Updating . .
Will California farms find enough workers amid Trump’s immigration crackdown? -- As the spring picking season approaches, farmworkers are convinced the fields will be raided by federal agents intent on rounding up undocumented immigrants and shipping them back to Mexico or Central America. With many fearing the authorities will also set up checkpoints on the highways, the United Farm Workers union said the labor flow has already been cut in half at some farms. Ryan Lillis and Jose Luis Villegas in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/19/17
Will defense gains offset budget cuts to science, technology in San Diego? -- In a region largely shaped and driven for more than a century by federal spending on the military, President Donald Trump’s first budget proposal last week triggered cheers from defense hawks and cries from researchers, academic leaders and others concerned about funding cuts to San Diego County’s scientific, medical and high-tech industries. Carl Prine in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 3/19/17
Big Sur is once again coping with natural disaster and looming economic catastrophe -- I want to tell you about how awful things have been for hundreds of people in Big Sur, trapped now for more than a month by a broken bridge to the north and various mud and rock slides to the south. Robin Abcarian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/19/17
California’s bumpy path to road repairs -- California’s already poor roads deteriorated to a whole new level of disrepair this winter. Sinkholes have popped up throughout the state and major roads have closed because of damage. Lisa Renner Capitol Weekly -- 3/19/17
Grassley and Feinstein: The Pair Who Will Lead Gorsuch’s Senate Hearings -- She is a female trailblazer in a Senate where women remain a minority, a formal and wealthy institutionalist from one of the nation’s most liberal states whose partisanship is at times eclipsed by propriety. Jennifer Steinhauer in the New York Times$ -- 3/19/17
Jimmy Breslin, legendary New York City columnist, dies at 88 -- Jimmy Breslin, the street-savvy, Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper columnist whose two-fisted prose championing the little guy and pillorying those who betrayed the public trust made him a New York City institution for more than 40 years, died Sunday. He was 88. Dennis McLellan in the Los Angeles Times$ Verena Dobnik Associated Press Dan Barry in the New York Times$ Paul Duggan in the Washington Post$ -- 3/19/17
San Francisco library workers may get training to save heroin addicts’ lives -- In addition to checking out and re-shelving books, San Francisco library staffers may soon be trained to give lifesaving medication to reverse overdoses among the growing number of heroin users mixing in with the homeless in and around the Main Library. Matier & Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/19/17
Republican Congressman Faces Hostile Crowd at Nevada County Town Hall -- Republican Congressman Doug LaMalfa drew more than 1,400 people to a town hall at the Nevada County Fairgrounds about an hour north of Sacramento Saturday. The crowd peppered LaMalfa with questions on the environment and immigration. LaMalfa backed the idea of building a wall along the border with Mexico, saying the country has to defend its borders. Katie Orr KQED -- 3/19/17
Next step for Trump resistance: Get organized, fight burnout -- Even though it is only a few months old, the fledgling resistance to President Trump is realizing it needs to address three big questions: How do we keep people from burning out? With so many new groups addressing the same issues, how do we keep from duplicating our efforts? Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/19/17
Why our health care costs so much — and why fixes aren't likely -- Practically everyone knows health care in the United States is expensive — the most expensive in the world by seemingly every measure. But judging by the raging debate over the Affordable Care Act, few really understand why. Paul Sisson in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 3/19/17
California Policy & Politics This Morning
Here’s how California ended up with too much solar power -- California’s power-grid operators are dealing with a glut of daytime electricity produced by household, government, business and industrial solar installations. This forces the electricity prices on state’s real-time marketplace to plummet, leading some power-plant operators to shut down until demand catches up with supply later in the day. David Danelski in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 3/19/17
Legislators demand answers on refugee boy’s detention -- California legislators who say they are “disturbed” by the 11-month incarceration in Yolo County of a young boy who fled Honduras and crossed the U.S. border alone want officials to explain his lengthy detention and reveal any other cases like it. Karen de Sá in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/19/17
California housing bills could take away subsidies for homeowners and add them for renters -- California lawmakers have introduced more than 130 bills this year that try to tackle the state’s housing affordability crisis. Reams of statistics support the depth of the problem: California’s homeownership rate is at its lowest since World War II, a third of renters spend more than half of their income on housing costs and the state has nearly a quarter of the nation’s homeless residents — despite having 12% of the overall U.S. population. Liam Dillon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/19/17
Water agency with highest salaries in region to raise rates again -- One of the largest water providers in the Sacramento region is once again facing criticism for employee compensation, this time as it seeks to raise rates by 41 percent over five years. Brad Branan in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/19/17
Political Road Map: California has long depended on an illegal-immigration program that Trump wants to kill -- For all of the unprecedented elements of President Trump’s federal budget plans, there’s an item buried in the list of detailed spending cuts that has a familiar, contentious political legacy in California. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/19/17
Schnur: Economics, not insults, will win over Trump voters on immigration -- Geert Wilders may sound like the name that they’d give to a villain in a science fiction movie, but he is also probably the most important international political figure that you never heard of until last week. Dan Schnur in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/19/17
Lopez: He's devoted his life to caring for L.A.'s neediest patients, and Trumpcare has him very nervous -- Jonathan LoPresti went to USC as an undergrad in 1974. And liked it. So much so that he stayed on for a PhD in physiology, and then stuck with the Trojan family for medical school. For his residency, take a wild guess. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/19/17
Sanctuary in the age of Trump: Coming to a church near you -- The Rev. Francisco Garcia Jr. knows how difficult it can be for an immigrant to endure church-offered sanctuary. A decade ago, as a layperson, Garcia supported an undocumented man living in sanctuary at a Lutheran church in North Hollywood. Brenda Gazzar in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 3/19/17
One month after disastrous flood, heartbreak continues for residents -- With fresh peach-colored paint, elegant pillars and a distinct floral arrangement hanging from its front door, Shannon George’s home at first glance appears picture-perfect. But on the inside, the house on South 20th Street is merely a shell. Tatiana Sanchez in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/19/17
California kids would all be screened for lead if plan passes -- Growing national concern about lead poisoning in children has prompted a California lawmaker to introduce legislation to ensure that all of the state’s kids are tested for the toxic metal. Ana B. Ibarra in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 3/19/17
Feinstein on potential for Trump ouster: 'I think he's gonna get himself out' -- Sen. Dianne Feinstein seemed to indicate Friday that she expects President Donald Trump may disqualify himself from office over potential constitutional breaches and conflicts of interest. Kyle Cheney Politico -- 3/19/17
Willie Brown: News media falling for President Trump’s tricks -- I’m starting to wonder if the media will ever get wise to President Trump’s tricks. I can’t help but think that his operation was behind last week’s “anonymous” drop of Trump tax returns to Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist David Cay Johnston. Willie Brown in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/19/17
California Innocence Project marches on — working to free wrongly accused prison inmates -- It’s been almost four years since three San Diego lawyers marched more than 700 miles north to Sacramento to bring attention to a group of prison inmates they dubbed “The California 12.” Dana Littlefield in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 3/19/17
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
Port of L.A.’s automated terminal: Future of commerce or blue-collar job-killer? -- Along a bustling yard at the Port of Los Angeles’ TraPac terminal, robots rule. Four-stories tall, mammoth two-legged machines scurry around the terminal, snagging shipping containers the size of delivery vans and stacking them like shoeboxes — and occasionally bumping into each other. Rachel Uranga in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 3/19/17
Southern California's house flipping takes a dip -- The quick-buck, buying-fixing-selling residential real estate bets were a huge part of housing in both the boom and bust periods a decade ago. Today’s market presence of these speedy resales is nowhere near the crazed heights surrounding the bubble and its subsequent bust. Jonathan Lanser in the Orange County Register -- 3/19/17
Oakland Raiders: Mark Davis focused on Las Vegas as vote nears -- A big black hole sits at the center of the negotiating table in Oakland. While Ronnie Lott, his investors and local lawmakers work to avert another move for the Raiders, the empty chair in the room belongs to team owner Mark Davis. Elliot Almond in the East Bay Times -- 3/19/17
Education
Oakland Coding School’s New Pay Model: No Tuition Until You Land a Job -- Money has always been tight for Diana Vashti. While studying poetry at Michigan State, she racked up $20,000 in student loans and eventually dropped out. But while Vashti was working at a craft store in San Francisco, her roommate, a software engineer, introduced her to websites that taught programming. Alyssa Jeong Perry KQED -- 3/19/17
Hundreds of students in San Francisco Chronicle for city’s first robotics battle -- Hayel Kiymetli traveled from her boarding school, Darussafaka in Istanbul, as one of hundreds of high school students taking part in a regional First Robotics Competition, which was held for the first time in San Francisco this weekend at St. Ignatius College Preparatory. Tara Duggan in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/19/17
Cannabis
For many seniors, medical cannabis is more threat than remedy -- Before it even began, the monthly meeting of the People of Parkside Sunset had devolved into an angry crowd of seniors shouting in Cantonese. “No invaders! No invaders! No invaders!” yelled out 100 or so Sunset District residents crammed into a humid room inside the Taraval Police Station earlier this month. David Downs in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/19/17
The Senior Prescription -- Twenty-one years after Californians legalized medical marijuana for the seriously ill, those patients still have some of the worst access to the drug. Surveys show just 2 percent of seniors have used medical pot, compared with 8 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds. The item is in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/19/17
Environment
California Deserts in ‘Super Bloom’ Thanks to a Wet Winter -- In some parts of the country, cold weather is threatening crops. Meanwhile, California has been so unseasonably wet that its deserts are experiencing what’s called a “super bloom.” After years of drought, the normally arid desert is lush. Mandalit del Barco KQED -- 3/19/17
POTUS 45
Inside Trump’s White House, New York moderates spark infighting and suspicion -- Inside the White House, they are dismissed by their rivals as “the Democrats.” Outspoken, worldly and polished, this coterie of ascendant Manhattan business figures-turned-presidential advisers is scrambling the still-evolving power centers swirling around President Trump. Philip Rucker and Robert Costa in the Washington Post$ -- 3/19/17
Trump sued over disclosure of personal debts -- A Washington lawyer is suing President Donald Trump for allegedly obscuring the extent of his personal debts on his federal financial disclosure form. Josh Gerstein Politico -- 3/19/17
Trump's 'major meeting' on veterans affairs doesn't happen -- A "major meeting" on veterans affairs slated for Friday evening that President Donald Trump publicly announced at the White House earlier in the day did not take place, according to pool reports. Rebecca Morin Politico -- 3/19/17
Beltway
Russian company that paid Flynn deemed ‘unsuitable’ by Pentagon -- A Russian air cargo carrier that paid former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn more than $11,000 had been blacklisted without warning by the Pentagon months before he became Donald Trump’s top campaign adviser on military matters, according to documents obtained by McClatchy. Kevin G. Hall and David Goldstein McClatchy DC -- 3/19/17
How the U.K. spying claim traveled from an ex-CIA blogger to Trump’s White House -- The former CIA analyst who helped launch the claim that the U.K. spied on Donald Trump is a longtime critic of U.S. intelligence and defender of Russia. He maintains the CIA — not Russia — may have been behind the hacking of the Democratic National Committee. Matthew Nussbaum Politico -- 3/19/17
Hillary Clinton Says She’s ‘Ready to Come Out of the Woods’ -- Hillary Clinton said she was “ready to come out of the woods” during a St. Patrick’s Day speech on Friday night in Pennsylvania in front of an overflow crowd — an indication that she plans to shed the low profile she has kept since the election. Eli Rosenberg in the New York Times$ -- 3/19/17
-- Saturday Updates
Jerry Brown heads to Washington to talk nuclear danger, more -- Brown, the popular Democratic leader of a state antagonistic to Trump on issues ranging from healthcare and environmental protections to immigration policy, will attend the meeting of the Nuclear Threat Initiative’s Board of Directors. Christopher Cadelago in the Sacramento Bee$ John Myers in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/18/17
Norovirus outbreak continues at Santa Monica schools -- Nearly two months after a norovirus outbreak began during a class trip to Yosemite, students in Santa Monica are still falling sick with the stomach bug, according to school and public health officials. Soumya Karlamangla in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/18/17
Lack of kids in Davis fuels K-12 transfers from outside the school district -- It takes “granny nanny” Helen Pomerleau up to 20 minutes to drive her three grandchildren from their home near downtown Woodland to their schools in Davis. Loretta Kalb in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/18/17
In One Rocky Week, Trump’s Self-Inflicted Chaos on Vivid Display -- Minutes before President Trump was to take the stage in Nashville last week to make his case for the health care overhaul he had promised, he received some unwelcome news that shifted his script. Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Maggie Haberman in the New York Times$ -- 3/18/17