California Policy and Politics This Morning

Bill deadline nears in California Legislature -- The Assembly and Senate will be working longer hours in floor sessions this week to consider hundreds of bills facing a Friday deadline to be acted upon in their house of origin. Jim Sanders and Dan Smith in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/28/12

California Democrats bid for two-thirds control of state Senate -- Bill Berryhill's pitch to voters at a recent candidates forum came down to more than just his positions on issues affecting San Joaquin County's 5th Senate District. It was about the balance of power in the Capitol. Torey Van Oot in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/28/12

Skelton: Park closures just don't pencil out -- The governor's plan to shut parks to save $22 million won't make a dent in the projected deficit and doesn't account for the effect shutting them would have on communities. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/28/12

Romney in San Diego: American military must remain strong -- Romney, joined by Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, warned a Balboa Park crowd of nearly 5,000 about the consequences of scaling back the nation’s military might. Christopher Cadelago UT San Diego Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/28/12

Senate farm bill a small step forward for California -- The Senate is poised to take up a new farm bill in the coming weeks that will set the nation's food policy for the next five years and cost nearly $1 trillion over a decade. Carolyn Lochhead in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 5/28/12

Governor's spending plan calls for evaporating local courts' reserves next year -- Numerous state and local government agencies are preparing for the possibility of profound budget cuts, and California's court system is no different. Monica Rodriquez in the San Bernardino Sun -- 5/28/12

Who’s who in independent cash bonanza? -- Few legislative races on the June 5 ballot feature the same thicket of independent groups’ money and motives as Riverside County’s 31st Senate District. Imran Ghori and Jim Miller in the Riverside Press -- 5/28/12

Will bitter Democratic Congressional battles help Republican candidates? -- With the election nearing, there are a lot of nervous candidates out there facing a ton of unknowns. In two races, Republican candidates are hoping the bitter campaigns being waged by Democrats will allow them to slip into the November runoff election. Rick Orlov in the Los Angeles Daily News -- 5/28/12

Top-two primary affects Assembly race -- In North County, voters in the June 5 primary will send two Republicans running in the 76th Assembly District on to November’s election. The state’s new election system known as the top-two primary could spur more than 30 same-party general election contests for state and congressional offices across California, political analysts say. Christopher Cadelago UT San Diego -- 5/28/12

Schrag: The June Ballot: Lots of Reform, How Much Change? -- Those of us who can be bothered to go to the polls in next month’s primary, or fill out and send back our mail ballots, will probably notice that almost everything seems different: the districts, the ballots, the chance to fiddle with the state’s term limits law. Peter Schrag Cal Progress Report -- 5/28/12

Gavin Newsom breaks boredom in Sacramento with his own TV show -- Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose cable talk show premiered this month, was in the studio between segments Thursday, catching up with Chip Conley, his next guest and old friend. David Siders in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/28/12

   Economy

California 'Public Employees' Bill of Rights' stalls -- A legislative committee Friday held back a sweeping measure that would have extended some job protections to rank-and-file state workers and given civil servants explicit preference for work the state needs to have done. Jon Ortiz in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/28/12

Silicon Valley's new diamond farm grows synthetic supermaterials -- It is the hardest substance known to man, and because it takes more than a billion years for nature to conjure up each one, a diamond is also one of the hardest gems to come by. Bruce Newman in the Contra Costa Times -- 5/28/12

Facebook "debacle" likely to derail IPOs for other startups -- For more than a year, the tech world anticipated that Facebook's IPO would be a smashing success and open the door for other startups to go public. Peter Delevett in the Contra Costa Times -- 5/28/12

Hiring picture brightens for this year's college grads -- This year's college graduates appear to be faring better in the job market than their class of 2011 counterparts. Darrell Smith in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/28/12

   Education

Catholic schools ramp up marketing -- Principals of Catholic schools struggling to attract new students all seem to go down the same checklist. They gussy up their websites, put ads in church bulletins and Catholic newspapers and hold open houses. Karen Kucher UT San Diego -- 5/28/12

‘Qualities of mind and heart’ -- Pres. Kennedy at San Diego State on education, freedom. Kathryn Baron TopEd -- 5/28/12

Smith: No Child Left Behind’s successor, smartly written, can make impact -- If you had $23 billion a year dedicated to improving low-income children’s education and addressing a wide variety of other congressionally negotiated purposes, what would you do? Marshall (Mike) Smith TopEd -- 5/28/12

   Health Care

California Children's Medical Therapy facing cuts -- Nicolas Ayer is, in many ways, a typical 3-year-old boy. He loves baseball, cars and Nickelodeon cartoons, hates taking naps and is eager to please his parents. Marisa Lagos in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 5/28/12

   Environment

Sequoia smog damaging pines, redwood seedlings -- The Sierra Nevada forest that is home to the biggest and oldest living things on earth — the giant Sequoia redwoods — also suffers a dubious distinction. It has the worst air pollution of any national park in the country. TRACIE CONE Associated Press -- 5/28/12

Inland Empire builders incorporate energy savings into sales pitches -- Solar panels, added insulation and other energy efficient features are some of the tools builders are employing to attract buyers to Inland Empire communities where many distressed properties continue to surround new homes. Andrew Edwards in the San Bernardino Sun -- 5/28/12

   Immigration

Farmers scrambling to find harvest labor -- Skip Foppiano of Morada Produce is praying for cool weather. The San Joaquin County grower and packer is thick into cherry harvest season and is short on labor - 20 to 30 percent fewer pickers than he had last year. Stacy Finz in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 5/28/12

   Also..

World War II reshaped the Bay Area and its people -- Memorial Day is an occasion to remember the men and women who went off to war and never returned. But it is also fitting on this day to recall the soldiers, sailors and Marines who served in World War II and came back. Carl Nolte in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 5/28/12

Daughter finds closure six decades after dad's death in top-secret crash -- More than six decades after his death, Betty Pollard Wheeler has finally said farewell to her father. A casualty of an ill-fated Cold War air mission – and of the jittery uncertainty of the early years of the atomic age – he is finally at rest this Memorial Day. Anita Creamer in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/28/12

Congressional Gold Medals go to Nisei veterans -- High on Constitution Wall, above the courtyard at the California Museum in Sacramento, is the word "redress." It was an appropriate one for the day's event, suggested Roy Sato, one of nearly 30 Nisei veterans who were honored with Congressional Gold Medals Saturday. Carlos Alcalá in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/28/12

Golden Gate Bridge 75th: fireworks and fog -- A waterfall of light cascaded from the Golden Gate Bridge and lit up the night Sunday as fireworks turned the San Francisco Bay and shoreline into a kaleidoscope of color. Carolyn Jones, Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 5/28/12

Death row inmate's appeal puts Santa Clara County prosecution team on trial -- Twenty-five years after a Santa Clara County jury condemned him to die, double-murderer Miguel Bacigalupo has put the prosecution team that sent him to death row on trial. Howard Mintz in the Contra Costa Times -- 5/28/12

Building the Golden Gate Bridge today would be no easy task -- Imagine for a moment that the Golden Gate Bridge has vanished like in a tale by Haruki Murakami -- nothing left but sea, sky and howling wind. Richard Halstead in the Contra Costa Times -- 5/28/12