10-16: Trump: "California is going to hell. Vote Trump!"

✅Christian College Faculty Aren't Lining Up for Trump 

Reflecting new polling that indicates college-educated white evangelicals are moving away from supporting Trump, many on Christian campuses are struggling to back him. 

—Inside Higher Ed 

     …But while recent polls show Trump continues to hold a wide lead over Democrat Joe Biden among religious voters, a bad sign for the president is that some of his support is slipping, including among white evangelicals who, like the faculty at Christian colleges, have a college education. 

     At the nation’s Christian colleges, a number of professors described in interviews this week their struggle to reconcile their support for a president moving toward ending abortion with their discomfort, and even spiritual revulsion, over him.

✅President Donald Trump coming to Orange County for private fundraiser 

Tech mogul Palmer Luckey slated to host event at his Newport Beach home, as latest fundraising numbers show Trump falling behind Joe Biden. 

—OC Reg 

✅Trump, Biden clash in distant, dueling town halls 

The prime-time network events replaced the canceled second scheduled presidential debate and reflected jarring differences between the candidates. 

—WashPo 

✅Savannah Guthrie grilled Trump as few have done, taking heat off NBC for its town hall 

The network was criticized for accommodating Trump after he rejected a debate. But then the “Today” host started asking him questions. 

—WashPo 

✅Trump administration blocks California wildfire relief -- The Trump administration has rejected California’s request for disaster relief funds aimed at cleaning up the damage from six recent fires across the state, including Los Angeles County’s Bobcat fire, San Bernardino County’s El Dorado fire, and the Creek fire, one of the largest that continues to burn in Fresno and Madera counties. Andrew J. Campa in the Los Angeles Times$ Dustin Gardiner in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/16/20 

Norma Shearer (1902-1983)

✅Trump’s immigration changes will affect California long after he’s gone -- It was a Monday morning in Washington less than three weeks from the November presidential election, and with the first day of Senate hearings for his Supreme Court pick and more than 210,000 Americans having died from COVID-19, President Trump tweeted: “California is going to hell. Vote Trump!” Molly O’Toole in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/15/20 

✅Schools shouldn’t reopen without adequate safeguards, California voters say -- Most California voters want schools to require safeguards like face masks, proper ventilation and social distancing in classrooms, and Covid-19 testing and tracing before schools return for in-person instruction, according to poll released Thursday by the California Teachers Association. Diana Lambert EdSource -- 10/16/20 

✅President Trump’s town hall turns contentious; Joe Biden focuses on policy -- As President Trump angrily refused to disavow the QAnon conspiracy theory or accept responsibility for the surge of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S., Joe Biden laid out his policy plans in a more muted style on a separate stage. Evan Halper, Eli Stokols, Melanie Mason, Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/16/20 

✅White House was warned Giuliani was target of Russian intelligence operation to feed misinformation to Trump -- U.S. intelligence agencies warned the White House last year that President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani was the target of an influence operation by Russian intelligence, according to four former officials familiar with the matter. Shane Harris, Ellen Nakashima, Greg Miller and Josh Dawsey in the Washington Post$ -- 10/16/20 

✅Trump’s Combative Town-Hall Event Stands in Stark Contrast With Biden’s 

—NYT 

✅Slamming Trump, G.O.P. Senator Warns of a ‘Republican Blood Bath’ 

—NYT 

✅Permanent Budget Cuts Are Coming 

—CHE 

✅Right-Wing Trolls Attacked Me. My Administration Buckled. 

On the cravenness and cowardice of the corporate university. 

—CHE

10-15: California GOP says it won’t remove unofficial ballot boxes; U.S. College Enrollment in Steep Decline; community colleges particularly worrisome

Lily Elsie (1886-1962)

✅County Political Parties as Money Laundering Vehicles for Politicians 

—Voice of OC 

     A new money laundering investigation in Orange County is highlighting a statewide pattern of county political parties acting as money conduits to candidates, in ways that have led to multiple fines for concealing the true source of money and evading contribution limits. 

     Earlier this month, state authorities launched a probe into Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do and the Orange County Republican Party, focusing on whether they illegally steered over $22,000 last month to Do’s campaign through the Orange County Republican Party without disclosing the true source. 

. . . 

     Political parties aren’t subject to the contribution limits that candidates are, and they generally can donate unlimited amounts directly to the campaign of a state candidate. But they can’t be used to launder specific contributions – known as earmarking – while hiding the original source of money. 

     That’s where county-level parties have gotten in trouble. 

. . . 

     “It’s nothing new to try to avoid limits by earmarking money…by laundering it through another committee,” said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School who specializes in election law. 

     “I think what it comes down to is it’s an illegal end run around limitations. And the limitations are there to prevent actual corruption, the appearance of corruption, and to provide the public with the information about the funds used to support candidates, so that they can make an informed decision,” she added. 

     “I think it’s a really tempting way for actors to try and essentially wash money through the system and get it to the [candidate] that they really want to support.” 

     It’s not a subject party officials are eager to talk about. The chairs of Orange County’s Republican and Democratic parties didn’t return phone messages seeking comment, nor did the state-level parties…. 

✅California GOP: Ballot box strategy is bigger than previously reported 

Republicans have removed "official" labels from boxes but say they'll continue using them, even as a state-mandated deadline to stop approaches. 

—OC Reg 

✅Even in places where most voters use mail ballots, Democrats are already voting more heavily

—WashPo

✅More than 1 million California ballots already cast, shattering records -- Election day is more than two weeks away, but more than 1 million Californians have already returned their mail-in ballots, according to the state, an amount that marks the most ballots collected by mail at this point in any state election. Matt Stiles in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/15/20 

✅Napa County sheriff’s video shows deputy fatally shoot unarmed man during traffic stop -- Authorities in Napa County released video on Wednesday showing a deputy fatally shoot a man who was unarmed — but whom authorities said ignored commands and “aggressively” approached the sheriff’s deputy with his arm behind his back. Michael Williams in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 10/15/20 

✅Up to 1 million California students may still lack connectivity during distance learning -- Nearly two months into the school year, hundreds of thousands of California students are still without internet access at home needed to connect to teachers and peers during distance learning. Sydney Johnson EdSource -- 10/15/20 

✅Famed Navy SEAL pushes back after Trump amplifies baseless bin Laden conspiracy theory -- The former Navy SEAL known for his role in the operation that killed Osama bin Laden is pushing back after President Donald Trump amplified conspiracy theories that the terrorist leader's death was a hoax. Connor O'Brien Politico -- 10/15/20 

✅Millions of workers face jobless benefits cliff with lifeline set to expire -- A failure by Congress to enact a new economic relief package would prolong the pain of the coronavirus crisis for many Americans, but those without jobs face a special threat — millions could run out of unemployment benefits altogether by the end of the year. Eleanor Mueller and Rebecca Rainey Politico -- 10/15/20 

✅Report: Enrollment Continues to Trend Downward 

Several concerning enrollment trends are holding strong as the latest, and more comprehensive, data show. Experts and advocates are particularly worried about community colleges. 

—Inside Higher Ed 

✅Ithaca Announces Sweeping Faculty Cuts 

Saying the coronavirus accelerated an ongoing need to rightsize its faculty, college plans to eliminate 130 full-time teaching jobs 

—Inside Higher Ed 

✅ACT and SAT Scores Drop 

Declines come in a year in which it has become difficult to take either test. Gaps grow for minority groups except Asians. 

—Inside Higher Ed 

✅Occidental College Discontinues Football Team 

Occidental College, a liberal arts college in Los Angeles, will discontinue its football program due to ongoing funding and recruitment problems and financial pressures created by the coronavirus pandemic, college officials announced this week. 

—Inside Higher Ed 

✅What’s at Stake for Higher Ed in the Election? 

—CHE 

✅U.S. College Enrollment in Steep Decline, Survey Shows 

Freshman enrollment has dropped 16 percent at colleges 

—NYT

✅OC Covid numbers: 31 new dead reported

10-14: Videos show top conservative activists discussing election tactics, amplifying conspiracy theories; How can 42 percent of Americans still support the worst president in our history?; Democratic early-voting wave

Marie Prevost (1896-1937)

✅Orange County in the Midst of Unprecedented Election Mail-in Ballot Wave 

The “unheard of” early return trend comes amid new controversy over California Republicans’ self-proclaimed “ballot harvesting program” through the use of unofficial ballot collection boxes. 

—Voice of OC 

     “It’s one more indication of an increasingly motivated electorate,” reacted Fred Smoller, political science professor at Chapman University, in a Tuesday interview. “There’s a lot of interest in this election; people feel there’s a lot at stake and are expressing that by voting early.” 

. . . 

     “What’s really significant for me is we just mailed the ballots, and within a few days we had return rate figures of 100% above four years ago — that’s unheard of,” [Orange County Registrar of Voters Neal] Kelley said to Voice of OC on Tuesday. “You might see that a couple of weeks in, but a few days after sending them out? That’s historic. It’s never been done before.” 

✅Science on the Ballot 

Experts see a sharp contrast between Trump and Biden when it comes to investments in federal research funding and respect for science itself. 

—Inside Higher Ed 

     …Trump’s continued efforts to downplay the severity of the pandemic, seen most recently in the wake of his own COVID-19 diagnosis, his rejection of public health guidance -- including, perhaps most consequentially, his mockery and failure of role modeling when it comes to face masks -- and reported efforts by his administration to interfere in scientific decision making in the nation’s public health agencies and sideline experts have raised alarms among scientists and many others. Scientists have criticized the president for rejecting scientific and other forms of expertise, including by forcing out or muzzling government-employed scientists and by eliminating many advisory committees comprised of outside experts…. 

✅New Zoom Competitor Targets Higher Ed Users 

Ed-tech start-up Engageli has raised $14.5 million to build a videoconferencing platform. Unlike Zoom, the platform has been purposefully designed with college and university faculty members and students in mind. 

—Inside Higher Ed 

✅Higher Ed’s Shameful Silence on Diversity 

—CHE 

✅Covid-19 Live Updates: Europe and the U.S. Confront Spiking Cases as Temperatures Dip 

—NYT 

Bessie Love (1898-1986)

✅Videos show top conservative activists discussing election tactics, amplifying conspiracy theories 

Footage obtained by The Post, covering dozens of hours of closed-door meetings of the Council for National Policy in February and August, reveals the group’s obsessions, fears and plans at a pivotal moment for conservatives. 

—WashPo 

✅How can 42 percent of Americans still support the worst president in our history? 

Opinion by Max Boot 

—WashPo 

✅Proposal to hasten herd immunity grabs White House attention but appalls top scientists 

—WashPo 

✅At a glance: See the biggest spenders in California’s prop battles -- Californians are voting on 12 propositions, but not all are funded equally. Just take a look at that fat slab of lilac in the graphic below. Ben Christopher CalMatters -- 10/14/20  

No surprise for even the most dimly engaged Californians who have been bombarded with ads for weeks now: Funding for Proposition 22, a measure to exempt gig-economy companies from a new state labor law, dwarfs just about everything else. To date, its yes campaign has raised nearly $188 million. That’s $3 of every $10 that’s been spent for or against any proposition on the November 2020 ballot.

✅Newsom’s office recommends changes for policing protests --Police should avoid unnecessary enforcement that could provoke conflict among protesters, avoid looking too militaristic, and use rubber bullets and tear gas only as a last resort when handling demonstrations and protests, according to recommendations released Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office. Teri Figueroa in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ Alexei Koseff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/13/20 

✅Trump urges California GOP to 'fight on' with unofficial ballot boxes despite prosecution threat -- President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday to urge the California Republican Party to “fight on” in its move to collect ballots in unofficial “drop boxes’’ around the state, in defiance of legal threats from state officials. Carla Marinucci Politico -- 10/13/20 

✅Across the country, Democratic enthusiasm is propelling an enormous wave of early voting 

Roughly 15 million Americans have already voted, setting a trajectory that could result in a majority of voters casting ballots before Election Day for the first time in U.S. history. 

—WashPo

✅Chapman University works to contain coronavirus outbreak among students -- The university reported that 17 students living in dormitories are infected with COVID-19, as well as 19 living in off-campus housing near the school and one more in an unknown type residence. No faculty or staff have been infected. The item is in the Orange County Register -- 10/13/20 

Louise Brooks (1906-1985)

✅Back from Covid, Trump pins hopes on a hectic comeback tour -- The president is trying to regain ground with the resumption of campaigning three weeks from the election, but so far isn’t changing his message. Meridith McGraw Politico -- 10/13/20 

✅California poised to reject affirmative action measure despite summer of activism -- Polls suggest the Legislature may have miscalculated when it placed a measure on the November ballot to reinstate affirmative action. Alexander Nieves Politico -- 10/13/20 

✅Arellano: Latino Republicans face a tough task: turning blue Orange County red again -- So Avila has taken on a mission that seems downright Sisyphean: Not only help take Orange County back for the Republicans, but also bring Latinos to a party that demonized them, in this very county, decades before Trump sauntered into the White House by calling Mexicans “rapists.” And you thought fighting the Bobcat fire was tough. Gustavo Arellano in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/13/20

✅OC Covid numbers: 19 new deaths reported

Our recent “SOCCCD trustee races” coverage

🎈Mathur crony Helen Locke running for Lang’s trustee seat 

Saturday, August 15, 2020 

🎈SOCCCD trustee candidates 

Tuesday, August 18, 2020 

🎈SOCCCD: the Trustee races 

Thursday, October 1, 2020 

🎈The Helen Locke and Carolyn Inmon trustee WATCH 

Monday, October 12, 2020 

🎈Ryan Dack v. Jim Wright, area 6 

Tuesday, October 13, 2020 

🎈Raghu Mathur's surprising endorsement for Area 1 Trustee—an Indian-American Democrat and "Activist" (not old pal & Republican, Helen Locke)

Monday, October 19, 2020

🎈District 6 Trustee Candidate RYAN DACK tags opponent James Wright for campaign finance violation

Thursday, October 29, 2020 

🎈Wright campaign law violation update 

Friday, October 30, 2020 

Ryan Dack v. Jim Wright, area 6

     Ryan Dack, who is running against Jim Wright in the Area 6 trustee race (South Orange County Community College District), couldn’t afford to pay for a Ballot Statement, but he looks like a good candidate and Wright—well, not so much, IMO. (See area 6 map.)

     In a recent post on the Orange Juice Blog, OJB's Greg Diamond noted the absence of any candidate statement from Dack, and so Dack wrote back:   

RYAN DACK 

Oct. 7: 

     I jumped into my Area 6 College Board race late. Being a teacher with teacher pay, I didn’t feel comfortable putting up the $4,000 the OC Registrar requested for a Ballot Statement, especially before I had any meaningful time to raise funds. I have one posted on my website, and would be happy to talk to you further if you’d like to know more about me or my campaign for South Orange County Community College Board. As noted, I’m endorsed by the DPOC [Democratic Party of OC], and am helping support democrats up and down the ballot, including Carolyn Inmon in Area 1. 

DIAMOND responded with:

OK, why should you have our support? Why is the incumbent deficient and why will you be better? 

RYAN DACK

Oct 11: 

     Sorry for the late reply, I thought I’d get a notification. 

     When it comes to why voters should support me over my opponent, I think the most valuable experience I have going into this race is that I’ve actually taught during this pandemic. I know what is going on in classrooms that are still doing distance learning (which include IVC and Saddleback), and the problems, as well as opportunities, this learning environment brings. 

     My opponent has a long history in education, but the one thing he doesn’t have is experience with how education has changed during this pandemic, and what educators and students need in terms of support. His passivity on the Board of Trustees doesn’t reflect the needs of our community. As someone who has had to engage in distance teaching, I hope to be an advocate for students and educators during this difficult time. 

     Beyond COVID-19 issues, I am a strong supporter in making community college as affordable and accessible as possible and ensuring high demand courses remain available for all. 

     I’d love to have a longer discussion with you if you’re interested. Feel free to contact me directly: ryan@dackforcollegeboard.com 

His website is HERE

Dack pledges to

• Fight to maintain a safe community college system, and utilize the resources necessary to keep our community safe. 
• Maintain and expand current college affordability programs to ensure that students don’t need to get a second job to enroll in a second course. 
• Expand course availability for courses that are difficult to enroll in. No student should defer a transfer to a four-year college because of full classes.

Here's James Wright's candidate statement:

10-13: Higher Education’s Nightmare Scenario

✅Santana: Amidst Record Voter Turnout, Orange County DA Probes His Own Party Over Ballot Harvesting 

—Voice of OC 

     Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer is on the hunt for Republican ballots. 

     Over the weekend, Spizter’s Republican Party colleagues came under direct fire from State Attorney General Xavier Bacerra and Secretary of State Alex Padilla, both top Democrats, for the party’s approach to ballot harvesting, across the state and in Spitzer’s own backyard. 

     On Monday, Spitzer announced he was launching an investigation. Voter turnout as of the second week of voting is going viral. 

     OC Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley announced in a recent tweet that there had been a 450 percent increase in the amount of ballots returned the first week of voting, going from the last tally of 11,000 to over 60,000 ballots. 

     Most of those ballots, according to local election tallies, are Democratic with 32,788 Democrat ballots already returned compared to 19,027 ballots cast by Republicans this first week of voting in Orange County. “It’s a lot easier to vote at home,” said Kelley, who wonders if the surge is the result of coronavirus concerns about voting in person combined with deep interest in this election. 

     Kelley called 65,000 ballots returned in the first week, “unheard of” saying other counties are seeing similar rates of early ballot returns. 

     That kind of Blue wave phenomenon has also put a laser focus on Republican ballot harvesting efforts, trying to keep up. 

     A series of viral tweets, along with reports to state and local elections officials about private, ballot drop off sites being utilized by GOP officials over the weekend, prompted top state elections officials to hold an abrupt press conference Monday, announcing a cease and desist letter to state Republican Party leaders and county chairs, like Orange County Republican Party Chairman Fred Whitaker. 

     The letter called on California Republican leaders to “cease and desist the coordination, use and/or fast or misleading promotion of unauthorized and non-official vote by mail drop boxes.” 

. . . 

     [Orange County Democratic Party Chairwoman Ada] Briceño and other Democratic Party activists suspect that Republican leaders are trying to create confusion about the use of ballot box drop offs because they are getting beaten so soundly at the polls and trying to create confusion around the new laws on ballot drop off. 

     “Orange County has a strong record of voter suppression,” said Briceño noting prior instances where Republican Party leaders had to pay out nearly half a million dollar in legal settlements over allegations they used poll guards in 1998 to suppress Latino voters…. 

✅California tells Republicans ‘cease and desist’ with unofficial ballot drop boxes, but GOP remains defiant -- Republicans are responding by concurrently slamming California’s permissive ballot collection laws and also claiming protection under that law. Brooke Staggs, Alicia Robinson in the Orange County Register Lara Korte and Kate Irby in the Sacramento Bee$ Ben Christopher CalMatters John Myers, Stephanie Lai in the Los Angeles Times$ Amy Taxin and Adam Beam Associated Press Colby Bermel Politico Alexei Koseff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/13/20 Katie Shepherd in the Washington Post$ -- 10/13/20 

✅‘Unconscionable.’ How a surge in domestic violence is saving the bail bond industry -- Roughly 42% of all of the people who bonded out of jail since April were released while facing at least one charge related to domestic violence. At least 569 alleged abusers — in some cases, the partners they are accused of beating — paid cash bail to get out of Sacramento jails, a review of county data shows. Jason Pohl in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/12/20 

✅California Republican Party Admits It Placed Misleading Ballot Boxes Around State 

Government officials say the receptacles are illegal and could lead to voter fraud, but the party says it will continue the practice. 

—NYT 

✅WHO head says trying to reach herd immunity is ‘unethical,’ unprecedented 

“Never in the history of public health has herd immunity been used as a strategy for responding to an outbreak, let alone a pandemic,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. 

—WashPo 

✅Took a COVID-19 Test? You Could Be a Winner 

Colleges are giving out prizes, such as T-shirts, football tickets and gift cards, as incentives for students to get tested for the coronavirus or regularly screened for symptoms. 

—Inside Higher Ed 

✅Cornish College of the Arts Declares Financial Emergency and Exigency 

—Inside Higher Ed 

     The Cornish College of the Arts Board of Trustees approved a resolution to declare a financial emergency and financial exigency following a dramatic drop in enrollment this fall. 

     “While this is a sobering moment in the life of the college, we are not about to shut our doors and go home,” Raymond Tymas-Jones, the college's president, said in a press release. 

     “The Declaration of Emergency and Exigency is a necessary next step toward our economic recovery and our transition to a new, more sustainable, business model. At over 100 years strong, Cornish has persevered through tough times before and I am confident we will do so again.” 

     The pandemic caused a significant enrollment decline for the college, which is located in Seattle. That, in addition to years of deficit spending, left the college unable to weather the pandemic's budget effects without intervention, according to the press release. 

✅Higher Education’s Nightmare Scenario 

Finances are already strained — and yet public colleges await budget-busting cuts. 

—CHE 

✅As the Pandemic Grinds On, Here Are 5 Big Worries of College Presidents 

—CHE 

✅Reactionary Propaganda Rides Again 

—CHE

Unf***ingbelievable!

✅California tells Republicans ‘cease and desist’ with unofficial ballot drop boxes, but GOP remains defiant

State GOP, elected Republicans argue boxes are legal under 'ballot harvesting' laws; authorities and legal experts disagree. 

OC Reg 

✅California elections officials order GOP to immediately remove unofficial ballot boxes 

LA Times

✅California authorities send cease and desist to state GOP over unofficial ballot drop boxes 

CNN

     The California Secretary of State and Department of Justice have sent a cease and desist order to the California Republican Party to remove unofficial ballot drop boxes placed in at least three counties, officials announced in a news conference on Monday. 

     "These unauthorized drop boxes are a disservice to state and local election administrators who have spent months working on the placement and deployment of official ballot drop boxes," California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said.