Updating . .   

Analysis: Impact of key California gun laws -- California has the strictest gun regulations in the country, but it also has had more mass shootings than any other state in recent years, from killings in Santa Barbara and San Bernardino to Tehama County and now Gilroy. In some cases, shooters have circumvented the state’s gun laws, even when the legislation has functioned as intended. In other cases, the laws may have disarmed people who otherwise would have gone on to commit mayhem. Robert Salonga in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/11/19

Mass shootings like Dayton, El Paso, Gilroy more than doubled since Columbine -- When two troubled students with military-style guns fatally shot 11 classmates, a teacher and themselves at Colorado’s Columbine High School two decades ago, it shocked a nation where random mass shootings had been an occasional bloody horror. John Woolfolk, Tony Saavedra and Robert Salonga in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/10/19

Hamid Hayat, freed after 14 years in terror case: ‘I cannot describe the sense of joy’ -- A Lodi man who spent 14 years behind bars in a one of the most controversial terrorism cases of the post-Sept. 11 era plans to make his first public appearance Sunday in California since a judge overturned his 2006 conviction, freeing him from a federal prison in Arizona. Demian Bulwa and Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/11/19

Oakland shuttered artist warehouses after Ghost Ship. Cannabis may take the rest -- Nearly three years after the Ghost Ship fire, the scruffy, low-rent art spaces that helped give Oakland its edge are disappearing. Rachel Swan and Sarah Ravani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/11/19

‘Put in a corner,’ El Cerrito scraps just-cause eviction law -- El Cerrito city council voted reluctantly to scrap the law rather than put it on a future ballot. Ali Tadayon in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/11/19

At 80, San Rafael woman finds Uber driving a ‘wild ride to self-love’ -- Eighty-year-old Yamini Redewill spends her days driving for Uber and listening to her passengers’ musings about life — and she couldn’t be happier. Colleen Bidwill in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/11/19

 

California Policy & Politics This Morning  

Why Orange County is the new blue -- Democrats have gained ground in nearly every Orange County city and now hold every county congressional seat. The trend is likely to continue until the GOP can find a way to better connect with Latinos and young voters. Kurt Snibbe and Martin Wisckol in the Orange County Register -- 8/11/19

Inspire charter schools spread across California as critics warn of performance, financial concerns -- State data show that Inspire schools underperformed academically. Last year, all Inspire schools performed below the state average in English and math test scores, with some schools showing as few as 16 percent of their students passing math and as few as 25 percent passing English. The state average is 39 percent for math and 50 percent for English. Kristen Taketa in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/11/19

Walters: Ethnic studies time bomb explodes -- State legislators and then-Gov. Jerry Brown should have known that they were lighting the fuse of a political time bomb three years ago when they ordered up a “model curriculum in ethnic studies” for high school students. The bomb is now exploding. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 8/10/19

Gun-control backers concerned about changing federal courts -- They worry that federal courts, especially if Trump wins a second term next year and Republicans hold the Senate, will take such an expansive view of Second Amendment rights that they might overturn strict gun control laws enacted in Democratic-leaning states. Don Thompson Associated Press -- 8/11/19

Two decades after a Chatsworth postal worker was shot and killed because the shooter thought he looked Latino or Asian, a family is fed up with no action: ‘We are better than this’ -- The brother of Joseph Ileto, slain by a white supremacist who had just sprayed bullets at a Granada Hills Jewish center, sends a message to leaders and a community: “It’s high time everyone gets involved.” Marianne Love in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 8/11/19

Police fear ‘suicide by cop’ cases. So they’ve stopped responding to some calls -- Before George Quinn wrapped a chain around the rafters of his wood shop and hanged himself in June, he texted his big sister goodbye. “This is the hardest part,” wrote the reclusive 63-year-old master carpenter, who lived alone with his elderly cat, Sam, in this Northern California mountain town. “Sorry for everything. You should call the Plumas Co sheriff and have them go to the garage.” Anita Chabria in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/11/19

‘We failed this family’: California prosecutor blasts justice reform laws, politicians, at end of murder case -- In a courtroom display of frustration over progressive justice reform, a Contra Costa prosecutor said his own office and California politicians had “failed” the family of a woman who was gunned down at a Richmond park in 2017. Nate Gartrell and Annie Sciacca in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/11/19

Lady Gaga funds Gilroy classroom projects after Garlic Festival shooting -- Lady Gaga’s nonprofit Born This Way Foundation will fund more than 150 classroom projects in cities across the country rocked by mass shootings in recent weeks, including 23 in Gilroy. The singer and actress made the announcement Friday on Facebook in what she said was a note to the people Dayton, Ohio; El Paso, Texas and Gilroy. Nico Savidge in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/11/19

San Diego jail inmate was bitten in the face -- disfigured by another inmate who bit off a portion of the man’s face. Miguel Lucas, a 25-year-old North Carolina transplant, said in a series of formal complaints to the jail that he was assaulted on June 4 by an inmate who was known to be violent and should not have been placed in his housing unit. Jeff McDonald, Kelly Davis in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/11/19

Well-plugging costs add wrinkle to San Francisco's planned oil pullout -- This much is clear about San Francisco's plan to withdraw itself from Kern County oil production: It isn't going to be cheap. Question is, who's going to pay for it? The answer has yet to emerge from ongoing negotiations between the city and Chevron Corp., which has for decades operated 82 active wells on San Francisco's behalf in the Kern River Oil field. John Cox in the Bakerfield Californian -- 8/11/19

‘No timidity’ for California governor’s wife on key causes -- California Gov. Gavin Newsom was wrapping up a meeting with the president of El Salvador in April when his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, spoke up in fluent Spanish. What, she asked Salvador Sánchez Cerén, did he have to say about the country’s poor record on women’s rights? Kathleen Ronayne Associated Press -- 8/11/19

Mayor Garcetti and Pope Francis talk climate change and immigration in Vatican meeting -- Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti met with Pope Francis on Friday in a private meeting at the Vatican, where they discussed climate change, youth, poverty and immigration. Alene Tchekmedyian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/11/19

Willie Brown: Trump appears to enjoy pushing race button, regardless of topic -- The issue of race is still a scorching hot button for many people in America, especially for President Trump. And he seems to enjoy pushing it. Willie Brown in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/11/19

Lopez: After my mother’s disastrous hospice experience, we filed a state complaint. It came to nothing -- My mother did not die well. She was discharged in January from a Bay Area hospital and transported to a residential care home in distress, writhing in agony at times. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/11/19

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions  

‘It’s terrible’: Bay Area small businesses brace for more tariffs -- The tariffs slapped on Chinese goods last year have been tough enough for many Bay Area stores. It’s about to get harder still, if President Trump follows through on his announcement this month that he will add levies to $300 billion worth of Chinese imports. Shwanika Narayan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/11/19

Wildfire  

Golf Fire in Lake County sparked by discarded cigarette -- The vegetation fire that has been blazing just northwest of Clear Lake since Thursday was caused by an “improperly discarded cigarette,” fire officials announced Saturday. Investigators with Cal Fire have been working to determine the origin and the cause of the 20-acre fire as dozens of firefighters battle the blaze, which was 90% contained Saturday night. Lauren Hernández in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/11/19

To keep insurance, some homeowners now have to do costly wildfire mitigation -- In response to the rising cost and risk of California wildfires, some insurance companies are requiring property owners in high-hazard areas to perform extensive, often expensive, mitigation work to keep their policies. In some cases, they are demanding more than what local and state fire departments recommend. Kathleen Pender in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/11/19

Cannabis 

Advice to California immigrants seeking to stay in US: Don’t work with pot -- The headline of a sign that a San Francisco immigration clinic is distributing to marijuana growers and dispensers in California, where personal use by adults has been legal since 2016, gives some dire advice: Warning: If you are not a U.S. citizen, it may be legally dangerous for you to work in the marijuana industry. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/11/19

Immigration / Border 

New fence replaces decades-old border wall in San Diego -- Along a dirt road situated between a middle-class neighborhood in eastern Tijuana and warehouses in Otay Mesa, border patrol agents celebrated the completion of a $147-million border wall replacement project Friday. Gustavo Solis in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/11/19

Environment 

Flare-up at Richmond refinery spews plenty of smoke but no danger -- A flare-up at the Chevron refinery in Richmond Saturday evening sent smoke billowing into the sky, but the event did not pose a hazard to residents in the area, authorities said. The black smoke was spotted in the vicinity of the refinery shortly before 6 p.m., but Richmond officials said it did not contain toxins. Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/11/19

POTUS 45  

Trump Shares Unfounded Fringe Theory About Epstein and Clintons -- President Trump used Twitter on Saturday to promote unfounded conspiracy theories about how Jeffrey Epstein, the financier accused of sex trafficking, died in a federal prison, even as the administration faced questions about why Mr. Epstein had not been more closely monitored. Michael Crowley in the New York Times$ -- 8/11/19

Beltway 

Democrats descend on Iowa — with renewed anxiety -- As Democrats descend on Iowa to kick off a six-month sprint to the first primary vote, party activists are increasingly anxious that former vice president Joe Biden, the consistent polling leader, has not disposed of persistent questions about whether he is well-equipped to take on President Trump. Adding to the Democrats’ nervousness is that a clear alternative has yet to emerge. Matt Viser in the Washington Post$ -- 8/11/19