Rough&Tumble California Policy and Politics

Updating . .

California water official vows new Oroville Dam spillway by winter -- California’s top water manager said Monday that the problem-plagued Oroville Reservoir will have a new spillway in place to prevent potentially dangerous outflows of water in time for next year’s rainy season. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/27/17

Battling Trump is ‘team sport,’ California’s attorney general says -- Political tough talk, positioning the state as a leader in the resistance to the Trump administration, has dominated Becerra’s short tenure since the former Democratic congressman assumed the role in late January. But in office, Becerra has taken more measured approach. Angela Hart in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/27/17

'Nothing short of blackmail': California Senate leader denounces plan to cut funding from 'sanctuary cities' -- California Senate leader Kevin de León on Monday called U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions' move to cut federal funding from so-called sanctuary cities "nothing short of blackmail." Jazmine Ulloa in the Los Angeles Times$ Taryn Luna in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/27/17

Devin Nunes plot thickens as his spokesman concedes he met source for surveillance claim at White House -- The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare), conceded Monday that the source for a dramatic statement he made last week about possible intelligence surveillance of members of President Trump’s transition team was someone he had met with at the White House. David S. Cloud in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/27/17

California school districts questioned for seeking students’ immigration status -- Civil rights groups asked California’s attorney general Monday to investigate dozens of school districts across the state that required parents to provide children’s Social Security numbers, their citizenship status and when they entered the country. Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/27/17

NFL owners vote to send Raiders to Las Vegas -- As expected, NFL owners gave Las Vegas its blessing to host one of the league’s most storied franchises on Monday. The owners’ historic decision allows the Raiders and owner Mark Davis to uproot for the third time in 35 years — much to the dismay of diehard East Bay fans. Elliot Almond in the East Bay Times Vic Tafur in the San Francisco Chronicle Sam Farmer in the Los Angeles Times$ Barry Wilner Associated Press -- 3/27/17

House intel chairman met source on White House grounds -- House intelligence chairman Devin Nunes met on the White House grounds with the source of the claim that communications involving President Donald Trump's associates were caught up in "incidental" surveillance, the congressman's spokesman said Monday. Eileen Sullivan Associated Press -- 3/27/17

Democrats out with ads targeting Rep. Mimi Walters for supporting GOP healthcare bill -- Republicans didn't vote on their plan to replace the Affordable Care Act on Friday, but Democrats already have ads out criticizing vulnerable GOP House members like Rep. Mimi Walters of Irvine for backing the bill. Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/27/17

L.A. County will consider tighter rules for carpool and toll lanes -- In an effort to improve sluggish speeds on the region’s freeways, Los Angeles County transportation officials have agreed to examine whether to impose tolls on more carpool lanes and a higher passenger requirement for such lanes. Laura J. Nelson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/27/17

Gov. Jerry Brown says California won't 'be running to the courthouse every day' to fight President Trump -- With many of his fellow Democrats demanding multiple challenges to President Trump's proposals, Gov. Jerry Brown said this week he will continue to support a more measured approach. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/27/17

Former California legislator Henry Perea will lobby for the oil industry in Sacramento -- As lawmakers debate the future of California's climate policies, the oil industry is boosting its lobbying firepower with a former Democratic assemblyman from Fresno who has bedeviled environmentalists in the past. Chris Megerian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/27/17

California school districts increased spending on administrator pay faster than teacher pay -- Every so often, “clackers,” as teachers at Hiram Johnson High call them, will visit Mary Rodríguez’s class to watch her teach and make recommendations. Phillip Reese in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/27/17

Quinn: How The Health Care Fiasco Helps California Republicans -- The collapse of the House Republican health care plan, and with it probably the effectiveness of Speaker Paul Ryan as well as the first hundred days of the Trump Administration, was a godsend to one group of people: the seven endangered California House Republicans who did not have to vote on a really terrible Obamacare repealer. Tony Quinn Fox & Hounds -- 3/27/17

Capitol Weekly podcast: Paul Mitchell -- Paul Mitchell, California political strategist and numbers cruncher extraordinaire for Political Data, stopped by Capitol Weekly’s lavish new offices on H Street to chat about the amazingly crowded field in the upcoming special election in L.A. for #CA34 (the House seat vacated by Xavier Becerra, who was appointed state attorney gener al), Darrell Issa’s recent shimmy to the left, his early read on the 2018 governor’s race, turnout, redistricting — and more. Link Here -- 3/27/17

Huntington Beach Pro-Trump March Turns Into Attack on Anti-Trump Protesters, OC Weekly -- Right now, the world is hearing a tale from Huntington Beach of a pro-Donald Trump rally that erupted in violence after a masked anarchist pepper-sprayed one of the march organizers, Jennifer Sterling, without provocation. Trump supporters are crowing that they gave counter-protesters a taste of MAGA medicine, and are no doubt emboldened to go after any cucks, snowflakes and SJWs who stand in their way. Frank John Tristan and Denise Le La Cruz OCWeekly -- 3/27/17

Self-driving Ubers back in action in San Francisco following Arizona crash -- Uber resumed testing its self-driving cars here Monday after a crash in Arizona briefly halted the program, and said its cars would return to Pittsburgh and Tempe later in the day. Marisa Kendall in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/27/17

More companies suspend YouTube ads -- Healthcare products maker Johnson & Johnson and automaker General Motors Co. are among the latest companies to halt advertising on YouTube after concerns that Google is not doing enough to ensure brands’ ads are not appearing near terrorist content. Samantha Masunaga in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/27/17

Devin Nunes Met Intelligence Source on White House Grounds -- Representative Devin Nunes of California, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, met on the White House grounds with a source who showed him secret American intelligence reports a day before he revealed that President Trump or his closest associates may have been “incidentally” swept up in foreign surveillance by American spy agencies. Matthew Rosenberg and Emmarie Huetteman in the New York Times$ Eileen Sullivan Associated Press -- 3/27/17

California Policy & Politics This Morning

National Guard whistleblower says he was forced to retire for exposing misconduct -- Nine months after he talked with a reporter to expose wasteful spending and mismanagement in the California National Guard, Maj. Joseph Lovelace abruptly received three unexpected performance reviews filled with what he viewed as false praise. Adam Ashton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/27/17

LA interfaith event shows solidarity with targeted communities -- Politicians, law enforcement and clergy from a variety of faiths gathered at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills on Sunday in a show of “unity, love and mutual respect” following a series of suspected hate crimes, vandalism and arson targeting people and sacred sites around the nation. Brenda Gazzar in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 3/27/17

Meet Indivisible, the young progressives leading the resistance to President Trump -- The idea started with a public Google document. Kurtis Lee in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/27/17

Skelton: Reps. Devin Nunes and Adam Schiff couldn't be less alike — just like the two Californias they come from -- Two congressmen from the state President Trump seems to despise most are leading an investigation into whether his campaign team conspired with the Russians. And the two lawmakers couldn’t be more different. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/27/17

Trump delivers surprise to California -- Despite the bad blood between the president and the nation's most populous state, Trump has come through on three big asks so far. David Siders Politico -- 3/27/17

Walters: California Democrats seek congressional gains, but turnout a key -- California’s Democratic Party leaders can be confident that their candidates will once again sweep statewide elections next year and retain strong majorities in the Legislature. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/27/17

Constructing a successful oil train resistance movement, in three parts -- Part I: When Marty met Linda. In December 2013, a couple of neighbors from an upscale residential development on the Central Coast attended a community meeting at a middle school in Arroyo Grande. Robin Abcarian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/27/17

Jerry Brown rips Trump’s wall: ‘We’re not going to sit around and just play patsy’ -- Gov. Jerry Brown won’t allow President Donald Trump to deport millions of people and build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, he said in an interview that aired Sunday. “We’re not going to sit around and just play patsy and say, ‘Hey, go ahead. Lock us in. Do whatever the hell you want … deport … 2 million people,’ ” Brown told NBC’s “Meet the Press with Chuck Todd.” Christopher Cadelago in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/27/17

With Trump in office, Cesar Chavez marchers move from ‘si, se puede’ to ‘resiste’ -- Musicians drummed and dancers strutted, but most of the people who turned out Saturday morning to march in honor of the late labor leader Cesar Chavez did not show up to party. They carried signs that read “#resiste” and chanted slogans declaring their opposition to President Donald Trump’s immigration plans, such as “Say it loud, say it clear: Immigrants are welcome here.” Adam Ashton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/27/17

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions

Travel ban proposals making California tourism industry nervous -- Hoteliers to tour guides are nervous that a revised travel order and international tensions between the Trump administration and major trading partners could be bad news for the state’s tourism trade, a key part of the economy. Rachel Uranga in the Long Beach Press Telegram$ -- 3/27/17

Why California stinks for first-time home buyers -- California ranked as the toughest state in the nation for first-time home buyers, who typically would be in the millennial age bracket of 18 to 34, according to a recent report by Claes Bell, an analyst with Bankrate.com. James F. Peltz in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/27/17

Silicon Valley sends ambassador to Trump's coal country -- 'The election was a wakeup call,' says Rep. Ro Khanna, who came to eastern Kentucky to see what the tech industry and Appalachia can offer each other. Nancy Scola Politico -- 3/27/17

Education

Granada Hills wins state academic title after high-profile Super Quiz is thrown out -- A security breach was not enough to derail Granada Hills Charter High School, a perennial favorite, from winning this year’s California Academic Decathlon in Sacramento in results announced Sunday. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/27/17

Some schools trading the blacktop for greentop as an innovative way to teach science -- Some students in California don’t have to take field trips to parks or national forests for environmental education – they just open their classroom door. Carolyn Jones EdSource -- 3/27/17

Immigration / Border

From the border to Mexico's capital: San Diego chamber trip aims to build bridges -- With Donald Trump’s presidency creating a rift in U.S.-Mexico relations, dozens of San Diegans and bajacalifornianos are joining forces this week in Mexico’s capital, aiming to showcase their strong bilateral relationship and win support for border projects. Sandra Dibble in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 3/27/17

Bay Area tech executives indicted for H-1B visa fraud -- An indictment from a federal grand jury unsealed on Friday accuses Jayavel Murugan, Dynasoft Synergy’s chief executive officer, and a 40-year-old Santa Clara man, Syed Nawaz, of fraudulently submitting H-1B applications in an effort to illegally obtain visas, according to Brian Stretch, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California. Louis Hansen in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/27/17

Health

Lab-grown meniscus could one day prevent arthritis in knees -- San Diego researchers have reported a medical milestone: They’ve grown a whole meniscus, the slippery crescent of cartilage that cushions the knee joint. Bradley J. Fikes in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 3/27/17

UC Riverside scientists find possible link between MS patients’ nerve-covering damage, seizures -- UC Riverside scientists believe they’ve found a possible link between the loss of protective nerve fiber coverings or “demyelination” and seizures in multiple sclerosis patients. Suzanne Hurt in the San Bernardino Sun$ -- 3/27/17

Also . . .

San Jose Artist Persists With Viral Protest Meme #ShePersisted -- It started on February 7, after Elizabeth Warren was pretty much told to shut up as she tried to read a 1986 letter from Coretta Scott King, the widow of Martin Luther King Jr., on the Senate floor. Warren had raised the letter in objection to Sessions’ nomination to attorney general. Rachael Myrow KQED -- 3/27/17

Soccer fans turn violent outside Avaya Stadium -- An estimated 90 San Jose Police Department officers responded to a violent skirmish that erupted Sunday afternoon outside of Avaya Stadium between fans of two Mexican soccer clubs set to play a match there. Dominic Fracassa in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/27/17

Reporter and photographers say they were assaulted by Trump supporters at Huntington Beach rally -- An OC Weekly reporter and two photographers said Sunday that they were physically assaulted by pro-Trump demonstrators at a Make America Great Again rally in Huntington Beach and are seeking the public’s help in identifying at least one of the people responsible. Angel Jennings and Anh Do in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/27/17

POTUS 45

Blaming conservatives, Trump signals new openness to Dems -- President Donald Trump on Sunday attacked conservative lawmakers for the failure of the Republican bill to replace former President Barack Obama's health care law, as aides signaled a greater willingness to work with moderate Democrats on upcoming legislative battles from the budget and tax cuts to health care. Hope Yen Associated Press -- 3/27/17

Trump taps Kushner to lead a SWAT team to fix government with business ideas -- President Trump plans to unveil a new White House office on Monday with sweeping authority to overhaul the federal bureaucracy and fulfill key campaign promises — such as reforming care for veterans and fighting opioid addiction — by harvesting ideas from the business world and, potentially, privatizing some government functions. Ashley Parker and Philip Rucker in the Washington Post$ -- 3/27/17

Trump Puts a Presidential-Size Spotlight on His Brand -- President Trump’s Saturday started with a trip to the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va. Eric Lipton and Noah Weiland in the New York Times$ -- 3/27/17

Beltway

US economy to grow slower than Trump pledges, survey finds -- U.S. economic growth is expected to accelerate this year and next, yet remain modest, even if President Trump's promised tax cuts and infrastructure spending are implemented, a survey found. Christopher S. Rugaber Associated Press -- 3/27/17

Democrats, Buoyed by G.O.P. Health Defeat, See No Need to Offer Hand -- President Trump, looking for a flicker of hope after his Republican majority fell to pieces last week, predicted that the opposition party would eventually give in: “I honestly believe the Democrats will come to us and say let’s get together and get a great health care bill or plan,” he said. But Democrats will not be lending a hand anytime soon. Jonathan Martin in the New York Times$ -- 3/27/17

Dealt a Defeat, Republicans Set Their Sights on Major Tax Cuts -- Picking themselves up after the bruising collapse of their health care plan, President Trump and Republicans in Congress will start this week on a legislative obstacle course that will be even more arduous: the first overhaul of the tax code in three decades. Alan Rappeport in the New York Times$ -- 3/27/17

Four Pinocchios: Pence’s strange claim that selling health insurance across state lines would be like car and life insurance -- One of President Trump’s signature promises is to allow the purchase of health insurance across state lines. This was supposed to be tackled in “phase three” of the administration’s plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, now in doubt because of the failure on Friday to advance the “phase one” bill in the House. Glenn Kessler in the Washington Post$ -- 3/27/17

-- Sunday Updates

San Francisco’s voter-approved camp-sweep measure more symbol than substance -- Nearly five months after San Francisco voters approved the anti-tent-camp Proposition Q, hoping it would trigger a tsunami of sweeps clearing the streets of homeless encampments, here’s how many times the new ordinance has been used: Zero. Kevin Fagan and Emily Green in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/26/17

Big Sur lost a bridge and slipped back in time. Now residents are wondering what happens next -- Outside the Big Sur Taphouse, a little before 9 p.m., the hint of marijuana is in the air. A country-psychedelic-surf rock band from Monterey plays on an iPhone propped on a stone ledge, and Blake Cusack is skipping rope in the parking area just off Highway One. Thomas Curwen in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/26/17

The other side of Eden: Commercial marijuana takes root in Steinbeck country -- John Steinbeck’s quintessential California novel “East of Eden,” about pain and poverty in an agricultural paradise, cast this setting in near biblical tones, depicting it as a place of mystical breeze and light, “full of sun and loveliness” and warm like “the lap of a beloved mother.” Peter Hecht in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/26/17

PG&E quietly clearing toxic soil from pricey Marina district -- For four years, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has been quietly buying multimillion-dollar homes in the Marina and scooping out their backyards. The utility, California’s largest, is trying to remove chemical contamination that has lurked beneath a corner of the neighborhood for more than a century, toxic waste from two long-gone fuel manufacturing plants. Emily Green and David R. Baker in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/26/17

The Vegas Raiders gamble: Why Sin City is betting big-time on pro sports -- Few tumbleweed towns engender more mythology than this one. Las Vegas has a way of brightening the bleak desert landscape with its colorful images of Sin City and Glitter Gulch. With NFL owners poised to vote on relocation Monday, Las Vegas is on the cusp of getting the Raiders after already securing the NHL’s first expansion team since 2000. Elliot Almond in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/26/17

Facebook pioneer donates $75 million to UCSD for data science -- UC San Diego’s push to raise a record $2 billion in private donations got a big lift Saturday when a scientist who helped turn Facebook into a social-media giant gave the campus $75 million. Taner Halicioglu’s gift is meant to make the campus a national leader in data science and to launch the public phase of a capital campaign that’s already produced almost $1 billion. Gary Robbins in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 3/26/17

Why This California Town’s Water Costs Way More Than the National Average -- The town of Lucerne in Lake County is tucked between mountains and a lake. When you drive in on the main two-lane highway, the sign that greets you calls it the “Switzerland of America.” But David Cruz has a different nickname for the place. Audrey Dilling KQED -- 3/26/17

Debbie Reynolds, Carrie Fisher celebrated with tears, music and ‘Star Wars’ tributes -- On a tranquil Saturday afternoon, more than a thousand people gathered to bid farewell to two generations of Hollywood royalty. Matthew Carey in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 3/26/17

GOP struggles to govern despite a monopoly in Washington -- The Republican Party of "no" for Democrat Barack Obama's eight years is having a hard time getting to "yes" in the early Donald Trump era. Thomas Beaumont and Bill Barrow Associated Press -- 3/26/17

How a secret Freedom Caucus pact brought down Obamacare repeal -- The behind-the-scenes story of the staredown between a few dozen conservative true believers and a novice president. Rachael Bade, Josh Dawsey and Jennifer Haberkorn Politico -- 3/26/17

Trump handed Merkel ‘outrageous’ NATO bill: report -- U.S. President Donald Trump handed German Chancellor Angela Merkel a bill for money supposedly owed to NATO when they met last weekend in Washington DC, the Sunday Times reported. Nicholas Vinocur Politico -- 3/26/17