First California project to bury climate-warming gases wins key approval
CALMatters's ALEJANDRO LAZO: "In a major step toward California’s first effort to bury climate-warming gases underground, Kern County’s Board of Supervisors today unanimously approved a project on a sprawling oil and gas field.
The project by California Resources Corp., the state’s largest producer of oil and gas, will capture millions of tons of carbon dioxide and inject it into the ground in the western San Joaquin Valley south of Buttonwillow."
Special Episode: Health Care in CA, Panel 1 – AI in Health Care (PODCAST)
Capitol Weekly's STAFF: "This Special Episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast was recorded live at Capitol Weekly’s conference HEALTH CARE IN CALIFORNIA, which was held in Sacramento on Thursday, October 3, 2024
This is PANEL 1 – AI IN HEALTH CARE"
California crime measure Prop. 36 could increase deportations
CALMatters's WENDY FRY: "A tough-on-crime ballot measure that appears destined to pass could lead to more Californians being deported, immigrant advocates warn.
Proposition 36 would reclassify certain misdemeanor drug and theft offenses as felonies, which means immigrants convicted of those crimes are more likely to face deportation if they have a case before an immigration court, the advocates said."
‘Red-baiting’ accusations fly between congressional campaigns in competitive Orange County race
LAT's LAURA J NELSON, ANGIE ORELLANA HERNANDEZ: "The campaign fliers, written in Vietnamese, began landing in mailboxes in Little Saigon earlier this month.
One flier showed Democrat Derek Tran, who is running for Congress, smiling in front of the hammer-and-sickle emblem of the Chinese Communist Party. In another, Tran is shown next to Mao Zedong, with a caption that, translated to English, reads: “Don’t let Derek Tran take our country back to socialism.”"
Column: Here’s why the race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris looks so impossibly close
LAT's JONAH GOLDBERG: "The political analyst Samuel Lubell introduced the concept of the sun and moon parties in 1951. The sun party is the majority party, and “it is within the majority party that the issues of any particular period are fought out; while the minority party shines in reflected radiance of the heat thus generated.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Democratic Party was the sun party for two generations, until the dawn of the Reagan majority. When Bill Clinton signed welfare reform and (falsely) declared, “The era of big government is over,” he was reflecting the reality of that transformation."
Prop 36 would steer more people into drug treatment — while cutting key funding for those programs
The Chronicle's SOPHIA BOLLAG: "Damien Alatorre says he first got high when he was 9 years old, the start of a path that has led him in and out of juvenile detention and jail since he was 17. Getting caught with drugs and alcohol and getting into fights as a teenager in Madera escalated into more serious charges in recent years, including burglary. Each time, he says, he was high.
In August, he was booked in jail in connection with a commercial burglary, according to county records. He told his lawyer that instead of going to trial, he wanted to try drug court, a program in San Francisco that lets people accused of crimes go to treatment instead of jail."
Alameda County DA Pamela Price rallies against recall she says ‘weaponizes people’s grief and pain’
The Chronicle's DAVID HERNANDEZ:"Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price and about 100 supporters rallied Sunday against the recall effort against her, calling it a billionaire-funded attempt to halt much-needed criminal justice reforms.
“We are in the midst of a resistance that is more loud than massive,” Price said as she stood in front of her supporters on the steps in front of the Alameda County Superior Courthouse in Oakland. The recall campaign, she said, “weaponizes people’s grief and pain,” and seeks to silence the voice of supporters of criminal justice reform."
Former oil mogul invests $200,000 in PAC to sway voters against tax measures in Yolo County
Sac Bee's JENNAH PENDLETON: "A Woodland business owner has invested $200,000 in a PAC that is working to defeat local tax measures, including a bond for Woodland Joint Unified School District that would fund repairs and improvements for school facilities.
The Yolo County Business PAC has already spent $50,000 on web ads, mailers and text blasts opposing the school bond measure. Prior to the Woodland Joint Unified school board’s vote to place Measure P on the ballot, the PAC wrote in a letter to the district that it was prepared to spend $100,000 to defeat the measure."
How did H5N1 bird flu get introduced to California’s dairy industry?
LAT's SUSANNE RUST: "Experts say it was bound to happen: The H5N1 bird flu that ravaged dairy herds in 13 states was inevitably going to arrive in California.
But exactly how it happened is still being investigated by the state."
More patients sue Cedars-Sinai over alleged misconduct by OB-GYN
LAT's CORINNE PURTILL, EMILY ALPERT REYES: "Twenty-five more women have filed suit against a former Cedars-Sinai Medical Center obstetrician-gynecologist and the facilities where he worked, accusing Dr. Barry J. Brock of sexual abuse and medical misconduct.
The lawsuit, filed late Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleges “a generations-long history of covering up Brock’s serial sexual exploitation and abuse of female patients” at Cedars-Sinai, where Brock practiced medicine from the early 1980s until the recent termination of his hospital privileges."
Beyond Varsity Blues: In pursuit of donations, USC admitted affluent kids as walk-on athletes
LAT's HARRIET RYAN, MATT HAMILTON: "Energy and telecom mogul Sarath Ratanavadi, one of the richest men in Thailand, wanted his son to attend the University of Southern California a decade ago. The admissions officer who reviewed his file, however, termed him a “mediocre student at best” with grades at a Bangkok private school that USC equated to four Ds and two Fs.
But after Ratanavadi donated $3 million to the Trojan golf team, USC found a spot for his son. A special admissions committee for sports recruits admitted the teen as a walk-on golfer."
What are Sacramento school board candidates’ campaign priorities? Here are the top three
Sac Bee's JENNAH PENDLETON: "In the years since the dawn of COVID-19, school board elections have been called the “new battleground of American politics,” with many candidates in the 2020 and 2022 elections being mobilized by issues related to the pandemic.
The dust from the height of the pandemic has settled, but the issues either directly related to the shutdowns or that were deprioritized during the emergency state have captured national attention. Remote school-related learning loss, poor special education programming, teacher retention and student behavior continually make headlines. Conversations surrounding social issues have continued since the racial reckoning inspired by the 2020 George Floyd protests, and school campuses have proved to be prominent combat zones in the culture war dividing Americans."'
SFUSD superintendent resigns: Timeline shows events that led to school chief’s ouster
The Chronicle's JILL TUCKER: "When Matt Wayne took the top schools job in San Francisco in June 2022, he inherited a district in turmoil and was tasked with overcoming a massive budget deficit, a recent school board recall and a monumental payroll fiasco.
As months and then years passed, the fiscal crisis deepened, with the state ramping up oversight with fiscal advisers who have veto control over spending. The school board president resigned, citing deep dysfunction in Wayne’s administration. And the payroll fiasco continued, with a new list of missteps and administrative bundles, including the rollout of school closures.
Bay Area weather expected to stay mild with chilly mornings ahead
The Chronicle's GREG PORTER: "Some extra layers might be needed on Tuesday morning with a cool start to the day. Overnight lows dropped into the upper 40s and low 50s across the region for the second straight day, and Wednesday morning’s lows may end up being even cooler.
A slightly cooler and more moist air mass settled in after a weak cold front passed through the region on Monday. That will set up some tranquil weather for the Bay Area on Tuesday, matching a trend of quiet weather that stretches across much of the country this week."
Listeria recalls of frozen waffles and more products affect Costco, Target and Trader Joe’s
The Chronicle's AIDIN VAZIRI: "A growing number of nationwide listeria outbreaks have expanded to include frozen waffles, alongside previously recalled deli meats and ready-to-eat poultry products.
Last week, TreeHouse Foods initiated a voluntary recall of numerous frozen waffle products sold at major retailers including Target and Walmart, due to potential listeria contamination discovered during routine plant inspections."
600 applicants for 68 apartments: Tahoe’s largest affordable housing development welcomes residents
The Chronicle's JK DINEEN: "For more than two decades South Lake Tahoe native Wendy Warswick has answered phones at one of the town’s four major local casinos. She has handled reservations and helped management with a wide array of paperwork and reports.
Meanwhile she watched South Lake Tahoe transform from a bustling town where local workers could afford a home and raise their kids to an increasingly upscale mountain resort where Bay Area professionals competed for vacation spots."
