Updating . .   

Rain quiets Mosquito Fire in Northern California but adds risk of flash flooding -- An ongoing storm in Northern California helped tame the Mosquito Fire and boost containment efforts over the weekend, allowing about 3,000 people to return home after more than a week of being displaced by mandatory evacuations. Michael McGough in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/19/22

Policy and Politics  

Chesa Boudin charged a rookie cop with manslaughter. What will Brooke Jenkins do next? -- For nearly five years, Keita O’Neil’s family has longed to see the San Francisco police officer who killed him face the evidence in court. Joshua Sharpe in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/19/22

Abortion ruling has put these 5 California House races in play -- Control of the House will be decided by a handful of races around the nation, and California alone has at least five whose outcome may hinge on a single issue: abortion. Jeremy B. White Politico -- 9/19/22

Sports Betting  

Skelton: Voters are turned off by Props. 26 and 27. Racing tracks should pick a better horse next time -- You’d never know it from the incessant TV ads, but troubled horse racing would greatly benefit from a sports betting initiative on the November ballot. In fact, Proposition 26 is seen by some as a savior of thoroughbred racing in California. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/19/22

Why are tribal casinos and California’s cardrooms at odds over Prop 26? -- Proposition 26, which would clear the way for sports-betting at California’s tribal casinos, also includes a little-known provision that critics say could threaten the future of cardrooms, including more than a dozen in the Bay Area, such as Artichoke Joe’s in San Bruno, Oaks Card Club in Emeryville and San Jose’s Bay 101 and Casino M8trix. Harriet Blair Rowan in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/19/22

Workplace   

A new California laws protects workers from CalPERS clawbacks. It won’t help these retirees -- Fifty-six Glenn County retirees likely will have to return part of their pensions to CalPERS due to a mistake their employer made that inflated their retirement benefits. Wes Venteicher in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/19/22

Supply Chain  

Port Labor Talks Stall as Worker Disruptions Grow -- West Coast port labor talks are stalled as dockworker disputes hit the region’s big trade gateways, according to shipping industry officials who fear the negotiations could take months to resolve. Paul Berger in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 9/19/22

Water  

Surfing in the California desert? Developer’s plan sparks outrage over water use, drought -- In a part of the Coachella Valley where exclusive neighborhoods wrap around lush golf courses and ponds, a stretch of open desert could be transformed into a new sort of artificial oasis. Ian James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/19/22

Develop   

Luxury hotel proposal pits celebrities against celebrities in Benedict Canyon -- A proposal to build a luxury hotel in a swanky, wooded enclave of Benedict Canyon has pitted some of L.A.'s biggest deal makers, movie executives and celebrities against each other in a pitched battle over the future of one of L.A.'s most expensive neighborhoods. Hugo Martín in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/19/22

Street  

A successful nurse’s mental struggles remained hidden — until fiery L.A. crash left 5 dead -- Minutes before the fiery crash in Windsor Hills that killed five people last month, Nicole Linton was not making sense, her older sister said. FaceTiming with Kim Linton while driving her Mercedes-Benz, Linton would start speaking and stop after a few words. Noah Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/19/22

Also . . .   

In memory of Henry Fuhrmann, who believed in us before we believed in ourselves -- Henry was a brilliant editor passionate about language, whose work was instrumental in changing newspaper standards for describing immigrants and people from minority communities, and in guiding this paper’s transition online. Frank Shyong in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/19/22

California Policy and Politics Monday   

‘Starting to look a lot better’: Rain aids Mosquito fire battle, but brings flood, mudflow risk -- Rain showers that started Sunday afternoon are bringing welcome moisture to the Mosquito fire, but also an increased risk of mudflows and floods in a heavily forested corner of Northern California. Laura Newberry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/19/22

Policy and Politics  

Gov. Gavin Newsom strips Fresno County supervisors’ power to draw election lines -- With his signature on Sunday, Gov. Gavin Newsom told the Fresno County Board of Supervisors to get lost when it comes to the next redistricting task in nine years. The governor signed legislation by Assemblymember Joaquín Arámbula, D-Fresno, to give those duties to a 14-member community redistricting commission. Juan Esparza Loera in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/19/22

Voters push to take local redistricting from politicians -- California’s independent redistricting commission has received generally good reviews for its new maps that voters are using to elect legislators and members of Congress in November. Voters who say they are disenfranchised want similar panels to draw their local districts — and they’ve gone to the Legislature to make that happen. Sameea Kamal, CalMatters Capital Public Radio -- 9/19/22

California enacts law to help LGBTQ military veterans -- A new law in California will help military service members who were discharged under “don’t ask, don’t tell” policies because of their sexual or gender identities to reestablish their eligibility for Veterans Affairs benefits, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Saturday. Associated Press -- 9/19/22

California’s dead will have a new burial option: Human composting -- Assembly Bill 351 by Assemblymember Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) will create a state regulatory process for natural organic reduction, a method in which human remains naturally decompose over a 30-to-45-day period after being placed in a steel vessel and buried in wood chips, alfalfa and other biodegradable materials. Melody Gutierrez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/19/22

Majority of Latino Voters Out of G.O.P.’s Reach, New Poll Shows -- It has been nearly two years since Donald Trump made surprising gains with Hispanic voters. But Republican dreams of a major realignment of Latino voters drawn to G.O.P. stances on crime and social issues have failed to materialize, according to a new poll by The New York Times and Siena College. Jennifer Medina, Jazmine Ulloa and Ruth Igielnik in the New York Times$ -- 9/19/22

Schnur: Gavin Newsom is working hard to be lucky -- From this point forward, every decision he makes will be judged by two different audiences — the mostly progressive voters of his own state and a more centrist electorate that picks presidents. Dan Schnur in the Washington Post$ -- 9/19/22

Walters: California should take the lead on a Second Amendment overhaul -- The answer to America’s firearm injury epidemic must start with rewriting the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment. A nationwide movement to begin that debate by calling a constitutional convention could start with California. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 9/19/22

Workplace  

Workers can’t be fired for off-the-clock cannabis use under new law signed by Newsom -- California workers who use marijuana off-the-clock will no longer be penalized, per one bill among a package of cannabis-related legislation Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Sunday. Claire Hao in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/19/22

COVID  

UCSF’s Dr. Bob Wachter says he’s ready to dine indoors as Biden declares pandemic ‘over’ -- The careful and data-driven UCSF chair of medicine Dr. Bob Wachter has reached a new pandemic milestone: He’s ready to dine indoors and ditch his mask in uncrowded indoor settings. Claire Hao in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/19/22

Street  

LAPD shoot and kill South L.A. man who brandished toy rifle from his home -- L.A. police shot and killed a young man who had called them for help during a dispute with his family, after he brandished a toy rifle from the porch of his South L.A. home Saturday afternoon, family and police said. Sonja Sharp in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/19/22

San Lorenzo fatal shooting, fleeing vehicle, probed as possible “road rage” -- The shooting occurred at the corner of Hesperian Boulevard and Lewelling Boulevard in San Lorenzo, according to a post by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/19/22

California ‘chameleon’ awaits 2016 kidnapping hoax sentence -- A Northern California mother of two faces up to eight months in jail Monday for meticulously faking her own kidnapping so she could go back to a former boyfriend, prompting an intensive three-week, multi-state search before she resurfaced on Thanksgiving Day in 2016. Don Thompson Associated Press -- 9/19/22

Environment  

Dispute erupts over homeowner’s fence sealing off public land above Newport’s Back Bay -- On one side of the fence is the private home of longtime political rainmaker Buck Johns. On the other side is the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve and a popular trail used by bicyclists, hikers and equestrians. Tony Saavedra in the Orange County Register -- 9/19/22

Education  

An island of reading for youth in the California juvenile justice system -- What began as a volunteer program for UC Berkeley students to read with and mentor youth during the school year has since flourished into a year-round collaboration with permanent staff trained to teach literacy. Betty Márquez Rosales EdSource -- 9/19/22