California

Push to Ban Off-Shore Oil Drilling in California

October 7, 2021 by Source

Times of San Diego

Democratic members of Congress from California seized on the oil spill off the state’s coast to promote federal legislation to ban all offshore oil drilling, as investigators searched for what caused the pipeline to burst.

About 144,000 gallons of crude oil spilled into the Pacific Ocean, killing wildlife, soiling the coastline and forcing officials to close beaches in several cities in Orange County. There are 23 rigs operating off California’s coast,

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‘Let’s Halt Centralized Zoning and Land-use Directives Coming Out of Sacramento’

September 23, 2021 by Source

A Response to U-T Opinion: “California housing crisis finally gets bold response it needed. Thanks to Newsom, Atkins.”

By Danna Givot

The September 17 UT Editorial Board thank you to Newsom and Atkins is shallow and uninformed. Foremost, it fails to recognize that California has an affordable housing crisis, not an overall housing crisis. The real gaps in California housing are at the lowest end. The free market is providing sufficient housing for higher income households.

The editorial failed to recognize that there are no provisions in either SB9 or SB10 for the production of any “affordable” housing. It is fair to assume that the market will do what it does without government incentives – produce more market-rate housing, which will not meet the needs

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2 Days After Smashing Recall Effort, Newsom Signs Controversial Housing Bill SB9

September 17, 2021 by Frank Gormlie

Two days after literally smashing the recall effort with 64% of the vote, Governor Gavin Newsom signed one of the most controversial housing bills on his desk. Newsom signed Senate Bill 9 by Senate leader Toni Atkins, formerly of San Diego, on Thursday.

Newsom said, “The housing affordability crisis is undermining the California Dream for families across the state, and threatens our long-term growth and prosperity.”

No one would argue with that statement, although SB 9 doesn’t create affordable housing. In fact, 241 cities came out against SB 9. In a letter from the League of California Cities, 241 cities asked Newsom not to sign the measure.

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1960 Winter Olympics Site Changes Racist, Sexist Name

September 15, 2021 by Frank Gormlie

Once in a while, a news story about a change comes along that resonates, and here is one that does. I personally have been championing this specific change for some 20 years now. And it has finally happened.

The site of the 1960 Winter Olympics near Lake Tahoe is having its name changed. Its owners have decided that the old name that rhythms with “fall” is offensive to Indigenous women. The new name is Palisades Tahoe. Historically, it’s also been called Olympic Valley.

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The Big Wave Trumps the Big Lie

September 15, 2021 by Source

By Colleen O’Connor

What a night. The results were in, way faster and better than Democrats could have imagined, while the somewhat stunned newscasters stumbled to keep up the non-existent suspense.

It was all over except the shouting and cheering and booing and lying, in less than an hour.

True, mail-in ballots were counted first; same day and late arrivals are still to come, but nothing will overtake the huge win for Democrats and the “fire bell” in the night for Republicans.

It was all caps at The San Diego U-T:

NEWSOM SURVIVES RECALL ATTEMPT

The lede at the Los Angeles Times:

NEWSOM PREVAILS – Californians overwhelmingly reject Republican-led recall effort

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California Community Colleges a Step Closer to Offering More Baccalaureates

September 14, 2021 by Staff

California lawmakers have passed a bill to expand and make permanent a program that allows a select group of community colleges to offer baccalaureates in specific programs. The measure now heads to the governor.

Currently, 15 community colleges in the state offer bachelor’s degrees in workforce fields with high demand and unmet needs. However, the pilot program is set to expire in 2026. Assembly Bill 927 would make the program permanent and allow up to 30 community colleges to offer similar bachelor’s degree programs.

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Despite Favorable Polls, Democracy Is Still on the California Recall Ballot

September 10, 2021 by Frank Gormlie

Despite recent favorable polls for Governor Newsom, democracy itself is still on the California recall ballot. This is not hyperbole. The very concept of “democracy” is up for grabs.

If Newsom is knocked out in this $276 million process, then the highest candidate could be elected governor with as few as 25% of the vote. This is plainly not democratic. Newsom was originally elected with 62% of the vote in 2018. So, for the “system” to allow a new chief executive for the state with such low support is undemocratic, un-American and not acceptable.

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UPDATE: Gavin Newsom Retained As Governor

September 8, 2021 by Source

From Ballotpedia updated: September 8, 2021

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) was retained in a recall election on September 14, 2021. Based on unofficial results with all precincts partially reporting, 63.9% of voters voted to retain Newsom and 36.1% voted to recall. To see the results of the replacement candidate question, click here. Results will be certified by October 22.[1]

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Non-Newsom Recall Effort: A Democratic Tsunami that Swamps the GOP?

September 7, 2021 by Source

By Colleen O’Connor

It could happen. It might happen. Odds are increasing that it will happen.

What began as a Republican “double down” big bet is looking like a “big wave” wipeout.

The Republicans’ strategy of recalling Governor Newsom (amid COVID, fires, homelessness, drought, and MAGA-Trumpian grievances among voters), seemed clever. Even at a cost of taxpayers of $276 million.

The reasoning was sound. It was a gamble with a back-up plan. Even if the recall campaign failed to oust Newsom, the attack ads would be ugly enough to weaken him for a possible defeat in his 2022 re-election fight.

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San Diego Group, ‘Save Our Heritage’, Opposes SB 10

August 30, 2021 by Staff

The San Diego group, Save Our Heritage Organization (SOHO) is asking San Diegans to contact our State Senators immediately to oppose Senate Bill 10 (SB 10). One problem, of course, is that one of our state senators, Toni Atkins, is a co-sponsor of the bill.

SOHO is extremely concerned that Senator Weiner, the bill’s author, refused to provide any protections for historic resources under this bill. The group stated:

This Planning and zoning: housing development bill is now on its way to the Senate to approve Assembly revisions. If approved, it then goes directly to Governor Newsom for his approval. There are no protections for historic resources in this bill

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Senate Bill 10 Misleads Public in Effort to End Single-Family Zoning in California

August 25, 2021 by Source

by Danna Givot / Times of San Diego / August 23, 2021

From San Diego to Mt. Shasta, homeowners and their representatives are speaking out against the state legislature’s ill-conceived effort to eliminate single-family zoning. I’m adding my voice to that tidal wave of opposition because I’m convinced that Senate Bill 10 also presents an ethical and probably indefensible legal problem for our elected officials.

I’ve read the fine print in SB 10, and there’s no doubt that the proposed law allows the construction of ten housing units on a single-family lot, plus four additional “Accessory Dwelling Units” (also known as ADUs or “granny flats”). That’s a total of 14 housing units, on one parcel, in a single-family neighborhood like mine.

Those are the facts, even though the author of SB 10 tried to minimize the negative impact of his proposal by not counting the four additional structures as “housing units.” Why the sleight of hand?

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The Delta Variant Meets ‘Open Schools Now’

August 23, 2021 by Source

By Thomas Ultican / Tultican

It is not possible for schools in most states to open safely. Well respected Dr Jorge A Caballero wrote in the Guardian, “school reopening plans that hinge on universal mask mandates and frequent testing are doomed to fail.” At this perilous time, there is also a political movement demanding that schools be fully opened. Because the delta variant is so much more transmissible, only mandated vaccination and masking will make it possible for schools to safely operate.

This weekend the President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Randi Weingarten, accepted reality and in a Meet the Press interview called for mandatory vaccination of teachers. The leadership at the National Education Association (NEA) also reversed their opposition on Thursday (8/12/2021) and joined with AFT’s call for vaccine mandates.

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OB ‘Off the Rails’ Anti-Vaxxer Made Fun of By Stephen Colbert

August 20, 2021 by Source

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Democrats Missed the Ball on the Newsom Recall

August 17, 2021 by Judi Curry

The Widder Says “a Mistake Is Being Done”

By Judi Curry

There is so much unrest going on in the world today – Afghanistan, Haiti, climate, refugee’s, fires, drought. The one I would like to focus on for a moment is the Recall of Governor Newsom.

Today I received a door hanging that was hard to miss: Shaped like a stop sign; white lettering on a red background, and the words “VOTE NO!” in yellow on one side; on the other side was more of the same in Spanish as well as English. For some reason the whole thing really bothered me.

First of all I want to say that I support the Governor. I think that he did a fantastic job during the first Covid pandemic, and has continued to do a great job in masking, closing indoor facilities, etc.

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Send in the Sea Otters to Help Save California’s North Coast

August 10, 2021 by Source

By David Helvarg / Los Angeles Times / August 8, 2021

Kelp forests are a crucial California marine ecosystem. From kelp’s floating canopies to its “holdfast” roots, the giant seaweed — algae, actually — supports greater biodiversity and sequesters more carbon than a redwood grove, while also protecting our coastline from the full force of Pacific storms. Kelp forests shelter fin fish, shellfish, whales, seals, octopuses and sharks — more than 1,000 animal and plant species in all.

Unfortunately, since 2013 the state’s kelp beds have been in an unprecedented state of collapse. From San Diego to Monterey the losses are patchy, but north of the Golden Gate

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Dyslexia Industry Scores California Court Victory

August 10, 2021 by Source

By Thomas Ultican / Tultican

In a court settlement, Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) agreed to implement inappropriate dyslexia remedies. The Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) claimed the district failed to identify students with reading disorders, including dyslexia, and did not provide them adequate services.

To end the litigation begun in 2016, district leaders agreed to implement a universal screening program for reading disorders and adopt new reading intervention programs. BUSD also agreed to hire a nationally recognized outside consultants.

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Uber and Lyft Drivers Stage Strike Over Pay and Conditions

July 22, 2021 by Source

People looking to use ride-hailing services such as Lyft and Uber may have had some difficulty on Wednesday, July 21, as many drivers conducted a one-day strike for better pay and status under the law.

Rideshare Drivers United — an independent association of U.S. rideshare drivers founded in Los Angeles — organized the strikes in a number of cities across the United States, including San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, Boston, Cleveland, Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, Denver, and Baltimore.

The group had a rally at San Diego’s Lyft driver center at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

They say the companies have:

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Sacramento Democrats Complicit in School Privatization Agenda

July 12, 2021 by Source

By Thomas ltican / Tultican

Two pieces of legislation are racing through California’s state legislature both advancing the school privatization agenda. A third piece designed to protect taxpayers from the ravenous charter industry has been squashed. Public schools and sound pedagogy are being harmed by a radical market based ideology. Democrats continue their complicity in this conservative agenda.

The Charter School Give Away

A few weeks ago, Oakland school board Trustee Mike Hutchinson raised alarm bells about Governor Newsom’s education budget trailer bill.

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California’s Inmate Firefighters Still Denied Visitors, Unlike Prisons

July 9, 2021 by Source

by Jill Castellano / inewsource / July 1, 2021

Hundreds of California inmates will charge to the front lines of rapidly spreading wildfires this summer, risking injury and death in exchange for shorter sentences and a few dollars a day.

When the flames recede, they will return to their living quarters at one of 35 low security camps, where picnic tables and barbecues once bustled with families — a perk that higher security prisons don’t allow.

Now, the inmates have the grounds to themselves.

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Input Meeting for County Redistricting – Sat., July 10

July 8, 2021 by Source

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California ‘Exodus’ a Myth, UCSD Study Finds

July 8, 2021 by Source

By Deborah Sullivan Brennan / San Diego Union-Tribune / July 7, 2021

The exodus of Californians forecast in recent news headlines isn’t likely to happen soon, UC San Diego researchers reported in a survey released Wednesday.

The UC San Diego survey queried more than 3,000 Californians, including 295 who completed the questions in Spanish. It found that nearly two-thirds of residents still believe in the “California Dream” of opportunity and prosperity.

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California Needs More Housing, But Local Voters Must Still Have a Say

May 24, 2021 by Source

By Carolyn Coleman / Times of San Diego / May 17, 2021

Like so many essential workers, city employees and elected officials have been in overdrive for the past year, trying to save and support our communities from the ravaging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic recession.

California’s cities spent billions addressing the public health crisis, maintaining essential services like public safety, sanitation and transit that our citizens cannot live without, and supporting small businesses to help them survive.

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About Time Newsom: ‘California Is Too Damn Dirty’ and So Is San Diego!

May 17, 2021 by Source

By Colleen O’Connor

This is not news to anyone who lives, works, drives, or opens their eyes.

Not just San Francisco, L.A. or Sacramento are “too damn dirty,” (as the Governor said) so, too is San Diego.

And so, too, is almost every California freeway. What used to be hidden in bushes and under bridges has now overflowed to city streets and neighborhoods. Downtown San Diego is something of a petri dish. Frankly, it is filthy. As are the city’s beaches, parks, bus stops and any place where the local volunteers are not cleaning up

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Testing Industry Scores Big in California

May 17, 2021 by Source

By Thomas Ultican / Tultican / May13,2021

At 1:45 PM Wednesday, May 12, the California State Board of Education (SBE) adopted a “student growth model” to evaluate student learning. It is a method fans of standardized test based accountability have been trumpeting. The big winner here is the testing giant Education Testing Services (ETS) who created the model to be used.

Board member Sue Burr who was appointed to the board by then Governor Jerry Brown made the motion for using the growth model. She carefully presented her motion directly from the state’s California Department of Education (CDE) staff report which recommended:

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Update on California’s 2 Remaining Nukes

April 1, 2021 by Michael Steinberg

Nuclear Shutdown News April 2021

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of nuclear power in the US and beyond, and highlights the efforts of those working for a nuclear free future.

Since I began writing Nuclear Shutdown News in 2014, I’ve learned that the No Nukes Movement resembles a woe-begone tale with more twists and turns than anyone would care to imagine.

The now outdated nuclear power technology began as the Atoms for Peace program following the mass nuclear destruction of multitudes of humans at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Now nuke power freaks don’t seem to know how to give up the ghost.

Perhaps nothing illustrates this better- or worse– than the current situation with California’s two remaining nukes, both overshadowed by the legacy of multiple meltdowns at Fukushima 10 years ago

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Are We About to Have a Fourth COVID Surge as Some States and European Countries Have Spikes?

March 30, 2021 by Staff

Yesterday, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) pleaded with Americans to not give up on using the measures we’re employed this last year to staunch the spread of COVID-19, and warned of a the possible coming of a Fourth Surge.

In an emotional address to the country, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, issued a dire warning of a sense of “impending doom” as coronavirus infections and hospitalizations tick up. Walensky said there are “continuing concerning trends” in the nation’s response to the pandemic, as the numbers of infections, hospitalizations and deaths are all rising.

The trajectory of the pandemic in the United States, she said, is following European countries like Germany, Italy and France, which have experienced a “consistent and worrying spike in cases.”

In her televised address, Walensky became emotional, and said:

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Teachers Are Not the Problem, They Are the Solution – So Work With Them

February 10, 2021 by Source

By Colleen O’Connor

Time to be blunt. Teachers, students and children are the new electoral battering rams amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Just as I wrote in June of last year, the 2020 Presidential election it was “not Biden v. Trump, but COVID-19 v. Trump).” And the GOP’s own confidential postmortem report (as quoted on Politico), confirms it.

“The autopsy says that coronavirus registered as the top issue among voters, and that Biden won those voters by a nearly 3-to-1 margin. A majority registered disapproval of Trump’s handling of the virus.

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Meet California’s New Senator: Alex Padilla

January 19, 2021 by Source

5 Things to Know About Alex Padilla

By Ben Christopher / CalMatters / Updated Jan. 18, 2021

After Joe Biden picked Sen. Kamala Harris as his vice presidential running mate in August, the parlor game of choice for California’s most politically plugged-in was: Who will Gov. Gavin Newsom pick to fill her vacant Senate seat?

Alex Padilla — California’s secretary of state, a Democrat from Pacoima, loyal Newsom ally and a Latino in a state that has never had a member of that largest ethnic group serve as senator — was a top pick among the predictions of insiders. The governor announced his choice in late December and made the appointment official today.

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Gov. Newsom Deploys National Guard to Protect State Capitol

January 15, 2021 by Source

From 13CBS-Sacramento
Gov. Gavin Newsom has deployed the California National Guard in Sacramento to protect the State Capitol ahead of the presidential inauguration. In the week since the attacks on the U.S. Capitol, the FBI has warned capital cities around the nation of potentially armed protests as inauguration day nears.

On Thursday, Newsom announced a series of actions the state is taking to “bolster security.” The governor said California’s State Operations Center is working with federal, state and law enforcement to assess threats and share intelligence “to ensure those disgraceful actions are not repeated here.”

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Trump-Voting Faulconer Joins Recall Newsom Effort Funded by ‘Dark Money’

January 5, 2021 by Frank Gormlie

Could Faulconer Really Represent 11 Million California Voters Who Voted for Biden?

By Frank Gormlie

Well, your former mayor didn’t take long to get back into the political spotlight.

Kevin Faulconer has established his mandatory exploratory committee to make a run for governor of California. And at the same time, he has jumped onto the “Recall Newsom” bandwagon, a bandwagon being pushed by “dark money”, it has come out.

So, Kevin has his feet in both pots: a gubernatorial campaign and getting ready to benefit if the recall effort is successful (unlikely however).

Now, don’t forget, our Republican mayor recently admitted he voted for Trump in November 2020.

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