April 22, 2018

A California ballot fight over rent control is on, supporters say

SACRAMENTO — A renters’ revolt in California could be heading to the November ballot as a campaign to lift decades-old restrictions on rent control reported Friday it had gathered more than enough signatures to qualify.

Organizers are planning rallies in Sacramento, Oakland and Los Angeles on Monday as they hand in the signatures, which must be counted and verified by election officials before the initiative makes it on the ballot.

“People are paying a higher percentage of their income toward housing than they ever have before. That is not normal,” said Amy Schur, campaign director for the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, one of the groups behind the initiative. “The current crisis is such that it is absolutely unsustainable.”

Propelled by the pain of sharply rising rents, the initiative, if it qualifies, is sure to set the stage for an expensive clash between renters and the trade association representing landlords, which sponsored the state law that renters are trying to repeal. The law, known as Costa Hawkins, makes it illegal for cities to apply rent caps to any properties built after 1995, when it was passed — or earlier. If a city adopted rent control in 1980, as Oakland and Berkeley did, everything built afterward is exempt from rent control.

Read more: https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/04/20/a-california-ballot-fight-over-rent-control-is-on-supporters-say/

April 22, 2018

Inside China's $1 billion port where ships don't want to stop

By Iain Marlow, Bloomberg


Each year roughly 60,000 ships vital to the global economy sail through the Indian Ocean past a Chinese-operated port on the southern tip of Sri Lanka. Almost none of them stop to unload cargo.

The eight-year-old Hambantota port -- with almost no container traffic and trampled fences that elephants traverse with ease -- has become a prime example of what can go wrong for countries involved in President Xi Jinping's "Belt and Road" trade and infrastructure initiative. Sri Lanka borrowed heavily to build the port, couldn't repay the loans, and then gave China a 99-year lease for debt relief.

The experience has fueled fears that Xi's plans to finance more than $500 billion in projects could see China take control of strategic infrastructure that also has military uses. But the massive state-owned Chinese conglomerate that took over the port in December wants to prove the skeptics wrong.

China Merchants Group -- whose 2017 revenues of $93 billion dwarf Sri Lanka's gross domestic product -- is aiming to use its experience stretching from China to Europe to make the port profitable. During a rare look inside the grounds late last month, executive Tissa Wickramasinghe told Bloomberg News it had already nearly doubled the number of ships visiting the port.

Read more: https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Inside-China-s-1-billion-port-where-ships-don-t-12853345.php

April 22, 2018

Last known person born in the 19th century dies in Japan at age of 117

The world's oldest person, a 117-year-old Japanese woman, has died.

Nabi Tajima died of old age in a hospital Saturday evening in the town of Kikai in southern Japan, town official Susumu Yoshiyuki confirmed. She had been hospitalized since January.

Tajima, born on Aug. 4, 1900, was the last known person born in the 19th century. She raised seven sons and two daughters and reportedly had more than 160 descendants, including great-great-great grandchildren. Her town of Kikai is a small island of about 7,000 people halfway between Okinawa and Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's four main islands.

She became the world's oldest person seven months ago after the death in September of Violet Brown in Jamaica, also at the age of 117. Video shown on Japanese television showed Tajima moving her hands to the beat of music played on traditional Japanese instruments at a ceremony to mark the achievement.

Read more: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/nation-world/ct-worlds-oldest-person-dies-in-japan-20180421-story.html

April 22, 2018

Salk Institute suspends a star geneticist over allegations about his conduct

The Salk Institute in La Jolla said Saturday it suspended star cancer scientist Inder Verma due to unspecified allegations, further rocking a center that was earlier accused of gender discrimination by three of its female professors.

Neither the Institute nor Verma have said what the scientist is exactly accused of doing. The Institute also did not suggest the allegations were sexual in nature.

But when asked about the matter, Verma said in an email forwarded by his attorney: “I have never used my position at the Salk Institute to take advantage of others. I have also never engaged in any sort of intimate relationship with anyone affiliated with the Salk Institute.

“I have never inappropriately touched, nor have I made any sexually charged comments, to anyone affiliated with the Salk Institute. I have never allowed any offensive or sexually charged conversations, jokes, material, etc. to occur at the Salk Institute.”

Read more: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/science/sd-me-salk-suspension-20180421-story.html

April 22, 2018

Inflated-resume claims prompt review of top CalPERS official

The nation’s largest public pension fund is reviewing its decision to hire its chief financial officer following a report on a financial news blog that suggested he embellished details in his recent work history on his résumé, CalPERS said on Friday.

“We take these questions that have arisen seriously and are reviewing them,” CalPERS spokesman Wayne Davis said.

The review follows an April 11 analysis by the blog Naked Capitalism that challenged CalPERS Chief Financial Officer Charles Asubonten’s résumé. It asserted that he exaggerated his role at a South African mining company a decade ago and that he misrepresented his work experience after his contract with the mining company expired.

Susan Webber, the founder of a management consulting firm who frequently writes about CalPERS for Naked Capitalism, said that Asubonten’s qualifications did not meet CalPERS’ job requirements.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article209490874.html

April 22, 2018

Sexual harassment settlement didn't stop these retired California state workers from coming back

The sexual harassment lawsuit involving a premier state board fills 11 volumes, its overstuffed red folders wedged into a cardboard box and stored at an off-site warehouse in Sacramento County.

The case against the Medical Board of California and five senior managers dragged on for five years before settling in 2010 for $750,000.

The story, however, did not end there.

Despite the lawsuit’s startling allegations – which described a workplace filled with after-hours trysts, favoritism, offensive comments and racial discrimination – the central defendant in the case continued to prosper in state government.

Jerry Smith, formerly the medical board’s supervising investigator, was granted a medical retirement in 2003, then returned in 2007 as a retired annuitant, collecting more pay. He left the Contractors State License Board in August 2017, according to the Controller's Office.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article209133854.html

April 22, 2018

Syracuse Suspends Theta Tau Fraternity Over 'Racist, Anti-Semitic, Homophobic and Sexist' Initiation

The Theta Tau fraternity in Syracuse University were suspended on Wednesday, after a video of its members engaging in offensive behavior emerged online.

The Daily Orange, a student newspaper, obtained the footage, originally posted to a secret Facebook group called “Tau of Theta Tau”, and shared it alongside a story on their website.

In a statement, university officials described the six-minute video as “extremely racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist and hostile to people with disabilities.”

In one of the clips, a member of the fraternity is seen kneeling down at a social gathering inside the Theta Tau house while reciting obscene and offensive 'oaths'. “I solemnly swear to always have hatred in my heart for niggers, spics and most importantly the fucking kikes,” the person repeated, while another member prompted him.

Read more: http://www.newsweek.com/syracuse-suspends-theta-tau-fraternity-over-racist-anti-semitic-homophobic-and-892420

Towleroad reports that the fraternity was permanently suspended on Saturday.

April 22, 2018

Gay 'conversion therapy' services would be banned under measure advancing in California

The California Assembly voted Thursday to add gay “conversion therapy” to the state’s list of deceptive business practices, following a debate that focused on the personal experiences of several lawmakers and hinted at potential lawsuits to come.

“It is harmful and it is unnecessary,” Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell), the bill’s author and one of the Legislature’s most vocal LGBTQ members, said of the practice.

Low, who told Assembly members that he explored conversion therapy as a teenager and suffered depression over his sexual orientation, insisted that the bill would be limited to efforts that involve the exchange of money.

“There’s nothing wrong with me,” he said in an emotional speech on the Assembly floor. “There’s nothing that needs to be changed.”

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-gay-conversion-therapy-services-would-1524162085-htmlstory.html

April 22, 2018

Sierra Club backs Gavin Newsom for California governor

The Sierra Club endorsed Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom in the race for California governor, with officials in the established environmental group praising the Democrat’s record on climate change and clean energy.

"He has a proven record for leading on environmental protection, public health and clean energy,” Kathryn Phillips, director of Sierra Club California, said in a statement released by the Newsom campaign. “He understands that we are feeling the effects of climate change and that California must reduce carbon emissions and reach 100% renewable energy to achieve our climate goals.”

Phillips said the Sierra Club’s extensive network of volunteers will campaign for Newsom as the June 5 primary approaches. Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune also praised the Democrat, saying he will protect California from “Donald Trump's attacks on our clean air and water.”

The Sierra Club joins a series of other influential groups in California that have backed Newsom.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-sierra-club-backs-gavin-newsom-for-1524180882-htmlstory.html

April 22, 2018

Legal tiff breaks out over independent committee's ad backing Antonio Villaraigosa for governor

An attorney representing Gavin Newsom’s campaign for governor is demanding that California television stations cease airing an ad by an independent political committee supporting his Democratic rival Antonio Villaraigosa.

Attorney Thomas A. Willis, in a letter to the stations, said the ad is “false and misleading and violates California law” because it uses snippets of video footage from Villaraigosa’s own campaign ads. Willis called that illegal coordination between the campaign and PAC.

“Under California law, advertisements made by entities other than a candidate are presumed to be ‘coordinated’ — and thus not independent expenditures — when the advertisement replicates, reproduces or disseminates substantial parts of a communication, including video footage, created and paid for by the candidate,” the letter states.

A representative for the independent expenditure committee — Families & Teachers for Antonio Villaraigosa for Governor — fired back. Attorney Brian T. Hildreth says those allegations have “no merit” and accused the Newsom campaign of being misleading.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-legal-tiff-breaks-out-over-independent-1524257735-htmlstory.html