Homeland Security/CBP San Diego Display Border Wall Prototypes

The Department of Homeland Security and US Customs and Border Protection San Diego, showed off eight wall prototypes near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.

https://twitter.com/CBPSanDiego/status/918137332880019456

The prototypes, four made of concrete and four made of other materials, began construction last month and were expected to be completed within 30 days. The prototypes are expected to cost nearly $4 million.  Six companies are taking part in the construction of their prototypes.

Sen. Sasse: "Rs and Ds Speak to 25% of Americans; What About Everyone Else?"

Republican US Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) responded to a tweet from President Donald Trump over the weekend, in which the president called out the "one-sided coverage" in the media:

https://twitter.com/BenSasse/status/916721683800629248

Sasse raises an important point. It is not just a one-sided narrative, as the president suggests. The current national narrative is dominated by two private political corporations that only speak to less than a quarter of the voting population.

Labor, Larger Cities The Big Winners In SANDAG Power Shift

With the stroke of a pen, Governor Jerry Brown has reformed the power structure at the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG).

For many, including organized labor, it was a huge victory that now begins a massive change at the agency that's seen huge turmoil the last 12 months.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR LABOR

SANDAG will now be required to hire from state-approved groups for large construction projects, unless it signs union-friendly PLA's or project labor agreements.

12.4% Surcharge Slapped on Obamacare Plans For Californians

In August, Covered California announced that 2018 premiums would rise 12.5 percent statewide.  But the exchange also warned that additional hikes could be in store if President Trump failed to commit to continued funding for the cost-sharing subsidies that educe some consumers’ out-of-pocket expenses.

Sure enough, the subsidies appear to be ending, and so to is Obamacare's affordability for many Californian's.

The Neo-Independent: Making Sense of the Senseless

A woman I know sent me a note the other day. I was surprised, but happy to hear from her as we don’t know each other well.

In the note, she explained that she had woken up last Monday morning to the news of the Las Vegas shootings. While preparing lunches for her boys to take to school, she wondered whether to tell them what had happened before they started their day. She decided to tell them — better to hear it from her than in the school hallways.