Updating . .   

Five Democrats got campaign checks from union the same day they voted to raise the minimum wage -- The same day they voted to raise the minimum wage, five Democratic lawmakers received big campaign checks from a local union of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the group that pressured lawmakers for the wage bill, according to documents filed with the state. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/1/16

Air regulators weigh return of full operations at Exxon Mobil's Torrance refinery -- For a year, Los Angeles area motorists have seen their gasoline prices soar as high as $1.50 a gallon more than the rest of the nation following an explosion at Exxon Mobil's Torrance refinery that destroyed the plant's pollution control system and constrained California inventories. Ivan Penn in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/1/16

Industry consultant to lead SoCal air quality agency -- A former EPA administrator turned industry consultant has been picked to lead the agency in charge of cleaning up air pollution in Southern California, long the nation’s worst region for foul air. KPCC -- 4/1/16

California sues Morgan Stanley over crisis-era mortgage bonds -- California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris has sued investment bank Morgan Stanley over mortgage-backed securities issued in the run-up to the financial crisis, saying the firm misrepresented the riskiness of those investments. James Rufus Koren in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/1/16

Feel the Burn: A play on Bernie Sanders' campaign slogan becomes ad promoting STD testing -- With some sexually transmitted diseases on the rise locally and nationally, a local AIDS advocacy group is turning to a popular political phrase to get the message of safe sex out. Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/1/16

Critically injured Redlands hostage was wounded by police gunfire -- A woman who was held at gunpoint by her ex-boyfriend for more than two hours in Redlands last week was shot and critically injured by police officers who were trying to free her, authorities said. Hailey Branson-Potts in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/1/16

Knife linked to former O.J. Simpson property is not connected to homicide case, LAPD concludes -- Forensic testing concluded that a knife reportedly found at the former home of O.J. Simpson is not connected to the 1994 homicide case, Los Angeles police confirmed Friday. Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/1/16

Valley’s Westside farmers seethe over tiny water allocation from feds -- Westside farmers got dismal news Friday from the U.S. Bureau Reclamation when it announced a 5 percent water allocation for 2016. Farmers have endured a four-year drought with little to no water from the Central Valley Project. Robert Rodriguez in the Fresno Bee Bettina Boxall in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/1/16

Some California farms getting full water supplies -- Many California farmers expect to receive full deliveries of irrigation water this year from a vast system of canals and reservoirs run by the federal government, while some in the nation’s most productive farming region will receive a fraction as the state recovers from several years of drought, officials said Friday. Scott Smith Associated Press -- 4/1/16

Study: California can expect more frequent droughts -- That means that while this year's El Niño-driven storms may have brought temporary relief to the Golden State's parched soil and depleted reservoirs, Californians can expect more frequent droughts in the decades to come, according to the study published by Science Advances. Laurel Hamers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/1/16

Will California’s new minimum wage law make sense in Bakersfield? -- In parts of the Central Valley and inland Southern California, for example, average wages for all occupations are less than the statewide average, sometimes significantly so. That means the phase-in of the $15 minimum wage by 2022 for employers with 26 or more employees could well be more difficult to absorb for employers in those areas. Jim Miller in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/1/16

US Senate Race Shaping Up As A Harris-Sanchez Match -- California hasn’t had a U.S. Senate race without an incumbent running in nearly a quarter of a century. Political scientists say the contest to replace U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, who is retiring, is the state’s most important race this election year. Amita Sharma KPBS -- 4/1/16

Ted Cruz to speak at California Republican Party convention -- Campaigning to deny front-runner Donald Trump the delegates needed to win the nomination, Cruz has amassed a large team of GOP volunteers and supporters in this suddenly relevant state, many of whom he addressed Thursday in Orange County. Christopher Cadelago in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/1/16

How California Awards Presidential Primary Delegates -- And another twist: Republican delegates are winner-take-all in each district; Democrats award delegates proportionally based on how well each candidate does. Both parties also award extra delegates based on the statewide vote. Ben Adler Capital Public Radio -- 4/1/16

Trump ticker: Which local politicians are in? -- The San Diego Union-Tribune is conducting an ongoing survey of local elected Republicans and candidates, regarding who they support in the upcoming GOP primary — and whether they would support businessman Donald Trump, should he become the party nominee. Alia Ismay in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 4/1/16

Fox: Business and Labor Weigh Next Moves After Minimum Wage Bill Passes -- Calling the minimum wage legislation passed by both houses of the legislature yesterday a “negotiated” bill is like saying a team won a basketball game when they were the only team on the court. Business did not get a say in the “negotiated” bill. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 4/1/16

Immigrant advocate charged with failing to help clients -- An immigrant rights advocate known for helping two children get highly publicized meetings with Pope Francis has been charged with practicing law without a license and failing to help clients who paid her thousands of dollars to secure residency status for them. E.J. Tamara Associated Press -- 4/1/16

'It's a nightmare inside': Bill would place new restrictions on private immigrant detention centers -- Daniel Usman fled his native Pakistan to escape death threats from men upset that he had converted from Islam to Catholicism. Upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport, the 35-year-old with a college degree in electronics asked for asylum. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/1/16

On campuses across the country, students are standing up for Donald Trump -- Lopez is the California director of Students for Trump. Working from his dorm at Westmont College, he helps marshal the thousands of students who are pounding out phone calls, taping up fliers and blanketing Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat in an effort to persuade their peers that Donald Trump is the man. Rosanna Xia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/1/16

Donald Trump is now the least popular American politician in three decades -- The share of Americans with an unfavorable view of Trump is extraordinary: 68% in the most recent Bloomberg poll, 67% in the CNN/ORC survey, 67% in the ABC/Washington Post poll, 65% from Gallup. The 57% unfavorable rating he received in the most recent CBS/New York Times survey looks mild by comparison. David Lauter in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/1/16

Delegates ready to flee Trump at contested convention -- If Trump fails to clinch 1,237 delegates outright, already more than a hundred are poised to break from him on a second ballot. Kyle Cheney and Ben Schreckinger Politico -- 4/1/16

One of the LAPD's preferred weapons to help officers avoid shootings often doesn't work -- A Times review of department statements and reports found that nearly a quarter of the people shot by on-duty LAPD officers last year — at least eight of 36 — were wounded or killed during encounters in which officers said they tried to use a Taser without success. Kate Mather in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/1/16

Abcarian: Open-air urinal in San Francisco park has no designs on privacy -- For 23 years, Patrick Sullivan has lived across the street from Mission Dolores Park, one of the most scenic patches of recreational space in this increasingly crowded town. Robin Abcarian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/1/16

Rothenberg: Maybe It Really Is the Media’s Fault -- For Donald Trump, the media has been a willing accomplice. Stuart Rothenberg Roll Call -- 4/1/16

Henneberger: Obama, Journalism and the Facts -- President lectures media on the facts, but leaves out a few of his own. Melinda Henneberger Roll Call -- 4/1/16

 

California Policy & Politics This Morning   

Will Dianne Feinstein run again for Senate? 'Ask me that in about a year' -- Don’t ask Dianne Feinstein just yet whether she plans to run for a fifth full term in the U.S. Senate, a seat that will be on the ballot in 2018. Cathleen Decker in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/1/16

Historic minimum wage measure heads to Gov. Brown -- In a move that puts the state at the forefront of efforts to raise wages for low-income workers across the country, state lawmakers approved a sweeping plan Thursday to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour over the next six years, a move that will boost the paychecks of millions of workers in California. Liam Dillon and Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ Jeremy B. White and Taryn Luna in the Sacramento Bee$ Alison Noon and Don Thompson Associated Press Jessica Calefati in the San Jose Mercury$ Ben Bradford Capital Public Radio Katie Orr KQED -- 4/1/16

Fact check: No consensus that minimum wage raises boost unemployment -- A deal to raise California’s minimum wage to $15 an hour has drawn opposition from Republicans and business groups, who argue it will force employers to cut workers in an effort to save on labor costs. Jeremy B. White in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/1/16

How California's Legislature voted: Did your lawmaker support raising the minimum wage? -- The state Legislature on Thursday approved a sweeping plan to increase the minimum wage. Here's the breakdown of how lawmakers voted. Allison Wisk in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/1/16

Villaraigosa's made a decision on California governor race, but he's not sharing it -- Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has been up and down California as part of a 38-day listening tour. His outreach lays a foundation for a run for governor, right? Well, he's not exactly revealing the answer. Mary Plummer KPCC -- 4/1/16

Walters: Showdown looming on California schools -- A loose coalition of education reform and civil rights groups has been jousting for three years with state officials over how local schools will be held accountable for spending state aid meant to benefit poor and “English learner” students. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/1/16

New set of San Francisco cops implicated in racist and homophobic texts -- A new group of San Francisco police officers has been implicated in exchanging bigoted text messages, prompting a review of criminal court cases handled by those officers for potential bias, authorities said Thursday. Vivian Ho in the San Francisco Chronicle Maura Dolan in the Los Angeles Times$ Alex Emslie KQED -- 4/1/16

L.A. County asks cities to help pay for programs to combat homelessness -- Los Angeles County officials are studying how to come up with as much as $500 million a year they say is needed to help address the region's spiraling homelessness crisis. Abby Sewell in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/1/16

LA leaders limit how much homeless people can keep on the streets -- The Los Angeles City Council voted Thursday to limit homeless people's belongings to 60 gallons worth, roughly the size of a large recycling bin. Josie Huang KPCC -- 4/1/16

New Assembly speaker questioned by once-familiar Capitol figure -- Anthony Rendon, the new speaker of the state Assembly, made an appearance Thursday at the Sacramento Press Club, talking mostly about his new role and the tragedy of corruption at various local governments in his Los Angeles-area district. As is the club’s custom, he fielded questions from the audience. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/1/16

Prayer rally by Franklin Graham draws LGBTQ counter-protest -- It was a recipe for conflict on a Trumpian scale. Several thousand evangelicals gathered on the west steps of California’s Capitol were greeted Thursday by a counter-protest of several dozen rainbow flag-waving LGBTQ activists. Ed Fletcher in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/1/16

Bio-engineered fish are target of lawsuit -- Bay Area fishing groups joined environmental and consumer advocates Thursday in a lawsuit that aims to stop a genetically engineered fish infused with genes from other species from finding its way onto dinner plates. Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 4/1/16

Documentaries like “Blackfish” influence California’s Capitol -- As a crowd of onlookers cooed, two California lawmakers posed for pictures with friendly pit bulls last month under the glowing neon lights of Sacramento’s Crest Theatre. Alexei Koseff in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/1/16

Taxes, Fees, Rates, Tolls     

More products to be added to Assembly ‘tampon tax’ bill -- A state Assembly bill to exempt sales tax on menstrual products is about to get amended because its sponsor overlooked a couple of feminine hygiene necessities. Steve Rubenstein in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 4/1/16

LA is losing out on $41 million in taxes from AirBnB, study says -- If property owners who rent out homes and apartments on the popular home-sharing site Airbnb were to pay taxes as hotels do, the city of Los Angeles would collect an extra $41 million each year. Hugo Martin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/1/16

Judge says ‘no’ to seeking legalized prostitution in California -- Americans may have a constitutional right to engage in consensual, intimate relationships, but that doesn’t mean they have a right to buy or sell sex, a Bay Area federal judge ruled Thursday in upholding California’s 144-year-old ban on prostitution. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 4/1/16

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions      

Digital First Media buys the Orange County Register -- Freedom Communications' attorney Alan Friedman said Denver-based Digital First Media closed the deal Thursday to buy the Register and the Press-Enterprise of Riverside for $49.8 million in cash. Associated Press -- 4/1/16

Editor and 70-plus others said to be out at the Orange County Register -- Curley was among some 70-plus Register employees who, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity when discussing the paper, were being targeted for layoffs. Anh Do in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/1/16

Ronn Owens moves to KSFO amid KGO shakeup -- The announcement came in the middle of what one KGO staffer called a “bloodbath” at the Cumulus Media-owned station. Sources said the station — once the Bay Area’s top radio news outlet — laid off most or all of its newsroom employees Thursday. David Wiegand and Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle Chuck Barney in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/1/16

Southwest to launch new service from Long Beach to Oakland -- Southwest gained access to Long Beach when the city conducted a noise study that found the airport could add nine new daily departures and arrivals — a 20% expansion of traffic — without exceeding the city's noise restrictions. Hugo Martin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/1/16

Amazon to open a new fulfillment center in San Bernardino -- Amazon.com Inc. plans to open a second fulfillment center in San Bernardino, a move it said will create more than 1,000 full-time jobs. Samantha Masunaga in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/1/16

Profiteering masquerades as medical care for injured California workers -- Prosecutors are beginning to turn the tide, pursuing charges against more than 80 medical professionals who’ve handled more than 100,000 injured-worker cases, most of them originating in Southern California. Defendants include a physician assistant accused of “aggravated mayhem” after he operated on dozens of injured workers’ knees and shoulders, despite lacking surgical training. The outcomes often were disastrous. Christina Jewett Center for Investigative Reporting -- 4/1/16

Tesla’s Elon Musk debuts Model 3, an electric car for the masses -- With people around the world lining up to order it, Tesla Motors on Thursday finally unveiled the car that CEO Elon Musk has long promised to make — the Model 3, a luxury electric sedan at a middle-class price. David R. Baker in the San Francisco Chronicle Louis Hansen in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 4/1/16

Drought   

Water Agency: 'Relax' Conservation Mandate For Northern California -- Some water providers in northern California say that with near-normal northern Sierra snowpack, state water managers should "relax" conservation mandates for the region. Ed Joyce Capital Public Radio -- 4/1/16

How much rain did SoCal receive this winter? Not much at all -- It's the last day of March, which means it's the end of the six-month period during which Southern California receives most of its rain. So, during this El Niño winter, how much rain did the region get? Not much at all. Aaron Mendelson KPCC -- 4/1/16

Education 

San Ramon: LGBT curriculum riles some middle school parents -- LGBTQ Acceptance Week apparently isn't gaining acceptance from everyone in the Windemere Ranch Middle School community, as some parents are circulating a petition decrying what they consider an over-emphasis on lesbian, gay and transgender issues. Sam Richards and Joyce Tsai in the Oakland Tribune$ -- 4/1/16

One application for many L.A. Unified school options? That's the district's plan -- Attention, families overwhelmed by the dizzying process of choosing a school in Los Angeles: school district officials say they feel your pain — and they're beginning an effort to make it easier to enroll a child in a school other than the one dictated by their home address. Kyle Stokes KPCC -- 4/1/16

High school diplomas at last for students who failed exit exam -- Nearly a decade of frustration, anxiety and disappointment ended for Marisa Herrera this month when her long-awaited high school diploma arrived in the mail. Fermin Leal EdSource -- 4/1/16

Immigration / Border 

Poll Most California voters think illegal immigration is a problem, but don't see mass deportation as the answer -- Almost two-thirds of California voters believe that illegal immigration is a major problem in the state, but by even larger majorities they reject the idea of mass deportations and favor allowing those currently living in the country without authorization to stay and apply for citizenship. Kate Linthicum in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/1/16

Environment 

Torrance residents alarmed over agreement to restart ExxonMobil refinery -- Regulators appear poised to sign off on a proposed agreement Saturday allowing ExxonMobil’s Torrance refinery to exceed pollution limits as it resumes gasoline manufacturing, angering some residents who wonder why the agency is bothering with a public hearing at all. Nick Green in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 4/1/16

Health 

Canceled VA appts pushed vet to try suicide -- An investigation released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says the San Diego VA hospital triggered one veteran’s suicide attempt in 2014 by repeatedly canceling his appointments. Jeanette Steele in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 4/1/16

Also . . . 

State Supreme Court will not hear Santa Clarita family's tribal custody appeal -- The California Supreme Court will not hear an appeal from a Santa Clarita family to return their longtime foster daughter, who is part Choctaw, to them after she was removed from their home last week in a tribal custody case. Hailey Branson-Potts and Joseph Serna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/1/16

California U.S. Senate candidate wants to fistfight Koch brothers -- California’s first open U.S. Senate race in nearly a quarter-century hasn’t exactly been the barn burner some predicted when Barbara Boxer decided to step away. Christopher Cadelago in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/1/16

Fentanyl overdose cases rise to 29, including death of El Dorado Hills teen -- The potent painkiller fentanyl widened its deadly reach Thursday, as one new case appeared and law enforcement officials confirmed the fentanyl-related death of an 18-year-old El Dorado Hills resident. Sammy Caiola and Claudia Buck in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/1/16

Beltway 

   Horsey: An illustrated visit to Trump Nation -- The people who have flocked to Donald Trump’s rallies, given him their votes and put him within striking distance of the Republican Party nomination are one of the biggest stories of the 2016 election. David Horsey in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/1/16

Donald Trump is about to blow up the California primary. Here's how -- Because California may decide Donald Trump’s fate as the possible Republican nominee, the high-stakes contest is expected deliver a surge in voter turnout that could shake up races up and down the ballot. Phil Willon, Patrick McGreevy and Christina Bellantoni in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/1/16

Trump’s abortion stumble convinces many in GOP he’s unfit to lead -- Donald Trump’s latest ear-scorching remark didn’t just offend liberals — it reinforced to many Republicans that the novice politician isn’t prepared to be the party’s nominee, let alone leader of the free world. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 4/1/16

Donald Trump Gets Skewered With His Own Words -- Contradictions, bombast, fulminations, arrogance. Grandiosity and metastasized pride. All these things surface, time and again, in the portrait of Donald Trump created by a Bay Area writer who relied on only one tool: the words of the GOP front-runner for president. Patricia Yollin KQED -- 4/1/16

Targets of Trump's attacks fight back in D.C. -- Companies know they can't afford to ignore the front-runner's put-downs anymore, and some might skip the GOP convention. Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman Politico -- 4/1/16

Watchdog group alleges Trump illegally promised position to Carson -- A political accountability group backed by Hillary Clinton supporters this week filed a complaint to the Justice Department alleging that Donald Trump illegally promised Ben Carson a position in his administration in exchange for his endorsement, according to a document provided to POLITICO on Thursday. Nick Gass Politico -- 4/1/16