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Crosscurrents

Daily news roundup for Thursday, November 5, 2015

California Air Resources Board via Creative Commons
Governor Jerry Brown

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

California revs up for Paris climate-change summit // LA Times

"In the wonky world of climate change, California’s presence at the United Nations summit in Paris next month is expected to be a star-studded affair.

There will be an actual movie star, former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who jump-started some of the state’s most ambitious efforts to slow global warming. Also in the mix is Tom Steyer, the billionaire Bay Area environmental activist who has bankrolled political campaigns around the country.

And there is the official state delegation led by Gov. Jerry Brown, who has sought to make the battle against climate change a central part of his legacy."

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SFPD Once Again Blames Cyclist For Own Death, City Refuses To Release Video Of Accident // SFist

"In what is becoming a tragic pattern, SFPD has once again blamed a cyclist for his own death. Simultaneously, the city has refused to release video that may shine light on the circumstances that resulted in the October 11th crash and death of 47-year-old Mark Heryer.

This is not the first time SFPD has hurried to blame a cyclist in their own death. The most notorious incident of which might be the case of 24-year-old Amelie Le Moullac, who was run over by a truck in SoMa in August of 2013. In that case, the driver was only found to be at fault for illegally driving into the bike lane after the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition canvassed the neighborhood and found footage of the incident — something SFPD had been unable or unwilling to do."

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Oakland council votes to drop daily parking passes to $5// SF Gate

"Months after approving an 800 percent increase in visitor parking rates, a move that prompted heavy criticism, the Oakland City Council voted to decrease the parking fees.

On July 1, the city raised the cost of daylong parking passes to $9 in neighborhoods with residential permits, a significant jump from the previous $1 fee. Two-week permits went up to $25, five times the previous rate of $5."

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Local tax, bond measures fare well // Sacramento Bee

"Local tax and bond issue measures fared well in California’s off-year election his week, albeit with a socioeconomic and/or geographic differential.

Voters in affluent metropolitan and suburban communities were especially willing to pay more taxes and authorize more bond spending, but those in poorer rural areas were less so, especially if they required two-thirds approval margins."

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California crime laws are due for an overhaul, Gov. Jerry Brown says // LA Times

"Gov. Jerry Brown used a forum for federal judges Wednesday to make the case in strong terms that California's crime laws have gone too far and inmate behavior should play a greater role in determining the length of a prison stay.

Over the course of half an hour, he outlined his belief that the fixed-length criminal sentences he approved as governor three decades ago have glutted state prisons with long-stay offenders."

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World's greatest cat painting, commissioned by S.F. woman in 1800s, sold for $826,000 // SF Gate

"In 1891, San Francisco millionaire Kate Birdsall Johnson commissioned an artist to paint 42 of her favorite cats. The finished product was six feet by eight feet, 200 pounds and the greatest cat painting in the world.

In the years since its creation, the painting has been displayed at a World's Fair, survived the earthquake and fire of 1906 and sent on a tour around the country. On Tuesday, Sotheby's put the work up for auction where it was purchased by an anonymous cat lover for $826,000, more than half a million over the estimated value."

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