Lots of people in California Democratic circles have buzzed for years about Rick Jacobs, a former aide and longtime ally of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, being a major league asshole. But Yashar Ali has uncovered a mountain of fresh dirt on Jacobs that lays out all the various and sundry ways in which that may have been truer than anyone thought up until now. From Yashar’s newsletter (which, by the way, you should spend the money to subscribe to): In the fall of 2018, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti was talking to an adviser about his top aide, Rick Jacobs. Garcetti told the adviser: “I can’t believe Rick worked at City Hall for three years and we didn’t get sued.” … according to sources, Jacobs regularly engaged in sexual harassment and assault; displayed abusive behavior toward colleagues and underlings; and had questionable ethics. Also stunning, the adviser said, was…
This is not good news for local journalism: “The owner of The Sacramento Bee is trying to tie journalists’ pay to the number of clicks their stories get.” We get that McClatchy, parent of the Bee, is in financial trouble. We get that local news could sometimes use some sexing up. But we’ve also got to wonder who’s going to churn out well-researched stories on the full bevy of legislative issues put on the table every year in California? Because let’s be honest: Payday lender regulation, the intricacies of vapor bans, and minutiae about whether the Attorney General’s office is sufficiently well-funded aren’t going to get clicks the same as London Breed firing off missives about the renaming of public schools – and yet several of these things are massively more important that Breed trying to goad teachers back into the classroom by invoking the “cancellation” of Abraham Lincoln and…
It’s bad news if you’re a frog– or an animal rights activist. Yesterday, under pressure from the California Teachers Association, the legislature killed proposed legislation to ban animal dissection, including the cutting up of frogs– favorite “subjects” in biology classrooms across the state. Per CAL Matters, “The California Teachers Association, which has significant clout in the Legislature, testified against [the bill], arguing that it would deny science teachers a valuable tool.” Animal rights campaigners, including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), are pissed. And we tend to agree with them. While in general, animals dissected in classrooms are already dead (though in some places, vivisection does still occur), it still involves inherent cruelty for animals, campaigners say. Per the Sacramento Bee, “Cats used for dissection tend to be euthanized animals acquired from shelters; frogs and other amphibians are often gathered in the wild.” Congratulations: If your cat goes missing,…
Sen. Kamala Harris is making a big play for union support in her run for President, focusing principally on education and childcare workers. Teachers’ unions have been financially hammered by the Supreme Court decision in Janus and are shopping for a vocal candidate they can get behind and support, ideally one who will not only push pro-labor policy but also use the bully pulpit to advocate for their members’ interests. With her proposal to massively bump teacher pay through federal funding, Harris could be it. As noted yesterday, in the first quarter of 2019, her presidential campaign took in at least 11,000 donations from educators. Now, it looks like she’s making a play for pro-union child care workers, too, backing a proposal to unionize them. This should further endear her to organized labor, which is a powerful ally in Democratic Party politics not just because of its organizing and door-knocking…
Remember this year’s narrow 5-4 Supreme Court decision barring public employee unions from charging non-members for their portion of collective bargaining costs? Well, based on that ruling, one William Brice, a Cal State professor, is suing the California Faculty Association in a federal court, aiming to get back thousands of dollars he’s paid to the union over the years. Brice contends that the union has taken a bunch of stands that are “so far to the left” of his own opinions that he deems his contributions to amount to forced speech contrary to his First Amendment rights. But of course, Brice isn’t doing this alone. And perhaps he didn’t come up with the idea himself. Also involved is Virginia-based, anti-union National Right to Work (NRTW). It filed the suit. NRTW has previously been involved in similar efforts, including in Minnesota where a union was forced to return money to workers…