Let’s make a deal, everyone said, and they did just that to make sure money keeps flowing from Sacramento to the second-largest city in California.
“The City Council, city attorney, state representatives and the mayor’s office figured out a way to end a conflict between state and local law Monday that threatened to close the tap to hundreds of millions of dollars in state money for local construction projects,” VOSD’s Andrew Keatts reports.
The problem: City voters had passed a ballot measure that seemed to conflict with a state law that specifically says cities who pass these kinds of ballot measures can’t get these kinds of funds. (This all has to do with union rights in certain government construction contracts.) The solution basically says there is no conflict, and puts the whole issue on pause until the courts have a final say.
The state may actually be OK with this. But the folks behind the ballot measure, Prop. A, might not be. And then there’s the prospect that the courts might kill the state law in question, reviving Prop. A.
• The city’s small boost to the minimum wage is now officially on hold until 2016, when city voters will get to weigh in. That’s thanks to a unanimous vote by the City Council, KPBS reports, in response to a successful petition drive by business groups.
State law will remain in place, meaning the minimum wage will still rise next year.
DeMaio, Accuser Won’t Face Charges
The district attorney and the police chief announced yesterday that they won’t be pursuing charges against congressional candidate Carl DeMaio, at least for now, regarding allegations by a former staffer that he was sexually harassed by DeMaio. Nor will there be any charges regarding an alleged break-in at DeMaio’s campaign office. While no one in law enforcement has confirmed this, DeMaio has said his accuser, Todd Bosnich, was the prime suspect.
The DA and the police chief didn’t clear anyone. Meanwhile, DA Bonnie Dumanis says she has no conflict of interest in the case; she and DeMaio are political allies.
The L.A. Times,NBC 7 San Diego and the U-T have details.
• The FBI is investigating threatening emails sent to DeMaio’s accuser and “an alleged hack of his Gmail account,” NBC 7 reports.
Strain of Deadly Meningitis ID’d
According to the county, “the strain of meningococcal meningitis that killed San Diego State freshman Sara Stelzer is the same one that caused outbreaks at UC Santa Barbara and Princeton University in 2013,” the U-T reports. There was confusion about whether Stelzer had died; she was taken off life support over the weekend.
KPBS says the main meningitis vaccine doesn’t control this strain, although a vaccine that targets it does exist and has been used in the past.
Quick News Hits: The Young Like SD
• The L.A. Times says the bid by state Democrats to gain super-control of the Legislature — not regular ol’ control, which they’re sure to have after Election Day — will depend on two races, one in Orange County and the other in the Central Valley.
• A new report says Denver, San Diego, Nashville, Salt Lake City and Portland, Ore., are snapping up college graduates at a higher rate than places like New York and San Francisco. (N.Y. Times)
• SeaWorld is reporting the birth of a bottlenose dolphin at the park, although no one knows whether to buy it pink or blue onesies. “We’re guessing it’s a girl,” an animal curator tells NBC 7.
The dolphin’s name — and the gender figuring-out — will come later. For now, just address your well wishes “To Whom It May Concern.”
Randy Dotinga is a freelance contributor to Voice of San Diego and president of the American Society of Journalists and Authors. Please contact him directly at randydotinga@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/rdotinga.