Updating . .
Under Trump, the rare act of denaturalizing U.S. citizens on the rise -- A United States Citizenship and Immigration Services team in Los Angeles has been reviewing more than 2,500 naturalization files for possible denaturalization, focusing on identity fraud and willful misrepresentation. More than 100 cases have been referred to the Department of Justice for possible action. Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/12/18
Ed Bledsoe couldn’t outrace the Carr Fire to save his family. But in his heart, they’re alive -- Melody and the kids are on vacation, somewhere far away, Ed Bledsoe told himself as he steered his old red pickup along this city’s back roads. They weren’t running errands with him in the Chevy like usual because they were off fishing for bluegill or collecting rocks. He knew it wasn’t true, but it was what he had to believe. It let him pretend, for another day, that California’s latest devastating wildfire hadn’t taken away so much. Lizzie Johnson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/12/18
In emergencies, cell phone alerts can be too slow to save lives -- While multiple systems exist for governments to warn people in urgent times — including broadcast TV, radio and internet messages — none is instantaneous and all are hit-or-miss in whom they reach and when they reach them. It is a reality at odds with what many people expect during a disaster. Anita Chabria, Ryan Sabalow and Taryn Luna in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/12/18
Holy fire: 14 structures destroyed, 6 damaged; voluntary evacuations declared for Trilogy -- More evacuees from the destructive Holy fire got word Sunday they could return to their homes after containment of the blaze grew to 41 percent overnight, with 22,174 acres consumed by the wildfire that authorities said was set Monday by an arsonist. The fire has destroyed 14 structures and damaged 6, according to an ongoing assessment. Richard K. De Atley in the Orange County Register -- 8/12/18
California fire map: Updates and expected dates of full containment -- Here are the latest updates on prominent wildfires in California and expected dates of full containment, according to fire officials. Pueng Vongs in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/12/18
BART directors get hit with safety complaints — from public and staff -- BART Board President Robert Raburn got a stunning dress-down from an Oakland station agent Thursday after he and other directors took a mixed vote on the general manager’s call for more security on the crime-troubled transit system. Matier & Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/12/18
New projections show future of work in California -- California will add two million jobs in the next decade, with the fastest job growth coming in sectors that require college degrees, according to new projections from the California Employment Development Department. Phillip Reese in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/12/18
‘The Oakland we knew is not going to remain’ -- An extraordinary residential building boom is shaking up Oakland, part of a transformation sweeping the Bay Area as market forces and political initiative combine to address the region’s desperate housing crisis. Marisa Kendall in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/12/18
California Policy & Politics This Morning
Hot, dry conditions could stoke wildfires this weekend -- With a new round of weather warnings in place for the weekend, firefighters continued their battle to prevent the deadly wildfires burning in Northern California from growing, officials said Saturday. Sarah Ravani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/12/18
Firefighters gain upper hand on 22,000-acre Holy fire in Cleveland National Forest, as containment rises to 36% -- Firefighters continued to make significant progress against the Holy fire burning in the Cleveland National Forest near Lake Elsinore, raising the fire’s containment to 36% on Saturday, officials said. The blaze has been burning along inaccessible ridges and mountains in Orange and Riverside counties since Monday, chewing through bone-dry chaparral, short grass and brush that have not seen a fire in decades. Ruben Vives , Laura J. Nelson and Doug Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/12/18
Some Holy fire evacuations lifted for Lake Elsinore neighborhoods Saturday; blaze is 36% contained -- In a sign that firefighters have a firmer handle on the Holy fire near Lake Elsinore, some residents who were forced to flee the surging flames were allowed to return home Saturday, Aug. 11. Brian Rokos, Brooke Staggs, Sean Emery, Elizabeth Chou in the Orange County Register -- 8/12/18
Lopez: Ignore the climate change deniers. California's hellish summer really is a grave warning -- Wind-swept wildfires raging. Homes incinerated. Families displaced. Lives lost. In the long, hot, smoky California summer of 2018, as we camp under ash-hued sunset skies, the scariest thought is that the future has arrived, and more intense weather extremes will continue to wreak havoc in years to come. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/12/18
Plum gig or slave labor? California inmates fight wildfires for $1 an hour -- For more than a half-century, a select group of California prisoners has worked shoulder-to-shoulder with wildland firefighters battling the state’s deadliest blazes. Megan Cassidy in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/12/18
California fires: Videos show how far biggest fires have spread each day -- The summer of 2018 in California has been dominated by news about wildfires. More than 15 major fires have blackened hundreds of thousands of acres around the state, and fire season, which typically runs through October, is only half over. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/12/18
How one small health care team prepared for wildfire – and what they didn’t foresee -- Make a list. After evacuating two weeks ago for the Mendocino Complex Fire, hospice CEO Corrigan Gommenginger offered that advice as the most critical piece for leadership teams at small health care companies all around California. Cathie Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/12/18
‘Fed your fish’: Cal Fire and police pitch in with a good deed for evacuated family -- One Redding area family came home from a mandatory wildfire evacuation order to a happy surprise. A father had “informed his daughter that her fish was likely dead,” Cal Fire tweeted Saturday morning. Not so fast. Michael McGough in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/12/18
Cal Fire gear change will keep firefighters cooler, but some worry about contamination -- Firefighters battling blazes that have broken out around the state will soon be wearing new protective gear, which could be ready for this fire season. Kellen Browning in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/12/18
California wildfires: How many fires are burning and where are they? -- Firefighters worked furiously Saturday to keep a Southern California wildfire from burning more homes while crews in Northern California gained ground on deadly and destructive blazes that have burned for two weeks. Here is the latest information on the fires burning across the Golden State. Gabby Ferreira and Don Sweeney in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/12/18
Key panel of California lawmakers to take up wildfire prevention this week -- State lawmakers are set to pivot this week from their high-stakes discussions of power company liability in destructive wildfires to fire prevention — an issue weighing on millions of Californians choking on summertime smoke or the thousands who’ve been forced to flee one of the state’s 12 major wildland blazes. Guy Kovner in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- 8/12/18
Years in the making, the political showdown has finally arrived over California's money bail system -- With so many battles being waged over these final weeks of the California Legislature’s session — contentious issues including wildfire liability rules and net neutrality — a crowd of Sacramento political watchers last week seemed surprised by the topic that’s on the top of the to-do list for legislative leaders. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/12/18
Willie Brown: Trump’s anti-Mueller strategy is becoming clear: It’s a snitch hunt -- The Paul Manafort trial is giving us a chance to witness the effectiveness of Robert Mueller’s team, and I’m a bit worried at what we’re seeing. Willie Brown in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/12/18
BART’s safety problem: Police, emergency workers hold South Bay active-shooter training -- For the first time, a new emergency protocol that would send San Jose firefighters into an active-shooting zone to save lives was tested out Saturday in a multi-agency training exercise. Ethan Baron in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/12/18
Crime falls on San Diego's trolley system as MTS beefs up security -- Crime on San Diego’s trolley system has dropped in the last two years, as transit officials have revamped their approach to on-board security — cracking down on everything from riding without a ticket to public drunkenness. Joshua Emerson Smith in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/12/18
Walters: Trump pulls California’s chain over auto mileage -- Whatever his other talents may be – if he has any – Donald Trump excels at pulling the chains of California’s politicians. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 8/12/18
Court ruling forces county's hand on election change ballot measure -- A last-minute Superior Court ruling Friday forced San Diego County’s hand to put on the November ballot a measure that would require all elections for county offices to be decided in a November runoff. Morgan Cook in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/12/18
California Politics Podcast: All eyes are on wildfire liability talks in Sacramento -- With fires burning across California and smoke lingering on the skyline of the state’s capital city, it’s no surprise that wildfire prevention is on the minds of lawmakers in the Legislature’s final month of session. John Myers and Melanie Mason of the Los Angeles Times. Link Here -- 8/12/18
POTUS 45
Policy disconnect between Trump and his own administration confuses allies and adversaries -- The Russians were confused. They were not alone. On Wednesday, the Trump administration said it would impose sanctions later this month against Russia in retaliation for the attempted assassination of a former Russian spy, now a British citizen, and his daughter, in England last spring with an illegal nerve agent. Tracy Wilkinson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/12/18
Beltway
‘So, So Jaded’: The Campaign to Stop Brett Kavanaugh Struggles for Liftoff -- The two dozen or so liberal activists who had gathered in a darkened cafe on an unusually sticky evening recently were wrestling with a familiar challenge: how to persuade Susan Collins, Maine’s moderate Republican senator, to vote no. Nicholas Fandos and Catie Edmondson in the New York Times$ -- 8/12/18
-- Saturday Updates
Before becoming LAPD chief, Moore retired, collected a $1.27-million payout, then was rehired -- Before Michel Moore was promoted to become the Los Angeles Police Department’s new chief in June, he took a brief, highly unusual retirement. Jack Dolan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/11/18
All-out aerial assault helps firefighters save homes in Holy fire as containment grows -- Tera Swick watched in horror as monster flames raced down a mountain Friday morning and toward her mother’s neighborhood. Ruben Vives in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/11/18
California fires: Videos show how far biggest fires have spread each day -- The summer of 2018 in California has been dominated by news about wildfires. More than 15 major fires have blackened hundreds of thousands of acres around the state, and fire season, which typically runs through October, is only half over. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/11/18
Power-grid expansion bill returns to Senate amid questions over cost, governance -- One section of a bill to expand the California power grid to multiple states calls for owners of the transmission network to receive “just and reasonable compensation” for their past investments in poles and wires if and when operational control of the system changes. Jeff McDonald in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/11/18
'Undetectable' plastic 3-D printed guns have been detected by TSA airport screeners -- While lawmakers feud over the release of blueprints for 3-D-printed plastic guns, the Transportation Security Administration wants fliers to know that airport security screeners have been able to spot the so-called untraceable and undetectable weapons in carry-on bags. Hugo Martin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/11/18
San Francisco’s record budget focuses on saving lives, cleaning streets, improving Muni -- When San Francisco Mayor London Breed signed the city’s $11 billion budget this month, she set the largest spending plan in the city’s history into motion. Dominic Fracassa in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/11/18
Former student sentenced for posting online threat against San Diego high school -- A former Torrey Pines High School student whose online threats in May prompted school officials to cancel classes for a day was sentenced Friday in San Diego Superior Court to a residential treatment facility and placed on probation for five years. Pauline Repard in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/11/18