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Rudy Giuliani mixed White House role, personal business in cybersecurity -- But a Chronicle investigation has found that Giuliani’s blurring of White House and personal business didn’t start with Ukraine. It began in the early days of the Trump administration, when Giuliani was named as a White House adviser in an area where he had limited experience but was trying to build a clientele: cybersecurity. Tal Kopan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/5/20

Ballot measure would tighten up rules for dealing with bad street behavior -- In a move that could radically change California’s approach to homelessness, a former assemblyman has started a signature-gathering drive for a November ballot initiative that would call for the strict enforcement of “quality of life” laws, which deal with behavior such as public drunkenness or drug use and defecating in public. Offenders would be to be sent to special courts, where they could be sentenced to shelter programs or mandatory rehab. Phil Matier in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/5/20

Police program offers to clear infractions for homeless in exchange for month-long shelter stays -- Homeless people who face a ticket or arrest by San Diego police officers are being offered a chance to have the infraction cleared if they agree to stay for 30 days in one of the city’s large tented bridge shelters. Gary Warth in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 1/5/20

Gavin Newsom’s ambitious and uneven first year as California governor -- Few California governors have entered office with a more ambitious agenda than Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose ascension to the job one year ago was marked by a sense of urgency, an insistence that the times demanded a leader who would multitask in a way his predecessors had not. Taryn Luna, Phil Willon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/5/20

Smolens: Bloomberg’s San Diego connection -- MaryAnne Pintar, who helped Rep. Scott Peters turn a once-red district blue, is named regional political director in California for former New York mayor. Michael Smolens in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 1/5/20

Human-caused ignitions spark California’s worst wildfires but get little state focus -- It could have been another bad wildfire year in California. A bountiful summer crop of quick-to-burn dead grass carpeted the hillsides. Autumn was warm and dry. A record-breaking stretch of fire weather hit the Bay Area in October. But it wasn’t. California wildfires charred about 270,000 acres in 2019, the smallest number since 2011. Bettina Boxall in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/5/20

Will the 2020s deliver Bay Area from traffic hell? -- By 2030, Bay Area commuters could be taking autonomous shuttles to work and boarding next-generation BART trains bound for downtown San Jose. We could be zipping up and down the Peninsula on an electrified Caltrain and cruising past rush-hour congestion aboard regional buses on traffic-free express lanes. Nico Savidge in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 1/5/20

Fate of Purple Line trolley in question as $24 billion sales-tax hike looms in 2020 -- A long-envisioned Purple Line trolley remains in limbo as transit officials work through the details over how and whether to build the rail connection between downtown Chula Vista and the city of San Diego’s Kearny Mesa neighborhood. Joshua Emerson Smith in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 1/5/20

Pessimism seeping into Bay Area home market for 2020 -- Housing economists and real estate professionals are pessimistic about the Bay Area in 2020 — but don’t expect a crash to bring saner prices or slower sales. Louis Hansen in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 1/5/20

‘Miracle’: Ferry captain spots man floating in bay and rescues him, with passengers’ help -- Capt. Glenn Williams can’t forget the elderly man’s face. His white beard, pale blue skin and giant eyes staring straight ahead just beneath the surface of the dark gray, choppy San Francisco Bay waters. Matthias Gafni in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/5/20

Oakland hires anti-violence czar. Will he help the city reduce violent crime? -- Oakland had a lofty goal when the City Council created the Department of Violence Prevention in 2017: Reduce homicides by 80% over three years. Megan Cassidy in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/5/20

How many vacant houses are there really in the Bay Area? -- There’s a home on South Jackson Avenue in San Jose’s Mayfair neighborhood that has it all: excellent location within walking distance of a school, parks and shops; a nearly acre-sized backyard; and — a rarity in California — a basement. Leonardo Castañeda and Marisa Kendall in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 1/5/20

Skeletal remains of Japanese American incarcerated at Manzanar found in mountains -- In the treeless, boulder-strewn Williamson Bowl near California’s second-tallest mountain, Giichi Matsumura stopped to paint. Hailey Branson-Potts in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/5/20

These musical instruments survived the Holocaust. Now they honor the musicians who did not -- The violin had been in Auschwitz, and unlike so many human beings, it survived. One of the prisoners, his name now unknown, had been assigned the task of playing music while the other inmates were marched to the gas chamber. Joshua Kosman in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/5/20

Lowrider’s last cruise in print -- Founded by San Jose State students, the magazine has covered car culture and the Chicano community for 42 years. Montse Reyes in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/5/20

Nipsey Hussle was a bookworm. Now black men are finding inspiration in what he read -- "How many times as black men have we heard something before and had to bite our tongues?” DeRon Cash, his tattooed forearms resting on his knees, curled a paperback revered by the late Nipsey Hussle in his hand. He didn’t really mean it as a question — and the other black men huddled around a coffee table in Boyle Heights knew not to answer. Angel Jennings in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/5/20

Behind the story: How a reporter discovered the ‘Nipsey Hussle effect’ -- In the days after Nipsey Hussle was gunned down outside a strip mall near my South Los Angeles home, images of the rapper and community activist flooded social media. But it was a black and white meme that gave me pause. Angel Jennings in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/5/20

Wine country’s iconic Jimtown Store forced to close by fires and blackouts, owner says -- It had seemed like a bit of much-needed good news when the Kincade fire tore through Sonoma County’s Alexander Valley this fall. The beloved Jimtown Store, a cafe and old-time mercantile on rural Highway 128 that had been around, in some form or another, since the 1890s, had survived the late October flames. Just a mile and a half up the road, the historic Soda Rock Winery lay in ruins, its ashen image broadcast around the world. Hailey Branson-Potts in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/5/20

 

California Policy & Politics This Morning  

Salaries skyrocket at California state insurance fund following years of scandal -- A California public agency that offers workers’ compensation insurance coverage to employers has recruited a high-priced team of former executives from the private sector to turn it around after years of scandal and financial problems. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/5/20

With charges of ‘cheating’ and ‘Trump-like tactics,’ L.A. County supervisor race heats up -- With the March primary election rapidly approaching, the stakes are high in the race for a rare open seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Matt Stiles in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/5/20

States, U.S. House Ask High Court to Decide Fate of Affordable Care Act -- The states, led by California, and the Democratic-led House each filed petitions with the high court Friday and asked the justices to consider their appeals on a quick timeline that would allow a ruling on the health law by the end of the court’s term in June. Brent Kendall in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 1/5/20

How will childhood among radicals impact Chesa Boudin as SF’s district attorney? -- Chesa Boudin won’t be San Francisco’s first left-leaning district attorney. His predecessor, George Gascón, fit that description. So did Terence Hallinan, who held the office from 1995 to 2003. And Kamala Harris, who ran a tough-on-crime campaign that unseated Hallinan, promptly kept her promise to forgo the death penalty by declining to seek it for the killing of a police officer. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/5/20

Walters: Promises made, but not kept -- Last month, McClatchy Newspapers and the ProPublica news organization published an investigative article delving into how billions of dollars meant to reduce repeat criminal activity by improving local jails and probation services were siphoned off for other purposes. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 1/5/20

Do California’s most severely mentally ill need more forced treatment? -- Rippee, 56, developed schizophrenia after a motorcycle accident more than three decades ago caused a brain injury and blindness. He has delusions that he’s an alien, or is being chased by the Ku Klux Klan, or can’t collect his lottery winnings, his family says. Jocelyn Wiener in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/5/20

Across California, Iranian Americans are shocked, alarmed or relieved at the killing of Qassem Suleimani -- Farid Khanlou rearranged a basket of Persian cucumbers in his market in the heart of Tehrangeles on Friday morning as he reflected on the assassination of Gen. Qassem Suleimani, one of Iran’s highest-ranking officials. Sarah Parvini, Marisa Gerber, Sonja Sharp in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/5/20

Amid rising tensions with Iran, hundreds rally against war in downtown L.A. -- An anti-war march and demonstration was held Saturday in downtown Los Angeles calling on the U.S. not to go to war with Iran and to pull troops out of the Middle East. Ruben Vives in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/5/20

Thousands march in SF to denounce US attack, potential war with Iran -- Thousands converged on San Francisco’s streets Saturday afternoon for an anti-war demonstration organized in response to an American air strike on Friday that killed a top Iranian general. Anna Bauman and Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/5/20

With tensions rising, new focus emerges on Americans jailed in Iran -- For Joanne White, the mother of an American citizen from San Diego who is imprisoned in Iran, the last year and a half already felt like an unceasing nightmare. But things just got worse. Melissa Etehad in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/5/20

Rep. Maxine Waters thought she was talking to Greta Thunberg. It was actually Russian trolls -- The call starts innocently enough: Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) warmly greets the voices on the line, whom a staffer identifies as Greta Thunberg and her father, Svante. They share a laugh about Waters’s nickname, “Auntie Maxine.” The congresswoman praises her young caller for her climate change activism. Kim Bellware in the Washington Post$ -- 1/5/20

Lopez: Plenty of clubs would reject me, but for the senior center, my credentials are perfect -- Rebecca McEnany waited with three other women for the next session to begin. “What’s this class?” I asked. “Tai chi,” she said, asking if I was going to join in. “No,” I said. “I’m not a member. But I’m thinking of joining.” There, I said it. I was thinking of joining a senior center. But I was also thinking of not joining a senior center. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/5/20

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions  

Now hiring: 3 Bay Area cities among best for jobs in 2020 -- When it comes to finding a job, the same mantra that applies to real estate can also be used for those in the job-hunting market: It’s all about location, location, location. And some of the best locations in the country for finding a job remain in the Bay Area. Rex Crum in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 1/5/20

Education 

Most San Diego County high schools exceeded statewide graduation rate -- Most high schools in San Diego County do better than the state average in graduating their high school seniors in four years, although the county’s overall graduation rate is below the state average. Kristen Taketa in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 1/5/20

Cannabis 

Controversial fence revives battle over marijuana dispensaries near churches -- Local controversy over marijuana dispensaries opening near churches took a new turn recently, when a man proposing a dispensary in Rancho Bernardo built a large fence on the property to create a longer walking distance between the business and the church -- hoping to allow the dispensary under city rules. David Garrick in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 1/5/20

POTUS 45  

Trump plunges toward the kind of Middle Eastern conflict he pledged to avoid -- With a single momentous decision to authorize a drone strike killing a top Iranian commander in Baghdad, President Trump immediately thrust himself into the center of a volatile and unpredictable region — taking his presidency into just the kind of foreign entanglement he pledged to avoid. Toluse Olorunnipa, Robert Costa and Anne Gearan in the Washington Post$ -- 1/5/20

Beltway 

Biden: Trump is ‘incredibly dangerous and irresponsible’ as the ‘walls close in’ -- Joe Biden lit into President Donald Trump’s tweeting about the possibility of retaliating against Iran Saturday night, calling it “incredibly dangerous and irresponsible.” Speaking before a campaign event here, Biden accused Trump of taking reckless action as “the walls close in on this guy.” Natasha Korecki Politico -- 1/5/20

Crowded Democratic presidential field sprints toward ‘jump ball’ in crucial Iowa caucuses -- The Bernie Sanders campaign plans to knock on half a million Iowa doors in January. Elizabeth Warren’s team is asking supporters for spare couches to house out-of-state volunteers. And the national polling leader, former vice president Joe Biden, claims a sharp uptick in volunteer sign-ups as he has secured high-profile endorsements in the state. Michael Scherer in the Washington Post$ -- 1/5/20