Oysters in peril as warming climate alters the water in their habitats
The Chronicle's PETER FIMRITE: "Human-caused climate change is increasingly harming oysters in Tomales and San Francisco bays and could soon devastate shellfish across California, as the chemistry of the water in estuaries morphs and livable habitat shrinks, a UC Davis study has found."
"Even moderate changes in water temperature, acidity and dissolved oxygen make it harder for native and commercial oysters to grow their calcium-based shells, a situation that does not bode well for the future, concluded the paper published this week in the journal Limnology and Oceanography."
"It means the severe climatic changes predicted as the Earth warms over the next few decades could dramatically shrink the habitat for both farmed oysters and the native species that scientists have been trying desperately to restore, said Ted Grosholz, a professor of environmental science who led the study with funding from a California Sea Grant."
READ MORE related to Energy & Environment: A clean energy breakthrough could be buried deep beneath rural Utah -- LA Times's SAMMY ROTH; To rein in global warming, healthy forests and sustainable diets are key, UN says -- LA Times's JULIA ROSEN/ANNA M PHILLIPS
How many more did Manson family kill? LAPD investigating 12 unsolved murders
LA Times's RICHARD WINTON: "The Manson murders mostly are remembered as two events that occurred 50 years ago this month: the killing of actress Sharon Tate and four others in Benedict Canyon and then the butchering of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in Los Feliz."
"But cold-case investigators and others long have believed that Charles Manson and his cult followers were responsible for many more deaths."
"The Los Angeles Police Department officially has a dozen unsolved homicide cases linked to Manson. And there are additional slayings outside the jurisdiction that some believe to be the work of his “family.” Some of those ties seem more plausible than others, but all have been extensively examined and theorized — as are all things involving Manson."
Newsom steers $331M to renters, homeowners after court says state misused funds
Sacramento Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG: "After California’s top court determined the state misspent $331 million intended to help homeowners, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a plan Wednesday to channel the money through nonprofit organizations to help homeowners and renters navigate housing issues."
"State lawmakers will need to approve the plan to spend the money California secured from banks in 2012 through a lawsuit over unfair mortgage practices. Newsom’s blueprint would dole out the money to housing-related nonprofits to help Californians avoid evictions and foreclosures."
"Overall, California received roughly $20 billion from Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Ally Financial in the 2012 national mortgage settlement. Much of that money went directly to homeowners."
Newsom grants pardon to Susan Burton, who assists women returning to society after prison
LA Times's MAURA DOLAN: "Gov. Gavin Newsom granted pardons Wednesday night to seven people, including Susan H. Burton, a former inmate who now helps other women transition from prison to society."
"By granting these pardons to people who are transforming their lives, the governor is seeking to remove barriers to employment and public service, restore civic rights and responsibilities and prevent unjust collateral consequences of conviction,” Newsom’s office said in a statement."
"Burton was raised in housing projects in East Los Angeles and was sexually assaulted several times. In 1982, her 5-year-old son was accidentally hit and killed by an off-duty LAPD officer. She turned to crack cocaine and was in and out of prison until she finally found sobriety in a program in Santa Monica."
Developer, business interests crowd Trump housing council
SCOTT SORIANO in Capitol Weekly: "A new presidential panel aimed at easing the affordable housing crisis is top heavy with business and developer interests, and does little to get at the roots of the problem."
"President Trump’s executive order created the “White House Council on Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing” in June. The council, chaired by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, is comprised of Trump cabinet officials."
"Trump ordered the council to identify “federal, state, local and tribal laws, regulations and administrative practices that artificially raise the costs of housing development and contribute to shortages in housing supply."
Scandal-plagued Rep. Hunter faces another GOP challenger in Carl DeMaio
The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH: "GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter is still in Congress, but a growing number of San Diego Republicans are betting that the scandal-plagued politician won’t be there for long."
"Carl DeMaio, a former San Diego councilman and current conservative radio talk show host, has become the fifth Republican to challenge Hunter in the 2020 primary, painting himself as an alternative to “ineffective career politicians."
"Too many Californians are fleeing our state because of the extreme socialist agenda being imposed on us by Democrat politicians, but I refuse to flee: I choose to stand and fight,” he said in a statement on his campaign website."
Lawsuit says California failed to make Amazon pay enough taxes, hurt in-state businesses
Sacramento Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG/ADAM ASHTON: "A Fresno business owner is suing the state’s sales tax department arguing it gave Amazon an unfair advantage over California businesses by failing to collect adequate taxes from the online retail giant."
"Stan Grosz, president of Fresno-based camera shop Horn Photo, filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court arguing the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration failed to carry out its duties by not compelling Amazon to collect tax on sales made through its platform by other vendors for the last three to eight years."
"Grosz argues businesses like his have been harmed by the department’s failure and that Amazon should be forced to pay billions of dollars in back taxes."
Divorced dad gathers signatures to limit alimony payments in California
Sacramento Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "A Southern California businessman is renewing a campaign to give voters a say over the state’s divorce and spousal support laws."
"An initiative proposed by Steve Clark of Huntington Beach would restrict judges from ordering someone to pay more than five years of alimony to his or her divorced spouse."
"He must collect signatures from 623,212 registered voters by Feb. 3, 2020 to qualify the initiative for the ballot that year, according to an announcement from Secretary of State Alex Padilla."
Bulletproof backpacks? Deadly shootings have parents adding back-to-school list
Sacramento Bee's DARRELL SMITH: "It’s a grim back-to-school accessory for our anxious times: bulletproof backpacks."
"The backpacks are one more element of the debate over the accessibility of assault weapons as the nation reels from the mass shootings in Gilroy, Texas and Ohio."
"No parent should ever have to contemplate buying their child a bulletproof backpack to keep them safe at school,” presidential candidate and former state attorney general Sen. Kamala Harristweeted in June."
Feds launch initiative to crack down on drug dealing in SF's Tenderloin
The Chronicle's EVAN SERNOFFSKY: "San Francisco’s newly appointed top federal prosecutor announced a sweeping initiative Wednesday to arrest and charge dope peddlers in the city’s notoriously drug-plagued Tenderloin neighborhood."
"U.S. Attorney David Anderson unveiled the effort as federal authorities were making arrests following federal charges against 32 defendants — mostly Honduran nationals — who were accused in a complex Bay Area drug trafficking operation that allegedly extended from the southern U.S. border to Seattle."
"The Tenderloin has become a magnet for retail drug trafficking to an extraordinary degree,” Anderson said at a news conference. “It is my belief that those people living, working and visiting the Tenderloin neighborhood should not be required to run a gantlet of crime.”
Homelessness advocates lose their own home as market forces hit them
The Chronicle's STEVE RUBENSTEIN: "Homelessness, which is everywhere in San Francisco, has come to the doorstep of the people who fight it."
"The Coalition on Homelessness, which has been battling for the rights of homeless people for three decades, has lost its home just as surely as the folks living in tents on the Turk Street sidewalk outside the coalition’s front door."
“This is the world we’re living in now,” executive director Jennifer Friedenbach said with a sigh."
'Pure hate' drove attacker who killed 4 in Orange County, but motive still unclear, police say
LA Times's HANNAH FRY/LOUIS SAHAGUN: "Investigators are trying to determine what led a man to embark on a deadly rampage across two Orange County cities on Wednesday, fatally stabbing four people and wounding two others."
"The spate of violence is one of the worst Orange County has experienced in recent years."
"I’ve been a police officer for 30 years, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen a suspect kill four people and stab others,” Garden Grove Police Lt. Carl Whitney said. “It’s pure evil.”
Attorney cites Trump's 'rhetoric' in national anthem attack on Montana teenager
AP: "The attorney for a Montana man accused of throwing a 13-year-old boy to the ground at a rodeo because the teenager didn’t remove his hat during the national anthem says his client believes he was acting on an order from President Trump."
"Attorney Lance Jasper told the Missoulian newspaper that the president’s “rhetoric” contributed to 39-year-old Curt Brockway’s disposition when he grabbed the boy by the throat and slammed him to the ground, fracturing his skull at the Mineral County Fairgrounds on Saturday."
"Jasper said Brockway is an Army veteran who believes he was acting on an order by his commander in chief. He adds that Brockway’s decision-making has been affected by a brain injury he suffered in a vehicle crash."
