Updating . .
California wildfires: Containment elusive for erratic Mendocino Complex -- The largest wildfire burning in California continued to expand Wednesday, causing firefighters to lose ground in containing the blaze that’s scorched three counties, officials said. Sarah Ravani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Alejandra Reyes-Velarde in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/15/18
North Face moves out of Bay Area, 650 jobs at stake -- The Alameda businesses employ 650. All roles will move to Denver by 2020, the spokeswoman said, resulting in the closure of the Alameda locations. It is not clear whether the move will result in layoffs. Rebecca Aydin in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Levi Sumagaysay in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/15/18
‘Rest in Peace’ party held for $1 million tear down home in San Jose -- With reports of off-the-chart home prices grabbing headlines, a million dollar tear down in San Jose’s Willow Glen neighborhood should come as no surprise. A couple known for rehabbing homes just paid $1,050,000 for a 5,000-square-foot property, with a house built in 1927. But the house will be demolished in a few weeks. Judy Peterson in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/15/18
Is Trump finally ready to turn his sights to remaking the 9th Circuit Court? -- There’s been a noticeable exception to President Trump’s otherwise successful effort to appoint young, conservative judges to the nation’s appellate courts. Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/15/18
Capitol debate on utilities’ fire liability sparks a lobbying frenzy -- With the clock ticking down on the legislative session, some of the the state’s biggest special interests are spending millions of dollars to influence the debate over how much wildfire liability PG&E and other investor-owned utilities should face, given the “new normal” of hotter, dryer summers. Matier & Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/15/18
14,000 CalPERS members and their families need to find a new 2019 health plan -- The California Public Employees’ Retirement System recently negotiated its lowest premium increases in the past 21 years, which will mean lowered health premiums for 800,000 members in 2019. As a result of the changes, CalPERS will part ways with two major providers – Health Net and Blue Shield – in some areas. Hannah Holzer in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/15/18
Sutter, Kaiser and other providers work to fight ‘eye-opening’ burnout physician levels -- In recent years, the Sierra Sacramento Valley Medical Society has turned its focus to caring for caregivers. Hannah Holzer in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/15/18
H-1B: U.S. officials cracking down on Indian citizens, report says -- A crackdown on the controversial H-1B visa intended for skilled workers has struck Indian citizens harder than other foreign nationals, with federal officials hitting them with more visa denials and demands for proof of their eligibility to work. Ethan Baron in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/15/18
Fallout From Failed Convention Center Expansion Measure Could Cost San Diego Millions -- It’s been almost a week since a city-backed plan to fund a convention center expansion fell apart. The resulting fallout could end up costing the city of San Diego millions of dollars. Matt Hoffman KPBS -- 8/15/18
LAPD chief proposes a 'radical solution': Eliminate old bench warrants for homeless people -- The Los Angeles Police Department is considering a plan that would allow thousands of homeless people to eliminate old bench warrants as part of a larger effort to reform a system that has created a vicious cycle for those with nowhere to live. Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/15/18
Here's how California became the most secretive state on police misconduct -- In the 1970s, Los Angeles police officers were furious that past complaints against them increasingly were making their way into court cases. So LAPD officials did something radical: They took more than four tons of personnel records dating to the 1940s and shredded them. Liam Dillon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/15/18
Ex-police officer at center of LAPD cadet scandal pleads guilty to statutory rape charges -- A former Los Angeles police officer accused of sexually abusing a teenage member of the department’s heralded cadet program was sentenced to two years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to statutory rape charges. James Queally in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/15/18
Fox: Business Reacts to Filing of Split Roll Initiative -- With the announcement by supporters that enough signatures were gathered to qualify for the 2020 ballot a ‘split roll’ measure that would raise property taxes o6n commercial property, the business community issued a condemnation of the effort and reasons why it is unnecessary. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 8/15/18
Yosemite reopens to a surreal scene of smoke, tourists and flames in the distance -- “We came through on Highway 140 — active fire is still going on right there,” said Walker, 49, of Mission Viejo. “You see the smoke and flames, and you just want to turn around. But once you get through that area, it’s beautiful — it’s smoky — but you’re still here at Yosemite.” Jaclyn Cosgrove in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/15/18
New Google-Backed Plan To Spend California’s Mental Health Dollars Is Raising Eyebrows -- Depending on who you ask, innovation is either an exciting word — or a suspicious one. So goes the debate over whether California counties should spend mental health dollars on new technology. Behavioral health departments all over the state are looking for ways to reach people with untreated mental illness. Many say tech could be the answer, but others are skeptical. Sammy Caiola Capital Public Radio -- 8/15/18
San Jose mayor will get tattoo of city's logo — under one condition -- San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo knows how to appeal to his Millennial constituents. He's promised to get a tattoo of the city's new logo if he gets one million retweets. Liccardo was 999,312 retweets away from his lofty goal as of Wednesday afternoon. Michelle Robertson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/15/18
Photographic memory: Pete Souza trolls Trump with just the right Obama photos -- Pete Souza, the official White House photographer during the Obama years, has carved out a new role for himself he seems to be enjoying almost as much as taking photographs: trolling Donald Trump. Sam Wolfson The Guardian -- 8/15/18
California Policy & Politics This Morning
Ex-lawmaker in alleged masturbation incident sues accuser -- Former Assemblyman Matt Dababneh, who resigned last year amid allegations of sexual harassment and assault, is suing the Sacramento lobbyist who accused him of pushing her into a hotel bathroom and masturbating in front of her. Alexei Koseff in the Sacramento Bee$ Melanie Mason in the Los Angeles Times$ Lauren Hernandez in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/15/18
California Legislature's #MeToo Bills Draw Opposition From Business Groups -- Less than a year after the Me Too and “We Said Enough” movements reverberated around California’s Capitol, a pack of bills that seek to address sexual harassment in the workplace is drawing pushback from business groups that fear a sharp increase in lawsuits. Ben Adler Capital Public Radio -- 8/15/18
GOP to weaponize Pelosi and ‘San Francisco values’ in key CA House races -- Rep. Nancy Pelosi has starred in roughly one in every five Republican-made House campaign ads across the country this year, usually as a device to tar a fellow Democrat running in a conservative area as beholden to her “liberal San Francisco values.” Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/15/18
LAPD chief endorses reform to controversial retirement program that paid him $1.27 million -- Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said Tuesday that the controversial retirement plan that recently paid him $1.27 million is ripe for reform. The Deferred Retirement Option Plan, which pays veteran cops and firefighters essentially double for the last five years of their careers, “would benefit from some adjustments,” Moore said. Jack Dolan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/15/18
Gavin Newsom has big, liberal plans for California. So how would he pay for them? -- Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is promising an ambitious agenda for California in his campaign for governor: Universal preschool and childcare. Health care for all. More money for higher education and job training. More spending on roads, public transit and bridges. Millions of new housing units. Angela Hart in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/15/18
Walters: Long waits at DMV? Not for Capitol insiders -- Forcing motorists to wait for hours – sometimes in 100-degree heat – to do their business with the Department of Motor Vehicles obviously erodes whatever affection they might have had for state government and its politicians. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 8/15/18
California Democratic Party and open-government groups fight proposal to lift contribution limits for legislative leaders -- Faced with opposition from the California Democratic Party and open-government advocates, divided state lawmakers advanced a bill Tuesday that would increase the amount of campaign money that can be accepted by Democratic and Republican legislative leaders. Patrick Mcgreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/15/18
Ag secretary addresses water, labor and tariffs in farm visit with Denham -- Water. Tariffs. Immigrant labor. Farmers raised concerns over those points Tuesday when U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Turlock, asked what they’re worried about these days. Garth Stapley in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/15/18
Kopp sues Secret Service in San Francisco, wants to know security cost for Trump Jr. trip -- San Francisco Ethics Commissioner Quentin Kopp filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday to force the Secret Service to turn over documents detailing how much it cost taxpayers to protect Donald Trump Jr. while he was on a business trip to India on behalf of the Trump Organization. Dominic Fracassa in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/15/18
‘We pay for it, we should have access to it,’ but police close Nunes office during rally -- Clovis police were called and the building housing Congressman Devin Nunes’ office was locked during a rally for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security on Tuesday. Mackenzie Mays in the Fresno Bee -- 8/15/18
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
Aviation support company plans 830 layoffs at LAX -- Despite surging demand for air travel, a Swiss aviation service company is cutting 830 jobs and ending all of its ground handling and transportation services at Los Angeles International Airport, citing “market conditions.” Hugo Martin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/15/18
Bird and Lime deactivate scooter services in Santa Monica for a day in protest -- Scooter-sharing companies Bird and Lime abruptly deactivated their devices in Santa Monica on Tuesday and supporters swarmed City Hall in an act of protest. Laura Newberry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/15/18
Pioneering installment lender CashCall stops offering personal loans -- CashCall Inc. appears to have shuttered its consumer-lending business, perhaps marking an end to a groundbreaking and legally fraught 15-year run of offering high-interest loans. James Rufus Koren in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/15/18
Taxes, Fees, Rates, Tolls, Bonds
Prop. 13 could be partly undone in 2020—here’s what you should know -- If it qualifies for the 2020 ballot—which it likely will—it would mark the first time in decades that voters would have a chance to change a key provision in Proposition 13, the landmark 1978 ballot measure that placed stringent caps on California property taxes, making them some of the lowest in the country for both residential and commercial property. Matt Levin Calmatters Kristen Taketa in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/15/18
Homeless
L.A. County to expand mobile shower program for homeless people -- The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to expand a pilot program to offer homeless people access to hygiene via mobile showers. Nina Agrawal in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/15/18
Housing
L.A. County Supervisors approve temporary rent control ordinance for mobile homes -- The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday moved to impose temporary rent caps on mobile homes. The vote comes amid a broader, controversial push to remove barriers to rent control across California in response to rising housing costs. Andrew Khouri in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/15/18
Immigration, Border, Deportation
She served in the Army for more than 4 years and now, she could be deported -- In spring 2015, Army Spec. Yea Ji Sea was stationed with the U.S. military in South Korea where she worked as a pharmacy tech, spending some of her time off translating for seriously ill soldiers at local hospitals. Victoria Kim in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/15/18
San Francisco federal appeals court revives suit over photographing border officers -- The public has a right to photograph law enforcement officers working in public places, a federal appeals court in San Francisco said Tuesday in reinstating a lawsuit by environmental and civil rights advocates whose photos at U.S. ports of entry in Southern California were confiscated and destroyed by the Border Patrol. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/15/18
Wildfire
GOP lawmaker proposes California utility companies pay into a new state fund to defray wildfire costs -- With negotiations intensifying over how California’s electric utilities should help pay to fight wildfires, a prominent Republican lawmaker says the companies should contribute to a new multibillion-dollar fund that would help mitigate those expenses. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/15/18
Lawmakers focus on fire prevention as blazes rage statewide -- Amid a relentless onslaught of horrific wildfires, state lawmakers found it easy Tuesday to pinpoint the most important response: Reduce the fuel feeding the conflagrations that have scorched more than 750,000 acres this year. But making that happen, on a meaningful scale, is fraught with problems, they found. Guy Kovner in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- 8/15/18
California lawmakers told money and cooperation are the keys to reducing wildfire risk -- Fire and forestry officials told California lawmakers on Tuesday that any new statewide strategy to lessen the risk of deadly wildfires depends on reducing the timber and brush that fuel the blazes. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/15/18
TV’s new wildfire commercials quietly brought to you by PG&E -- California’s electric utilities have taken their fight to change wildfire liability rules to the television screen, backing ads throughout the state. That the companies back the ads, however, isn’t obvious from the commercials themselves. David R. Baker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/15/18
Moment of silence on the fire line: Death hits home at California's biggest blaze -- the predawn hush, Sean Kavanaugh climbed the three steps to the stage to lead the Tuesday morning operational briefing. Lizzie Johnson and Sarah Ravani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/15/18
Cannabis
California could reshape pot rules as legal market struggles -- The nation’s largest legal marijuana market is struggling. Illicit sales continue to thrive. A shaky supply chain has customers looking at barren shelves in some shops. There are testing problems. And a proposal to allow home marijuana deliveries in cities that have banned pot sales could lead to a courtroom fight. Michael R. Blood Associated Press -- 8/15/18
Education
Require ethnic studies to graduate high school? California inches closer to the idea -- As a teacher in Los Angeles county, Jose Lara has fought for years to have ethnic studies taught in high schools across the state. He’s taught the course for 13 years and says he’s seen his students transform by studying their history—whether learning about Cesar Chavez, who led the farmworkers movement in the ’60s, or about Angel Island, a port of entry near San Francisco that limited Chinese immigration in the early 1900s. Elizabeth Castillo Calmatters -- 8/15/18
Focusing can be hard for kids when going back to school in the summer means hot classrooms -- Hundreds of thousands of L.A. Unified students returned to class Tuesday — but not all of them were able to escape the heat. The school district had a backlog of 1,709 complaints about heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, according to a spokeswoman. Sonali Kohli in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/15/18
On a first-day district tour, new L.A. schools chief signals his style and intent -- On the first day of school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, recently hired Supt. Austin Beutner climbed a firetruck, served out farro salad and gripped a golf club — all part of a whirlwind day in which he signaled some of the ways he hopes to improve the district’s performance and reputation. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ Sarah Favot in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 8/15/18
Rocklin school district could pay subs $425 a day as it braces for possible teacher strike -- After more than a year of negotiations, Rocklin teachers will go back to work Wednesday without having signed contracts for the second consecutive school year. The school district now says it’s preparing for a possible strike as instruction is set to begin. Cassie Dickman in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/15/18
Community colleges try new ‘pathway’ to student success – California’s community colleges are embarking on the most far-reaching reform they have ever adopted, in a bid to tackle their biggest challenge: to improve on historically low rates of student graduation and transfers to 4-year colleges and universities. Karin Fischer EdSource -- 8/15/18
Environment
On fuel economy plan, Trump administration ignored its own EPA scientists -- The Trump administration’s plan to roll back aggressive Obama-era fuel economy standards for cars, pickups and SUVs is built on computer modeling that senior officials at the Environmental Protection Agency had privately warned is flawed and unsupportable, according to newly released agency documents. Evan Halper in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/15/18
Garbage companies are refusing your recycling. The trade war with China will make it worse -- Across the Bay Area, recycling companies are in a crunch to find places overseas where they can sell plastic yogurt cups and junk mail flyers. Wendy Lee and Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/15/18
Also . . .
How a Fake Group on Facebook Created Real Protests -- Black Elevation appeared to be an organization dedicated to fighting racism to the tens of thousands of people who visited its page on Facebook. Sheera Frenkel in the New York Times$ -- 8/15/18
L.A.'s rail system will be first in the U.S. to use scanners that detect explosives -- Later this year, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will deploy several portable scanners that can be moved to any of the system’s 93 subway and light-rail stations. The devices will be used in response to terrorism threats, or to scan large crowds at a station near a protest or a sporting event, officials said. Laura J. Nelson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/15/18
Under new policy, LAPD officers who shoot someone will wait at least 14 days before returning to the field -- Los Angeles police officers who shoot someone will have to wait at least two weeks before returning to the field under a policy approved Tuesday by the five-member civilian panel that oversees the department. Cindy Chang in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/15/18
POTUS 45
Trump Calls Omarosa Manigault Newman ‘That Dog’ in His Latest Insult -- President Trump added his former White House aide, Omarosa Manigault Newman, on Tuesday to the growing list of African-Americans he has publicly denigrated on Twitter, calling her “that dog” and a “crazed, crying lowlife” after her allegations against him of mental deterioration and racism. Michael D. Shear and Eileen Sullivan in the New York Times$ -- 8/15/18
Beltway
Leon Panetta: Omarosa’s taped firing breached Situation Room security -- Former White House chief of staff Leon Panetta on Tuesday sharply criticized the Trump administration over the news that John Kelly, the current chief of staff, was taped in the Situation Room, saying that the episode with former presidential aide Omarosa Manigault Newman represented a “breach of security” unprecedented in its nature. Carla Marinucci Politico -- 8/15/18
-- Tuesday Updates
Get ready for a big fight over California's property taxes in 2020 -- A big battle over property taxes in California is shaping up for the 2020 ballot. Supporters of a bid to increase taxes on commercial land announced Tuesday they’ve collected more than 860,000 signatures to force a vote on the issue in two years. Liam Dillon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/14/18
Utah firefighter who died battling Mendocino Complex identified -- The Utah firefighter who died while battling the Mendocino Complex was identified Tuesday as a 42-year-old battalion chief of the Draper City Fire Department, officials said. Sarah Ravani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Julia Sclafani in the Sacramento Bee$ Brady Mccombs Associated Press-- 8/14/18
More than 50% of this California county has burned since 2012. Some residents say they've had enough -- Clarence Sibsey sat alone at a table in the Twin Pine Casino evacuation center, tired and dejected. Once again, a fire was threatening his community and he had to leave home. Two years ago, he fled the massive Valley fire. Now he had been driven away by the Mendocino Complex fire, which at more than 340,000 acres is the biggest in California history. Alejandra Reyes-Velarde and Priya Krishnakumar in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/14/18
Yosemite Valley reopens as firefighters strengthen containment of Ferguson fire -- Yosemite Valley was reopened for the first time in weeks on Tuesday morning, but some were surprised to see a burning hillside along El Portal Road, a key entryway into the famed glacial valley. Jaclyn Cosgrove in the Los Angeles Times$ Ezra David Romero Capital Public Radio -- 8/14/18
Ortega Highway reopens, Holy fire containment at 59 percent -- The Ortega Highway, a vital link between Lake Elsinore and Orange County that closed Aug. 7 because of the Holy fire, reopened to through traffic Tuesday morning. Beatriz E. Valenzuela and Richard K. De Atley in the Orange County Register -- 8/14/18
One cop came forward to expose secrets in his own ranks. The revelation rocked the court system -- Pittsburg Police Officer Michael Sibbitt was ready to testify in a murder trial when a lieutenant from his own department rushed to the courthouse to reveal a startling secret. Maya Lau in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/14/18
California may redo law to treat, free suspects -- California Gov. Jerry Brown wants to tighten a law he signed weeks ago that critics say could have freed rapists and murderers who completed two years of mental health treatment. Don Thompson Associated Press -- 8/14/18
It’s no laughing matter — San Francisco forming Poop Patrol to keep sidewalks clean -- In a city where filthy sidewalks are many residents’ No. 1 complaint, City Hall has come up with a new way to deal with No. 2. It sounds like silly elementary school banter, but it’s real. San Francisco is about to launch the Poop Patrol. Heather Knight in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/14/18
As California schools wait for state bond money, districts fume at sluggish payouts -- It’s been two years since voters passed a $9 billion bond to renovate and modernize the state’s public schools and community colleges, yet classrooms across California are still waiting for the vast majority of that money. Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/14/18
New school year, new leaders; familiar and serious challenges for L.A. Unified -- The nation’s second-largest school system kicks off a fresh year Tuesday with dozens of first-time programs to spur student achievement and recapture enrollment. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/14/18
Company plans to end oil production at South L.A. site -- For years, neighborhood activists have argued that the Jefferson Boulevard facility that sits next to apartments is no place for oil drilling. Now their hopes could be realized as the oil company says it plans to give up petroleum production at the South Los Angeles site. Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/14/18
Labor union nearly stalled major Sacramento construction project before reaching private deal -- Construction on a massive Sacramento corporate center believed to be the West Coast headquarters of a Fortune 500 health care company will likely start in a few weeks after a construction workers’ union dropped its appeal of the project Monday. Ryan Lillis and Kellen Browning in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/14/18
These Bay Area cities are poised to break into the million-dollar home market -- A quarter-century ago, it was the murder capital of the United States. Now East Palo Alto is about to become the Bay Area’s latest city of million-dollar homes, a turnabout wrought by the region’s inexorable housing shortage. Louis Hansen in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/14/18
Fox: Strange Initiative Strategy Indicates Prop 5 Could Be in Trouble -- In an unusual move in the world of California’s direct democracy, the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) filed a new initiative for the 2020 ballot to achieve a goal similar to the initiative they already qualified for 2018. One conclusion: polling must be weak on Proposition 5, the measure on the November 2018 ballot. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 8/14/18
Trump lashes out at Omarosa, calls her ‘that dog’ -- President Donald Trump escalated his messy clash with former aide Omarosa Manigault Newman on Tuesday, referring to the longtime colleague, who had been the top African-American in his White House, as “that dog!” Catherine Lucey and Jill Colvin Associated Press -- 8/14/18
The alleged Trump n-word tape is suddenly less hypothetical -- The allegation that a tape exists of President Trump saying the n-word began as a baseless claim put forward by a former White House aide with credibility problems and a pretty unquenchable taste for notoriety. It’s no longer quite so baseless. Aaron Blake in the Washington Post$ -- 8/14/18