump tweeted -- Trump appears to have conflated the state’s real water controversy between farmers and environmentalists with the unrelated issue of firefighting. The state’s fire agency, CalFire, said it has not had problems accessing water. And fire experts said it’s the state’s hot and bone-dry conditions, not environmental laws, that are making blazes more extreme. We rated Trump’s claim False. Chris Nichols Politifact CA -- 8/7/18

No, President Trump, California Isn't Diverting Its Water Supply Away From Wildfires -- There are a lot of raging controversies in California's water policy, but finding water for fighting wildfires isn't one of them. If you're watching the Twitter feed from @realDonaldTrump, you might be confused about this. Amel Ahmed KQED -- 8/7/18

Trump wants to clear more trees to halt fires. The feds need to spend more, experts say -- The Trump administration’s own budget request for the current fiscal year and the coming one proposed slashing tens of millions of dollars from the Department of Interior and U.S. Forest Service budgets dedicated to the kind of tree clearing and other forest management work experts say is needed. And it’s just one example of how the federal government is still not prioritizing fire mitigation to the scale that is needed, according to forestry experts. Emily Cadei and Kate Irby in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/7/18

Yosemite Tourist Towns Lose Millions Of Dollars In Business As Ferguson Firefight Continues -- Jerry's Motel sits on Highway 120 in Oakdale, which is about 90 minutes west of Yosemite. It has a coat of fresh, pale yellow paint, a recent renovation, and a good location for tourists. But on a recent weekday, there weren’t many tourists. Bob Moffitt Capital Public Radio -- 8/7/18

Fires create challenges for those who feed Lake County’s low-income and shut-in elders -- Jonathan Crooks is not too proud to ask. “We could use some help,” said Jonathan, an essential someone to the many elders who rely on Meals on Wheels or lunches served at senior centers in Lucerne, Lakeport, Kelseyville and elsewhere in northern Lake County. Chris Smith in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- 8/7/18

Pender: California legislators try to draw the line on DMV’s endless waits -- Here’s how bad things have gotten at the California Department of Motor Vehicles: On Monday morning, it was impossible to make an appointment to get or renew a driver’s license or Real ID at the San Francisco office. If you tried to get an appointment online, you’d get the message: “Sorry, no appointment is available at this office. Please choose a different office.” The DMV only schedules appointments 90 days in advance, so that meant there were no license appointments available in the next 90 days in San Francisco. Kathleen Pender in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/7/18

California Gov. Jerry Brown appoints a labor leader and his budget director as UC regents -- California Gov. Jerry Brown appointed a public employee union leader and his& state budget director on Monday to serve as University of California regents, while also adding the state’s community colleges board president and a longtime education advocate to round out vacancies on the panel. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/7/18

Cox releases new ad blaming the ‘political class’ for California's ills -- Republican candidate for governor John Cox launched his first campaign ad for the general election Monday, blaming Democratic rival Gavin Newsom and California’s “political class” for a series of problems including water restrictions and the state’s high poverty rates. Phil Willon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/7/18

Siskiyou-area tribe’s reinstatement questioned -- A move to restore federal tribal recognition to a long defunct Siskiyou County Indian rancheria has received a major blow. Research done by a college professor indicates no Indian ever lived on the 441-acre Ruffey Rancheria outside Etna. Lisa Renner Capitol Weekly -- 8/7/18

A California special election could put someone in office for just three weeks -- When state Sen. Tony Mendoza resigned from office in February after sexual harassment allegations surfaced against him, voters in the Artesia Democrat’s district were tasked with electing his replacement. Colleen Shalby in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/7/18

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions

California Gov. Jerry Brown predicts recession within two years -- Although he spent most of the time talking about wildfires and climate change, Gov. Jerry Brown strayed into the world of economics while talking to reporters the other day at the state emergency center and warned of another recession lurking on the horizon. Matier & Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/7/18

Gig-economy giants ask California to save them from a ruling that may turn their contractors into employees -- Leading gig-economy companies including Uber and Lyft are quietly lobbying California’s top Democrats to override or undermine a court ruling that could turn many of their contract workers into employees. Josh Eidelson Bloomberg via the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/7/18

Taxes, Fees, Rates, Tolls, Bonds 

San Francisco business tax ballot measure could result in middle class job flight -- But, according to a memo sent to the mayor’s office by the Office of Economic and Workforce Development last week and obtained by The Chronicle, the extra tax would disproportionately impact employees in mid-level jobs, such as administrative staff in retail companies and grocery store workers. Trisha Thadani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/7/18

Cannabis

Sacramento Proposes Marijuana Equity Program To Redress 'Criminalization of Cannabis' In Communities Of Color -- From 2004 to 2016, 6,800 people were arrested solely for marijuana-related charges in Sacramento. About half of them were black. Bob Moffitt Capital Public Radio -- 8/7/18

Education 

L.A. schools fall short on safety measures, new report warns -- After the mass shooting at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February, Los Angeles school officials reassured parents that much had been done to keep local schools safe. California had tougher gun laws, after all, and the school district paid close attention to students’ mental health. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/7/18

Ex-student sues elite Brentwood School after teacher is charged with sexually abusing him -- A former student sued the elite Brentwood School on Monday in the wake of a female teacher being charged with repeatedly having sex with the minor, alleging that other faculty members encouraged the unlawful behavior and failed to report it to authorities. Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/7/18

Stanford researchers start concussion study with high school athletes -- A Palo Alto company is teaming up with a Stanford health care network and several regional high schools for a study that will use virtual reality headsets to track eye movements to better spot concussions. Rebecca Aydin in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/7/18

Environment 

Putting 5 Million Electric Cars on California Roads Wouldn't Overwhelm Power Grid: Report -- One concern raised about the proliferation of plug-in electric vehicles in California is that they threaten to overwhelm an already stressed power grid. And yet with transportation being the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the state, the move toward electric vehicles will play a critical role in meeting California's ambitious climate goals. Amel Ahmed KQED -- 8/7/18

Water  

California Groundwater Law Means Big Changes Above Ground, Too -- In some areas, farms will have to be fallowed to reduce groundwater demand. That idled farmland will have lots of important new uses. Some could become wildlife habitat or groundwater recharge basins. Others could be useful for solar energy development and other semi-industrial uses. Undoubtedly, some will become housing subdivisions. Matt Weiser Water Deeply via KQED -- 8/7/18

Also . . . 

‘I feel safe.’ Beaten Sikh resident of Turlock says good Americans so outnumber bad -- “Go back to your country!” two men yelled at Turlock resident Surjit Singh Malhi last week as they beat the 50-year-old Sikh and vandalized his pickup truck on a roadside near Keyes last week. But America is his country, the president of the R. Millennium Transport trucking company said Monday, sitting in his Geer Road office. Deke Farrow in the Modesto Bee$ -- 8/7/18

Man accused of killing Long Beach fire captain dies of illness six weeks after shooting -- According to a search warrant, Kim told police he began firing a revolver at firefighters making their way down a hallway on the second-floor because he “got scared.” In addition to killing David Rosa, a 17-year veteran of the Fire Department, Kim allegedly wounded Firefighter Ernesto Torres and another elderly resident of the building. Megan Barnes in the Orange County Register -- 8/7/18

 

-- Monday Updates 

West Hollywood may urge removal of Trump's star from Walk of Fame -- The resolution, put forth by West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tem John D'Amico and Councilwoman Lindsey Horvath, urges the city of Los Angeles -- where the star is located -- and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to remove the marker “due to [Trump’s] disturbing treatment of women and other actions.” Laura Newberry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/6/18

1,000-acre brush fire explodes in Orange County; canyon residents evacuated -- A fast-moving fire broke out Monday in the Cleveland National Forest, exploding to more than 1,000 acres in less than three hours and forcing evacuations in two Orange County canyons. James Queally, Joseph Serna, Alene Tchekmedyian, Shelby Grad in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/6/18

Mendocino Complex fire now second-largest in California history, officials say -- The Ranch and River fires, which make up the complex fire, had grown to 273,664 acres as of Monday morning, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The blaze was only 30% contained as of 7 a.m. Joseph Serna and James Queally in the Los Angeles Times$ Julia Sclafani and Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/6/18

No end in sight for California wildfires, Yosemite still closed -- Firefighters battling the Ferguson Fire near Yosemite National Park kept the blaze from growing overnight and managed to bolster protection around Wawona and the Mariposa Grove Sunday night even as park officials indefinitely extended closures of the most popular parts of the park. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/6/18

Redding residents return to find burned-out neighborhoods -- The Redding “repopulation” continues this week as residents return to neighborhoods that had been either threatened or destroyed by the still-raging Carr Fire. As they slowly make their way back to subdivisions like Stanford Hills and Land Park, homeowners are sharing their stories, their worries and their sighs of relief on social media. And in some cases, like Lake Keswick Estates on the city’s northwest side, heartbroken residents are sharing images and videos of their former neighborhood that defy the imagination. Patrick May in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/6/18

Contractors claim Union Pacific is delaying bullet train project -- The most ambitious rail project of California’s future is increasingly dependent on the cooperation of the very railroad that shaped the state’s past — and there are signs their relationship is growing strained. Ralph Vartabedian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/6/18

CA GOP governor candidate John Cox’s first ad borrows from Trump, John Kerry -- Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox struck a Trump-like outsider tone in his first general election ad Monday — saying politicians and special interests have “rigged the game” — and borrowed a former Democratic presidential candidate’s campaign slogan to suggest he’s the one to bring about change. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/6/18

San Francisco’s imposing transit center ready to roll at last -- For the past decade, the transit center that will replace San Francisco’s Transbay Terminal has been the subject of grand plans and political controversies, struggles to stay on schedule and squabbles over costs. Next weekend, all that changes. John King in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/6/18

‘Disrespected’: UC Davis health care workers say their proposed wage increase is ‘garbage’ -- Dietitians, physical therapists and other health care professionals at UC Davis Health say that, over nearly a year of bargaining, the university’s labor negotiators have been skipping sessions and have not offered raises of more than 2 percent a year. Cathie Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/6/18

Fox: The Ghost of 1993 Fires Could Haunt Debate Over How to Pay for Fires -- One of the major issues facing the returning legislature will be influenced by the wildfires that currently are consuming too much of California. The legislature is set to determine the extent of liability for utility companies when the company equipment is responsible for some fires. While Gov. Jerry Brown tries to find a diplomatic balance to offer some form of protection to both utilities and property owners, the still burning devastating fires could well determine the outcome and possibly involve taxpayers in the solution of confronting fires’ costs. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 8/6/18