Lawmakers accused of sexual harassment may not be able to use campaign funds to defend themselves
LA Times' PATRICK MCGREEVY: "Four state lawmakers who face sexual harassment allegations have $2 million in surplus campaign funds, but experts believe they might not be able to tap the money to defend themselves against ongoing investigations."
"State law allows elected officials to accept political contributions into legal defense funds to defray the cost of defending themselves against criminal, civil or administrative probes involving their actions as public officials."
"The Legislature has hired outside attorneys to investigate claims of sexual misconduct against Assemblyman Matt Dababneh (D-Woodland Hills), Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia) and recently resigned Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima). There also is an inquiry into allegations from a former lawmaker of unwanted hugging from Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Los Angeles). None of them has yet filed papers to create a legal defense fund."
Sexual harassment victims want assurances Capitol investigations will be independent
Sacramento Bee's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "Pamela Lopez says she’s ready to participate in an Assembly investigation, but she wants assurances that the process will be “neutral and independent of the forces of politics."
"The Sacramento lobbyist, who recently allegedthat Assemblyman Matt Dababneh pushed her into a hotel bathroom in Las Vegas last year and masturbated in front of her, sent a list of questions to the Assembly Rules Committee earlier this month, seeking details on how the investigation would be conducted. A waffling answer about whether the Assembly would waive attorney-client privilege with the outside law firm hired to conduct the investigation, according to Lopez’s lawyer, was not satisfactory."
"This is a test of whether they’re really going to be fair,” said Jean Hyams, who is representing Lopez. “They could agree that they’re not going to use attorney-client privilege as a shield with the investigator."
READ MORE on sexual misconduct and transparency, from Dec. 19: Secrecy looms over sexual harassment claims -- SOPHIA BOLLAG in Capitol Weekly
Work on the Thomas fire doesn't stop for Christmas
LA Times' MATT HAMILTON: "As the sun rose Monday morning, Pedro Barba had to settle for imagining what his family was doing without him."
"In their Riverside home, Barba’s wife would be fixing hot cocoa and pan dulce for their two children. The three would be readying to open their gifts."
"A hundred miles away, the hotshot firefighter was gearing up for another day attacking the Thomas fire, California’s largest wildfire on record. He was one of 1,500 firefighters and crew members working around the clock even on Christmas Day to douse hot spots, maintain containment lines and mop up parts of the more than 280,000 acres charred by the massive blaze."
Defying Trump again, Jerry Brown pardons immigrants about to be deported
Sacramento Bee's CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO/ANITA CHABRIA: "Escalating the state’s showdown with the Trump administration over illegal immigration, California Gov. Jerry Brown used a Christmas holiday tradition to grant pardons Saturday to two men who were on the verge of being deported for committing crimes while in the U.S."
"Brown, pairing his state’s combative approach to federal immigration authorities with his belief in the power of redemption, characterized the pardons as acts of mercy."
"The Democratic governor moved as federal officials in recent months have detained and deported immigrants with felony convictions that resulted in the loss of their legal residency status, including many with nonviolent offenses that occurred years ago."
Dark depictions of a sunny state
NYT's ADAM NAGOURNEY: "The fires that ripped across California have produced a round of commentary about the perils that come with living in this state. It is nothing new. California has inspired a whole genre of literature and film over the years: dark and apocalyptic, with a disaster lurking behind every stunning sunset illuminating those late-afternoon winter surfers on the Pacific."
"Wildfires are the price Angelenos pay to live in a city that straddles mountains, builds housing into hillsides, and threads communities through brush-filled canyons,” The Atlantic wrote this month. “We pick this poison, in place of living with tornadoes or hurricanes or winter storms where ice falls from the sky and blankets whole regions."
"Over the decades, California — in films and books — has been pummeled by earthquakes, tidal waves and fires. It has been invaded by aliens. Film noir has flourished, particularly in Los Angeles, a city that seems perfect for setting dark, creepy and pessimistic films."
LA psychologist claims to have left manure outside Steve Mnuchin's home
LA Times' EMILY ALPERT REYES: "A Los Angeles psychologist claims to have left the festively wrapped box of manure outside the Bel-Air home of U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin that spurred a Secret Service investigation, billing it as a political protest against the recently passed tax bill."
"Robert Strong, a Kentucky native now living in L.A., appears to have enthusiastically documented the act on Twitter and Facebook, posting photos of himself with a shovel and a Santa-spangled box full of manure and describing it as a “Secret Santa project."
"One of his Facebook posts shows an envelope labeled “To Stevie” and a card from “The American People” inscribed, “We’re returning the ‘gift’ of the Christmas tax bill. It’s [expletive]."
Tiny housing units sprout in the Bay Area
The Chronicle's KEVIN FAGAN: "Nearly two years after a smattering of tiny homes popped up in the Bay Area as a peculiar new way of housing homeless people, the technique is exploding from one end of the region to the other."
"Nearly 1,000 tiny homes or their close cousins — stackable modular housing units, typically with less than 200 square feet of living space — are being planned in San Francisco, San Jose, Richmond, Berkeley, Oakland and Santa Rosa."
"Planners say that’s just the beginning. “We’re very excited about micro-homes,” said Lavonna Martin, director of Contra Costa County’s homeless programs. “They could be a big help. They have a lot of promise, and our county is happy to be on the cutting edge of this one. We’re ready."
LA and its trash haulers are quarreling over customer bills in the city's new recycling program
LA Times' DAVID ZAHNISER: "The honeymoon could soon be over between Los Angeles and the trash companies picked to carry out the city’s huge new recycling program."
"Over the last three months, the city’s Bureau of Sanitation and the refuse haulers have been at odds over the hefty new fees showing up on customers’ bills — including one being charged when trash truck drivers use a remote control to open a gate."
"The haulers have accused city officials of disregarding the terms of contracts approved more than a year ago for trash service. Sanitation officials, in turn, say they recently identified more than 300 bills with incorrect fees, roughly 1 out of every 5 surveyed."
Too drunk to drive? New California law could give you a free ride
Sacramento Bee's DANIEL WILSON: "It’s an all-too-familiar scene in Sacramento. A group of friends heads to midtown for a night of partying and drinking, but one friend has to miss out on the fun and stay sober to be the designated driver."
"A new law that takes effect Jan. 1 may not only let everyone join in on the fun, but it’ll also mean more money for the bubbly."
"Under Assembly Bill 711, alcohol manufacturers and licensed sellers can offer free or discounted rides to transport drinkers home safely through ride-sharing services, taxicabs or other ride providers."
READ MORE related to Transportation: Look out, pedestrians, Sacramento streetcars could hit 35mph -- Sacramento Bee's TONY BIZJAK
Trump claims he's boosting U.S. influence, but many foreign leaders see America in retreat
LA Times' TRACY WILKINSON/ALEXANDRA ZAVIS/SHASHANK BENGALI: "China has now assumed the mantle of fighting climate change, a global crusade that the United States once led. Russia has taken over Syrian peace talks, also once the purview of the American administration, whose officials Moscow recently deigned to invite to negotiations only as observers."
"France and Germany are often now the countries that fellow members of NATO look to, after President Trump wavered on how supportive his administration would be toward the North Atlantic alliance."
"And in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the U.S., once the only mediator all sides would accept, has found itself isolated after Trump’s decision to declare that the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel."
Issuance of global Magnitsky Executive Order; global Magnitsky designations
US Department of Treasury: "The President has issued a new Executive Order on December 20, 2017 Blocking the Property of Persons Involved in Serious Human Rights Abuses and Corruption. OFAC is concurrently releasing new FAQs related to this Executive Order and the office is publishing the following designations."
How a painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware on Christmas went 19th-century viral
WaPo's GILLIAN BROCKELL: "When the painting “Washington Crossing the Delaware” was first revealed to the public in the early 1850s, it was a smash hit. It toured major cities, drawing crowds and gold medals. A poet wrote an ode to it. The artist quickly painted a second version, to be shipped off and exhibited abroad."
"It isn’t hard to see why art historian Barbara Groseclose calls it “the very emblem of patriotism for Americans.” The enormous canvas depicts perhaps the most crucial moment in the War of Independence, Gen. George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River on Christmas night in 1776. After months of embarrassing failures, Washington ordered thousands of troops to stealthily cross the icy waters under cover of darkness. The next morning, in Trenton, N.J., their surprise attack on the Hessians (German mercenaries fighting for the British) provided a much-needed morale boost."
"In the painting, Washington stands proudly in a boat, seemingly certain of America’s destiny."
Why California's most productive salmon hatchery is millions of fish short
Sacramento Bee's RYAN SABALOW: "California’s most productive salmon hatchery has 6 million fewer fish this year, another sign the state’s drought woes linger despite last winter’s record rainfall."
"The federal Coleman National Fish Hatchery tries to produce about 12 million fall-run Chinook salmon for release each spring into Battle Creek, a Sacramento River tributary south of Redding. This spring, the Coleman hatchery will only have half as many young salmon to release."
"The reason harkens back to the abysmal river conditions in the heart of California’s historic five-year drought – and the choices fishery managers made those years to move the baby Chinook by tanker truck out to sea in a frantic effort to save the commercially important fish."
Democrats leave few seats unchallenged in quest for House control
NYT's RACHEL SHOREY/LILIA CHANG: "Representative Pete Sessions, a veteran Republican, was re-elected to his affluent Dallas-area House seat in 2016 with 71 percent of the vote, the remaining 29 percent split between the Libertarian and Green Party candidates."
"Hillary Clinton won the district by three percentage points, but no Democratic candidate even showed up to ride her coattails."
"In 2018, there will be 10."
New York's AG in battle with Trump
NYT's DANNY HAKIM/WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM: "Eric Schneiderman, New York’s attorney general, reached a milestone of sorts recently."
"By moving to sue the Federal Communications Commission over net neutrality this month, his office took its 100th legal or administrative action against the Trump administration and congressional Republicans. His lawyers have challenged Mr. Trump’s first, second and third travel bans and sued over such diverse matters as a rollback in birth control coverage and a weakening of pollution standards. They have also unleashed a flurry of amicus briefs and formal letters, often with other Democratic attorneys general, assailing legislation they see as gutting consumer finance protections or civil rights."
"We try and protect New Yorkers from those who would do them harm,” Mr. Schneiderman said during a recent interview in his Manhattan office. “The biggest threat to New Yorkers right now is the federal government, so we’re responding to it."
Hispennials? Hispanic+Millennials called the future of home buying
Daily News' MARGOT ROOSEVELT: "Angelica Higuera, 33, is a public school teacher who, on weekends, cleaned houses and scrubbed toilets to earn extra money."
"Jose Higuera, 35, is a scrap metal hauler who worked 14-hour days so he could eventually buy six trucks."
"That’s how the Higuera family finally landed their dream home: a two-story dwelling surrounded by rose bushes on a Yorba Linda cul-de-sac that cost $785,000."
Obama's post-presidential life: what does his second act have in store?
The Guardian's TOM MCCARTHY: "There’s the library. There’s the memoir. There might be a foundation. Maybe some paid speeches. Perhaps a new hobby, like oil painting. Maybe, in the case of George HW Bush, accusations of groping by eight women."
"The life of a former president has a few set pieces, but still plenty of room for surprise. John Quincy Adams was elected to Congress. “There is nothing more pathetic in life than a former president,” he is said to have concluded."
"But what about our most newly minted “former”? In his first year as an ex-president, is Barack Obama headed the way of Jimmy Carter and a career of distinguished service, or the way of the Bushes and firm retirement?"
All they want for Christmas is a limit on solitary confinement
The Nation's VICTORIA LAW: "After being accused of cursing at a corrections officer, Jessica Concepcion, seven months pregnant, spent the Christmas of 2006 in solitary confinement at Bedford Hills, New York’s maximum-security prison for women. Confined to her a cell for 23 consecutive hours, she had no opportunity for any human interaction, let alone a chance to wish her family a merry Christmas. “It was torture,” she told me. “All you have is those walls to talk to. You don’t have nothing else but those walls."
"In prisons across the US, it’s estimated that between 80,000 and 100,000 people are held in isolation at any given moment. The exact number is hard to pin down because solitary goes by various names. In New York, there’s the SHU (Special Housing Unit), which is a set of dedicated cellblocks that holds more than 2,700 people—or about 5 percent of the state’s 51,000 prisoners. Then there’s “keeplock,” in which people are confined to their own cells. Official data has not been released, but the Correctional Association of New York, a prison monitoring organization, estimates that another 1,000 people are in keeplock, bringing the percentage of New York state prisoners in isolation to 7.4 percent. Whether in SHU or keeplock, prisoners are allowed out of their cells for just one hour each day—to shower or exercise alone in an outdoor cage. Their only human contact is when officers handcuff them before removing them from their cells."
"On Friday, December 22, Concepcion and her wife Xena Grandichelli, who has also spent time in solitary, joined over a dozen advocates outside Governor Andrew Cuomo’s midtown office to sing Christmas carols. But they weren’t simply spreading holiday cheer; they were urging him to pass the Humane Alternatives to Long Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act, which would limit time in isolation to 15 consecutive days and create alternatives for those who need longer periods of separation."
Sheriff's Department sting operation targets holiday-season porch thieves
Sacramento Bee's ANGELA HART: "The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department is baiting package thefts, even as the holiday season winds down."
"At least two people were arrested this month on theft-related charges, after deputies caught them taking decoy packages from homes in North Sacramento."
"Jason Dobre, 32, of Sacramento, was arrested Wednesday as part of the sting operation. Charles Demar, 22, of North Highlands, was arrested Dec. 11."
READ MORE related to Public Safety: CHP officer killed as patrol car hit by drunk driver -- AP's SUDHIN THANAWALA; LAPD officers deliver a Christmas baby at downtown apartment building -- City News Service
Thousands once spoke his language in the Amazon. Now he's the only one.
NYT's NICHOLAS CASEY: "Amadeo García García rushed upriver in his canoe, slipping into the hidden, booby-trapped camp where his brother Juan lay dying."
"Juan writhed in pain and shook uncontrollably as his fever rose, battling malaria. As Amadeo consoled him, the sick man muttered back in words that no one else on Earth still understood."
"Je’intavea’, he said that sweltering day in 1999. I am so ill."
READ MORE related to International: France is our country of the year -- The Economist; Thousands protest pardoning of Peru's former president -- AP's FRANKLIN BRICENO; Egypt wants World Bank to help on Ethiopia dam impasse -- AP's ELIAS MESERET; Israeli court extends detention of Palestinian teen icon -- AP; In Myanmar, hatred for Rohingya Muslims runs so deep that a diplomat called them 'ugly as ogres' -- and got promoted -- LA Times' SHASHANK BENGALI
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The Roundup is compiled by Associate Editor Geoff Howard. Questions? Comments? Feedback? Email him at geoff@capitolweekly.net
