Updating . .   

California tests limits of state power, from internet to boardrooms -- California has long sought to lead the nation through what its legislators see as progressive regulations that curb corporate misbehavior. But pending challenges to two new laws show the limits of the state’s power, particularly when California’s measures seek to cross state lines. Melia Russell and Sophia Kunthara in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/2/18

How two California Republicans handle Trump's hard line on immigration could define their futures -- At a recent backyard meet-and-greet, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher pivoted from a campaign pledge that was eliciting silence — “new-generation nuclear energy” — to one sure to rile the Huntington Beach crowd. Joe Mozingo and Jazmine Ulloa in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/2/18

Members of California white supremacist group arrested in connection with deadly Charlottesville rally -- Four members of a militant white supremacist group from California have been arrested on charges they traveled to Virginia last year to incite a riot and attack counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally that turned deadly, court documents unsealed Tuesday say. Denise Lavoie and Michael Kunzelman Associated Press -- 10/2/18

Polls trending Democrats’ way in key California House races -- With just over a month to go before the Nov. 6 midterms, a flurry of polls and independent studies shows there’s movement going on in the California congressional races — and most of it favors the Democrats. John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/2/18

Record number of Californians ready to vote in midterm election -- Nearly 1.5 million more people are registered to vote than were in the last midterm election in 2014, according to the California Secretary of State’s Office. Andrew Sheeler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/2/18

FDA seizes Juul e-cigarette documents in surprise inspection of headquarters -- The Food and Drug Administration seized more than 1,000 pages of documents in a surprise inspection of e-cigarette maker Juul Labs, the latest indication of an intensifying crackdown on underage vaping. Laurie McGinley in the Washington Post$ -- 10/2/18

How fighting climate change will raise California gas prices even higher -- Now, with considerably less fanfare, the state’s air-pollution agency has enacted a regulation that will raise gas prices as much as 36 cents a gallon by 2030 – and diesel by 44 cents. Californians already pay an average $3.73 a gallon for gas, or 85 cents above the national average. Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/2/18

Breed says fight for safe injection sites in San Francisco isn’t over -- Gov. Jerry Brown’s veto of legislation that would have allowed San Francisco to begin a four-year trial of safe injection sites for drug users hasn’t killed the idea altogether, but has made opening one even more complicated and distant. Heather Knight in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/2/18

California’s test scores are so stagnant, it could take a generation to close the achievement gap -- For the second year in a row, California students’ test scores have inched up so slowly that, by some estimates, it could take a generation for disadvantaged students to close the achievement gap with their peers. Ricardo Cano Calmatters -- 10/2/18

Small rise in California’s math and reading scores in 2018 -- Scores on the state’s standardized tests rose slightly overall in 2018, increasing in all grades but 11th, the only high school grade to take the test, where a big drop countered the big growth in early elementary grades. In English language arts, about half of students overall met or exceeded the standards — the equivalent of proficiency — while 39 percent met or exceeded standards in math. John Fensterwald EdSource -- 10/2/18

Migrant minor is held in adult detention facility for nearly a year after dental exam found he was likely 18 -- Soon after a young Guatemalan immigrant climbed over a border fence into California last year, he was detained, processed as an unaccompanied minor and placed in a youth shelter. Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/2/18

San Francisco appeals court hands victory to undocumented teens jailed in gang sweeps -- The Trump administration must allow hearings for undocumented teenagers who were living with relatives or friends in the United States, with government approval, when they were arrested in gang sweeps last year and sent to lockups in distant states, a federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled Monday. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/2/18

Where Sen. Dianne Feinstein and state Sen. Kevin de Leon stand on the issues -- Early voting begins this week, and Californians will again choose between two Democrats to represent them in the U.S. Senate. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is seeking a fifth full term in the Senate. State Sen. Kevin de León is challenging her from the left. Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/2/18

Trump Engaged in Suspect Tax Schemes as He Reaped Riches From His Father -- The president has long sold himself as a self-made billionaire, but a Times investigation found that he received at least $413 million in today’s dollars from his father’s real estate empire, much of it through tax dodges in the 1990s. David Barstow, Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner in the New York Times$ -- 10/2/18

 

California Policy & Politics This Morning  

DOJ's Lawsuit May Delay California's New Net Neutrality Law -- Advocates hope California's new law to stop internet providers from favoring certain content or websites will push Congress to enact national rules or encourage other states to create their own. But legal experts say it's possible a judge will put the law on hold while the litigation plays out. Paul Elias and Mae Anderson Associated Press Sophia Kunthara in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/2/18

Woman who accused Democratic House candidate of harassment says it was a 'misunderstanding' -- A woman recanted her allegation of sexual harassment against a Democratic House candidate on Monday, blunting a major line of attack that a conservative super PAC had been using against Gil Cisneros in a key California race. Christine Mai-Duc in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/2/18

Vandals dress Democrat as a Nazi and deface Republican’s signs in California House race -- Both the Republican and Democrat running in California’s 1st District House race have taken to social media to decry the recent theft and vandalism of their campaign signs. Andrew Sheeler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/2/18

Gas-tax repeal campaign targets ‘mismanagement’ at California DMV -- Supporters of Proposition 6 on Monday took their campaign to eight offices of the state Department of Motor Vehicles, saying the beleaguered agency is an example of mismanagement that should persuade taxpayers to approve their initiative that would repeal recent increases to the state gas tax and vehicle fees. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/2/18

Democrat Katie Porter’s opposition to gas tax costs her labor endorsement -- Orange County Democrat Katie Porter, challenging Republican Rep. Mimi Walters in one of the nation’s most hotly contested races, lost the laborers’ union endorsement after she ran an ad opposing California’s new gasoline tax. Dan Morain Calmatters -- 10/2/18

Duncan Hunter’s Political Promise Foiled by Hard Partying and a Corruption Scandal -- In Alpine, Calif., a suburban Southern California enclave, Duncan Hunter was a good neighbor. He’d help people do yard work, or move heavy furniture. He drove the same dented-up truck for years. Tim Arango, Adam Nagourney and Jose A. Del Real in the New York Times$ -- 10/2/18

Orange County Dems hope anti-Trump energy will mean wins in cities where GOP has dominated for decades -- In a roundabout way, it was President Donald Trump’s rise to power that prompted Democrat Beatriz “Betty” Valencia to run for city council. Jordan Graham in the Orange County Register -- 10/2/18

L.A. County sees its first case of rare mosquito-borne illness in 21 years -- A San Fernando Valley resident has contracted a mosquito-borne illness that hasn’t been recorded in Los Angeles County since 1997, health officials said Monday. The elderly woman became ill with St. Louis encephalitis in late August, the L.A. County Department of Public Health said. Laura Newberry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/2/18

Brown Shows Governing Philosophy in Final Bill Action -- Preparing to leave office after four decades, California Gov. Jerry Brown exercised his final signatures and vetoes this weekend to put the closing stamp on a governing philosophy he has espoused during two separate eight-year stints. Jonathan J. Cooper Associated Press -- 10/2/18

Kavanaugh was questioned about anonymous letter alleging he and a friend attacked Oceanside woman -- On the eve of last week’s dramatic Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, legislative staffers questioned him privately about an anonymous letter purportedly from an Oceanside woman saying Kavanaugh and a friend raped her. Jeff McDonald in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 10/2/18

Abcarian: Boohoo hoo. Brett Kavanaugh is not a victim -- A woman says she was sexually assaulted in high school by a hard-drinking kid who has grown up to become a Supreme Court nominee. Her story gets out. A second accuser comes forward. Then a third. His nomination is imperiled. What happens next? Robin Abcarian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/2/18

Jury clears LAPD officer in 2016 fatal shooting of armed 18-year-old -- Attorneys for the family of Kenney Watkins had filed a civil lawsuit, arguing that the officer, Evan Urias, should have stopped and waited for backup when Watkins ran from him on Aug. 16, 2016, on Century Boulevard near Figueroa Street in South Los Angeles. Cindy Chang in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/2/18

Transbay Terminal reopening delayed; cause of cracked steel beams still unknown -- Fremont Street in San Francisco is not expected to open until at least Oct. 12 as crews determine the cause — and the fix — for two cracked steel beams supporting the brand-new, $2.2 billion Salesforce Transit Center. And the bus depot may remain closed even longer, said Christine Falvey, a spokeswoman for the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, the agency in charge of the project. Erin Baldassari in the San Jose Mercury$ Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/2/18

To get young people to vote, students ramp up the peer pressure -- In anticipation of November’s midterms, the students behind Rise California — a nonprofit advocating for free tuition at the state’s public universities — created a digital platform to get out the vote. The site, called VoteCrew, relies on the ability of social pressure to influence behavior. In this case, that behavior is voting. Holly Honderich in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/2/18

California’s voter registration errors draw close look -- Errors in the new California Motor Voter registration system may undermine the credibility of elections, some worry. Lisa Renner Capitol Weekly -- 10/2/18

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions  

California makes it easier for people with minor convictions to find jobs -- California will ease restrictions on people with minor criminal convictions to help them land jobs in automotive repair, construction, cosmetology and other careers under a bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. Melody Gutierrez in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/2/18

Wildfire  

California wildfires: Why October is the most dangerous month -- Seven of the 10 worst wildfires in recorded California history, measured by the number of structures burned, have occurred in October. So have the three deadliest, ranked by number of people killed, according to Cal Fire, the state’s primary firefighting agency. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 10/2/18

California wildfires remain major threat despite new rainfall year -- The first hints of rain in the Bay Area are very much welcome after a five-month dry spell, especially by firefighters at the front lines of Northern California’s wildfires. Gwendolyn Wu in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/2/18

Immigration, Border, Deportation 

Alameda County Sheriff’s Office shared inmate info with ICE hundreds of times last year -- The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office shared information about jail inmates with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement nearly 1,000 times last year, Sheriff Greg Ahern said during a public forum Monday. Tatiana Sanchez in the East Bay Times -- 10/2/18

Education 

UC Berkeley was home to professor and lab that did Nobel-winning cancer research -- Nobel Prize laureate James Allison did the bulk of his award-winning immunotherapy research out of a modest lab at UC Berkeley in the 1990s, working with a team of scrappy post-docs who were bucking conventional wisdom around the role of the immune system in fighting cancer. Erin Allday in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/2/18

Former Scripps Research postdoc wins Nobel Prize in medicine -- James Allison, whose early work at Scripps Research in La Jolla set him on a path to finding highly successful ways to use the immune system to battle cancer, reached the pinnacle of science Monday when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine. Gary Robbins in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 10/2/18

It's easier to get into UCLA than La Jolla High's choice program -- The school choice window opened on Monday for San Diego Unified campuses, allowing families to apply for enrollment at any of 170 district schools next year — although the acceptance rate for some campuses is lower than the rate at the University of California Los Angeles. Kristen Taketa in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 10/2/18

San Francisco court dismisses suit challenging Betsy DeVos guidelines on campus sexual harassment -- A lawsuit by women’s rights advocates challenging the Trump administration’s rollback of federal policies on campus sexual harassment was dismissed Monday by a federal magistrate in San Francisco, who said the new standards can’t be challenged in court because they are only guidelines, with no penalties for violations. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/2/18

Can Sacramento City Unified School District Expel Junk Food From Classrooms? -- End-of-year pizza parties, birthday cupcakes and post-quiz candy are often the norm for rewarding high grades or good behavior in school. But a new campaign in the Sacramento City Unified School District is encouraging teachers to find healthier and more creative ways to celebrate success. Sammy Caiola Capital Public Radio -- 10/2/18

Gov. Brown vetoes expansion of California’s school suspension ban – Gov. Jerry Brown dealt a blow Sunday to school discipline reform efforts in California with his veto of a bill that would have expanded the state’s ban on suspensions for “disruption and defiance” to include grades K-8. David Washburn EdSource -- 10/2/18

Also . . . 

When Valley law enforcement used force in 2017, deaths were more frequent than statewide -- About one out of every four civilians against whom law enforcement used force in California last year were killed. But in Valley counties, civilian deaths in such encounters were almost double the statewide rate. Tim Sheehan in the Fresno Bee -- 10/2/18

Beltway 

These three undecided Republicans will decide if Kavanaugh gets on the Supreme Court -- Three Republican senators likely hold in their hands Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court following last week’s dramatic hearing into the allegation by Christine Blasey Ford of a decades-old sexual assault. In order for Republicans to confirm Kavanaugh without any Democratic support, they can only afford to lose one of these senators. Sarah D. Wire and Jennifer Haberkorn in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/2/18

 

-- Monday Updates 

Martins Beach: U.S. Supreme Court denies appeal of billionaire Vinod Khosla -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a request from Silicon Valley billionaire Vinod Khosla to weigh in on the long-running battle over Martins Beach in San Mateo County, turning down a case that could have potentially rewritten coastal access laws in California and across the United States. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ Rosanna Xia in the Los Angeles Times$ Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/1/18

L.A. County could join fight against Trump immigration rule -- The ink isn’t yet dry on a controversial Trump administration proposal that could deny permanent residency or citizenship to immigrants who use public assistance programs, but some Los Angeles County officials are readying their opposition. Matt Stiles in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/1/18

L.A. and Long Beach port truckers and warehouse workers begin strike -- Truck drivers and warehouse workers who serve the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach began striking Monday morning in front of warehouses serving the ports, protesting the classification of drivers as independent contractors. Samantha Masunaga in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/1/18

BART’s new fare evasion problem: One whole county exempt from crackdown -- BART has a problem with its crackdown on fare evaders, one that even many board members didn’t know existed: The transit agency’s new team of blue-vested enforcers can’t ticket cheats at any of six stations in San Mateo County. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/1/18

Gov. Jerry Brown vetoes bill that would have expanded civil suit window for childhood sex abuse victims -- Gov. Jerry Brown has rejected a bill that would have given survivors of childhood sexual assault in California more time to file suits against those who could have stopped their abuse. Laura Newberry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/1/18

California makes it easier for people with minor convictions to find jobs -- California will ease restrictions on people with minor criminal convictions to help them land jobs in automotive repair, construction, cosmetology and other careers, under a bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. Melody Gutierrez in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/1/18

Blood, drugs, theft and tacos: inside the lawsuit threatening Casa Ramos’ future -- Casa Ramos’ corporate office faces a state Department of Justice investigation after the family of the restaurant chain’s founder filed a lawsuit accusing the chain’s new owners of embezzlement. That charge is thrown back in the accusers’ faces in a cross-complaint. Benjy Egel in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/1/18

After the Montecito mudslides, a search for belongings and two children -- Hope can be plucked from a heap of dirt with gentle hands. A gold-rimmed teacup with a chip in its pedestal. A pink vest knitted for a niece. A canvas book bag carrying a bracelet and a headband. Corina Knoll in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/1/18

Fox: Brown’s Vetoes. Would Newsom Do the Same? -- Here’s a measuring stick to gauge a new governor: Would Gavin Newsom or John Cox veto the measures that Jerry Brown is vetoing in his last year on the job? Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 10/1/18