San Francisco Public Press (https://www.sfpublicpress.org/2017/11/page/2/)
Thousands of Salvadorans, Hondurans and Haitians await decision on Temporary Protected Status. Nicaraguans must leave in 2019 or face deportation.
Update Nov. 20, 2017: The Trump administration announced Monday that about 49,000 Haitians living under Temporary Protected Status must leave the United States by July 22, 2019. » Read more
KQED News Fix
Federal officials suspect that fraudulent claims filed for disaster relief following the deadly Northern California fires are a bigger problem than they had initially thought. They estimate that there may have been tens of thousands of these claims; a few weeks ago, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said there were thousands.
“It is an awful lot,” said agency spokesman Frank Mansell. Read the story at KQED News Fix.
KALW/Crosscurrents
San Franciscans have the power to stop new construction projects in the city. With about $600 and some paperwork, anyone can start a process called “discretionary review” and a project could grind to a halt.
Read the story at KALW/Crosscurrents.
The Public Press is delighted to announce that it has received a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism for $9,000 — the third grant it has received from the foundation. The Public Press will report in 2018 on the role of the Silicon Valley tech industry in dealing with issues of data security.
Despite all the efforts by Republicans to deep-six the Affordable Care Act, they failed — albeit by the skin of their teeth. However, undermining the law appears to be the GOP game plan of the moment — the Trump administration cut advertising for open enrollment by 90 percent, slashed the federal enrollment period, ended reimbursements to health insurers that helped offset discounts they provide to low-income customers, you know, things like that. » Read more
Public Policy Institute of California
Did you know the following information? California has many diverse — and aging — county jail facilities. The jail population is mostly male, most of whom are being held for felonies. Read the story at Public Policy Institute of California.
CALmatters
The hosts of the U.N. climate change conference in Bonn, Germany, have a problem. The U.S. government — the longtime leader of the climate battle — has dwindling interest in this issue under the Trump administration, but it has sent a delegation to join international leaders as they hash out further terms of the 2015 Paris climate agreement. Stepping into this vacuum is the increasingly influential California Gov. Jerry Brown, who will preside over a series of events on the periphery of the conference. Read the story at CALmatters.
California is losing valuable environmental protections in its pursuit of “streamlined” land-use regulations that speed housing construction, some environmental advocates say.
Long-standing state rules affecting soil pollution, traffic congestion and flood control will be weakened in legislation pushed by Democratic lawmakers from San Francisco and signed by Gov. » Read more
KQED News Fix/The California Report
The European green crab is small — only about 4 inches wide — and does not have the giant claws of fiddler crabs or spindly limbs of king crabs. These crabs, however, are predators that are among the world’s worst invasive species. Scientists estimate that green crabs cost the fishing industry close to $19 million a year on the East Coast. And in recent years, they have been seen along the West Coast from Monterey Bay to British Columbia. Read the story at KQED News Fix/The California Report.
KQED News Fix/The California Report
During last month’s devastating wildfires in the North Bay, several hundred homes of the wealthy in Napa and Sonoma counties were protected by teams of retired firefighters sent by some of the largest insurance companies in the country. These companies offer “wildfire protection units” for the homes covered by more expensive homeowner insurance plans in several states. Read the story at KQED News Fix/The California Report.