Updating . .
Gov. Jerry Brown says repeal of gas tax increase is a 'scam' by 'acolytes of Donald Trump' -- In his last campaign as governor, Jerry Brown rallied Friday against Proposition 6, tying the initiative to supporters of President Donald Trump and warning it will hinder California’s efforts to repair roads and bridges. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angles Times Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle Janie Har Associated Press Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angles Times -- 11/2/18
GOP candidate John Cox predicts election-day surprise in CA governor’s race -- Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox doesn’t care that polls predict Democrat Gavin Newsom will trounce him in Tuesday’s election, because he’s “100 percent convinced that the people of this state want something different.” Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/2/18
Feinstein’s opponent in California failed to raise big money -- Kevin de Leon got a burst of national attention last summer when the California Democratic Party endorsed him for U.S. Senate over incumbent Dianne Feinstein. It seemed it could be the spark the former state Senate leader needed to make headway against a Goliath of California politics. Kathleen Ronayne Associated Press -- 11/2/18
Second suspicious package to Tom Steyer found in Burlingame -- FBI officials intercepted a second suspicious package addressed to California billionaire Tom Steyer on Thursday night, authorities said, a week after he and other high-profile Democrats, among others, were sent improvised explosive devices by mail. Gwendolyn Wu in the San Francisco Chronicle Bryan Anderson in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/2/18
Stripe, Square billionaires are fighting Prop. C. Not all of their workers agree -- The day she moved to San Francisco in her early 20s, Dana Sniezko said it felt like home. That was more than a decade ago. As tent cities bloomed across the city and she saw people close to her struggle with homelessness, Sniezko, now a software engineer at Stripe, decided she needed to do more to make her adopted home feel whole. Melia Russell in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/2/18
L.A. Arena Battle Pits Celebrities Against Suburban Mayor -- Hollywood power players like David Geffen and Haim Saban and celebrities like Kris Jenner don’t typically take an interest in mayoral races in the suburbs of Los Angeles. Anne Steele and Nour Malas in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/2/18
A key tactic: Sue the suburbs -- The campaign to tackle the Bay Area’s housing crisis by forcing residential development in reluctant communities started with a simple idea: Sue the suburbs. J.K. Dineen in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/2/18
Tule elk at Point Reyes seashore could end up the loser under park ranch plan -- The roundup and possible killing of the tule elk that charm tourists in the Point Reyes National Seashore inched closer to reality this week as the National Park Service began an environmental review of a proposal to extend and even increase agriculture in the park. Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/2/18
Troops Deploy to Parts of Border Where Migrant Caravans Are Deemed Most Likely to Go -- Troops are in place around McAllen and Brownsville, in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley; San Ysidro, Calif., south of San Diego; and Nogales, Ariz., U.S. officials said. Nancy A. Youssef, Alicia A Caldwell in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/2/18
California Policy & Politics This Morning
Oil industry spends millions to boost California Democrats -- The California Democratic Party no longer accepts donations from the oil industry, viewing that as politically unsavory for a party pushing to curb climate change. But that hasn’t stopped oil companies from spending millions to help California Democrats win on Tuesday. Laurel Rosenhall Calmatters -- 11/2/18
Rep. Steve Knight's campaign removes ad featuring supporter who posted racist rants, threats on Facebook -- Rep. Steve Knight’s campaign on Thursday took down an advertisement featuring a local veteran who regularly posts racist, anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic comments on social media, a day after the congressman’s camp said it would not remove the political spot. Maya Sweedler in the Los Angles Times -- 11/2/18
Jerry Brown finally jumps into election for pet cause: killing gas-tax repeal -- Gov. Jerry Brown is about to do something he hasn’t done in the run-up to Tuesday’s election. He’s hitting the campaign trail. Melody Gutierrez in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/2/18
Rent-control campaign chief says he doesn’t trust Newsom to help tenants, may be back with 2020 initiative -- Californians don’t seem to be fans of Prop. 10, the ballot initiative that would allow cities to expand rent control in ways currently prohibited by state law. Multiple polls show the measure trailing by double digits; a survey by the Public Policy Institute of California found just 25 percent of likely voters support the measure. Matt Levin Calmatters -- 11/2/18
‘If women vote, they will decide’ midterms, Dianne Feinstein says -- Women voters are key to the outcome of the 2018 midterm elections, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Thursday as she stumped in Sacramento, including at a luncheon for a group of women Democrats. Bryan Anderson in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/2/18
Anti-Vaccination Groups Align With Outsider Candidate Against Lawmaker Who Wrote California’s Vaccine Law -- California’s vaccination debate has cropped up again, this time in a district senate race between Independent party candidate Eric Frame and incumbent Democratic Senator Richard Pan. Sammy Caiola Capital Public Radio -- 11/2/18
Gavin Newsom and John Cox crisscross California in final stretch of the governor's race -- California gubernatorial candidates John Cox and Gavin Newsom barnstormed California on their respective tour buses Thursday, stopping to shake hands and pose for selfies with voters across the state in the final days of the race. Dakota Smith and Phil Willon in the Los Angles Times Jonathan J. Cooper Associated Press -- 11/2/18
Bay Area Looms Large in Central Valley 'Sister District' House Race --With all of their local seats solidly blue, Democrats in Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco and the Peninsula have eyed California's 10th district race as their best chance to make a difference in the national balance of power. Guy Marzorati KQED -- 11/2/18
A California user’s guide to political polls: Six easy tips -- Another day, another poll in California. Ben Christopher Calmatters -- 11/2/18
Hunter calls for Trump's troops to build roads for Border Patrol effort -- An hour before President Donald Trump’s immigration speech Thursday, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, unveiled his proposal for the president to make use of troops recently dispatched to the southern border for road construction. Charles T. Clark in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/2/18
L.A. releases security costs for Mayor Garcetti's out-of-town travel -- Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s security detail has racked up nearly $450,000 in travel costs since 2015 as Garcetti visited other parts of the U.S. and foreign countries, according to figures released by the city on Thursday. Dakota Smith in the Los Angles Times -- 11/2/18
Oroville Dam repairs aren’t enough, feds warn. Should state be forced to plan for a mega-flood? -- Federal regulators are raising new concerns about the troubled Oroville Dam, telling California officials their recently rebuilt flood-control spillways likely couldn’t handle a mega-flood. Ryan Sabalow and Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/2/18
Members of Irvine synagogue united 'in strength' after building is defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti -- The gates are locked, but beyond the secured buildings members of the Beth Jacob Congregation say they are united “in strength” the day after a hooded intruder defaced their place of worship. Anh Do in the Los Angles Times -- 11/2/18
Southern California synagogues reconsider security measures after Pittsburgh shooting -- Security has become a concern even for smaller synagogues such as Congregation Beth Shalom in Corona, particularly after the Pittsburgh shooting. “We cannot put a metal detectors or make this place into a fortress,” said Bruce Rouman, the synagogue’s board president. “But we’re looking at other things like providing active shooter training to our members and make the building easier for people to leave in case of an emergency.” Deepa Bharath in the Orange County Register -- 11/2/18
How Trump has used three horrific California slaying cases to demonize immigrants -- From the time President Trump stepped onto the campaign trail more than two years ago he’s pointed to three high-profile California slaying cases to highlight the dangers of what he contends is the country’s broken immigration system. Hannah Fry and Cindy Carcamo in the Los Angles Times -- 11/2/18
Report rips California prison psychiatric care, cites horrifying case of inmate who ate her eyeball -- California’s chief prison psychiatrist has issued a scathing report on management of mental health care in the prisons, saying officials are misrepresenting the care given to thousands of prisoners and are jeopardizing the health of inmates — including a woman who, in a horrifying 2017 incident, pulled out her own eye and swallowed it. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/2/18
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
Spouses of H-1B Visa Holders Could Soon Lose the Right to Work in the U.S. -- Any day now, federal immigration officials are expected to officially propose that spouses of H-1B visa holders no longer be allowed to work in the U.S. Roughly 105,000 families are expected to be affected, most of them from India, many of them right here in Silicon Valley. Rachael Myrow KQED -- 11/2/18
Homeless
Will a fight over homelessness help Silicon Valley find its moral compass? -- Big tech faces a test as San Francisco weighs a ballot measure that would tax companies to help the homeless. Vivian Ho in The Guardian -- 11/2/18
Transit
Bird sues Beverly Hills over its ban of motorized scooters -- Opening a new chapter in the scooter wars, Bird filed a lawsuit Thursday against Beverly Hills, seeking to overturn the city’s ban on motorized scooters that has led to the impound of more than 1,000 of the company’s vehicles since July. Laura J. Nelson in the Los Angles Times -- 11/2/18
Cannabis
Film director Francis Ford Coppola jumps into cannabis industry -- The famed film director has inked a licensing deal with the Humboldt Brothers, a Garberville business that owns Humboldt County marijuana farms, to produce a limited edition of three different cannabis flower strains. Bill Swindell in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- 11/2/18
Education
UC Berkeley’s Fastest-Growing Class Is Data Science 101 -- At the University of California, Berkeley, the fastest-growing class on campus is introduction to data science. A month-old major in the field that merges aspects of computer science and statistics to mine the growing troves of data on everything from traffic patterns to the habits of social-media users has attracted interest from 1,000 students. Douglas Belkin in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/2/18
Health
Republican candidates say they would protect sick Americans but fight coverage for poorest patients -- Even as embattled Republican candidates across the country pledge to protect Americans with preexisting medical conditions, nearly all continue to resist extending health protections to their poorest constituents. Noam N. Levey in the Los Angles Times -- 11/2/18
Guns
Fewer children killed by guns in states with strict gun laws, finds Stanford study -- States that have more laws restricting youth access to guns have lower rates of child and teen deaths from shootings, a study by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine has found. Lisa M. Krieger in the San Jose Mercury -- 11/2/18
Also . . .
Former San Diego County sheriff's deputy who groped girl, repeatedly looked at case file is jailed -- A former San Diego County sheriff’s deputy was sentenced Wednesday to a year behind bars for groping a 14-year-old girl in a Vista restaurant, then later accessing investigative files and downloading the girl’s photo and personal information. Teri Figueroa in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/2/18
POTUS 45
AP Fact Check: Trump-tweeted ad unfairly blames Democrats -- President Donald Trump tweeted an ad that blames Democrats for allowing a Mexican man who was in the U.S. illegally to kill two police officers in Northern California in 2014 in methamphetamine-fueled attacks. Luis Bracamontes was sentenced to death. Elliot Spagat Associated Press -- 11/2/18
President Trump has made 6,420 false or misleading claims over 649 days -- In the first nine months of his presidency, President Trump made 1,318 false or misleading claims, an average of five a day. But in the seven weeks leading up the midterm elections, the president made 1,419 false or misleading claims — an average of 30 a day. Glenn Kessler, Salvador Rizzo and Meg Kelly in the Washington Post -- 11/2/18
Trump ratchets up racially divisive messages in a bid to rally support in the midterms -- President Trump, joined by many Republican candidates, is dramatically escalating his efforts to take advantage of racial divisions and cultural fears in the final days of the midterm campaign, part of an overt attempt to rally white supporters to the polls and preserve the GOP’s congressional majorities. Philip Rucker and Felicia Sonmez in the Washington Post -- 11/2/18
-- Thursday Updates
Fact check: Trump’s claim that Democrats let cop killer stay in U.S. is false -- President Trump’s closing argument for the midterm elections includes a tweet featuring convicted cop killer Luis Bracamontes, who killed two Sacramento-area deputies in a 2014 rampage. Sam Stanton in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/1/18
PG&E defends planned power outage, but vows improvements, in report to state -- Pacific Gas and Electric Co. continued to defend its decision to shut off power to nearly 60,000 customers over a three-day stretch in October in a report sent Wednesday to the California Public Utilities Commission, but acknowledged room for improvement for future planned outages. Michael McGough in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/1/18
Skelton: The good, the bad and the egg-laying hens: Here's how you should vote on the ballot propositions -- California voters have the U.S. president trumped. They can change the state Constitution on their own. The president has no power to amend the U.S. Constitution. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/1/18
Hunter and Campa-Najjar look to veterans to help portray each other as unfit to serve -- The men and their campaigns could not be more different. One, a conservative, white former Marine who was elected to Congress in the same inland San Diego County area his father represented for 28 years, is fighting federal charges that he misspent $250,000 in campaign contributions. Maya Sweedler in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/1/18
A San Andreas fault mystery: The 'slow-moving disaster' in an area where the Big One is feared -- The San Andreas fault begins its dangerous dance through California at the Salton Sea, at a spot that seismologists long have feared could be the epicenter of a massive earthquake. Alejandra Reyes-Velarde and Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/1/18
Heavenly, Northstar resorts start pumping out snow as Tahoe ski season approaches -- Don’t let the warm weather throughout Northern California fool you; it’s November, and that means Tahoe’s ski and snowboard season is fast approaching. Michael McGough in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/1/18
Google employees walk out over handling of sexual harassment -- Thousands of Google employees around the world walked off their jobs today in a protest against the technology giant’s actions on sexual misconduct. Organizers said the protest, planned for 11 a.m. in various time zones, hit 60 percent of offices world-wide. Ethan Baron in the San Jose Mercury -- 11/1/18
John Cox: A tough slog toward the governorship -- Republican John Cox, running for governor, wants you to realize a few things. California has the highest poverty rate in the nation. Our schools are failing. Millions of forgotten Californians cannot afford decent housing. Chuck McFadden Capitol Weekly -- 11/1/18
Fox: Issues Underlying San Francisco Prop C Tax Battle Will Linger Beyond the Election -- There is an undercurrent to the debate on San Francisco’s Proposition C that proposes to increase the gross receipts tax on big companies to pay for homeless services. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 11/1/18