California Policy & -- Politics This Morning  

All 3 hostages, gunman dead at Yountville veterans home -- A military veteran who had been treated for post-traumatic stress disorder burst into a veterans home in the North Bay town of Yountville on Friday with a rifle, killed three women connected with the treatment program and then killed himself, authorities and program officials said. Jenna Lyons, Sophie Haigney and Steve Rubenstein in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Victoria Kim and Joseph Serna in the Los Angeles Times$ Robert Salonga, Nate Gartrell, Mark Gomez and Aaron Davis in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/10/18

Site of Yountville killings, Pathway Home, treats veterans with PTSD -- The Pathway Home opened in 2008 as U.S. servicemen streamed back from the Iraq War, many of them confronting post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. The center sits on the 9,000-acre campus of the Veterans Home of California-Yountville, about 10 miles north of Napa. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/10/18

Hostage crisis prompts California police union to ask for weapons -- Fewer than nine unarmed state public safety officers work at the Yountville Veterans Home in Napa County, where a man armed with a rifle exchanged gunfire with police and took three employees of a veterans counseling program hostage. Adam Ashton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/10/18

Bullet train opponents call on LA leader to take stronger stance against project routes -- Opponents of a pair of potential California bullet train routes that would cut through the San Fernando Valley submitted letters and petitions this week to a local city councilwoman, urging her to call for the routes’ removal. Elizabeth Chou in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 3/10/18

Oakland coffee shop refuses to serve police officers — and cops say it’s a teaching moment -- After learning that a new Oakland coffee shop is refusing to serve uniformed officers, Oakland police officials said Friday they want to use the incident as an educational opportunity for new recruits. “I think their position is very clear that they don’t want the police in there, and I can respect that,” said Sgt. Bryan Hubbard, vice president of the Police Officers’ Association who also runs the department’s training academies. Kimberly Veklerov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/10/18

Could a Californian Be the Next President? -- But the rhetoric from the state party’s annual convention reflected something more: As the midterm elections and the run-up to the 2020 presidential contest draw closer, California Democrats are beginning to test the national salability of a state—and its brand of Left Coast, Best Coast politics—long viewed in many parts of the country as off the wall. David Siders Politico -- 3/10/18

Delaine Eastin stakes out progressive vision—but with some notable exceptions -- Delaine Eastin has staked herself out as the most progressive Democrat running for governor of California. But in a wide-ranging discussion with CALmatters in our Sacramento office, the former state schools superintendent shared some views that break from that orthodoxy. Ben Christopher Calmatters -- 3/10/18

Late GOP entries shake up congressional races as California filing deadline looms -- Last-minute entries by Republican candidates threaten to shake up several key California congressional races Friday, the deadline for filing to run in the June primary, raising the prospect that Democrats could get shut out in crucial House seats they likely need to win to take back Congress. Casey Tolan in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/10/18

A court found that an L.A. billionaire duped Dole investors. Now he wants to stick insurers with the bill -- When billionaire David Murdock took Dole Food Co. private for $1.6 billion in 2013, he and a company executive defrauded the company's board of directors, falsifying financial information that convinced the board to accept a lowball price. James Rufus Koren in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/10/18

Border wall built in 1990s cut illegal immigration, but it also brought problems for small town -- In the late 1980s, Bill Pape was drawn here by the isolated beauty of the mountains and an intimacy that reminded him of a desert version of a small Midwestern town. The international line was a barbed-wire fence that cattle occasionally trampled. Cindy Carcamo in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/10/18

Sen. Harris sticks up for Oakland Mayor Schaaf over ICE at SF benefit lunch -- Sen. Kamala Harris defended Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf on Friday, supporting her decision to warn people of a possible sweep by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents last month. Annie Ma in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/10/18

Street vending advocates protest in downtown L.A. -- Several hundred demonstrators took over Main Street near City Hall shortly after 10 a.m. to protest a vending proposal that they say favors businesses over local vendors. The group shouted "Si se puede" — "Yes we can" — and carried signs that read "Opportunity, Dignity and Safety." Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/10/18

Easing penalties on low-level offenses didn’t raise crime rate, study finds -- Crime in California increased in 2015, the year after voters reduced penalties for many drug and theft offenses. But a new study concludes the ballot measure, Proposition 47, did not cause crime to rise — findings a prosecutors’ group is sharply disputing. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/10/18

Montecito is being rebuilt after the mudslide — very, very slowly -- After the mudslide, Santa Barbara County officials "red-tagged" 246 structures that were damaged to the point of being uninhabitable. Two months later, few of these "red-tagged" structures have been upgraded; 210 remain unsafe to enter, a county official said — including 128 single-family homes. At least 400 residents of Montecito are still unable to return to their homes because of damage, according to Yaneris Muñiz, who manages Santa Barbara County's Joint Information Center. Kyle Stokes KPCC -- 3/10/18

Abcarian: After a brush with fame, Dexter, the pet peacock who was refused a seat on United, has moved on -- When the artist Ventiko and I walked downstairs in the spacious Venice home she was visiting, Dexter was perched on a wraparound sofa that had been covered with pee pads. His long tail feathers cascaded gracefully to the floor. Robin Abcarian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/10/18

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions  

Qualcomm's Paul Jacobs steps down as Chairman amid Broadcom hostile takeover battle -- Qualcomm long-time executive Paul Jacobs is taking a reduced role on the company’s board of directors – a move likely aimed at appeasing angry shareholders as the San Diego cellular giant tries to fend off a hostile takeover from Broadcom. Mike Freeman in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 3/10/18

NRG subsidiary to close three power plants in Southern California -- In another sign of the state's power glut, three Southern California gas-fired power plants owned by a subsidiary of energy firm NRG Energy Inc. will close over the next few months. Samantha Masunaga in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/10/18

Peter Thiel's Palantir wins $876-million U.S. Army contract for battlefield software -- Palantir will work with Raytheon Co. to replace the troubled Distributed Common Ground System. They beat out seven other proposals for a decadelong, $876-million contract, the Defense Department said Thursday. Bloomberg via the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/10/18

Tourism is booming in California's desert. So why is Trump opening it up to mining? -- Starting Friday, the Trump Administration is opening more than a million acres of desert lands in Southern California to possible new mining claims. The lands had formerly been set aside for conservation, and the move comes as the economy of the rural West is becoming less dependent on extracting natural resources and more on tourism. Emily Guerin KPCC -- 3/10/18

Homeless  

New coalition urges 'Everyone In' to combat L.A.'s homelessness crisis -- At an Echo Park kickoff event headlined by politicians, philanthropists, business representatives and labor leaders, the United Way of Greater Los Angeles announced the launch Friday of a new coalition fighting to end homelessness. Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/10/18

L.A. City Council approves Garcetti's El Pueblo shelter plan for homeless -- The Los Angeles City Council on Friday approved Mayor Eric Garcetti's plan to create a makeshift shelter for the homeless on city-owned property downtown, backing a new approach to get people off the streets. Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/10/18

Olvera Street merchants question Garcetti's plan to shelter homeless nearby -- Ginette Rondeau says she wants the city to help the homeless people who live near her Olvera Street store, looking for food and sleeping on the sidewalks. But Rondeau and dozens of other vendors are critical of Mayor Eric Garcetti's plan for a new temporary homeless shelter blocks from the tourist destination. Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/10/18

Data From San Diego’s Homeless ‘Bridge Shelters’ Show Bumpy Start -- The "temporary bridge shelter" program is meant to prioritize people who have already been granted a housing subsidy but are waiting to be placed in a permanent home. Of the 527 homeless individuals who entered the tents in January, only 40 people fit that profile. Andrew Bowen KPBS -- 3/10/18

Education 

Suit accusing San Francisco State of anti-Semitism is dismissed -- A lawsuit accusing San Francisco State University officials of tolerating and encouraging hostility toward Jews on campus was dismissed Friday by a federal judge, who said the plaintiffs had offered no evidence that administrators showed religious hostility in incidents like the disruption of a speech by Jerusalem’s mayor. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/10/18

Ex-student with autism sues Orange County college after he was arrested, pepper-sprayed during disturbance -- Robert McDougal's lawsuit, filed in Orange County Superior Court on Monday, alleges negligence, emotional distress, assault, battery and false imprisonment on the part of the college and school officials. McDougal, a 22-year-old Costa Mesa resident who has been diagnosed with autism, started attending the community college in 2014 and was "excelling academically," according to the lawsuit. Hannah Fry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/10/18

POTUS 45  

The White House sounds like it might have cold feet about Trump meeting Kim Jong Un -- Appearing at the daily White House briefing Friday, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders suggested the meeting was not a done deal after all. She seemed to retroactively attach denuclearization preconditions to the whole thing. Aaron Blake in the Washington Post$ -- 3/10/18

Beltway 

Only two people have met both Trump and Kim Jong Un. One is Dennis Rodman -- In another bizarre twist in modern politics, former NBA player Dennis Rodman is praising President Trump after the White House announced Trump had agreed to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for talks by the end of May. Amy B Wang in the Washington Post$ -- 3/10/18

Trump's military parade, minus the tanks, set for Veterans Day -- The event, which will take place Nov. 11, will include troops from different branches, highlight the growing role of women in the armed forces and have a “heavy air component” of modern and historic war planes, the memo says. Also participating will be veterans groups and the ceremonial Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps. But it will not feature tanks rolling between the White House and Capitol to “minimize damage to local infrastructure,” the memo says. Jacqueline Klimas Politico -- 3/10/18

 

-- Friday Updates 

He resigned his state Senate seat. But now he'll be on the ballot twice to try to get back to Sacramento -- The Artesia Democrat, who was pressured to quit because of sexual harassment allegations, was among a handful of candidates who took out papers on Friday to run in a special election to fill the vacancy in the 32nd Senate District caused by his own resignation. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/9/18

Cost for California bullet train system rises to $77.3 billion -- The California bullet train project took a sharp jump in price Friday when the state rail authority announced the cost of connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco would total $77.3 billion, an increase of $13 billion from estimates two years ago. Ralph Vartabedian in the Los Angeles Times$ Kathleen Ronayne and Jonathan J. Cooper Associated Press Melody Gutierrez in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/9/18

Gunman takes hostages at Yountville veterans home, CHP says -- Reports of an active shooter came in about 10:30 a.m. at the Veterans Home of California-Yountville, said June Iljana, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Veterans Affairs. Jenna Lyons and Sophie Haigney in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Joseph Serna in the Los Angeles Times$ Robert Salonga and Mark Gomez in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/9/18

Could this be Anthony Kennedy’s last stand on the Supreme Court? -- Supreme Court justice and Sacramento native Anthony Kennedy may hang up his robe for good before his 82nd birthday this summer, if Nevada Republican Sen. Dean Heller's statements in a speech last week ring true. Benjy Egel in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/9/18

Stuck in limbo, DACA recipients are consumed with fear and anxiety -- The anxiety keeps coming in waves. And right now, for Fernando Hernandez and the hundreds of thousands of young DACA recipients whose fate lies in the hands of a polarized Congress and a mercurial president, the despair is crashing in. Tatiana Sanchez and Julia Prodis Sulek in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/9/18

Here's another glimpse of Kamala Harris' finances as she looks to 2020 -- California Sen. Kamala Harris, who is serving her first term, has an estimated net worth that puts her financially near the middle of the pack in a delegation that includes both the richest and poorest members of Congress. Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/9/18

Snoop Dogg endorses London Breed for San Francisco mayor -- Snoop Dogg – famed gangsta rapper, fried-chicken-and-waffles booster, weed-delivery investor, Hillary fan and eclectic entrepreneur – has thrown his support behind London Breed to be San Francisco’s next mayor. And in pure SF style, he did it on Twitter: Patrick May in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/9/18

At long last, Wi-Fi coming to BART, Caltrain — in 3 to 4 years -- BART and Caltrain riders have been clamoring for Wi-Fi service on trains almost since the Internet was invented, while sniffing with incredulity at the absurdity of low-tech transit in a region that gave flight to a high-tech world. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/9/18

Fox: “Strategic Misrepresentation” to Get Voters’ Money -- The headlines keep coming—public projects cost more than anticipated. Promises made to voters are unfulfilled then taxpayers are asked for more to clean up the messes. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 3/9/18

U.S. economy adds 313,000 jobs in February, but wage gains slow -- Hiring surged last month at its fastest pace since mid-2016, but wage growth slowed — an ideal combination for the stock market but not for workers longing for consistently bigger paychecks. Jim Puzzanghera and Andrew Khouri in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/9/18

Don't punish kids for walking out of California schools over guns, Newsom urges -- In a letter to state school leaders, Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday said that students should not face disciplinary action for participating in walkouts next week protesting gun violence. Billy Kobin in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/9/18

This Sacramento-area school district gets more NRA money than any other in the U.S. -- Several local school districts and the University of California system received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the National Rifle Association between 2010 and 2016. Ryan Sabalow in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/9/18