Updating . .   

Homeless family of 4 found dead in parked van in California -- A homeless family of four was found dead inside a parked van that had its windows covered with blankets and a sunshade at a Southern California strip mall in what authorities suspect was a tragic case of carbon monoxide poisoning, police said Friday. Amy Taxin Associated Press -- 3/16/18

Large homeless shelter in Sacramento likely to stay open well past original closure date -- The City Council will vote Tuesday on authorizing negotiations with service providers and the property owner to keep the 200-bed shelter at 2040 Railroad Dr. open beyond the end of this month. Ryan Lillis and Cynthia Hubert in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/16/18

Student threat forces evacuation of hundreds of students at Kennedy High in Sacramento -- According to a transcript posted on the Kennedy High School Twitter account, Principal David Van Natten told parents that "many of your students have received a random text threat this morning directly to their phones." Diana Lambert in the Sacramento Bee$ Nick Miller Capital Public Radio -- 3/16/18

Social media threat puts Elk Grove high school on edge -- Students and parents at Monterey Trail High School in Elk Grove were on edge Friday morning after a man threatened to shoot students Thursday on social media. Anita Chabria and Benjy Egel in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/16/18

'A bullet in your brain': Online threats, an arrest and the fear hanging over 3 schools -- Trevor Joseph Marshall sent a video and a text message to his former friend explaining exactly how their lives would end. Marshall was going to kill himself and he was going to take his friend with him. Darrell Smith in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/16/18

Two Bay Area schools cancel classes Friday after threats found on campus -- Schools in Burlingame and Martinez cancelled classes Friday after threats were discovered on campus, according to e-mails sent to parents by the respective school district officials. A third threat was reported at James Logan High School in Union City, resulting in a brief lockdown of the campus Thursday. Mark Gomez and Jason Green in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/16/18

Money raised for children of couple killed after fleeing ICE -- A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to raise $40,000 for the six children of a couple who were killed when their car crashed in Delano while trying to flee from immigration agents. Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/18

Lawyers call US gun charges for Mexican man 'vindictive' -- Federal prosecutors charged Jose Ines Garcia Zarate with two counts of illegal gun possession in November after jurors in state court found him not guilty of the 2015 killing of Kate Steinle on a popular pier. Associated Press -- 3/16/18

Tahoe bears are breaking into homes with people inside -- It was October, and most of the vacation homes on this part of Lake Tahoe were empty. Bob Chaplin, 82, was living alone on a quiet street. And he was getting nervous. Bears had been breaking into his neighbors' houses. Ryan Sabalow and Ed Fletcher in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/16/18

Watch six bears ransack a Lake Tahoe vacation home -- A security camera above a refrigerator shows six bears invading a Lake Tahoe vacation home through a window in October 2017. The homeowner who shared this video asked not to be identified because he fears harassment from bear advocates in the area. The item is in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/16/18

New California bill would give big state funding boost to affordable housing -- Assembly Bill 3037 from Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco) would re-create a version of a program known as redevelopment that set aside billions of dollars in property taxes each year for local economic development and affordable housing. Liam Dillon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/18

Jeffe & Jeffee: Trump Makes California Grate Again -- President Donald Trump finally came to the Golden State and Californians responded with the ultimate dis—they pretty much ignored him. Everyone, including the President, seemed to be going through the motions. There wasn’t enough electricity in the atmosphere to power an iPhone for more than an hour. Sherry Bebitch Jeffe & Doug Jeffe Fox & Hounds -- 3/16/18

Smolens: Rep. Scott Peters missing from election heat. That's no accident -- Rep. Scott Peters is a bit of the odd man out this year, and he doesn’t seem to mind. Michael Smolens in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 3/16/18

New Sierra snow storm bringing up to 5 feet of powder, but it’s not a “March Miracle” yet -- Ski resorts are crowing over a major snowstorm that began pounding the Sierra Nevada late Thursday, with forecasters warning of white-out conditions, road closures and up to five feet of new snow at the highest elevations by Saturday morning. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/16/18

Why gas-fired power plants are on the chopping block in SoCal -- This month, three local power plants fueled by natural gas announced they were closing, and plans for a fourth have been scrapped. Collectively, they are victims of an energy glut and changing energy policies that are moving the state away from fossil fuels. Sharon McNary KPCC -- 3/16/18

Outlaw weed comes into the light -- Humboldt County, the heart of California’s dark marijuana economy, is facing a new market force: legalization. Scott Wilson in the Washington Post$ -- 3/16/18

Wells Fargo customers could have more time to file claims in $142-million fake accounts settlement -- Wells Fargo & Co. failed to notify some customers about its $142-million class-action settlement over its unauthorized accounts scandal — an error that could give customers more time to participate in the deal but contribute to months of delay in receiving payments. James Rufus Koren in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/18

By ordering new land-use plan, Trump could spark a fight in California deserts -- Conservationists see its acres of creosote bush and cholla cactus as a rare habitat for tortoises, pronghorn antelope and an elusive variety of mule deer. Energy companies view its sunbaked plains and windswept ridgelines as prime perches for solar panels and wind turbines. Dirt tracks that wiggle across its sandy washes are testament to its popularity among off-road motorsports enthusiasts. Louis Sahagun in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/18

Video shows officers rushing man from mobile home seconds before it explodes -- A dash cam video of the rescue shows the man being rushed from the unit about five seconds before an explosion shoots flames from the mobile home. Jonathan Winslow in the Orange County Register -- 3/16/18

Former attorneys for 'Suge' Knight plead not guilty to witness tampering charges -- Two attorneys who formerly represented Marion "Suge" Knight after he was charged with murder pleaded not guilty to witness tampering charges in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom Friday. James Queally in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/18

Capitol Weekly Podcast: Paul Mitchell -- Political Data’s Paul Mitchell joins the podcast to chat with John Howard and Tim Foster about Democrat Conor Lamb’s surprise victory in the special election in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District — a district that the GOP has often and Trump won in 2016 by 20 points. Link here -- 3/16/18

 

California Policy & Politics This Morning  

Another 30 miles of California's bullet train route must run at lower speeds, documents show -- Technical documents attached to the authority's 2018 business plan show that it no longer plans to have dedicated tracks designed for speeds of up to 220 mph over a 30-mile stretch south of San Francisco. Ralph Vartabedian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/18

Embattled high-speed rail continues to be a moving target for cost, schedule, route -- The latest release of the every-other-year business plan by the California High-Speed Rail Authority represents yet another iteration of a project with moving targets for price, schedule and geography. Tim Sheehan in the Fresno Bee -- 3/16/18

Los Angeles barred from enforcing nearly all gang injunctions, federal judge rules -- In a 22-page order issued Thursday, Chief U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips ruled that the American Civil Liberties Union is likely to prove that most of those subject to the remaining injunctions suffered a due process violation, since the city did not give them an opportunity to challenge the civil restraining orders in court. James Queally in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/18

Karin Caves, longtime Sacramento political consultant, dies -- Karin Caves, a fixture in Sacramento politics who advised powerful California lawmakers and governors since the late 1980s, died early Thursday. She was 63. Adam Ashton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/16/18

California Democratic Party chairman challenges Tony Mendoza's ballot designation as 'state senator' -- The chairman of the California Democratic Party has asked the secretary of state to reject Tony Mendoza’s ballot designation as “state senator,” saying it is misleading because Mendoza resigned from the Senate last month under threat of expulsion over sexual harassment allegations. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/18

Travel ban in California hurting college sports, lawmaker says -- San Diego State's men's basketball team took the court Thursday in the first round of the NCAA tournament, but California's multistate travel ban meant the trip to Wichita, Kansas, was more arduous than usual. Billy Kobin in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/16/18

The race to take over Issa's seat is packed with 16 candidates -- After an extended deadline, 16 candidates have completed paperwork to run for an open seat in Congress, held by retiring Rep. Darrell Issa, making it the busiest race in the San Diego area. Joshua Stewart in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 3/16/18

36 candidates are on the ballot in these California districts, and two of them will be heading to Congress -- In theory, Democrats hoping to win back congressional control have two of their best shots in California, where two Republicans are retiring from racially diverse districts that have been trending against the GOP. Christine Mai-Duc in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/18

In governor’s race polls, Cox makes a case for November, Newsom agrees -- A new poll has Republican businessman John Cox less than a single percentage point behind Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom in the race for governor, 45.1 percent to 44.6 percent. Of course, the internal poll was paid for by Cox. John Wildermuth and Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/16/18

Morain: Advocates offer new remedy for health care woes as a bridge to single payer -- California won’t be adopting single-payer health care with its $400 billion price tag any time soon. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon made sure of that by opposing it. But the health care system is ailing, and organized labor, health care advocates and several Democratic lawmakers are offering a new prescription in the form of several bills. The measures could provide a bridge to a single-payer system in the future. Dan Morain Calmatters -- 3/16/18

Liberal Groups Mount Push For Universal (Not Single-Payer) Healthcare In California -- California isn’t moving to a single-payer health care system anytime soon. So a coalition of liberal advocacy groups is calling for policy actions this year to achieve statewide universal coverage under California’s current health care system. Ben Adler Capital Public Radio -- 3/16/18

Compton mismanaged, overspent taxpayer funds, state audit finds -- Compton officials overpaid themselves, charged questionable trips on city-issued credit cards and failed to safeguard taxpayer money, resulting in a staffer stealing millions of dollars over years, according to a state audit. Angel Jennings in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/18

Fearing a Trump population undercount, Brown wants more money for state census effort -- The California effort is driven in part by President Donald Trump's proposal to include a question about citizenship in the next census count. That proposal, combined with the Census Bureau's plan to move primarily to online responses and have fewer workers for follow up counts, concerns California leaders. Billy Kobin in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/16/18

Despite wounds from fire, Sonoma County facing millions in mental health cuts -- Sonoma County officials are considering millions of dollars in emergency budget cuts to more than 40 nonprofit groups that provide counseling, suicide prevention, supportive housing and addiction intervention — even as the region faces a mental health crisis after October’s Wine Country firestorm. Lizzie Johnson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/16/18

Against state law, former San Francisco police union head uses rap sheet as meeting prop -- Gary Delagnes, the brash former president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, is known for dramatic flourishes. But some say he may have gone too far by showing off a confidential criminal rap sheet at a recent community meeting. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/16/18

Vallejo kidnap victim and fiance accused of hoax settle for $2.5 million -- A couple wrongly accused by Vallejo police of fabricating a very-real kidnapping reached a multi-million-dollar settlement with the city and its police department Thursday. Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn will receive $2.5 million from the city, Quinn’s mother, Marianne Quinn, told The Chronicle. Evan Sernoffsky in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/16/18

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions  

Costa: More ICE audits will have 'severe and disproportionate' impact on Valley business -- Fresno congressman Jim Costa is urging federal immigration agents to cut back on workplace audits, saying they will have a “severe and disproportionate” impact on agricultural communities in the Valley. Mackenzie Mays in the Fresno Bee -- 3/16/18

Toys R Us closures will result in heavy job losses for Southern California -- A spokesman for Toys R US said the company typically staffs 25 to 30 full-time employees per store, and that’s not counting part-time workers. With scores of Toys R Us, Babies R Us and shared Toys R Us/Babies R Us locations scattered throughout the Southland, the job losses will be significant. The item is in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 3/16/18

Oakland hoping to buy Alameda County’s half of Coliseum complex -- Alameda County and Oakland are prepared to negotiate a deal to sever their 52-year-old joint ownership of the Coliseum sports complex and surrounding land in the hope that a single owner would make it easier to build housing and attract business to the industrial area dotted with vacant lots, a city official said Thursday. Kimberly Veklerov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/16/18

Job-matching start-up in Redondo Beach may help solve U.S. labor-market puzzle -- Patrick Jones, founder of start-up Vocatio, wants millennials and teens to get jobs. In trying to make this a reality, he's also addressing a broader issue that's vexed economists and companies: how to match available positions with the right people. Bloomberg via the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/18

California lawsuits accuse Uber and Lyft of discriminating against wheelchair users -- The lawsuits, filed in California Superior Court in Alameda County, allege that both companies have failed to adequately extend their services to passengers who use wheelchairs, and that it is completely within their power to rectify the issue. Neither lawsuit seeks monetary damages; both call on the companies to change their current practices. Tracey Lien in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/18

Water  

Why your water provider is fighting California's ban on watering sidewalks -- It seemed like the sort of thing any drought-wary Californian could support. The state's water cops were poised last month to pass a set of rules prohibiting what most everyone agrees are wasteful water uses –like letting water from a hose without a nozzle flow into a storm drain. Dale Kasler and Ryan Sabalow in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/16/18

Homeless  

Former LA Times reporter, filmmaker now homeless -- Clark Sharon, a man who once wrote the news, now reads it in a public library. Sharon spends most of his days there, sifting through a stack of the day's papers, ranging from local Orange County news to national fodder. Michelle Robertson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/16/18

Federal Judge Calls Saturday Hearing To Discuss Next Steps for Riverbed Homeless -- U.S. District Judge David O. Carter has called a federal court conference for Saturday morning to discuss the county’s imminent plans for moving hundreds of Santa Ana riverbed homeless people currently in motels, to county shelters or medical facilities. Thy Vo VoiceofOC.org -- 3/16/18

Housing  

Who’s Greener? California Housing Plan Splits Would-Be Allies -- It’s an audacious proposal to get Californians out of their cars: a bill in the State Legislature that would allow eight-story buildings near major transit stops, even if local communities object. Connor Dougherty and Brad Plumer in the New York Times$ -- 3/16/18

Education 

UC regents approve nonresident student tuition hike -- University of California regents voted Thursday to increase tuition for nonresident students at a time of surging enrollment and constrained state funding. They approved the increase by a 12-3 vote despite eloquent pleas from numerous students, including those from California. Teresa Watanabe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/18

Threat of shooting leads Martinez school to cancel Friday classes -- The Martinez Unified School District is canceling Friday classes at Martinez Junior High School in response to graffiti threatening a shooting at the campus. Jason Green in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/16/18

Trappers search for coyote that bit 5-year-old and aggressively approached student at Cal State L.A. -- Professional trappers have been called in to catch a coyote that bit a 5-year-old boy and then aggressively approached a student at the Cal State L.A. campus Wednesday night. Esmeralda Bermudez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/18

Oakland Unified initiative for African-American girls follows years of focus on the boys – Ever since the Oakland Unified School District launched its African-American Male Achievement office eight years ago people have been asking, “What about the girls?” Lee Romney EdSource -- 3/16/18

Donations double for Catholic girls school accused of ignoring sex abuse -- Despite allegations that administrators ignored sexual harassment and abuse complaints at a San Jose Catholic girls school, donors outraged by the accuser’s tactics have more than doubled their contributions. John Woolfolk in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/16/18

Don’t swap state tests like Smarter Balanced for SAT or ACT, report cautions -- States should not abandon their high school math and reading assessments in favor of the college readiness tests SAT or ACT, a prominent national education nonprofit advised in a new report. A number of California school administrators are pushing the California Legislature to give them the option of making that switch. John Fensterwald EdSource -- 3/16/18

Cannabis 

California considers lower taxes on pot to help new legal industry compete with black market -- Alarmed that California's fledgling legal marijuana industry is being undercut by the black market, a group of lawmakers proposed Thursday to reduce state taxes for three years on growing and selling cannabis to allow licensed sellers to get on their feet. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/18

Environment 

Panel of nuclear experts assembled to get waste out of San Onofre -- The panel was put together as part of an out-of-court settlement negotiated last summer between Southern California Edison — the utility that operates SONGS — and attorneys for two San Diego-area plaintiffs who opposed a permit granted by the California Coastal Commission allowing waste to be stored on the plant’s premises. Rob Nikolewski in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 3/16/18

San Onofre Nuclear Waste May Go to New Mexico, Instead of 100 Feet From the Beach -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has begun a technical review of a license for an interim storage site for nuclear waste in New Mexico -- and that's a hopeful sign for those fighting to find an alternative to burying spent nuclear fuel 100 feet from the beach at the now-closed San Onofre nuclear plant, in northern San Diego County. Alison St John KQED -- 3/16/18

Also . . . 

Boulder thrown off 134 Freeway overpass kills man in car -- Guadalupe Gutierrez was driving under a freeway overpass in Pasadena when a 35-pound boulder smashed through her windshield and struck her husband in the passenger seat. She rushed him to the nearest hospital in Glendale, where he died. Now authorities are searching for the person they believe purposefully threw the large rock off the overpass. Alene Tchekmedyian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/18

California's aging driver fatalities are increasing -- Fatal crashes involving older drivers are increasing. According to a new report from the nonprofit transportation research group, TRIP, California has the largest number of licensed drivers over 65 and the third highest number of fatalities involving at least one of those drivers. Susan Carpenter with Vikram Patel KPCC -- 3/16/18

After 4 days, missing Joshua Tree hiker from Santee found alive -- Four days after a hiker from Santee went missing in Joshua Tree National Park, he was found Thursday, hurt but alive, officials with a search team said. Teri Figueroa in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 3/16/18

‘Hot Cop of the Castro’ guilty on 2 counts of hit and run -- A San Francisco police officer who gained online fame as “the Hot Cop of the Castro,” only to fall from grace after slamming his car into two people in North Beach, was found guilty Thursday of two felony counts of hit and run. Evan Sernoffsky in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/16/18

POTUS 45  

Mueller seeks documents from Trump Organization, signaling possible scrutiny of the president's business dealings -- The Russia investigation has landed squarely in the sleek black Manhattan skyscraper where President Trump made his mark as a freewheeling real estate developer more than three decades ago. Chris Megerian and Joseph Tanfani in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/18

Beltway 

Feinstein calls on CIA to declassify documents detailing Haspel’s ties to torture program -- The Democrat who wrote the Senate’s seminal report on the CIA’s use of enhanced interrogation techniques criticized as torture wants the agency to declassify documents detailing the role Gina Haspel, President Trump’s nominee to take over as director, played in overseeing the practice and attempts to destroy evidence of it. Karoun Demirjian in the Washington Post$ -- 3/16/18

 

-- Thursday Updates 

Democrats brace for potential California disaster -- In a state that’s central to the battle for control of the House, Democrats emerged from a filing deadline late Wednesday resigned to the possibility that no Democratic candidate will appear on the November ballot in several key House races. David Siders Politico -- 3/15/18

California doesn't want this towering water project. Trump administration may build it anyway -- The Trump administration is pushing forward with a colossal public works project in Northern California — heightening the towering Shasta Dam the equivalent of nearly two stories. The problem is that California is dead-set against the plan, and state law prohibits the 602-foot New Deal-era structure from getting any taller. Evan Halper and Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/15/18

Gavin Newsom's past affair disqualifies him from governorship, rival Renteria says -- California gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom's past sexual misconduct disqualifies him from holding higher office, rival Democrat Amanda Renteria said Thursday, and he should resign from his position as lieutenant governor. Alexei Koseff in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/15/18

Top Democrats split with state party in race against Rohrabacher -- Three congressional Democrats who represent Orange County are endorsing Harley Rouda in the race against Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher. Christine Mai-Duc in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/15/18

Dianne Feinstein vs. driverless cars: Why California senator is squaring off against high-tech -- The senior U.S. senator from the country’s most tech-savvy state has for months blocked a bill championed by some of California’s biggest tech companies that would cut regulations and get self-driving cars onto roads sooner — and she made it clear Wednesday she’s not backing down. Casey Tolan in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 3/15/18

As businesses cite blight, overnight RV parking bans on L.A. streets grow — and the homeless scramble -- For a while, Vincent Neill and his family parked their weathered RVs on a stretch of roadway in Canoga Park, where the kids had friends down the street. Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/15/18

San Francisco Police Commission approves Taser policy for officers -- The San Francisco Police Commission voted to adopt a policy Wednesday night regulating how officers can use Tasers, bringing a months-long debate over the electroshock weapons to an end and clearing the way for the rollout of the devices at the end of the year. Evan Sernoffsky in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/15/18

CSUN professor says she stopped teaching out of fear after this test question about Donald Trump -- After asking students to label Donald Trump’s speech as “anti-Mexican,” “anti-Muslim,” “anti-woman,” or “all of the above” on an exam, a veteran Cal State Northridge professor says she fears for her safety and accuses the university of doing little to respond to her concerns about threatening online posts that surfaced when a few of her test questions became public. Brenda Gazzar in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 3/15/18

No cops on campus? East Bay schools debate law enforcement removal -- After 17 students and staffers were shot to death in last month’s high school massacre in Florida, President Trump suggested that arming weapons-savvy teachers and other employees could head off such atrocities. Sarah Ravani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/15/18

Taylor: Putting riders’ lives at risk is not an OK way of protesting bike shares -- If she had been in the car’s lane, there would’ve been a collision. Shaken, Wheeler returned to the docking station for another bike. “Come to find out, every single bike had the brakes broken,” she said. “It was a full rack. Every single bike.” Even some tires had been slashed. Not cool. Otis R. Taylor Jr. in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/15/18

Yountville veterans center where 3 were shot to death suspends operations -- The veterans care center in Yountville where a former Army soldier shot and killed three health care workers has suspended operations indefinitely, administrators said Wednesday. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/15/18

Fox: Firing Up a “New Way”-- How provocative and different will New Way California be? That’s the group founded by Assemblyman Chad Mayes and supported by former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in an effort to revive the California Republican Party. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 3/15/18

Trump Repeats False Claim About Canada After Admitting Uncertainty Over Figure -- President Trump repeated his false assertion on Thursday that the United States runs a trade deficit with Canada, the morning after telling Republican donors at a private dinner that he had knowingly insisted on that claim in a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada without knowing if it was true. Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Ian Austen in the New York Times$ -- 3/15/18