Colonies Trial Judge Rejects Mistrial; Juror Misconduct Alleged – Press Enterprise

9/6/2017 Colonies trial judge rejects mistrial; juror misconduct alleged – Press Enterprise

NEWS Colonies trial judge rejects mistrial; juror misconduct alleged

Former Assistant Assessor Jim Erwin, center, attends the Aug. 28 verdict at San Bernardino Superior Court in San Bernardino, Calif. for defendants Jeff Burum, former Supervisor Paul Biane and Mark Kirk. all of who were found not guilty. Photo by Rachel Luna, The Sun/SCNG)

By JOE NELSON and RICHARD DEATLEY | Press-Enterprise PUBLISHED: September 5, 2017 at 4:54 pm | UPDATED: September 5, 2017 at 9:41 pm

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The judge in the San Bernardino County-Colonies corruption case sent jurors weighing the fate of remaining defendant Jim Erwin back to deliberations Tuesday, rejecting a defense motion to dismiss two of the panelists or declare a mistrial for the duo’s alleged misconduct and racial proling of fellow jurors.

The motion by Erwin’s attorney, Rajan Maline, claimed the prosecution had sought a broader inquiry of panelists who appeared to be leaning toward voting not guilty for Erwin, a former county assistant assessor and sheriff’s labor union president, rather than focusing on the two jurors that Maline claimed committed the alleged misconduct.

The two jurors whose dismissals were sought by Maline are only named by their panel numbers, 1 and 7. Juror Number 1 was further identied as the panel’s foreperson.

Among Maline’s claims were that the two jurors had spoken by phone aer deliberation hours, and referred to panelists who disagreed with them as “the crew.”

http://www.pe.com/2017/09/05/colonies-trial-judge-rejects-mistrial-juror-misconduct-alleged/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter 1/4 9/6/2017 Colonies trial judge rejects mistrial; juror misconduct alleged – Press Enterprise

Maline noted that those jurors were either African-American or Hispanic, while jurors 1 and 7 are white. He also said prosecutors were using the complaints of the two jurors to target minority jurors for removal.

“It is no surprise that the prosecution strategically seeks to have the court ‘investigate,’ then no doubt exclude, these minority jurors from further deliberation,” Maline wrote.

The defense attorney said prosecutors had launched an attack “on an apparently large jury faction” that has concluded they have not made their case, and was trying to use what he called a deadlock as an excuse to make a full inquiry into the panel’s deliberations.

Maline stated in his motion that the two jurors “colluded in breaching the sanctity of the deliberations and hopelessly poisoned the proceedings.” He said prosecutors “had it backward” in requesting an “all-encompassing and intrusive investigation into the jurors who did their job but happen to disagree with the prosecution.”

“Rather than embark on an investigative jeremiad against the jurors who have concluded that Mr. Erwin is innocent, what should happen is that the jurors that have revealed the jury’s deliberative process . . . should be removed and the panel instructed to begin deliberations anew,” Maline said in his motion.

Prosecutors sent an email to Judge Smith and defense attorneys on Aug. 31 citing various case law regarding standards for a judicial hearing into juror conduct. It also looked at the law regarding discharging a juror for refusing to deliberate or pre-judging an issue, as well as for concealing material and willful misconduct.

District attorney spokesman Christopher Lee, when asked to comment on Maline’s motion Tuesday, said in an email reply, “It would be inappropriate to comment while the jury is currently deliberating.”

The alleged misconduct of the two jurors included revelation in notes to Judge Michael A. Smith the positions of other jurors in the midst of deliberations — something not even the judge should know.

Smith met with the panelists individually in his chambers Tuesday morning and then went on the record in court to admonish them to refrain from texting or going on social media during deliberations, and not to “completely tune out” when disagreements arise in the jury room.

“You can’t just turn off and say, ‘I’m not going to participate anymore,’” Smith said.

He also reminded them about the procedure for possible verdict deadlocks — they should deliver verdicts on the resolved counts and continue deliberating on the remaining ones.

The Erwin jury has been considering his case since Aug. 24. Prosecutors said Erwin took part in a bribery scheme involving two former county ofcials to get approval of a $102 million court settlement in favor of Rancho Cucamonga developer Colonies Partners LP.

Jurors for the case’s other three defendants — Colonies co-managing partner Jeff Burum, former county Supervisor Paul Biane, and Mark Kirk, one-time chief of staff for former Supervisor Gary Ovitt — came back Aug. 28 with not guilty verdicts on all charges aer about one day of deliberation.

Erwin also is charged with intentionally failing to le his state tax return for 2008, and two counts of perjury — one of those for not reporting a gied $12,765 Rolex watch from Burum and other items from an East Coast trip to celebrate the settlement.

In the motion, Maline elaborated about the two jurors sought for dismissal from the panel hearing Erwin’s case.

“They have conspired in the misconduct, revealing a nearly identical litany of complaints against the jurors they disagree with, apparently for the purpose of sabotaging the deliberations altogether,” Maline wrote.

Maline noted in his motion that this was not the rst time in the course of the 8-month trial that issues arose with the two jurors. In the case of the jury foreman, a veteran court reporter observed him making the statement, “Do we even have to listen to a defense case?” It alarmed the court reporter so much she told her supervisor, prompting the court to conduct an inquiry. The juror denied making such a statement, but a recorded video revealed he did, in fact, make the statement, Maline said.

The other juror in question, according to Maline’s motion, accused Burum of making obscene gestures toward witness and former county assistant assessor Adam Aleman.

Jurors ended the day with no verdicts. They will resume deliberations Wednesday.

Tags: Colonies corruption trial, Inland Empire

http://www.pe.com/2017/09/05/colonies-trial-judge-rejects-mistrial-juror-misconduct-alleged/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitterJoe Nelson 2/4 9/6/2017 Hundreds protest DACA decision in San Bernardino – San Bernardino Sun

NEWS Hundreds protest DACA decision in San Bernardino

DACA supporters hold a rally to defend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, DACA, in San Bernardino, Calif. on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017. President Trump plans to end the program that protects young immigrant who were brought into the country illegally. (Photo by Rachel Luna, The Sun/SCNG)

By DOUG SAUNDERS | [email protected] | San Bernardino Sun PUBLISHED: September 5, 2017 at 8:20 pm | UPDATED: September 5, 2017 at 10:30 pm

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Hundreds of white, brown and black Americans banded together Tuesday evening in San Bernardino, across from the Department of Homeland Security building on Rialto Avenue, to protest the Trump Administration decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program announced hours earlier by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Counter-protesters also gathered in front of the DHS building, waving American ags and holding signs with statements like “Build wall, deport them all.”

DACA, the immigration policy founded by the Obama administration in June 2012, shielded from deportation young immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally by their parents.

Mexican immigrant Juvenal Estrada, 45, of San Bernardino, said the idea of immigration isn’t that simple.

“This is just a symptom of people coming over here and, according to them, breaking the law,” Estrada said. “Most of the people coming from other countries are good, hard-working people.”

Immigrant Agnes Gibboney said Sessions’ announcement was an outstanding moment in history.

http://www.sbsun.com/2017/09/05/hundreds-protest-daca-decision-in-san-bernardino/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter 1/3 9/6/2017 Hundreds protest DACA decision in San Bernardino – San Bernardino Sun

“I am overjoyed, I have tears in my eyes because Americans are nally being put rst,” she said. “Our children can’t get classes in college because they’re overcrowding our schools.”

Gibboney, who said her son was killed by an illegal immigrant, made the trek herself taking 13 years to become a legal citizen.

“The United States isn’t responsible for this,” she said. “If you really respect and honor this country, you should come here legally, apply and do it the right way.”

By the end of the night, the situation had calmed and everyone protesting or counter-protesting had le the area — including the inatable Trump Chicken.

Tags: immigration, Inland Empire, Top Stories PE, Top Stories RDF, Top Stories Sun

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SAUNDERS_DOUGDoug Saunders Doug has covered crime and public safety in the Inland Empire since rst becoming a reporter in 2012. With a long standing military background, Doug naturally heads into volatile situations in order to gather intelligence for those who rely on accurate and up-to-date information. Doug, a former combat Army veteran, attended the Defense Information School. At DINFOS, the United States Military school of journalism at Ft. Meade, MD, Doug learned all aspects of journalism before taking on a role as an Army Public Affairs Specialist for 16 months prior to his employment with the Southern California News Group. Doug is an avid outdoorsman who loves camping on the beach, but he's also a giant "Star Wars" fan.  Follow Doug Saunders @crimeshutterbug

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http://www.sbsun.com/2017/09/05/hundreds-protest-daca-decision-in-san-bernardino/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter 2/3 9/6/2017 Palmer fire in San Timoteo Canyon is now 90 percent contained – Press Enterprise

LOCAL NEWS Palmer fire in San Timoteo Canyon is now 90 percent contained

A CAL Fire brush crews firefighter knocks down hot spots of the Palmer Fire along San Timoteo Canyon Road east of Live Oak Canyon Road near Deleon Ranch Sunday in Redlands, CA. September 3, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

By STEPHEN RAMIREZ | [email protected] | San Gabriel Valley Tribune PUBLISHED: September 5, 2017 at 11:41 am | UPDATED: September 5, 2017 at 11:53 am

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Fireghters are closing in on full containment of the Palmer re, which scorched 3,874 acres in the San Timoteo Canyon area on the border of Riverside and San Bernardino counties over the holiday weekend.

The Tuesday morning report from the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department listed the blaze at 90 percent contained, up from 80 percent the evening before.

The re broke out Saturday aernoon near Fisherman’s Retreat on San Timoteo Canyon Road west of Beaumont, then spread west through the hills that separate Redlands and Moreno Valley.

A mandatory evacuation order covering about 450 residents in 100-plus homes was issued Saturday, but lied Sunday once the danger had eased. All roads have reopened.

Fire ofcials have said the re was caused by reworks, and several people were questioned. On Tuesday morning, a department spokesman was unaware of any arrests or citations having been made.

One outbuilding was destroyed, re ofcials said. No injuries were reported.

http://www.pe.com/2017/09/05/palmer-fire-in-san-timoteo-canyon-is-now-90-percent-contained/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter 1/3 9/6/2017 Redlands City Council approves commercial marijuana ban – San Bernardino Sun

LOCAL NEWS Redlands City Council approves commercial marijuana ban

The Redlands City Council Tuesday, Sept. 5 considered banning commercial marijuana activity in the city.

By SANDRA EMERSON | [email protected] | Redlands Daily Facts September 5, 2017 at 8:24 pm

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The City Council has adopted an ordinance banning commercial marijuana activity in the city, but agreed to revisit the issue in the future.

The ordinance, approved tonight, prohibits marijuana businesses, manufacturing, delivery, cultivation as well as public consumption and smoking.

The ordinance, however, would permit personal use and indoor marijuana cultivation, in accordance with state law.

Medical marijuana dispensaries, cultivation and delivery are already banned in the city.

The commercial ban would be in place by Jan. 1, when the state plans to start issuing licenses for retail marijuana sales.

By prohibiting commercial marijuana activity, the city would have time to observe how the state or other cities resolve problems during implementation, according to the staff report.

The City Council could then revise its ordinance aer clearer or less stringent regulations are determined to be appropriate and effective, the report says.

In November, voters legalized recreational marijuana use and sales in California. http://www.sbsun.com/2017/09/05/redlands-city-council-approves-commercial-marijuana-ban/ 1/3 9/6/2017 Redlands City Council approves commercial marijuana ban – San Bernardino Sun

It is legal for a person to possess about one ounce of marijuana for personal use, but retail sales are not allowed until the state starts issuing licenses in January.

Individuals can also grow up to six marijuana plants in their home for personal use.

More to come.

Tags: marijuana, Top Stories RDF, Top Stories Sun

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EMERSON_SANDRASandra Emerson Sandra Emerson covers the cities of Redlands, Highland and Yucaipa for the Redlands Daily Facts and The Sun.  Follow Sandra Emerson @TheFactsSandra

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http://www.sbsun.com/2017/09/05/redlands-city-council-approves-commercial-marijuana-ban/ 2/3 9/6/2017 Search and rescue dog assists in locating missing hikers in Etiwanda Preserve near Rancho Cucamonga – Press Enterprise

LOCAL NEWS Search and rescue dog assists in locating missing hikers in Etiwanda Preserve near Rancho Cucamonga

Search and rescue dog assists in locating missing hikers in Etiwanda Preserve near Rancho Cucamonga

By GAIL WESSON | [email protected] | The Press-Enterprise PUBLISHED: September 5, 2017 at 10:50 pm | UPDATED: September 5, 2017 at 10:55 pm

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A pair of hikers split off from two other hikers to continue hiking Sunday night, Sept. 3, at the Etiwanda Preserve near Rancho Cucamonga, but did not return to their vehicle so the other hikers called for help, according to a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s news release.

Deputies from Fontana and Rancho Cucamonga sheriff’s stations began a search and contacted the West Valley Search and Rescue Team, including a specially trained search and rescue dog.

The dog located a scent from the lost hikers and led searchers to their location.

Searchers learned that Anthony Lucero, 29, of Fontana, and Esmeralda Valerio, 26, of Corona, did not have a ashlight with them and decided to wait until sunrise before they attempted to hike out from the preserve north of Rancho Cucamonga.

The hikers were medically evaluated, given food and water and transported back to their vehicle.

http://www.pe.com/2017/09/05/search-and-rescue-dog-assists-in-locating-missing-hikers-in-etiwanda-preserve-near-rancho-cucamonga/?ut… 1/2 9/6/2017 Search and rescue dog assists in locating missing hikers in Etiwanda Preserve near Rancho Cucamonga – Press Enterprise

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Staff mug of metro Gail Wesson reporter Gail Wesson has covered news for The Press-Enterprise for decades, mostly in Riverside County, with occasional forays Gail across the county line. Datelines on her stories span the county – from the state agricultural inspection station in Blythe, Wesson. to the Circle in Corona, the Stringfellow Acid Pits in Mira Loma, Temecula before there were trafc signals and to the highest point in the county, Mount San Jacinto. Most of her time has been spent covering local governments or how county, state or federal government affects communities. Breaking news, from oods to wild land res and the consequences of disasters, watchdog reporting, criminal courts coverage and environmental explainers on water rights/supply issues and why bald eagles and San Bernardino kangaroo rats should be saved are icing on her news cake.  Follow Gail Wesson @PE_GailWesson

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http://www.pe.com/2017/09/05/search-and-rescue-dog-assists-in-locating-missing-hikers-in-etiwanda-preserve-near-rancho-cucamonga/?ut… 2/2 9/6/2017 Man found dead inside refrigerator in Ontario identified; truck photo released – Daily Bulletin

LOCAL NEWS Man found dead inside refrigerator in Ontario identied; truck photo released

By BEATRIZ E. VALENZUELA | PUBLISHED: September 5, 2017 at 8:32 am | UPDATED: September 5, 2017 at 8:40 pm

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When Steven Kelly pulled up to work in Ontario about 6 a.m. Tuesday, he spotted a refrigerator standing in the middle of the street.

“That’s not really strange since people dump stuff here all the time,” said Kelly, who works at a business at 700 S. Hope St.

But when he went to inspect the large appliance, he made a grisly discovery: the body of a man stuffed inside.

Ontario police released this surveillance image of a light-colored pickup truck believed to have been carrying the refrigerator with a dead body inside that was left in the middle of South Hope Avenue early Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Police Department)

“I wasn’t sure if he was alive or dead so I thumped on the side (of the refrigerator) three times, and when he didn’t move, I knew he was dead,” Kelley said later that morning as he pulled into the shared parking lot of S&H Glenco and Bill’s Industrial Tools.

Kelly immediately called 911, and Ontario police detectives converged on the small street northeast of Mission Boulevard and Campus Avenue.

The victim was identied Tuesday afternoon as Jason Daniel Garcia, 36, of Downey. His cause of death was unknown, and his body showed no visible signs of injury or trauma, Ontario police Sgt. Jeff Higbee said. It wasn’t clear how long he may have been inside the refrigerator.

Police released a grainy surveillance image of a light-colored pickup truck, possibly a Toyota, that they believe is the one that had been carrying the fridge.

Body found in refrigerator left on Ontario street SCNG  

Detectives were questioning people who live and work in the area, which is a mix of industrial businesses and homes, to nd out if anyone saw anything or could shed light on how the refrigerator got there, Higbee said. http://www.dailybulletin.com/2017/09/05/body-found-in-refrigerator-on-ontario-street/ 1/2 9/6/2017 Man found dead inside refrigerator in Ontario identified; truck photo released – Daily Bulletin

Several employees of a nearby business said the refrigerator wasn’t there when they started their shift about 4:30 a.m.

Authorities asked anyone with information or who may have captured video of the incident to contact Detective Robert Marquez at 909-395- 2777 or Ontario police at 909-986-6711. Anonymous tips can be made to at 800-78-CRIME or www.wetip.com.

Maria Gallegos, who’s lived in the area since 1968, said she was shocked to hear of the discovery.

“Nothing like this has ever happened,” Gallegos said, standing outside the police tape with her sister and grand-niece.

“I didn’t see anything, but around 5 a.m., my little dogs were barking and barking,” she said.

Tags: investigation, Top Stories IVDB, Top Stories OCR, Top Stories PE, Top Stories Sun

Beatriz E. Valenzuela

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http://www.dailybulletin.com/2017/09/05/body-found-in-refrigerator-on-ontario-street/ 2/2 9/6/2017 Bomb threat to Granite Hills staff member spurs extra school security

Bomb threat to Granite Hills sta member spurs extra school security By Charity Lindsey Staff Writer Posted Sep 5, 2017 at 9:47 AM Updated Sep 5, 2017 at 5:37 PM APPLE VALLEY — A bomb threat received by a Granite Hills High School staff member Monday led to extra safety measures on campus Tuesday, school district officials said.

The threat, which was sent to the unidentified staff member’s email Monday evening, is not believed to be credible, according to Apple Valley Unified School District spokesperson Kristin Hernandez.

“However, we will be taking every precaution, including inspecting bags and backpacks, to protect our students and staff,” Hernandez said. “The safety of our students is our utmost priority and we will continue to take all possible measures to ensure security.”

GHHS families were informed through a district phone call that went out at approximately 6:40 a.m. Tuesday, before the school day began.

Hernandez said AVUSD is working closely with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department “to take all necessary precautions.”

Granite Hills students exited their classrooms at approximately 8:30 a.m. for a drill, which provided law enforcement officials “time to take additional precautions and ensure the safety on campus.” Hernandez said the campus was “deemed safe” and all students returned to class about an hour later to continue the school day as normal.

Law enforcement was working on tracing the treat Tuesday afternoon. AVUSD did not disclose whether or not it was believed that the threat had been made by a student.

Charity Lindsey may be contacted at [email protected] or 760-951-6245. Follow her on Twitter @DP_Charity.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170905/bomb-threat-to-granite-hills-staff-member-spurs-extra-school-security 1/1 9/6/2017 Detectives arrest 2 suspects in fatal July shooting in Victorville

Detectives arrest 2 suspects in fatal July shooting in Victorville By Paola Baker Staff Writer Posted Sep 5, 2017 at 2:02 PM Updated Sep 5, 2017 at 9:26 PM VICTORVILLE — Authorities have arrested two men in a fatal shooting outside a home here on July 12.

Michael Paul Bauman, 44, and Jermaine Tyrone Lang, 31, both of Victorville, were arrested in connection to the slaying of Armando Castillo, of Victorville, who was shot and killed early that morning.

According to a Tuesday statement from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, detectives from the Sheriff’s Gang Enforcement team identified Bauman as a suspect. Officials said he was found and arrested on July 17 at a home in Riverside.

Lang, whom officials believe to be the shooter, was identified as a second suspect and arrested by the gang team Saturday in Victorville, officials said.

Authorities launched an investigation after responding to reports of a shooting in the 12800 block of Boulder Creek Road early July 12. Castillo was found with a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

He was taken to Desert Valley Hospital but died shortly afterward, officials said. Deputies later determined the shooting actually occurred on Soft Cloud Way. Castillo’s friends “drove him to the home of an acquaintance” on Boulder Creek Road, where medical aid and police were requested.

The motive behind the shooting remains unknown. No other details were available Tuesday.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170905/detectives-arrest-2-suspects-in-fatal-july-shooting-in-victorville 1/2 9/6/2017 Detectives arrest 2 suspects in fatal July shooting in Victorville

Prosecutors charged Bauman with murder, carjacking, being a felon or addict in possession of a firearm, vehicle theft, receiving a stolen vehicle, and carrying a loaded firearm, according to court records. He pleaded not guilty to all charges July 20, as well as denying several felony allegations.

Bauman remains in custody at the Central Detention Center in Rialto in lieu of $2 million bail. His next court date is scheduled for Sept. 26.

Lang was arrested on suspicion of murder and booked into the West Valley Detention Center, where he remains in custody in lieu of $1 million bail. Booking records show his first court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday.

The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with information is urged to contact Detective David Lara or Sgt. John Gaffney of the Homicide Detail at 909-387- 3589. Persons wishing to remain anonymous can contact the We-Tip Hotline at 1-800-782-7463 or online at www.wetip.com.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170905/detectives-arrest-2-suspects-in-fatal-july-shooting-in-victorville 2/2 9/6/2017 New Riverside downtown library plans fail to get council’s OK – Press Enterprise

LOCAL NEWS New Riverside downtown library plans fail to get council’s OK

Photo courtesy of City of Riverside A rendering from architectural firm Johnson Favaro shows how Riverside’s proposed new main library would look.

By ALICIA ROBINSON | [email protected] | The Press-Enterprise PUBLISHED: September 5, 2017 at 10:23 pm | UPDATED: September 6, 2017 at 6:11 am

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Riverside’s plans for a new downtown library hit an unexpected snag when the council failed to approve the proposed design Tuesday, Sept. 5.

The $40 million design from architects at Johnson Favaro is a 35,000-square-foot oblong white rectangle with a large front window that looks a bit like a horizontal teardrop.

Although the council split 3-2 in favor of the design, the motion failed because a four-vote majority is required for approval. The Ward 7 seat is vacant and Councilman Andy Melendrez didn’t vote because he owns property near the library site.

Councilmen Chuck Conder and Jim Perry cast the no votes. Conder said he agrees that a library is needed, but it should be a more frugal facility.

“I just have a hard time putting more debt on our citizens who are taxed and fee-ed almost to the breaking point,” he said.

Aer the meeting, Councilman Mike Gardner, who represents downtown, said he expects the issue to come back for further discussion in two or three months, aer the council appoints someone to the Ward 7 seat.

Some social media users have panned the design in online comments, with some saying it would be too small, others criticizing the cost, and two people calling it an “atrocity.”

Some ofcials disagreed, with Councilman Mike Soubirous calling it “an opportunity to do something very great and special” that will attract more private sector investment downtown. http://www.pe.com/2017/09/05/new-riverside-downtown-library-plans-fail-to-get-councils-ok/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter 1/3 9/6/2017 New Riverside downtown library plans fail to get council’s OK – Press Enterprise

Because the estimate for the new library was about $10 million more than originally projected, City Manager John Russo has said the additional money would come out of other proposed projects, such as a new police headquarters.

That raised some debate Tuesday, with some councilmen worried about taking money that would have been used to build some holding cells. The police department now has no place to temporarily detain people and instead must vie for space at the crowded county jail.

Russo said he’s talking with other local governments about making a deal to use their excess detention space, so the city may be able to solve the issue without building cells.

To some residents and city ofcials, the new library would be a fresh start, aer years of council members changing their minds on whether to rebuild on the current site, renovate the mid-1960s library that’s there or move to another location.

The announcement in May that the old library will be turned into the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Arts, Culture and Industry was met with wide approval, but Gardner said that project could be stalled if plans for a new library don’t move forward.

“If we don’t build a new library, the old library’s not available and there’s no ‘Cheech,’ he said.

“I certainly can’t support closing the city’s main library and not replacing it.”

Tags: education, Top Stories PE

ALICIA_ROBINSONAlicia Robinson Alicia Robinson has been at The Press-Enterprise since 2007 and has covered Riverside and local government for most of that time, but she has also written about Norco, Corona, homeless issues, Alzheimer's disease, streetcars, butteries, horses and chickens. She grew up in the Midwest but earned Southern California native status during many hours spent in trafc.Two big questions Alicia tries to answer with stories about government are: how is it supposed to work, and how is it working?  Follow Alicia Robinson @arobinson_pe

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http://www.pe.com/2017/09/05/new-riverside-downtown-library-plans-fail-to-get-councils-ok/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter 2/3 9/6/2017 Gov. Brown should block stormwater-fee bill – Press Enterprise

OPINION Gov. Brown should block stormwater-fee bill

AP Photo/Ben Margot Rainwater spills over a clogged storm drain Tuesday, Jan 5, 2016, in San Leandro, Calif.

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD | September 6, 2017 at 6:00 am

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A bill that would allow local governments to impose fees for stormwater projects without voter approval passed the Assembly by one vote and is now on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk. He should veto it.

Senate Bill 231 by California state Sen. Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, redenes “sewer” to include stormwater, a semantic change with big implications for taxpayers and utility customers. Under Proposition 218, passed in 1996, local taxes and property-related fees require the approval of two-thirds of voters, except fees for water, trash and sewer services. Those can be imposed without a vote and can only be stopped if a majority of affected residents le a written protest by a set deadline.

Hertzberg says it’s not his intention to make it easier for cities to raise taxes, and he says he is seeking to educate local government ofcials not to misuse the law in that way. But it’s the stated purpose of the law, not a misuse, that causes concern. SB231 states, “Some court interpretations of [Proposition 218] have constrained important tools that local governments need to manage storm water and drainage runoff.” Those “tools” are taxes and fees. The court’s interpretation, in Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association v. City of Salinas (2002), was that it was “the voters’ intent” to “curb the rise in ‘excessive’ taxes, assessments and fees exacted by local government.” http://www.pe.com/2017/09/06/gov-brown-should-block-stormwater-fee-bill/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter 1/3 9/6/2017 Gov. Brown should block stormwater-fee bill – Press Enterprise

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“SB231 undermines Proposition 218 by removing an individual’s right to vote on stormwater benet assessments,” said David Wolfe, legislative director for HJTA. “To attempt to change this in statute violates the constitution and unsettles a precedent-setting appellate court case.”

HJTA has vowed to sue the rst government entity that imposes a stormwater fee through the “sewer fee” method.

Geoff McIntosh, president of the California Association of Realtors, said CAR doesn’t oppose funding stormwater projects, “we just believe voters should have the vote that the Constitution and Prop. 218 guarantee them.”

That’s a view that is widely shared. SB231 is an attempt to get around the clear intent of the voters. Brown would be wise to veto this law before local governments are burdened with costly litigation over an issue that has already been settled.

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If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing [email protected]. http://www.pe.com/2017/09/06/gov-brown-should-block-stormwater-fee-bill/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter 2/3 9/6/2017 Homeless encampment a growing problem for Fountain Valley residents who say police, government ignore – Orange County Register

ORANGE COUNTY NEWS Homeless encampment a growing problem for Fountain Valley residents who say police, government ignore

A homeless encampment along the Santa Ana River in Fountain Valley, California, on Tuesday, August 1, 2017. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

By GREG MELLEN | [email protected] | Orange County Register PUBLISHED: August 29, 2017 at 5:09 pm | UPDATED: August 30, 2017 at 6:56 am

612 COMMENTS

FOUNTAIN VALLEY — Jonathan An, a homeowner in the New Chase condominiums off Harbor Boulevard, points to a jacuzzi in the gated community.

“They bathe here a lot,” he said, referring to his new neighbors who live in a large homeless encampment that has sprung up on the banks of the Santa Ana River bordering his complex.

Another condo resident points to a roll of toilet paper and makeshift bathroom within three feet of a gate the residents have for accessing the river trail – which most now avoid.

Jennifer London said she feels it is no longer safe to use the gate. She said she has had bottles thrown at her when she tries to exit and was accosted by a man swinging a rake at her.

She also had a bike stolen off her first-floor patio and resorted to installing a floor-to-ceiling trellis to keep out intruders, she said.

Jeanina Cole said she woke up one day to the unobstructed view of a tent just 12 feet from her front door. The tent has since been moved, but the memory is vivid.

On a Friday afternoon, a dozen residents of the complex gathered to swap stories about how their lives have been thrown into turmoil since the homeless people have started camping nearby.

These residents say they are the population that has been forgotten and left out of the homeless debate.

The homeowners also say that despite their many compaints, including appearing at a recent Orange County Board of Supervisors meeting, their pleas have fallen on deaf ears both with government and law enforcement officials.

http://www.ocregister.com/2017/08/29/fountain-valley-residents-say-encroaching-homeless-encampment-needs-attention/ 1/4 9/6/2017 Homeless encampment a growing problem for Fountain Valley residents who say police, government ignore – Orange County Register

Jeanina Cole, right and her mother, Joyce, say the influx of homeless along the Santa Ana river path in Fountain Valley, has turned their lives in turmoil. (Photo by Greg Mellen/ SCNG staff)

“We have never, ever, ever, ever seen anything like this,” Cole said of the influx of people living in the encampment. She was unnerved enough, she said she bought a high-powered set of lights with motion sensors.

She said her upstairs neighbor had a bottle of urine thrown at her and has since installed video surveillance.

Nearly everyone in the complex, it seems, has a story.

While expressing sympathy for the homeless, the residents say their new neighbors are a rowdier and rougher crowd than they are accustomed to. And, while other cities have been dealing for some time with a growing population along the river, this is relatively new for Fountain Valley, they said.

Jeanina Cole said she feels the residents are out of options and have been ignored by local police and government.

“We’re at our wit’s end,” An said. “The Fountain Valley police don’t want to come out and they tell us not to file reports.”

Police Chief Kevin Childe said discouraging a citizen from filing a report would be a violation of department policy. But, he said, “being homeless is not a crime.”

Childe said he is unaware of any spike in reports from New Chase or nearby areas.

“I have done data analysis all along the river and I wouldn’t be comfortable attributing crime to the people on the river bed,” he said.

Meanwhile, Fountain Valley officials say they do not have authority over the riverbank. http://www.ocregister.com/2017/08/29/fountain-valley-residents-say-encroaching-homeless-encampment-needs-attention/ 2/4 9/6/2017 Homeless encampment a growing problem for Fountain Valley residents who say police, government ignore – Orange County Register

“The problem we have is that’s county property,” Mayor John Collins said. “If they come into Fountain Valley, then we can enforce laws, that’s for sure.”

The county has been stymied by legal challenges from nonprofits and homeless advocates when it has tried to remove the homeless from the riverbed and other areas.

Most of the homeless moved in near the condo complex after they were required to leave property to the south near the Los Caballeros Sports Village when Orange County Public Works crews began making repairs along the trail.

Wallace Rodecker, managing owner of Los Cab, said his community suffered many of the same problems as New Chase, including vandalism, break-ins and other problems that hadn’t previously been experienced in the area.

According to Rodecker, when the homeless first arrived, they were a sympathetic, older crowd. But that didn’t last.

“Shortly after there was a massive influx,” he said. “They were younger and most were on drugs. At the same time, we saw a massive increase in crime.”

According to Rodecker, four apartment residents moved, one owner sold and about 20 members left the sports club. The club hired extra security to handle the homeless problem.

Although the encampment has moved, Rodecker said he knows it could return.

Julie, a homeless woman who did not want to give her last name, said she has been fighting a losing battle to maintain her sobriety. However, she said she works hard to keep her encampment clean and anonymous.

“I’m not here to party and have a good time,” she said.

Julie and several friends live in a smaller encampment and Julie said she wants to avoid “the drama” with some of her neighbors.

Nearly all the homeless spoken to along the stretch between Edinger Avenue and Harbor Boulevard said they arrived in the area after they were forced to move by the county’s repairs to the river path south of Warner Avenue.

The homeless encampments are in three primary grouping with about 100 tents total. There are dome tents, tarps, one guy has a large “California National Guard” canopy at the entrance to his dwelling.

There are bicycle parts everywhere, litter and clothes. No recyclable bottles or cans, though. Those are currency. Along the riverbank there are bags of garbage awaiting pick-up from the county, which collects the trash.

Alan Black and his wife, Lisa, have an encampment with a living room off their sleeping area and a cooking area in the back. The living room has river rocks, a mantle, love seat and a table with lamp and flowers.

Alan Black said before he lost his home in Midway City not long ago, he had never pitched a tent. He said he collects medical disability and his wife works as a cashier at a discount store.

“We’re not all bad,” Lisa Black said. “We’re not all on drugs.”

However enough are, said the residents of New Chase, to make their lives almost unbearable.

An said the community’s homeowners association is considering options for heightening its fences. He said he would also like to see efforts increased to house the homeless.

Rodecker said campsites should be set up with tents, showers and mail.

“It shouldn’t be Shangri-La, but the county has the land,” he said. “There’s no possibility for someone living on the Santa Ana River to get out of that.”

But some, like Alan Black, are relatively at ease.

Although water and electricity would be nice, he said the riverbank, where the homeless are mostly out of sight, is the best solution.

“What do they want to do,” he asked, “put us in the city?”

Tags: community, homeless, OCR Newsletter, Top Stories OCR

Mellen.Greg Greg Mellen Greg Mellen is a veteran award-winning reporter with more than 30 years experience at papers in California and Missouri. He joined the Register newspapers with the Long Beach Register and now primarily covers Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley. He received http://www.ocregister.com/2017/08/29/fountain-valley-residents-say-encroaching-homeless-encampment-needs-attention/his master's degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and was a faculty member and sports editor at the Columbia 3/4 9/6/2017 Immigration status will not be shared with federal authorities, Alameda leaders say – The Mercury News

BREAKING NEWS The Latest: Ofcial says US can handle Irma relief

NewsCalifornia News 6 Immigration status will not be shared with federal authorities, Alameda leaders say

BANG/archives City of Alameda ofcials have refused to sign paperwork indicating they would cooperate with federal authorities on sharing people’s immigration status.

By PETER HEGARTY | [email protected] | PUBLISHED: September 5, 2017 at 1:58 pm | UPDATED: September 6, 2017 at 4:11 am

ALAMEDA — Alameda ofcials have refused to sign paperwork acknowledging that they would share information on people’s immigration status with federal authorities, saying it would violate the city’s commitment to being a sanctuary city.

The action means Alameda police are not eligible to apply for a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.

This year, Alameda’s funding from the Justice Assistance Grant was expected to be about $11,537, according to city ofcials. Over the past 10 years grants have ranged from $32,139 in 2007 to $12,352 in 2016.

Like the Alameda Journal Facebook page for neighborhood news and conversation from Alameda and beyond.

Sarah Henry, a city spokeswomen, said Tuesday that City Manager Jill Keimach and City Attorney Janet Kern, with concurrence from police Chief Paul Rolleri, refused to sign a grant application because of a new requirement that calls for them to certify that the city would not restrict sending or receiving information regarding citizenship or immigration status. http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/09/05/immigration-status-will-not-be-shared-with-federal-authorities-alameda-leaders-say/?utm_term=Au…The requirement violates a sanctuary city resolution that the City Council adopted in January, the ofcials said. The resolution 1/3 9/6/2017 Immigration status will not be shared with federal authorities, Alameda leaders say – The Mercury News

The requirement violates a sanctuary city resolution that the City Council adopted in January, the ofcials said. The resolution afrmed respect for all individuals, including those who may be in the country illegally.

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Alameda is the rst city in Alameda County to refuse to sign the paperwork. If pending lawsuits from the State of California and City of San Francisco are successful, however, Alameda may be able to receive the grant funds in the future.

The announcement about the grant application came the same day that the Trump administration said it would end an Obama-era program that has protected nearly 800,000 young people from deportation.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who announced the move, described the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program as unconstitutional. But Sessions also gave lawmakers six months to pass other legislation to help undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.

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Peter Hegarty, Peter Hegarty Peter Hegarty is a reporter for the Bay Area News Group. Alameda reporter for  Follow Peter Hegarty @Peter_Hegarty the Bay Area News Group, is photographed for the SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Wordpress ALL ACCESS DIGITAL OFFER FOR JUST 99 CENTS! profile in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Aug. 19, 2016. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/09/05/immigration-status-will-not-be-shared-with-federal-authorities-alameda-leaders-say/?utm_term=Au… 2/3 9/6/2017 Violent confrontations are rising in California, may double 2016 totals – San Bernardino Sun

NEWS Violent confrontations are rising in California, may double 2016 totals

A Trump yells at anti-Trump protesters in a clash in Huntington Beach on March 25, 2017. (File photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

By DEEPA BHARATH | [email protected] | Orange County Register PUBLISHED: September 5, 2017 at 6:59 pm | UPDATED: September 6, 2017 at 7:16 am



Violent and hostile confrontations statewide that resulted in crimes, arrests, signicant property damage, cancellation of a scheduled event or injuries are on track to double in 2017 compared to 2016, according to a report released by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino. http://www.sbsun.com/2017/09/05/increase-in-violent-confrontations-in-southern-california/ 1/3 9/6/2017 Violent confrontations are rising in California, may double 2016 totals – San Bernardino Sun

In California, there were 13 such incidents in all of 2016. But for 2017, by the end of August, there were 15 incidents. Last year, around the same time, there were seven.

This upward trend has been seen not just in Southern California, but statewide, said Brian Levin, the center’s director.

“This is signicant because California is a bellwether state where the number of hate crimes have signicantly increased year to year as have the number of hate incidents,” he said. “Also, with the beginning of the academic year, public universities are faced with the challenge of being able to guarantee rst amendment rights on their campuses.”

The center’s report looks at a number of high-prole events around the Southland including the Make America Great Again rally in Huntington Beach in March when ghts broke out on the sand in Bolsa Chica State Beach between Trump supporters and masked Antifa members who tried to block the march.

In April, students blockaded access to a campus event in protest of conservative commentator Heather Mac Donald, who is known for defending police against Black Lives Matter activists.

In June, Trump supporters and Antifa members clashed again in San Bernardino during an Anti-Sharia March near the site of a terrorist attack on Dec. 2, 2015 at the Inland Regional Center.

Last month, four arrests including one assault were reported in Laguna Beach at the America First! Immigration Rally.

This data isn’t “predictive or diagnostic,” Levin said.

“We’re not just divided, but polarized because folks on different sides of the political spectrum are entrenched in their beliefs and feel fearful of the future,” he said. “We have seen an increase in political rallies in general. We’ve also seen an emboldening of the fringes and they are coming out in large numbers.”

Groups that perpetrate violence — be it white nationalists or the Antifa — are recruiting and mobilizing followers online, Levin said. But the activity is not limited to these two groups, he said.

“California is so big and diverse that our extremists are, too.”

A sampling of what happened this year

March 25: Assaults with sts and use of pepper spray reported at the Make America Great Again rally in Huntington Beach resulted in four arrests all counter-protesters.

Violence Erupts at Pro-Trump Rally in Huntington Beach OC Register  

April 6: Students blocked entry to a speaking event by conservative commentator Heather Mac Donald at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont. Authorities refused to make arrests. However, the college suspended three students for a year and two others for a semester. Mac Donald spoke to a handful of observers and the college live-streamed the event.

May 30: Immigration protesters disrupted Lou Correa’s open house event in Santa Ana, which led to three assault arrests and disruption of a town hall meeting.

June 10: Three arrested at Act for America’s Anti-Sharia March in San Bernardino involving both Trump supporters and members of the Antifa who showed up to protest.

July 15: Two arrests and minor injuries aer Trump supporters and protesters clashed in Hollywood. http://www.sbsun.com/2017/09/05/increase-in-violent-confrontations-in-southern-california/ 2/3 9/6/2017 Violent confrontations are rising in California, may double 2016 totals – San Bernardino Sun

Aug. 20: Four arrests, including an assault, at the America First! Immigration Rally at the Main Beach in Laguna Beach.

Tags: OCR Newsletter, Top Stories IVDB, Top Stories LADN, Top Stories OCR, Top Stories PE, Top Stories RDF, Top Stories Sun

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Deepa Bharath Deepa Bharath covers religion for The Orange County Register and the Southern California Newspaper Group. Her work is focused on how religion, race and ethnicity shape our understanding of what it is to be American and how religion in particular helps inuence public policies, laws and a region's culture. Deepa also writes about race, cultures and social justice issues. She has covered a number of other beats ranging from city government to breaking news for the Register since May 2006. She has received fellowships from the International Women's Media Foundation and the International Center for Journalists to report stories about reconciliation, counter-extremism and peace-building efforts around the world. When she is not working, she loves listening to Indian classical music and traveling with her husband and son.  Follow Deepa Bharath @reporterdeepa

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http://www.sbsun.com/2017/09/05/increase-in-violent-confrontations-in-southern-california/ 3/3 9/6/2017 Audio: Voters don't like California's move to voting centers in place of neighborhood polling places | 89.3 KPCC

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A new study finds that a majority of voters surveyed don't support a move to consolidate locations where people can cast ballots, a cornerstone of an elections overhaul law rolling out starting next year in California.

The University of California, Davis study to be published in full in a few days found 61 percent of Californians do not like the idea of voting centers replacing their neighborhood polling places.

“Change can be difficult or it can be confusing, right, whether it’s big or small,” said researcher Mindy Romero of UC Davis' California Civic Engagement Project, who conducted the study.

Under the new law known as the Voter's Choice Act (or VCA), counties statewide have the option to adopt a new voting system that would eliminate thousands of neighborhood polling locations across the state and replace them with the voting centers scattered throughout each county.

The centers would open for up to 10 days prior to election day. They would give voters more flexibility to vote at any center in their county and the centers would offer services like same-day voter registration — and save the counties money. But some critics say the change from local polling locations to voter centers may be too disruptive and confuse voters.

Los Angeles County, which recently has recorded some of the lowest voter turnout rates in the state, is planning to roll out the vote centers beginning in 2020.

In June, the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted against adopting vote centers, a move that surprised some election watchers and disappointed Secretary of State Alex Padilla, who has supported the elections overhaul.

Padilla said when he first heard of the voting centers, he was skeptical, too, but now he's a believer.

"I think that there’s so many more reforms and voter conveniences that are built into it ... that the voters of Los Angeles, the voters of California are going to love it," he said. http://www.scpr.org/news/2017/08/29/75135/voters-don-t-like-california-s-move-to-voting-cent/ 3/7 9/6/2017 Audio: Voters don't like California's move to voting centers in place of neighborhood polling places | 89.3 KPCC The UC Davis study found that voters who currently vote using mail ballots instead of at neighborhood polling places preferred the vote centers in greater numbers, although a majority still rated the centers unfavorably. Fifty-three percent of voters who vote by mail said they do not like the idea of voting centers versus 71 percent of polling place voters.

The study also found significant demographic differences. As a group, African Americans showed the most dislike for voting centers with 72 percent opposed followed by 65 percent of whites who don't like the idea.

The researchers made several recommendations to election officials following the study. Among them: sustained education efforts will be critical if voters are to accept the changes and not be discouraged from casting ballots.

In most places around the state, every voter will get a ballot in the mail under the new system. But that won’t be the case in L.A. County. During the initial rollout, permanent vote-by-mail voters or those who request mail ballots will get them, but most other voters will not.

"I am optimistic, from the standpoint that the traditional model of voting on a single day between a fixed set of hours at a single location is not consistent with the way the public conducts their business on a day-to-day basis," said Dean Logan, L.A. County's registrar. "I don't think the research raises concerns."

Logan said the L.A. County Board of Supervisors will likely take up formal adoption of the voting changes in late 2018.

The statewide survey covered 1,100 California voters and was conducted in English and Spanish. The margin of error was +/- 2.9 percent.

In 2013, Colorado overhauled its voting system and created voting centers similar to those on the horizon for California. Early research from The Pew Charitable Trusts found the change decreased costs in some cases by about 40 percent and dramatically reduced the need for provisional ballots.

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http://www.scpr.org/news/2017/08/29/75135/voters-don-t-like-california-s-move-to-voting-cent/ 4/7 9/5/2017 Workers: Fear Not the Robot Apocalypse - WSJ

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https://www.wsj.com/articles/workers-fear-not-the-robot-apocalypse-1504631505

ECONOMY Workers: Fear Not the Robot Apocalypse

Automation commonly creates more, and better-paying, jobs than it destroys. A case in point: U.S. retailing

Workers inside Amazon’s Fall River, Mass., fulfillment center. PHOTO: ADAM GLANZMAN FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

By Greg Ip Sept. 5, 2017 1:11 p.m. ET

For retailers, the robot apocalypse isn’t a science-fiction movie. As digital giants swallow a growing share of shoppers’ spending, thousands of stores have closed and tens of thousands of workers have lost their jobs.

Belinda Duperre, who sold jewelry at Sam’s Club in Fall River, Mass., was one. In early 2016, the struggling store closed.

But Ms. Duperre, a lifelong resident of the once-thriving factory town an hour south of Boston, went from victim of the digital revolution to beneficiary. Amazon.com Inc. announced plans to hire 500 full-time workers for a new 1.2-million square foot fulfillment center on the outskirts of town. “I was just dying, waiting for Amazon to open,” she recalls. She was among the center’s first hires last fall; full-time employment has since soared to about 2,000.

Ms. Duperre earns $2 more per hour at Amazon than at Sam’s, in part because she’s a lot more productive. At Sam’s, she served perhaps one to 20 customers a day. At Amazon, she packs 75 to 120 boxes an hour that are then whisked via high-speed automated conveyor belts to fleets of trucks that fan out across the region. The work is more physically demanding, but Ms. Duperre, 54, sees a bright side. “I lost 25 pounds working here,” she says. “This is a free gym membership.”

The brick-and-mortar retail swoon has been accompanied by a less headline-grabbing e- commerce boom that has created more jobs in the U.S. than traditional stores have cut. Those jobs, in turn, pay better, because its workers are so much more productive.

This demonstrates something routinely overlooked in the anxiety about the job- destroying potential of robots, artificial intelligence and other forms of automation. Throughout history, automation commonly creates more, and better-paying, jobs than it destroys. The reason: Companies don’t use automation simply to produce the same https://www.wsj.com/articles/workers-fear-not-the-robot-apocalypse-1504631505 1/6 9/5/2017 Workers: Fear Not the Robot Apocalypse - WSJ

thing more cheaply. Instead, they find ways to offer entirely new, improved products. As customers flock to these new offerings, companies have to hire more people.

In the Amazon facility’s packing area, computers tell workers precisely which size box to use. PHOTO: ADAM GLANZMAN FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

“Robot apocalypse” is a modern expression, but the underlying anxiety goes back centuries. In 1589 Queen Elizabeth I refused to grant the inventor of a mechanical knitting machine a patent for fear of putting manual knitters out of work. In 1930 the British economist John Maynard Keynes warned of “technological unemployment…due to our discovery of means of economizing the use of labor outrunning the pace at which we can find new uses for labor.”

Those fears have repeatedly proven baseless. James Bessen, an economist at Boston University School of Law, has found in numerous episodes when technology was supposed to annihilate jobs, the opposite occurred. After the first automated tellers were installed in the 1970s, an executive at Wells, Fargo & Co. predicted ATMs would lead to fewer branches with even fewer staff. And indeed, the average branch used one- third fewer workers in 2004 than in 1988. But, Mr. Bessen found, ATMs made it much cheaper to operate a branch so banks opened more: Total branches rose 43% over that time.

Today, banks employ more tellers than in 1980 and their duties have expanded to things ATMs can’t do such as “relationship banking.”

Mr. Bessen witnessed this sort of transformation personally. In 1983 he created an early desktop publishing program, which made typesetting and graphical design vastly simpler and cheaper. Shortly after Sears purchased his program in 1989, its catalog operation laid off 100 employees, he recalls, and he worried, “are we shafting a bunch of people with this product?”

But some customers used his software to increase the number and variety of their publications. The supermarket chain A&P used Mr. Bessen’s software to publish 30 or 40 versions of its weekly circular for Atlanta, with different promotions aimed at different neighborhoods. Mr. Bessen found that typesetting and compositor jobs fell about 100,000 over the 1980s, but from 1979 to 2007 the number of designers more than quadrupled to 800,000, making up for the loss many times over.

Not until an industry has fully satiated demand for its products, as has happened in automobiles, does automation start to chip away at overall employment.

The process is still disruptive, of course: The people thrown out of work by automation are seldom the same people employed in the new industries that automation makes possible. But over time, the net effect is consistently positive.

Even economists and technologists who know the history worry that this time is different because today’s technological advances can do things long thought to be the preserve of human beings. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has suggested taxing robots to slow their job-destroying potential. Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk wants the government to regulate artificial intelligence.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/workers-fear-not-the-robot-apocalypse-1504631505 2/6 9/5/2017 Workers: Fear Not the Robot Apocalypse - WSJ And yet evidence of the feared Human Bankers Hold the Line apocalypse remains elusive, As the number of ATMs rose, so did the number while evidence of the opposite of bank branches, so the ranks of tellers abounds. In many cities it is expanded. cheaper and easier to order a car from Uber or Lyft than a Bank tellers ATMs taxi, and as a result the 500 volume of rides and drivers thousands has shot up. Between 2015 and the first half of 2017, yellow cab rides in New York City 400 declined by roughly 75,000 but total rides on Uber and Lyft rose by roughly 210,000, according to Taxi and 300 Limousine Commission figures aggregated by Todd Schneider, a blogger. This suggests ride sharing has 200 uncovered new demand by making car rides cheaper and easier to find, especially outside Manhattan where taxis are much harder to hail. 100

Retail is easily the largest U.S. industry now facing digital disruption and yet there is 0 strong evidence e-commerce 1970 ’80 ’90 2000 ’10 hasn’t reduced overall employment and has likely Source: James Bessen, Boston University School of added to it. It is true that thousands of stores have closed. Between the end of 2007 and the middle of 2017, brick-and-mortar retailers lost the equivalent of 140,000 full-time jobs, according to a forthcoming report by Michael Mandel, chief economic strategist at the Progressive Policy Institute, a think tank. Electronic shopping jobs rose by only 126,000 in the same period.

But, Mr. Mandel notes, that excludes many jobs at fulfillment centers such as Fall River, which the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics tends to count in warehousing and storage. He notes that Kentucky had just 3,213 e-commerce workers in 2016 according to the BLS, yet Amazon employs more than 12,000 there. Warehousing has added 274,000 jobs nationwide since 2007. Mr. Mandel argues all of those are attributable to fulfillment centers and that thus total e-commerce employment has grown 401,000, nearly three times the brick-and-mortar drop. Mr. Mandel finds that fulfillment centers pay on average 31% better than brick and mortar stores in the same county.

All this raises important questions. If online retailers, based on sales per employee, are much more productive than regular retailers, how can they on net add to total retail employment? And how can they both pay more and keep prices low?

The answer is complicated. In fact, total retail employment might have grown faster absent e-commerce. In a highly critical report of Amazon last fall, the nonprofit Institute for Local Self-Reliance argued that the firm’s higher productivity meant retail employment is 149,000 lower than if it had never come along.

But the main reason is that e-commerce doesn’t simply sell the same product as a store at a lower price. It enables customers to peruse a vast array of products and select precisely the one they want and have it delivered in a day or two, saving the time, cost and inconvenience of visiting multiple stores. Mr. Mandel estimates e-commerce has saved the average adult 15 minutes a week. Just as Uber and Lyft uncovered hidden https://www.wsj.com/articles/workers-fear-not-the-robot-apocalypse-1504631505 3/6 9/5/2017 Workers: Fear Not the Robot Apocalypse - WSJ demand for rides, e-commerce E-Commerce Taketh Away & Giveth has uncovered hidden demand The e-commerce sector has created more jobs since for shopping from home. the end of 2007 than brick-and-mortar retailers have These features don’t lost. necessarily add to the price, any more than improvements E-commerce to cars and appliances do. Brick-and- Nonetheless, e-commerce 400 thousand mortar results in people consuming more retail services, once you 200 adjust for this improved quality, than in the pre-online 0 era.

And often, consumers do pay –200 for this convenience. John Blackledge, an analyst at –400 Cowen & Co., estimates that 42% of U.S. households, 53 –600 million in total, are members of Amazon Prime, which entitles them to one- to two- –800 day delivery, or same-day delivery in some cities, plus a – growing list of other perks for 1,000 $99 a year. Prime members – typically order twice as often 1,200 ’08 ’10’09 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14 ’15 ’16 ’17 as non-Prime customers, according to Mr. Blackledge. Note: Full-time equivalent employment, three-month To spur demand, e-commerce average. E-commerce includes electronic shopping companies use their greater and mail-order houses; and warehousing and efficiency to absorb more of storage.Source: Michael Mandel, Progressive Policy Institute the delivery costs. Amazon u s e s t h e

Items that are ready for shipment ride a conveyor belt. PHOTO: ADAM GLANZMAN FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

margin it earns on goods to build and operate the logistics needed to profitably serve customers.

The breadth of that investment becomes apparent on a visit to the Fall River center, which handles large, irregularly shaped items such as appliances, bicycles, tires and even a boat anchor.

When a crate of frying pans arrives, employees don’t stack them in a designated shelf for frying pans. Rather, they stow each pan individually wherever it fits. Each pan’s location is scanned into Amazon’s inventory and becomes instantly available to any customer on the internet. When a customer orders the frying pan, Amazon’s software searches across the company’s more than 70 fulfillment centers for the one that can be delivered most cheaply, or most quickly. If it’s located at the top of one of the 34-foot tall storage racks in a particular aisle of this center, the order shows up on the scanning gun of the nearest https://www.wsj.com/articles/workers-fear-not-the-robot-apocalypse-1504631505 4/6 9/5/2017 Workers: Fear Not the Robot Apocalypse - WSJ “picker.” The picker’s forklift, guided by sensors communicating with wires in the floor, will lift him or her to the precise bin where the object is located.

Pickers transport those items in metal cages to the packing area, where computers tell packers precisely which size box to use, or transmits its dimensions to other devices that cut boxes out to customized size. Once packed by Ms. Duperre and her colleagues, a box flies down a conveyor belt, over a scale that double checks its weight and contents, then under a scanner that prints and affixes a delivery label. Several hundred feet and a few seconds later, the boxes are automatically nudged off the conveyor belt in front of the truck destined for the customer’s town.

A worker builds custom-sized boxes at the Amazon fulfillment center. PHOTO: ADAM GLANZMAN FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Humans are used throughout the process in what are often physically demanding activities, but Amazon’s technology vastly multiplies how many items each can pick, pack and ship, all of which shaves minutes and costs off delivery. Incremental improvements and a growing network of fulfillment centers filter through to customers such as the ability to order as late as 11:59 p.m. and still qualify for two-day delivery.

It isn’t skilled work, and the wages reflect that. The starting salary at Fall River is $13.05 to $13.55 per hour. But including overtime, the Amazon shares every new employee receives, and benefits such as tuition aid, annual compensation is comparable to what local textile mills once paid, according to Kenneth Fiola, executive vice president of the city’s economic development office. It’s also more than traditional retail, which typically pays the state minimum wage of $11.

“The vast majority of our workforce never had experience in a warehouse, never had any experience driving a forklift or powered industrial equipment, and we provide them that skill and training, we teach them the new retail,” says Andrew Sweatman, general manager at the fulfillment center.

Like Ms. Duperre, Tarrah Tripp also used to work in retail, as a cake decorator at a family-run grocery. At Amazon, she operates custom box-cutting machinery for awkwardly shaped items. It isn’t high-tech, but it uses more technology than her last job, she says, “unless you think cutting bread is technology intensive.” The pay is a bit better and she gets a full week’s worth of hours in four days, which gives her three days off every week. She doesn’t intend to spend her career here, and soon plans to train as a veterinary technician, for which Amazon will help pay the tuition.

For Fall River, Amazon’s arrival is bittersweet. While courting infamy—Lizzie Borden was accused of murdering her father and stepmother here—the city became a bustling center for textile manufacturing. The mills were a magnet to uneducated immigrants from France, Portugal and Poland and their children.

As recently as 1991, the city boasted 20,000 manufacturing jobs. But by 2015, that had fallen below 4,000, according to Mr. Fiola, as jobs were outsourced to the south and then overseas, or were automated. Unemployment is above 6%, higher than both the national and state average. Though Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump in surrounding Bristol County by 9 percentage points last fall, that was one her worst showings in the solidly blue state and less than half Barack Obama’s winning margin four years earlier. https://www.wsj.com/articles/workers-fear-not-the-robot-apocalypse-1504631505 5/6 9/5/2017 Workers: Fear Not the Robot Apocalypse - WSJ City leaders rolled out the red carpet for Amazon with generous tax incentives and a prime location on Innovation Way. Its arrival was the single biggest job creation event anyone could remember.

Fall River Mayor Jasiel F. Correia II says Amazon fills a gap left by layoffs in the textile industry. PHOTO: ADAM GLANZMAN FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

“We had people with a skill set that was nontransferable,” says Jasiel F. Correia II, Fall River’s 25-year-old mayor and a first-generation child of immigrants from the former Portuguese territory of Cape Verde. “Where does a person who sewed textiles for 20 years go if they’re laid off? Places such as Amazon fill that gap,” he says. “They got a chance to work for a Fortune 500 company. This community doesn’t get those chances very often.”

While the e-commerce job boom is real, the question is whether it will last. Amazon and its ilk continue to seek ways to automate fulfillment. The company is exploring using drones, rather than people, to deliver packages, and is studying driverless vehicle technology. In 2012 Amazon bought robot manufacturer Kiva Systems, and it is working on robots to replace pickers.

Yet the day when Amazon needs fewer humans still appears far off. Its volume is growing so quickly it is adding employees. Thus far, the key benefit of robots deployed in Amazon’s fulfillment center in Baltimore is to reduce the demand for space, not labor: Inventory can be stored more closely together since robots now take items to where the pickers are, instead of pickers walking the aisles. The Baltimore center employs more than 3,500, up from 2,500 when it opened in 2015. At a one-day nationwide jobs fair last month, Amazon accepted 100,000 applications and has already made 40,000 job offers.

Write to Greg Ip at [email protected]

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Opinion | OP-ED CONTRIBUTORS How Local Housing Regulations Smother the U.S. Economy

By CHANG-TAI HSIEH and ENRICO MORETTI SEPT. 6, 2017 If you live in a coastal city like New York, Boston or San Francisco, you know that the cost of housing has skyrocketed. This housing crisis did not happen by chance: Increasingly restrictive land-use regulations in the last half-century contributed to it.

But what appears to be several local housing crises is actually a much more alarming national crisis: Land-use restrictions are a significant drag on economic growth in the United States.

The creeping web of these regulations has smothered wage and gross domestic product growth in American cities by a stunning 50 percent over the past 50 years. Without these regulations, our research shows, the United States economy today would be 9 percent bigger — which would mean, for the average American worker, an additional $6,775 in annual income.

For most of the 20th century, workers moved to areas where new industries and opportunities were emerging. This was the locomotive behind American prosperity. Agricultural workers moved from the countryside to booming cities like Pittsburgh and Detroit. In the Great Migration, some six million African-Americans left the South for manufacturing jobs in cities like Chicago and Buffalo.

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What allowed this relocation to places with good-paying jobs that lifted the standard of living for families? Affordable housing.

Today, this locomotive of prosperity has broken down. Finance and high-tech companies in cities like New York, Boston, Seattle and San Francisco find it difficult to hire because of the high cost of housing. When an unemployed worker in Detroit today finds a well-paying job in San Francisco, she often cannot afford the cost of housing there.

New housing construction in America’s most dynamic cities faces growing regulatory costs, delays and enormous opposition from neighboring homeowners. Since the 1970s, a property-rights revolution — what critics call Nimbyism, from “not in my back yard” — has significantly reduced the development of new housing stock, especially in cities where the economy is strongest.

Look at Silicon Valley. It has some of the most productive labor in the nation, and some of the highest-paying jobs, but remarkably low density because of land-use regulations. Surface parking lots, one-story buildings and underutilized plots of land are still remarkably common because of increasingly draconian zoning restrictions. Building anything taller than three stories, even on empty lots next to a train station, draws protests from homeowners.

And once a project is approved, it faces an endless series of appeals and lawsuits that can add years of delay. Appeals are remarkably easy and affordable to file and can be done anonymously. This basically gives every neighbor a veto over every new project, regardless of how desirable the project might be. It’s as if BlackBerry had veto power over whether Apple should be allowed to sell a new iPhone.

In the case of the Treasure Island housing project in San Francisco — a model of sustainable development that took over 15 years of planning review and community engagement to secure approval — one lawsuit halted progress for three years.

To make things worse, well-intentioned regulations are often used by neighborhood groups to further delay projects. The California Environmental Quality Act, for example, was written to protect green areas from pollution and degradation from large industrial projects, like new refineries or power plants. Its

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main effect today is making urban housing more expensive. It has added millions of dollars of extra costs to a sorely needed high-rise on an empty parking lot on Market Street in downtown San Francisco.

The Bay Area’s hills, beaches and parks are part of the area’s attractions, but there is enough underused land within its urban core that the number of housing units could be greatly increased without any harm to those natural amenities. To be clear, we are not advocating unconstrained suburban sprawl like Houston’s, with all its negative environmental consequences. We are talking about building on existing parking lots or on lots with single-story buildings near transit, not in Golden Gate Park.

Similar constraints exist in other economically vibrant cities. The Wharton Residential Land Use Regulatory Index indicates that America’s strongest economies are also those where it is most difficult to build new housing.

More housing in a region like Silicon Valley or Boston would raise the income and standard of living of American workers across the nation. The cost for the country of too-stringent housing regulations in high-wage, high-productivity cities in forgone gross domestic product is $1.4 trillion. That is the equivalent of losing New York State’s gross domestic product.

Because of the prohibitive cost of housing caused by these regulations, innovative companies in Silicon Valley and Boston do not grow as much as they could, and new businesses do not get created. This means slower economic growth, fewer jobs and lower wages across the nation.

To fix this, the federal government or state governments should keep municipalities from abusing land-use regulations to keep out newcomers. The California Legislature, for example, is debating a bill that would significantly curtail municipalities’ ability to delay urban housing projects that meet certain planning and environmental standards.

Housing constraints also highlight the critical importance of investing in regional networks of public transportation that link high-paying job markets to areas with lower-cost housing. For example, the high-speed train under construction in

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California will connect cities in the Central Valley — Sacramento, Modesto, Fresno, Bakersfield — to high-wage jobs in the Bay Area. This will allow the number of workers benefiting from the strong San Francisco economy to increase overnight without changing the Bay Area’s existing housing supply.

The benefits of these investments are apparent in other countries. The metropolitan areas of London and Tokyo are illustrative: The cities’ housing costs are significantly above the British and Japanese averages, but thanks to public transportation networks, workers have access to their remarkable economic dynamism. In fact, the economies of Britain and Japan are significantly larger because of the transportation network.

There is a lot of debate in Washington about the costs of regulations for economic growth. Exclusionary land-use regulations in our most dynamic labor markets impose demonstrable high costs on our nation’s economic well-being.

Reforming these regulations through smart growth policies is a policy that should appeal to both Democrats and Republicans. The primary beneficiaries would be America’s middle-class workers.

Chang-Tai Hsieh is a professor of economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Enrico Moretti, a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley, is the author of “The New Geography of Jobs.”

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U.S. In Houston, a Terrifying Real-Life Lesson for Disaster-Prone Cities

By ADAM NAGOURNEY and JESS BIDGOOD SEPT. 5, 2017 LOS ANGELES — Cities across the country that live with the threat of disaster — from earthquakes in San Francisco to hurricanes in Miami — are anxiously watching the catastrophe unfolding in Houston for lessons learned, cautionary tales, anything to soften the blow when their residents are the ones in danger.

“We know we are racing against the clock,” said Elaine Forbes, the executive director of the Port of San Francisco, her office buttressed by a century-old sea wall that could collapse in an earthquake. “Seeing Houston stoked the fire.”

Emergency disaster officials in cities like Baltimore, Boston and Seattle have spent the last week and a half monitoring how Texan government officials and storm-affected residents are responding to a crisis that destroyed homes and disrupted electricity, drinking water and communications.

The causes might be different, but the devastation and social disruption can be similar from disaster to disaster. As such, Houston is offering other cities a real-life run-through of their own emergency plans as well as a stark reminder of the inevitability of such events.

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“We look at this and realize that while they might be under water, we someday will be under crumbled buildings,” said Eric M. Garcetti, the mayor of Los Angeles. “And it will take years, if not decades, to rebuild.”

James Redick, the director of emergency preparedness and response in Norfolk, Va., a city that has found itself vulnerable to hurricanes over the years, said he watched the water rise in Houston and began worrying about his own city’s plans to rebuild after a cataclysmic flood.

“I keep asking myself, is our recovery plan good enough for when you essentially have to start over?” Mr. Redick said.

Speaking before Hurricane Irma set its sights on South Florida, Juvenal Santana, Miami’s director of public works, expressed relief last week that his city was not the one in distress. “I’d be lying if I said we are not thankful that we are not sitting here talking about having had the storm come through Miami,” he said.

In Chicago, a city that lives under the threat of tornadoes, blizzards and overflowing rivers, officials watched the Houston response in search of new ways to guide a major population center through a crisis.

“I’m shooting notes over to my guys who work in emergency management and saying, ‘Hey, when was the last time we updated our shelters?” said Alicia Tate- Nadeau, executive director of Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications. “Do we have a plan to put computers in our shelters, along with phone-charging banks?’”

Some of the lessons, officials said, have been encouraging, in particular the initial willingness of Republicans in Washington, some of whom famously resisted providing assistance after Hurricane Sandy pummeled New York and New Jersey in 2012, to approve the billions of dollars that will be needed to rebuild.

But for many emergency response leaders in major cities, Houston has also been a disturbing reminder of how even the best emergency plans are often not up to the task.

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“It makes you realize, these megastorms, if you haven’t been hit by one, your worst-case scenario is nowhere near a true worst-case scenario,” said Daniel J. Kelly, the executive director of the New Jersey Office of Recovery and Rebuilding, as he recalled his state’s struggle to respond to Hurricane Sandy.

In Seattle, which has been bracing for a long-overdue and potentially devastating earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the Pacific Coast, officials said Houston has underscored what they have been trying to instill into residents, police and fire agencies and hospitals: assume that nothing will work, from communications systems to roads and electricity grids.

“They need to have themselves ready to be on their own, just like an awful lot of folks are stranded and on their own down in Texas,” said Barb Graff, Seattle’s emergency management director.

For city officials who would have to manage these kind of crises, Houston has been a reminder of one of the toughest parts of their jobs. Martin J. Walsh, the mayor of Boston, told a radio audience that a storm of that magnitude would leave the city “wiped out.”

“It’s made me take a real serious look at how we would handle a storm,” Mr. Walsh said in an interview. “Hopefully a lot of cities and towns around America take their time and pay attention to what’s happening.”

Mr. Walsh said he had talked with the city’s water and sewer engineer about how much rain Boston could absorb without flooding, and had considered which neighborhoods might need to be evacuated. He said the city only had access to 7,200 cots, far fewer than he feared would be necessary in the event of massive flooding.

“Our financial district is pretty much on the coast,” Mr. Walsh said. And a number of the city’s neighborhoods, he added, are on the water.

Across Miami and other Florida cities, like Tampa and Orlando, Harvey ushered in a common refrain: There but for the grace of God. Like Houston, Miami is flat and has gobbled up wetlands like the Everglades and coastal stretches to build and build. The more a city has been paved over, the greater the chance of flooding.

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There has typically been an uptick in disaster preparation in the immediate aftermath of a catastrophe – the 1994 Northridge earthquake here prompted many people to stockpile water and batteries, and some cities passed laws requiring vulnerable buildings to install reinforcing walls and pillars. That was just as typically followed by a return to normal behavior as the memory of the disaster faded.

But Lucy Jones, who served for 33 years as a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Service, and was recruited by Mr. Garcetti as his top earthquake adviser, said the reaction to Houston this week has led her to believe that has changed because of the ability of people across the world to feel the disaster up close through arresting images on their mobile phones.

“This will increase public awareness,” she said. “All of these gripping pictures of people in their flooded houses — we are looking at it in real time — is a change in the emotional reaction that I had seen in the past. Think about it: What can you tell me about Hurricane Camille?”

She suggested that events in Houston would thus provide the same kind of motivation to people in Southern California to prepare for the worst as a series of minor temblors did here in 2014.

Scott Ashley, 46, who works the Los Angeles Unified School District, said he remembered the earthquake of 1994, and that in the days since the flooding began in Houston, he had refreshed the emergency kit he had set up to help his family survive the next one.

“We are very ready,” he said. “We have our emergency kits, we have our evacuation plans, M.R.E.’s, water, kits for tents, warm weather supplies, storage space for materials, a kit that will take care of our family for at least 3 days.”

And Los Angeles got a reminder this weekend of the kind of disasters it might have to deal with beyond earthquakes, as wildfires broke out in parts of the city, destroying three homes and closing down a highway as temperatures soared above 100 degrees.

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Walt Hubbard, the emergency manager for King County, which includes Seattle, said the Texas experience has demonstrated that many disasters can go on for weeks or even months, and that residents should be prepared for the long haul.

For Sam Liccardo, the mayor of San Jose, Houston reinforced the need for shelters evenly spread across the city and powerful but portable pumps, which his aides are now looking to purchase. “Nothing motivates action like the dreadful disaster that we see in Houston,” Mr. Liccardo said. “You can only hope that we all collectively learn and better prepare.”

Dr. Irwin Redlener, the director of National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, said emergency officials in New York state and city government were watching Houston to see how the storm affected high-security plants where dangerous chemicals and pathogens are stored.

“We are all questioning if they are secure enough,” he said. “New Yorkers have no problem imagining that any kind of man-made or natural disaster is not out of the question since we have seen both kind of events.”

Alex Padilla, the California secretary of state and a former state senator who helped push through financing for an early-alert statewide system for earthquakes, said that even though this was a different kind of event in a different state, it could only help efforts here to encourage people to prepare.

“It triggers memories of the Bay Area quake or the Northridge quake, he said, adding that Harvey has prompted many to ask, “Are we ready? Are we prepared?”

Adam Nagourney reported from Los Angeles, and Jess Bidgood from Boston. Contributing reporting were Lizette Alvarez from Miami, Nicholas Corasaniti and Mark Santora from New York, Thomas Fuller from San Francisco, Kirk Johnson from Seattle, Mitch Smith from Chicago, and Louis Keene from Los Angeles

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