California Policy & Politics This Morning

Poll: Even Some Republicans Bullish on Jerry Brown? -- It’s one of the most familiar sayings in the world of politics: the only poll that matters is the official one taken on Election Day. But polls do offer a snapshot in time of a campaign … which is why a brand new glimpse into the 2014 race for governor is so interesting. John Myers KQED -- 4/24/14

Warren in new book accuses Kashkari of lying as TARP chief -- In her new book, “A Fighting Chance,” Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren accuses California gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari of lying to her when he led the taxpayer-funded federal bank bailout. Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/24/14

GOP gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari attacks affirmative action -- The recent legislative effort to restore affirmative action in public university admissions "should've been called the 'There are too many Asians at Berkeley' bill," Republican candidate for governor Neel Kashkari told several hundred Cal students Wednesday. Josh Richman in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/24/14

Momentum building to legalize online poker in California -- Amid signs that key lawmakers and gambling industry leaders are moving toward agreement to legalize Internet poker in California, a legislative committee on Wednesday heard suggestions for setting up a framework that would best serve consumers and taxpayers. Timm Herdt in the Ventura Star$ -- 4/24/14

Key piece of online poker parley gets airing -- A critical sticking point in private negotiations over authorizing internet poker in California became public Thursday when a tribal chairman announced his intention to bring in an international online gaming firm as a subcontractor to conduct operations in California – but only if the state approves the new legislation. John Howard Capitol Weekly -- 4/24/14

Bay Area advantage — Is being from LA a statewide political liability? -- Los Angeles County is home to more than 26% of all Californians. But when it comes to running for statewide office, being from Los Angeles may be more of an obstacle than a political advantage. Anthony York Capitol Weekly -- 4/24/14

California car data bill stalls in first committee -- Legislation requiring car manufacturers to open access to the data streaming out of computerized cars stalled in committee on Tuesday. Jeremy B. White in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/24/14

Excluded Green Party hopeful in debate audience -- As a Green Party candidate excluded from the proceedings watched in protest, candidates for secretary of state sought to distinguish themselves during a lively debate Wednesday as the antidote to a Capitol "culture of corruption" symbolized by their former opponent, suspended state Sen. Leland Yee. Carla Marinucci in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 4/24/14

California secretary of state candidates clash at forum -- Candidates Alex Padilla, Dan Schnur, Pete Peterson and Derek Cressman also criticized each other’s ideas for reducing the corrupting influence of big money in state government. Three other candidates were not invited to participate in the forum by the Sacramento Press Club. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ Jim Miller in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/24/14

Skelton: California's lopsided politics yield little election intrigue -- Secretary of state candidates' debate is more geekfest than slugfest — and it's one of the more interesting contests in the 'top two' primary era. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/24/14

California senators' ethics scenarios: What would you do? -- California senators and their staff attended a special ethics training Wednesday, and were presented with a series of ethical scenarios. Below are the scenarios involving senators. What would you do? Dan Smith in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/24/14

State senators talk ethics in wake of scandals -- State Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) bemoaned the "subtle and insidious impact" of money in politics on Wednesday. Chris Megerian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/24/14

Oakland resident to lead political watchdog agency -- Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Judge Jodi Remke to lead the California Political Practices Commission, his office announced Wednesday. Remke, who lives in Oakland, is the presiding judge at the State Bar Court of California, which oversees complaints of attorney misconduct. Melody Gutierrez in the San Francisco Chronicle Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ David Siders in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/24/14

Covered California targets voter registration -- Voter registration, politics and health care: a volatile mix? Millions of Californians who applied for coverage under the Affordable Care Act will be getting voter registration cards from Covered California, the state’s health insurance portal. It’s not clear how many actually will register. John Howard Capitol Weekly -- 4/24/14

California Legislature To Consider Antibiotic Ban in Animals -- A new bill in the California Legislature could give California the distinction of going where the federal government hasn’t — more strictly regulating the way that livestock are given antibiotics. Joe Rubin KQED -- 4/24/14

Los Angeles County consultant lays out options for jail overhaul -- The county supervisors, concerned about deteriorating facilities and poor living conditions for inmates with mental health issues, want to tear down the aging Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles and replace it. Abby Sewell in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/24/14

L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. used spy plane to watch Compton -- Residents, who along with city leaders were not told about the 2012 surveillance, have mixed emotions. Angel Jennings, Richard Winton and James Rainey in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/24/14

Woman who sued TSA over breast milk wins settlement -- A South Bay woman who sued the Transportation Security Administration over the way agents treated her for trying to bring breast milk on a plane said she won a settlement. Hugo Martin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/24/14

Reps. Brad Sherman, Janice Hahn urge business leaders in Valley Industry and Commerce Association to speak up -- Two local members of Congress urged local business leaders on Wednesday to increase their involvement in issues ranging from transportation to immigration reform if they want to bring more federal dollars to the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles. Rick Orlov in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 4/24/14

Mitt Romney backs Tony Strickland in California House race -- As part of his return to politics, Mitt Romney is choosing sides in the contest to succeed retiring Rep. Buck McKeon in Southern California. Christopher Cadelago in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/24/14

Economy, Employers, Jobs   

Forbes: Little Italy tops for Millennials -- This week, it ranked San Diego 10th out of the top 25 cities for so-called Millennials, ages 25 to 34, and identified Little Italy as the city's most Millennial-friendly neighborhood. Katherine Poythress UT San Diego$ -- 4/24/14

San Diego Minimum wage could rise to $13.09 -- A proposed San Diego ballot measure would incrementally increase the city’s minimum wage to $13.09 an hour over the next three years, City Council President Todd Gloria announced Wednesday. David Garrick UT San Diego$ Tarryn Mento KPBS -- 4/24/14

Bill Allowing Liens to Recover Unpaid Wages Passes California Legislative Committee -- Dozens of workers and their supporters rallied at the state capital before marching to the California Chamber of Commerce. Max Pringle Capital Public Radio -- 4/24/14

Sacramento Kings recruiting low-income workers for arena construction -- Sacramento Kings officials held a training and outreach session Wednesday morning with community and faith-based groups to begin recruiting workers from “high-need backgrounds and neighborhoods” for the construction of the new arena. Ryan Lillis in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/24/14

San Francisco city attorney sues 2 landlords over short-term rentals -- City Attorney Dennis Herrera jumped into the war over San Francisco's dwindling housing supply and booming short-term rentals Wednesday, accusing two property owners of illegally converting residential buildings into pricey tourist hotels after evicting longtime tenants, two of them disabled. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 4/24/14

Greenhut: Farmworkers' battle is against the union -- State board refuses to count decertification votes. Steven Greenhut UT San Diego$ -- 4/24/14

Founder Mark Pincus out of daily role at Zynga as gaming company brings on new hires -- Mark Pincus, founder of the once fast-growing gaming company Zynga, is leaving his operational role as chief product officer, a post he kept when he relinquished the CEO role to former Microsoft and Electronic Arts executive Don Mattrick, who he recruited to the position last July. Patrick Hoge San Francisco Business Times -- 4/24/14

FCC to Propose New 'Net Neutrality' Rules -- Regulators are proposing new rules on Internet traffic that would allow broadband providers to charge companies a premium for access to their fastest lanes. Gautham Nagesh in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 4/24/14

Google, AT&T, Verizon And Comcast Each Spent More Than $3M In Q1 Lobbying Congress -- The dollars flowing into the Capitol from tech companies are showing little signs of abatement: Google spent $3.8 million on lobbying in the first quarter, AT&T $3.7 million, Verizon $3.5 million, Comcast $3.1 million, Facebook $2.8 million, Microsoft $2.1 million, Time Warner Cable $1.9 million, Oracle $1.5 million, Apple $1.1 million, and Amazon $830,000. Alex Wilhelm Techcrunch -- 4/24/14

Education

Cal State Fullerton opens center for undocumented students -- Cal State Fullerton opened a resource center for undocumented students on Wednesday, becoming the first in the CSU system to create a specific space with programs and services for students who for the most part either grew up unaware of their immigration status or were told to hide it. Roxana Kopetman in the Orange County Register$ -- 4/24/14

Survey finds Californians back both Common Core and new funding formula -- Resistance to the Common Core State Standards may be spreading in parts of Red State America, but Californians are learning more about the new math and reading standards and generally like what they have heard, according to a new survey by the Public Policy Institute of California. John Fensterwald EdSource -- 4/24/14

Californians strongly support Common Core -- Unlike the political uproar and division elsewhere in the country over revamping public-school curriculum, Californians across party lines overwhelmingly support the new standards for education, a survey released Wednesday revealed. Sharon Noguchi in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/24/14

Californians support historic changes in school funding, curriculum -- In a broad consensus across racial, political and economic lines, most Californians support two historic changes in how academic subjects are taught and state dollars are allocated to schools, according to a statewide survey released Wednesday. Teresa Watanabe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/24/14

Californians like Common Core education, finance overhaul -- Two major changes in California's public education system - adoption of "Common Core" academic standards and giving extra money to school districts with large numbers of poor and/or English learner students - seem to have gained favor with the state's residents. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/24/14

Social media student data bill gets the go-ahead -- A bill that would impose restrictions on how school districts use and store private student information obtained from social media accounts moved with bipartisan support out of the Assembly Education Committee Wednesday afternoon. Kimberly Beltran Cabinet Report -- 4/24/14

Drought  

In California Drought, Desperation May Make Water Flow Uphill -- Water districts in the San Joaquin Valley are proposing a drought tactic that’s never been tried: they want to reverse the state’s plumbing by running the California Aqueduct backwards. Lauren Sommer KQED -- 4/24/14

Climate change threatens California's air quality, report says -- Climate change and extreme weather could set back decades of improvement in California’s air quality, a new report by the state’s pollution control officers says. Tony Barboza in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/24/14

Cal State University playing a critical role in water conservation -- Among its 23 campuses, California State University has 12 water research institutes, with more than 250 faculty studying the issue, from drought patterns to groundwater storage, as well as students conducting extensive research in the field. Josh Dulaney in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 4/24/14

Guns 

‘Guns Everywhere Bill’ signed -- Critics are calling it the “Guns Everywhere Bill,” but Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal says the focus on new legislation that significantly expands where guns are allowed in the state should be on its “significant positive changes.” Lucy McCalmont Politico Richard Simon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/24/14

Environment

Fresno ranks No. 1 on California pollution list -- New Cal/EPA maps show that Fresno contains eight of the 10 areas most heavily burdened by pollution. But the data tell just part of the story. Diana Marcum in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/24/14

PG&E presents case for controversial tree removal plan to Contra Costa County supervisors -- The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors said today that they will need more details from PG&E before the utility moves forward with a proposal to remove hundreds of trees from county property as part of a larger tree and vegetation removal plan to boost access to its gas pipeline network. The item is in the Contra Costa Times$ -- 4/24/14

Heron's Head Park rat population surges, thanks to drought -- Ah, spring. It's a time for finding romance, for stretching your legs in the sun, for rejoicing in whatever water has been spared by the drought. Rats like to do those things, too. Kevin Fagan in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 4/24/14

New report says California parks continue to lag -- California’s parks are being dragged down by stagnant leadership, inadequate resources and a failure to serve the state’s growing population of young Latinos, according to a draft report from an independent commission created to examine the troubled park system. Chris Megerian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/24/14

Health

Free health care clinics fill gaps in Bay Area -- Chris Joslyn arrived in San Francisco four months ago in a van. He brought his son Christopher, 6, and daughter Charley, 2, and little else. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 4/24/14

F.D.A. Will Propose New Regulations for E-Cigarettes -- The Food and Drug Administration will propose sweeping new rules on Thursday that for the first time would extend its regulatory authority from cigarettes to electronic cigarettes, popular nicotine delivery devices that have grown into a multibillion-dollar business with virtually no federal oversight or protections for American consumers. Sabrina Tavernise in the New York Times$ -- 4/24/14

Also . . .

Sunken ship discovery in San Francisco Bay revives memories of xenophobia -- A sunken steamship involved in one of San Francisco's worst maritime disasters was discovered at the bottom of San Francisco Bay, a silent reminder of a historic calamity that rocked a city steeped in xenophobia and racial hatred. Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle Molly Samuel KQED -- 4/24/14

Ex-sheriff's deputies charged with planting evidence at pot dispensary -- Two former Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies have been charged with conspiracy, perjury and altering evidence in connection with planting guns inside a medical marijuana dispensary to justify two arrests in 2011, prosecutors said. Kate Mather in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/24/14

Sheriff ran air surveillance over Compton without telling residents -- The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department acknowledged this week that Compton residents were not notified of an airborne video-surveillance program that was tested in 2012. The item is in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/24/14

Albany will pay homeless to leave Bulb -- Albany will pay 28 homeless people $3,000 each to leave the Bulb, a former landfill along San Francisco Bay that's slated for park land, according to a settlement released Wednesday. Carolyn Jones in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 4/24/14

Teen stowaway's footprints, handprints found on wheel well doors, tire -- Images of footprints and handprints inside the wheel well of a Hawaiian Airlines Flight 45 jetliner appear to bolster the fantastic story of a Santa Clara teenager who reportedly survived a frigid, perilous journey cooped up inside as a stowaway. Joseph Serna and Kate Mather in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/24/14

Creepy New Website Shows Just How Much Facebook Knows About You -- How much can someone learn about you by accessing your Facebook data? Not just your friends and interests, but also who stalks you, where you spend your time and even how much money you make. Victor Luckerson TIME -- 4/24/14

Potus 44 

Obama says Russia not abiding by agreement to defuse Ukraine crisis -- President Obama says Russia is not yet holding up its side of an agreement to de-escalate tension in Ukraine, and he suggested that the U.S. and its allies are prepared to hit Moscow with additional sanctions in coming days. Kathleen Hennessey and Christi Parsons in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/24/14

Beltway

New Senate polls offer three lessons and some hope for Democrats -- Three lessons jump out from the latest round of polling on key U.S. Senate races. David Lauter in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/24/14