© 2024 KALW 91.7 FM Bay Area
KALW Public Media / 91.7 FM Bay Area
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Daily news roundup for Monday, November 3, 2015

Kate Ter Haar/
/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/katerha

Here's what's happening in the Bay Area, as curated by KALW news:

Battle of the Bags: Plastic bag makers introduce 'poison pill' // The Oakland Tribune

"Next year's election is still more than a year away, but the battle over California's landmark ban of single-use plastic bags is already shaping up to be the most costly, high-profile fight over litter and recycling the state has seen in three decades.

"Out-of-state bag makers leading the campaign to repeal a 2014 law banning their product spent $3 million on signature gathering alone -- and in a surprise move recently filed another initiative on the same topic, a highly unusual strategy that appears to be the political equivalent of a trick play in football."

-----

Safe Campus Act denounced by US senators, UC Berkeley students// The Daily Californian

"The National Panhellenic Conference, or NPC, and the North-American Interfraternity Conference, or NIC, have expressed support for a federjal bill put forward in the U.S. House of Representatives that would require investigations of sexual assault on campuses to include law enforcement.

"The bill, the Safe Campus Act — introduced by U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Arizona — is intended to protect the due process rights of both survivors and defendants. It requires that survivors report incidents of sexual assault to local authorities before the college or university can discipline a student accused of sexual assault."

-----

African Immigrants Express Frustration Over Driver's License Hurdles // New America Media

"African immigrants in the Bay Area are upset that many of them have to go through a secondary review process in order to apply for a California driver’s license under AB 60.

"But DMV officials say the reason some countries don’t appear on the list of acceptable passports has to do with security requirements, not geography."

-----

Ministers Want to Also Make a Joyful Noise for Jobs, Affordable Housing and Schools// The Oakland Post

"Since the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church and its pastor, Thomas A. Harris, III have received notoriety from the complaints about their church sounds, many churches, pastors and community groups have offered their prayers and support for their Joyful Noise Celebration at the church on Nov. 7.

"Harris announced that Post Publisher Paul Cobb and ministers, including Elder Ron Rosson, Elder D.J Williams, Pastors Anthony Jenkins, Ray Williams, Ulysses Barton, Kevin Barnes, Ken Chambers, Pleasant Grove Church Gerald Agee, Jay Matthews, Lawrence VanHook, James Watkins and Zachery Carey and Bishop Keith Lee Clark, have said they will erect an outdoor stage for music, provide portable toilets, serve food and offer a kid’s play space as well as room for organizations offering aid to residents."

-----

Marin’s assemblyman wants to legalize ‘ballot selfies’ in California// Marin Independent Journal

"Assemblyman Marc Levine is proposing turning the secret ballot into the social ballot in California.
On election eve, Levine, D-San Rafael, announced he will shortly introduce legislation to legalize the taking of 'ballot selfies' - digital images of completed ballots taken in the privacy of the voting booth.

"'I've been taking ballot selfies since I began taking my children to the polls with me,' Levine said. 'I and many of my friends share our ballots on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as we vote at home or are at a voting booth.'"

-----

Oaxacan singer set for SF Symphony debut at Día de los Muertos// El Tecolote

"During Día de los Muertos celebrations throughout Mexico, people flock to cemeteries to gift their dead relatives with things that they once enjoyed in life; some offerings include food and mariachis or the favorite music of the deceased.

"American-Mexican singer Lila Downs decided to use her music as an offering for this year’s Día de los Muertos celebration at the San Francisco Symphony."

 

Edwin Okong’o is an African-born award-winning writer, journalist, humorist and satirist. He has worked as an associate editor and communications director at New America Media, and a reporter for PBS’s Frontline/World. “Kenya: Sweet Home, Obama,” a documentary he made about Kenyans and the 2008 U.S. presidential elections for the PBS program, was voted the People’s Voice at the 2009 Webby Awards. He teaches at the University of California, Berkeley, where he graduated from in 2007 with a Master's degree in journalism.