Updating . .   

Border Patrol says detention centers are full — and starts releasing migrants -- The Border Patrol released 50 recently apprehended migrants here Tuesday, the first of several hundred border-crossers who officials say will soon be freed because there is no room to hold them. Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Molly O'Toole in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/20/19

Man framed for murder gets $13.1-million settlement from San Francisco -- San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a $13.1-million settlement for a man who spent eight years in prison after police officers framed him for murder. Javier Panzar in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/20/19

USC selects Carol Folt as new president as university tries to move past scandals -- Carol L. Folt, the recently departed chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will be the next president of USC, a choice underscoring the university’s desire to turn the page on myriad scandals that have defined it in recent years. Harriet Ryan and Matt Hamilton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/20/19

New USC president Carol Folt removed Confederate statue, faced N. Carolina backlash -- The monument in the heart of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus was a landmark, honoring former students who fought for the slaveholding Confederacy. But the Confederate statue became a lightning rod for Carol L. Folt, who led the university amid intense debate over the statue and was named Wednesday as the new president of USC. The item is in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/20/19

Old Dominion leader Ellen Neufeldt named new president of Cal State San Marcos -- Ellen J. Neufeldt, an administrator at Old Dominion University in Virginia, was named Wednesday as the new president of Cal State San Marcos, according to the California State University Board of Trustees. Pam Kragen in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 3/20/19

Workers hit picket line at UC Davis Medical Center as strike unfolds at campuses statewide -- The blare of vuvuzelas, the horns familiar to soccer fans, echoed around the UC Davis Medical Center during the morning rush hour Wednesday as roughly 200 unionized workers picketed over stalled contract negotiations with the University of California. Cathie Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/20/19

Bay Area leads charge on fixing housing crisis -- California lawmakers have unveiled a far-reaching package to stem the state’s housing affordability crisis, from new protections against surging rents and evictions to more apartments near public transit and in coastal communities. The proposals could reshape the state’s housing landscape — and they all come from Bay Area politicians. Liam Dillon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/20/19

Why won’t developers build housing in this Bay Area city? -- San Jose fell short of its annual housing goals last year, missing one marker by 1,000 homes and prompting City Council on Tuesday to ask a key question: why aren’t developers building here? Marisa Kendall in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/20/19

L.A. promised more housing for homeless people — but some neighborhoods are way behind -- Housing for homeless people? In Chatsworth? Jason Brackett isn’t holding his breath. Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/20/19

Oakland’s plan to improve roads stuck in a rut -- Oakland’s new Department of Transportation, backed by bond proceeds that voters approved in 2016, promised a renaissance in a city of potholes and rutted roads. And in the two years since the department’s genesis, it has unleashed a flurry of plans and ideas. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/20/19

California goes all in for the census -- As the country prepares for the important 2020 census, California is throwing more resources than ever into making sure its population is properly counted. Lisa Renner Capitol Weekly -- 3/20/19

Farmers Are Supposed to Consider Safer Alternatives to Toxic Pesticides. UCLA Report Says That’s Not Working Out Well -- Just under 200 million pounds of pesticides a year are used on California’s crops. When it comes to using them safely, 56 county agricultural officers are local communities final line of defense. Molly Peterson KQED -- 3/20/19

As Southern California cougars near ‘extinction vortex,’ a radical rescue plan emerges -- The future is looking increasingly bleak for some Southern California mountain lions. Urban encroachment, inbreeding, vehicle strikes, rat poison and wildfire have all taken their toll on cougars living in the Santa Monica and Santa Ana mountains. Louis Sahagun in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/20/19

How Charter Schools Became Such a Big Player in California's Education System -- In the recent school walkouts in Oakland and Los Angeles, striking teachers and their unions took particular aim a charter schools, accusing them of stripping traditional public schools of crucial resources. Matthew Green KQED -- 3/20/19

The Luxe hotel was a hot spot for fundraisers. But some L.A. politicians didn’t pay the bill -- Donors descended on the Luxe City Center Hotel last April for a fundraiser supporting two L.A. politicians: City Council President Herb Wesson and a colleague from the San Fernando Valley, Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez. David Zahniser and Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/20/19

Lopez: Veterans to Trump: Enough already with the attacks on late Sen. John McCain -- Jack LeGros, a helicopter door gunner during the Vietnam War, was on his way into the Veterans Affairs Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center on Tuesday afternoon when I asked him what he thought about President Trump’s continued attacks on late Sen. John McCain of Arizona. “I think he’s an…” Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/20/19

Fox: Your One-Party Government at Work -- Here’s what one-party government looks like in California: the voters make decisions at the ballot box and the majority party elected officials shrug and move forward to overturn those decisions not fearing a rebuke when up for re-election. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 3/20/19

Trump could be left off some states’ ballots in 2020 if these bills become law -- In refusing to release his tax returns, President Trump bucked decades of tradition and set off a Democrat hunt to obtain them. Now several statehouses are looking at making their release a condition of the 2020 presidential election: Show us your tax returns, or you can’t be on the ballot. Kayla Epstein in the Washington Post$ -- 3/20/19

Gillum to launch Florida voter-registration campaign to trip up Trump -- Andrew Gillum has launched a Florida voter registration group dedicated to defeating President Donald Trump’s re-election chances in the nation’s largest swing state. Gary Fineout Politico -- 3/20/19

 

California Policy & Politics This Morning  

California National Guard to leave border, help stop fires -- California is calling in the National Guard for the first time next month to help protect communities from devastating fires like the one that largely destroyed the city of Paradise last fall. Don Thompson Associated Press -- 3/20/19

New voting system in San Francisco for November election allows 10 ranked choices -- San Francisco’s Department of Elections is planning to embark on a marketing blitz starting this summer to get the word out about big changes to the city’s voting system. Dominic Fracassa in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/20/19

Disney-Fox deal is complete; CEO Bob Iger's big swing could change media industry -- Through a series of sure-footed moves, Iger has worked tirelessly to position Disney as the world’s preeminent entertainment company. Now he is closer to realizing his vision as the Burbank giant late Tuesday finalized its $71.3-billion purchase of much of Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox. Meg James in the Los Angeles Times$ Bob Strauss in the LA Daily News$ -- 3/20/19

The Fox lot is one asset Rupert Murdoch wouldn’t sell to Disney — with good reason -- In the end, the legendary Los Angeles birthplace of what became the vast Fox film empire was just too dear to part with. Roger Vincent in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/20/19

California lawmakers debate how to prevent another college admissions scandal -- When state legislators grilled University of California staff at a hearing Tuesday about the university’s response to the recent college admissions scandal, Assemblyman Kevin McCarty asked the question that’s been reverberating since the story broke last week. “How do we reassure the public that the system is not totally rigged?” Felicia Mello Calmatters -- 3/20/19

UC should expel students and revoke degrees after admissions scandal, lawmaker says -- With two University of California campuses mired in the college admissions scandal, a leading state legislator on Tuesday urged officials to quickly revoke degrees and expel students admitted under fraudulent circumstances. Taryn Luna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/20/19

No soccer experience, but she still got a spot on elite UCLA team in admissions scandal -- Lauren Isackson’s athletic credentials were dwarfed by those of her teammates. She joined the vaunted UCLA women’s soccer program in 2017 alongside members of the U.S. and Canadian national teams — elite athletes accustomed to dominating the high school and club circuits, being the best in their leagues, their states, even their entire home countries. Matthew Ormseth and Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/20/19

Sacramento City Hall holds the line in tobacco industry’s fight against flavor ban -- Sacramento is poised to ban the sale of flavored tobacco products – including menthol cigarettes and e-cigarette cartridges – after elected officials Tuesday rejected a counter-proposal from the tobacco industry. Theresa Clift in the Sacramento Bee$ Nick Miller Capital Public Radio -- 3/20/19

Towing Reform: New Bill Seeks to Repeal ‘Poverty Tows’ -- For many Californians, having a car towed is not only a costly inconvenience but can mean losing access to a job, education, medical care or even shelter, according to a new report by a coalition of civil rights attorneys. Marisol Medina-Cadena KQED -- 3/20/19

California Chief Justice Lays Out Goals For Equal Access To State’s Courts -- Cantil-Sakauye and the judicial branch helped craft last year’s legislation to eliminate cash bail. That law is on hold after the bail industry placed a referendum on it onto the November 2020 ballot. But the chief justice said county courts will continue to test out new programs that evaluate the pretrial release of defendants based on their flight and public safety risks. Ben Adler Capital Public Radio -- 3/20/19

Advocates for Green New Deal hold sit-in at San Diego office of Rep. Susan Davis -- Climate activists in San Diego staged a sit-in at Rep. Susan Davis’ office in University Heights Tuesday morning, calling on the congresswoman to support the Green New Deal resolution now in congress. Joshua Emerson Smith in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 3/20/19

Politifact CA: Fact-checking Gavin Newsom’s claims on California’s death penalty -- California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom put a freeze on the state’s death penalty last week, saying he could not oversee a capital punishment system he views as deeply flawed and immoral. Chris Nichols Politifact CA -- 3/20/19

Walters: Democrats defying the will of voters -- There’s long been a somewhat competitive relationship between the power of governors and legislators to make law and the ability of voters to overturn what the politicians wrought and/or make law themselves via the initiative process. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 3/20/19

Case of Imperial Beach Navy veteran imprisoned in Iran shrouded in secrecy -- For months, U.S. Navy veteran Michael R. White’s imprisonment in Iran has been shrouded in secrecy. Now, one thing is near certain: he won’t be coming home any time soon. Kristina Davis in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 3/20/19

California Jury Finds Roundup Caused Man's Cancer -- A San Francisco federal jury unanimously agreed on Tuesday that Roundup caused a man's cancer — a potentially massive blow to the company that produces the glyphosate-based herbicide currently facing hundreds of similar lawsuits. Vanessa Romo NPR Sudhin Thanawala Associated Press -- 3/20/19

‘We don’t want them in our city’: San Francisco officials seek Juul crackdown -- San Francisco officials proposed legislation Tuesday that would ban the sale of e-cigarettes in the city and prohibit e-cigarette companies like Juul from occupying city-owned property in the future. Catherine Ho and Trisha Thadani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/20/19

L.A. City Council candidate sues to stop former ethics commissioner from running -- A West Hills man running for a spot on the Los Angeles City Council is suing the city to remove one of his opponents from the ballot, claiming that she is legally barred from running under “revolving door” rules. Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times$ Elizabeth Chou in the LA Daily News$ -- 3/20/19

DA declines to charge Giants CEO Larry Baer over altercation with wife -- The San Francisco district attorney’s office declined to file charges Tuesday against Giants CEO Larry Baer after a physical altercation between the baseball executive and his wife was caught on video. Evan Sernoffsky in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/20/19

Devin Nunes faces long odds in lawsuit against Twitter -- Rep. Devin Nunes could be waiting a long time to see any of the more than $250 million he’s seeking from Twitter and others for what he called “defamation” and “insulting words,” lawyers unconnected with the Central Valley Republican’s lawsuit said Tuesday. John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/20/19

Devin Nunes is suing Twitter and a satirical cow over mean tweets. Does he have a case? -- According to First Amendment attorney Floyd Abrams: The speech involved is protected for several reasons. “Rep. Nunes seems to think the First Amendment exists to protect him from his critics when it’s actually meant to protect his critics from him,” said Abrams, calling the suit “bizarre” and “likely unconstitutional.” Deanna Paul in the Washington Post$ -- 3/20/19

California businesses hold billions in forgotten funds – and they’re not telling the state -- When employees forget to cash their checks, or bank accounts go untouched for years, California businesses are supposed to let the state know. But because so few comply with a state law to report the “forgotten funds,” there’s an estimated $24 billion in unclaimed property sprinkled across the state that the controller’s office is trying to put back in Californians’ pockets. Hannah Wiley in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/20/19

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions  

California military bases could lose up to $1.1 billion under Trump’s border wall plan -- Among them: $107 million for a new hanger at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield and $10.7 million for improvements for the California Air National Guard installation at the Fresno Yosemite International Airport. Emily Cadei in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/20/19

Merced Doctors Issue Prescriptions For Food Under New Program Addressing Family Hunger, Health -- Doctors in Merced have a new way to treat hunger: issuing prescriptions. One in three children experiences food insecurity in Merced County: going hungry, not knowing when or where their next meal is coming from, or just not eating right. A new program at Olivewood Pediatrics is putting meals on the table and helping families eat healthier foods. Rich Ibarra Capital Public Radio -- 3/20/19

UC hospitals, campuses statewide brace for third strike in 11 months Wednesday -- Thousands of University of California workers are launching their third strike in less than a year Wednesday at 10 campuses and five medical centers statewide, saying their labor contract negotiations have stalled because UC leaders are not willing to address wage inequality and job security. Cathie Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/20/19

Trucking companies are hiring felons to fill thousands of driver openings -- John Lauria spends his working hours driving a truck loaded with cases of juice, tea and energy drinks. It’s quite an about-face for the 49-year-old Rosemead man who spent 30 years in and out of prison for drug and burglary offenses. Kevin Smith in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/20/19

Refinery fire will likely fuel price hikes at California gas pumps -- A partial shutdown of the Phillips 66 refinery in Carson — when combined with temporary closures of two other facilities on the West Coast — began driving up pump prices Monday in Southern California, according to oil industry experts. Steve Scauzillo in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/20/19

Midwest floods disrupt livestock feed supplies for California farms -- Some farms, dairies and feed companies in the San Joaquin Valley are facing shortages of livestock feed supplies after deadly river flooding in the Midwest closed major railroad shipping corridors in recent days. Tim Sheehan in the Fresno Bee -- 3/20/19

Transit  

San Diego Evicts Docked Bike-Sharing Company DiscoverBike -- San Diego is kicking out its first bike-sharing company, DiscoverBike, after finding the company in breach of its contract. The company has until April 6 to pack up its equipment and leave the city. Andrew Bowen KPBS -- 3/20/19

Homeless  

New laws could expedite opening of Navigation Center on San Francisco Embarcadero -- The proposed Navigation Center on the Embarcadero could be up and running in much less time than it normally takes to open a homeless shelter in San Francisco, thanks to a pair of ordinances unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors Tuesday. Trisha Thadani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/20/19

LAPD: More homeless reported killed in L.A. last year, but increase likely from police getting more crime tips -- Newly released data showed a steep increase in the number of both homeless suspects and victims of violent crime in Los Angeles, including a jump in reports of homeless people killed last year. There were 39 killings of homeless people in Los Angeles in 2018, 10 more than in 2017, according to a report presented to the city’s police commission on Tuesday. Joshua Cain in the LA Daily News$ -- 3/20/19

Housing  

Will San Francisco’s housing market be overwhelmed by IPO millionaires? -- Marco Carvajal, a long-time real estate agent with Vanguard Properties, says the city’s upcoming frenzy of initial public offerings (IPOs) has become an everyday topic of conversation among San Francisco’s very plugged-in residents. Patrick Sisson Curbed San Francisco -- 3/20/19

Education 

Shocking details emerge as De La Salle grad’s fraternity hazing death case settles -- Hours after he’d been ordered by his fraternity brother to consume a third of a bottle of 100-proof rum, former De La Salle High baseball player Ryan Abele had a blood alcohol level nearly four times the legal limit. Matthias Gafni in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/20/19

Students racially profiled, ‘brutalized’ by UC Berkeley police in arrests over stun gun, students say -- Students with UC Berkeley’s Black Student Union plan a demonstration on campus Wednesday to protest the arrests of two black students the group says were racially profiled by campus police. Lauren Hernández in the San Francisco Chronicle$ George Kelly in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/20/19

San Joaquin Delta College Opens Food Pantry To Help Students Fulfill Basic Needs -- San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton is opening a new food pantry for its 23,000 students. Food pantries have become more common at California’s community colleges as the schools have become aware of how many students struggle to meet basic needs. Rich Ibarra Capital Public Radio -- 3/20/19

New training for California preschool teachers to help bilingual children prepare for kindergarten -- When Joyce Ponce used to teach Head Start preschool programs in Santa Clara County, she taught in English, though many of the children in her classroom spoke Spanish or Punjabi at home. Zaidee Stavely EdSource -- 3/20/19

Cannabis 

Daily Marijuana Use And Highly Potent Weed Linked To Psychosis -- Weed use is taking off as more states move to legalize it. And with all the buzz over medical marijuana, it's starting to gain an aura of healthfulness. But there are some serious health risks associated with frequent use. One of the more troubling ones is the risk of having a psychotic episode. Rhitu Chatterjee NPR -- 3/20/19

Immigration / Border 

Immigrant detainees stage hunger strike at Adelanto facility -- Immigrant detainees at the Adelanto Detention Facility, a privately run center that has been criticized for providing inadequate care, are staging a hunger strike to bring attention to conditions there. Their demands: adequate medical care, an end to what they describe as abusive treatment, and access to edible, nutritious food. Roxana Kopetman in the Orange County Register -- 3/20/19

Water 

US official declares drought plan done for Colorado River -- Seven states that rely on a major waterway in the U.S. West have finished a yearslong effort to create a plan to protect the Colorado River amid a prolonged drought, the federal government declared Tuesday. Felicia Fonseca Associated Press -- 3/20/19

Health 

Recent superbug cases linked to weight-loss surgeries in Tijuana prompt fresh warning -- With several patients in local hospitals struggling to recover, public health officials are warning San Diego doctors to be on the lookout for signs of a deadly infection linked to weight-loss surgeries performed in Tijuana. Paul Sisson in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 3/20/19

Also . . . 

Even With New Disclosure Law, Fight Continues To Unseal California’s Secret Police Files -- One had sex in the front seat of his squad car, another stole thousands of bullets. Others used force illegally, cavorted with sex workers, lied in reports and trumped up charges. None of those police officers were prosecuted. These are just some of the revelations made public in the first months of a new state of police transparency in California. Sukey Lewis, Thomas Peele and Alex Emslie, KQED and Bay Area News Group via Capital Public Radio -- 3/20/19

Two Councilmembers Call For Independent Investigation Into Death Of Aleah Jenkins -- Two San Diego City Council members are calling for the state attorney general to look into the treatment of a 24-year-old woman who became unresponsive while in police custody. Aleah Jenkins later died at the hospital. Matt Hoffman KPBS -- 3/20/19

Records Union Sued to Keep Secret Show Walnut Creek Police Officer Disciplined for False Reports -- The first disciplinary records that a group of Contra Costa County law enforcement unions tried to keep secret in a court fight were made public late Tuesday and show a Walnut Creek officer was almost fired in 2016 for filing false police reports. Thomas Peele and Alex Emslie Bay Area News Group and KQED -- 3/20/19

Police Commission rules that officers violated LAPD policy in 2018 mall shooting --The man ran through the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw shopping mall, armed with a foot-long kitchen knife. It was a Tuesday evening, and the mall was crowded with shoppers. Cindy Chang in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/20/19

Women who accused Contra Costa deputy of rape settle for $80,000 -- The women, who this newspaper are not naming, were both awaiting trial in the West Contra Costa Detention Facility in March 2018, when they alleged they were sexually assaulted by then-Deputy Patrick Morseman, 29, a resident of Vallejo at the time. After a police investigation, Morseman was charged with four counts of unlawful sex with an incarcerated person, but not rape, court records show. Nate Gartrell in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/20/19

San Jose pays $215K to suicidal man blinded in one eye by police rubber bullet -- A man blinded in one eye by a rubber bullet fired by a police officer in 2015 will receive $215,000 from the city of San Jose to settle an excessive-force lawsuit, authorities said. At the time, the man was threatening suicide by holding a knife to his own throat. Robert Salonga in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/20/19

Hundreds gather to remember slain USC student and musician Victor McElhaney -- Slain 21-year-old USC student Victor McElhaney was remembered at a memorial Tuesday night for his kind heart and passion for music. An estimated 700 people attended the memorial, which was standing room only, at the Ronald Tutor Campus Center Ballroom on the USC campus. Brian Van Der Brug in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/20/19

You can see California's super bloom from 35,000 feet -- Amid a winter marked by heavy rain, a profusion of California poppies has blanketed the hills of Riverside County, and you can even see their eye-popping orange color from a plane inflight. Amy Graff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/20/19

POTUS 45  

The real reason the Trump administration is constantly losing in court -- Federal judges have ruled against the Trump administration at least 63 times over the past two years, an extraordinary record of legal defeat that has stymied large parts of the president’s agenda on the environment, immigration and other matters. Fred Barbash and Deanna Paul in the Washington Post$ -- 3/20/19

Trump's ever-expanding list of grievances -- Trump's scattershot comments in recent days paint a picture of a president who constantly feels underappreciated and under siege as he obsesses over his reelection bid. Andrew Restuccia Politico -- 3/20/19

Lawsuit accusing Trump of violating Constitution gets hostile reception -- A federal appeals court panel was indisputably hostile Tuesday to a lawsuit accusing President Donald Trump of violating the Constitution by profiting from his business dealings with foreign countries seeking to curry favor with his administration. Josh Gerstein Politico -- 3/20/19

Beltway 

Another Trump Facebook election -- While Democrats' campaign launches have sucked up national attention, President Trump's re-election campaign has quietly spent nearly twice as much as the entire Democratic field combined on Facebook and Google ads, according to data from Facebook and Google's political ad transparency reports, aggregated by Bully Pulpit Interactive. Sara Fischer Axios -- 3/20/19

Klobuchar taking a centrist path to the White House in a field of left-leaning candidates -- Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar is a liberal Democrat by her voting record, but compared with some of her more left-leaning competitors running for president, she passes for a centrist. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/20/19

Klobuchar, Pence visit Bay Area and Bernie Sanders is on the way Sunday -- As the 2020 presidential campaign heats up, the Bay Area is starting to see a flurry of activity from White House hopefuls headed west. Casey Tolan in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/20/19

 

-- Tuesday Updates 

Supreme Court upholds government’s authority to detain and deport immigrants for past crimes -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the Trump administration’s power to arrest and hold legal immigrants indefinitely if they had past crimes on their records that could trigger deportation, even if they served their time years ago or were convicted of minor drug offenses. David G. Savage in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/19/19

California is growing so much marijuana it could crash the market -- In its 2019 cannabis harvest projection, Vessel Logistics, a San Francisco-based cannabis distribution company, found that more than 1,142 acres of cannabis farms hold state permits. They can produce up to 9 million pounds of crop every year, but the permitted wholesale market can realistically support 1.8 million to 2.2 million pounds. Andrew Sheeler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/19/19

Orange County man was high on pot in Fullerton crash that hurt 11 pedestrians, prosecutors say -- A 23-year-old man accused of plowing his truck into a crowd in a crash that injured 11 people last month in downtown Fullerton pleaded not guilty Monday to driving under the influence of marijuana and hit-and-run charges, prosecutors said. Hannah Fry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/19/19

Here are the stories about police misconduct uncovered so far by a new media partnership -- The California Reporting Project — a partnership of 33 newsrooms across the state — launched Tuesday in an effort to combine resources to review internal police records that became public under a new transparency law that took effect this year. Ben Poston and Maya Lau in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/19/19

‘We don’t want them in our city’: San Francisco officials seek Juul crackdown -- San Francisco officials proposed legislation Tuesday that would ban the sale of e-cigarettes in the city and prohibit e-cigarette companies like Juul from occupying city-owned property in the future. Catherine Ho and Trisha Thadani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/19/19

They moved to make way for California’s high-speed rail. Now they wonder if it was for nothing -- For more than five years, California’s high-speed rail project has disrupted and dislocated residents and businesses up and down the central San Joaquin Valley through the acquisition of property for the bullet-train right of way. Tim Sheehan in the Fresno Bee -- 3/19/19

A political awakening: How Howard University shaped Kamala Harris’ identity -- The war on drugs had erupted, apartheid was raging, Jesse Jackson would soon make the campus a staging ground for his inaugural presidential bid. Running for student office in 1982 at Howard University — the school that nurtured Thurgood Marshall, Toni Morrison and Stokely Carmichael — was no joke. Evan Halper in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/19/19

Meet the blue wave now representing Orange County in Congress -- Long a bastion of Republican power, Orange County is now represented entirely by Democrats. Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/19/19

Devin Nunes sued a parody account with about 1,000 followers. Here’s how many it has now -- One of the accounts, known as Devin Nunes’ Cow, saw its followers on Twitter swell from just over a thousand to more than 119,000 in less than a day after the Republican congressman from Tulare announced his lawsuit on Fox News. Kate Irby in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/19/19

Where has Kevin Johnson been on the Clark shooting? On Monday, the ex-mayor spoke out -- Former Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson’s life out of office has been pointedly private. Monday night was an aberration. Benjy Egel in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/19/19

 

College admissions scandal: Wealthy parents told to make deal or face more charges -- Federal prosecutors are seeking potential deals with some of the wealthy parents charged in the sweeping college admissions scandal as investigators continue to broaden the case, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation. One source said some of the parents are being given a short window to consider a deal or potentially face additional charges. Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/19/19

USC places hold on student accounts of those linked to college admissions scandal -- As the fallout from a massive college admissions cheating scandal that has ensnared several elite universities across the country enters its second week, USC officials have started investigating students who may be linked to the scheme. Hannah Fry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/19/19

Cal investigating former crew team member linked to college admissions scandal -- In the ever-widening college admissions scandal, UC Berkeley confirmed Monday that it has opened an investigation into the acceptance of a student in 2014 whose father paid $100,000 for a test taker to ace the SATs on behalf of his son, according to a federal indictment. Matthias Gafni in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/19/19

Barstow High School teacher accused of having sex with teenage student -- Katherine O’Neill, 51, was arrested a day after authorities received a report that the Barstow High School teacher was having an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old student, according to sheriff’s officials. O’Neill posted $100,000 bail and was released from custody Saturday. Alejandra Reyes-Velarde in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/19/19

 

These Donors Gave Nearly $8 Million At Gavin Newsom’s Request. He Gave Them Access At His Inaugural Events -- Newsom offered this access in exchange for nearly $8 million in donations to his inaugural committee and a charitable fund that donated proceeds from the concert to wildfire relief. They’re known as “behested contributions,” and they’re entirely legal. Ben Adler Capital Public Radio -- 3/19/19

Meet the 27-year-old mayor about to double her Bay Area city’s population -- While she’s by no means a typical mayor, she is a typical victim of the Bay Area’s affordable housing shortage. And in that sense, she’s the ideal person to lead her tiny city as it sets out to do something it has resisted for years — build a ton more housing. Marisa Kendall in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/19/19

California Has the Jobs but Not Enough Homes -- California’s economy is adding jobs far faster than affordable places to live, forcing some employers to leave the state as they expand. Nour Malas in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 3/19/19

Hayward construction biz owner faces up to 30 years on forced labor charges -- A jury found Job Torres Hernandez, 38, guilty of the charges following a 10-day trial in Oakland. Prosecutors said he hired Mexican immigrants to work on his construction projects, including the Silvery Towers development in downtown San Jose, but didn’t pay them and threatened them if they tried to report him. Ashley McBride in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/19/19

$25 million in private funds to help build waterfront park in San Francisco’s Bayview -- The grant from the John Pritzker Family Fund, a local foundation, will pay for environmental remediation as well as design and partial construction of an 8-acre park along India Basin, in the Bayview district. John King in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/19/19

Turns out San Francisco’s big, new hospital on Van Ness didn’t draw development as predicted -- The great Van Ness Avenue land rush began five years ago when Sutter Health broke ground on its new San Francisco hospital. Developers bet that the $2 billion building would fuel a multitude of new medical offices and glassy apartment buildings. J.K. Dineen in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/19/19

L.A. Times Owner Sets Ambitious Goal: Five Million Digital Subscribers -- The target is no small task, as the Times now has 150,000 digital-only subscribers, the company said—almost double what it had when Dr. Soon-Shiong took over. Dr. Soon-Shiong didn’t set a timeline for achieving the goal, but pointed to the digital-subscriber growth numbers posted by the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal as proof that it is possible. Lukas I. Alpert in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 3/19/19

As United Methodist leaders tighten LGBTQ ban, churches struggle with path forward -- But like so many gay Methodists, Baudler now feels betrayed by the United Methodist Church, which is fighting a civil war over homosexuality so acrimonious that it could split the denomination. Hailey Branson-Potts in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/19/19

A California battle over swordfish — and gill nets -- Conservationists are pushing a $1 million effort this summer to change the way swordfish are caught off the California coast by phasing out the use of gill nets. Chuck McFadden Capitol Weekly -- 3/19/19

Murdoch family launches a new Fox; ex-House Speaker Paul Ryan joins its board -- Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox spun off various television assets — including the Fox News Channel and Fox broadcast network — to form a new company Tuesday known simply as Fox Corp. Meg James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/19/19