Updating . .
Sen. Mendoza under-reported money from home sale, ethics agency finds -- State Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia) violated state disclosure requirements when he “significantly underreported” the money he received in a bailout of his temporary home in Sacramento, the state ethics agency concluded Monday. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/15
Republican Jan Goldsmith shoots down congressional chatter -- Goldsmith, the city attorney in San Diego, was mentioned as a “candidate of interest” to take on Rep. Scott Peters, a Democrat whose evenly divided district has made it one of California’s perennial toss-ups. Christopher Cadelago in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/16/15
Tests of Bay Bridge rods find more widespread cracking -- Tests on one of the high-strength steel rods that secure the base of the tower of the new Bay Bridge eastern span show more widespread cracking than Caltrans officials had previously acknowledged, The Chronicle has learned. Jaxon Van Derbeken in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/16/15
Filings sometimes obscure California political ad details -- Today’s Sacramento Bee report on how ballot measure, legislative and independent committees spread the wealth during California’s last election cycle excluded the many millions of campaign dollars received by broadcast television stations. Jim Miller in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/16/15
New California state worker website launches -- With state labor talks about to restart, the non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office debuted a new state workforce website on Monday that includes its easy-to-read analyses of current and former state-employee contracts. Jon Ortiz in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/16/15
Study links Disneyland measles outbreak to low vaccination rates -- Although epidemiologists have not yet identified the person who brought measles to Disneyland, triggering an international outbreak, researchers now say that parents who refuse to vaccinate their kids are probably to blame. Karen Kaplan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/15
McSwain: NFL stadiums worth high cost — to owners -- I’m a frugal guy. But if you offered to pay for 60 percent of my next house, linoleum might just become terrazzo, and a saltwater lap pool could suddenly seem necessary for my health. Dan McSwain UT San Diego$ -- 3/16/15
Chinese immigrant, denied law license in 1890, gets one posthumously -- A Chinese immigrant denied a California law license in 1890 because of his race will receive one posthumously, the California Supreme Court decided unanimously Monday. Maura Dolan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/15
Abbe Land, a familiar face on West Hollywood City Council, steps aside -- For years, the public face of West Hollywood has been the same: four gay men and one straight woman. Hailey Branson-Potts in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/15
Released Murderers Mentor Other Ex-Lifers on Parole -- Getting a job and finding housing you can afford in a new city is hard enough. Imagine doing that as an ex-felon, someone out on parole after decades in prison. After committing murder. Scott Shafer KQED -- 3/16/15
Sierra at Tahoe ski resort closes due to lack of snow -- The popular ski area on Highway 50 in Twin Bridges, renowned for varied terrain with runs spanning multiple mountain faces, has had only one-third of its normal snowfall. Peter Hecht in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/16/15
San Bernardino defends CalPERS payment plan in bankruptcy -- Defending its plan to fully repay its debts to CalPERS, the bankrupt city of San Bernardino has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit by creditors demanding equal treatment. Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/16/15
Get to know a freshman: Tony Thurmond -- If not for a supportive cousin, Tony Thurmond might have ended up like the kids he’s made a career of helping instead of becoming a state assemblyman from Richmond. Jeremy B. White in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/16/15
Protesters vandalize Google bus in North Oakland -- About 9:23 a.m., about six to 10 people blocked the bus on the 40th Street side of the MacArthur BART station in North Oakland as the bus was taking on passengers to go to work, police said. Natalie Neysa Alund in the Contra Costa Times$ -- 3/16/15
California Lawmakers Chew On Dental Program’s Shortcomings -- State lawmakers will hold a hearing Tuesday on a recent audit that found serious flaws in California’s dental program for poor children. Legislators will have a lot to chew on. Kenny Goldberg KPBS -- 3/16/15
MLS confirms Minneapolis talks, but Sacramento isn't out of the game -- Major League Soccer confirmed Monday it is in advanced discussions with Minneapolis about adding the city as an expansion franchise. But the league held out the possibility of additional expansion that could benefit Sacramento. Ben van der Meer Sacramento Business Journal Ryan Lillis and Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/16/15
Moorlach vs. Wagner: Idealist, pragmatist face off for state Senate -- The biggest difference between Don Wagner and John Moorlach, the top candidates in Tuesday’s special election for state Senate, can’t be found in the campaign mailers and automated phone calls besieging voters in recent weeks. Martin Wisckol in the Orange County Register$ -- 3/16/15
Oregon governor signs sweeping automatic voter registration into law -- The so-called Motor Voter legislation will use state Department of Motor Vehicles data to automatically register eligible voters whose information is contained in the DMV system, with a 21-day opt-out period for those who wish to be taken off the registry. Shelby Sebens Reuters -- 3/16/15
California Policy & Politics This Morning
Ho-hum California election cycle paid off for political world -- In many respects, California’s last election cycle will go down in history as a snoozer. Gov. Jerry Brown cruised to re-election. Only 42 percent of voters showed up in November, something of an improvement over the dismal 25 percent turnout in June. Jim Miller in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/16/15
Big money arrived too late for L.A. election debate -- Two years ago, a defining issue in Los Angeles' mayoral election was campaign money — more specifically, the huge amounts spent by the union that represents most Department of Water and Power employees. David Zahniser in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/15
Bay Area state Senate race pits unions against Democrat Steve Glazer -- r has broken out in the neatly tended suburbs east of San Francisco Bay, over a simple question: Is only one kind of Democrat allowed in blue California? Cathleen Decker in the Los Angeles Times$ Ben Adler Capital Public Radio -- 3/16/15
Skelton: Unions play hardball in Bay Area Senate race -- "Childish" aptly describes a hot legislative race to be decided Tuesday. No, it's worse. It's like mob bosses executing payback. Actually, it's old-fashioned dirty politics. Think "Tricky Dick" Nixon in his early California campaigns. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/15
Walters: Los Angeles politicians play musical chairs -- Remember the old parlor game of musical chairs? Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/16/15
Bigoted texts 'disgraced’ SFPD, chief says, vowing rapid action -- The four San Francisco police officers under investigation for sending racist and homophobic text messages have all been on the force for more than a decade, and at least two have faced disciplinary action in the past, The Chronicle has learned. Jaxon Van Derbeken in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/16/15
Officer’s lawyer says texts showed bad taste, not animus -- The attorney for one of the four San Francisco police officers under investigation for sending racist and homophobic text messages said Sunday her client’s messages, while “wholly unacceptable,” were not reflective of his true attitudes on the job. Jaxon Van Derbeken in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/16/15
Garcetti hopes to have L.A.'s quake retrofit laws in place this year -- Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has set a deadline for his plan to require retrofitting of thousands of earthquake-vulnerable buildings, saying he'd like to have the new laws in place by the end of the year. Rong-Gong Lin II and Rosanna Xia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/15
Wave of fresh legislators in Orange County likely to subside -- Orange County’s big turnover of state legislators last year could continue well into this summer, depending on the outcome of the St. Patrick’s Day special election for state Senate District 37. But it could be at least 2024 before the county sees much change again. Martin Wisckol in the Orange County Register$ -- 3/16/15
Calbuzz: Kamala’s First Senate Foe: Rocky Chavez on Issues -- Now that Republican Assemblyman Rocky (his actual name — we asked) Chavez of Oceanside has officially joined the race for U.S. Senate from California, becoming Democratic Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris’s No. 1 and, so far, only opponent, Calbuzz spent some time the other day chatting with him about actual, you know, issues. Our motto: We do this so you don’t have to. Jerry Roberts and Phil Trounstine Calbuzz -- 3/16/15
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
Oakland minimum-wage hike puts child caregivers in a jam -- Workers who benefit from Oakland’s minimum wage hike might soon lose a service that enables them to work in the first place. It turns out the well-intentioned law is putting a financial squeeze on Oakland’s child care industry, leading some providers to panic. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/16/15
High court ruling weakens retiree health rights -- A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in January weakens the “vested rights” protection of retiree health care based on a labor contract, potentially making it easier for government employers to cut a growing cost. Ed Mendel Calpensions.com -- 3/16/15
Borenstein: Labor perpetuates pension myth that 80 percent funding goal is OK -- Public employee unions repeatedly insist that workers' pension funds need not be fully funded, that a target of 80 percent is fine. Daniel Borenstein in the Contra Costa Times$ -- 3/16/15
Moraga-Orinda Fire District looks at ways to fund $16.9 million in promised retirement health care benefits -- After years of failing to set aside money to pay for retirement health care benefits promised its employees, the Moraga-Orinda Fire District is one step closer to providing the needed $16.9 million to do so. Jennifer Modenessi in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/16/15
Computers and monitors are targets of latest energy-efficiency rules -- California regulators are intensifying efforts to wring every possible electron out of common household devices. Marc Lifsher in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/15
Education
Mills College fights back in a tough era for women’s schools -- The sudden announcement this month that a century-old women’s college in rural Virginia called Sweet Briar will go out of business this summer has shocked students, faculty and others in the shrinking world of single-gender liberal arts colleges — and raises questions about the future of its Bay Area counterpart, Mills College in Oakland. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/16/15
How California Schools Are Using Art to Boost Achievement -- In a first-grade classroom at Peralta Elementary School in Oakland, children concentrate on detailed pencil drawings of scenes from the underground railroad. Safehouses and trap doors appear on paper. One boy is drawing dogs with pointy teeth. Zaidee Stavely KQED -- 3/16/15
State’s choice of testing contractor disputed -- The State Board of Education last week endorsed the current contractor’s three-year, quarter-billion-dollar bid to continue administering the state’s standardized testing system – but only if it agrees to extensively involve teachers in scoring the parts of the new tests on the Common Core standards that can’t be done by machine. John Fensterwald EdSource -- 3/16/15
School reserve cap could harm long-term capital projects -- Last week, as school managers rallied at the state Capitol against a new law restricting how much money districts can hold in reserve, questions were being raised behind closed doors about how the spending cap could impact long-term planning of costly facility improvement projects. Kimberly Beltran Cabinet Report -- 3/16/15
Immigration / Border
LAPD officer suspected of smuggling a person across U.S.-Mexico border -- The officer was taken into custody at the border after a person was found inside a vehicle driven by the officer, a source confirmed to The Times. The officer's identity and the division to which he's assigned are unclear. Richard Winton, Kate Mather and Matt Hamilton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/15
Environment
Tighter ozone rules in the air -- New air-quality rules being considered by the federal government could put tighter shackles on ozone, the invisible gas that chokes lungs, stops hearts and ends lives prematurely. Deborah Sullivan Brennan UT San Diego$ -- 3/16/15
Health
Aging Baby Boomers Bring Drug Habits into Middle Age -- Older adults are abusing drugs, getting arrested for drug offenses and dying from drug overdoses at increasingly higher rates. Zusha Elinson in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 3/16/15
Empathy: The Future of Dementia Care -- Imagine you’re losing your mind. Imagine most of the life you’ve led is now slipping away from dementia. And it’s one of the best things that has ever happened to you. Matt Perry healthycal.org -- 3/16/15
Also . . .
"Killed them all, of course," Robert Durst says in HBO finale -- A six-part HBO documentary series about New York real estate scion Robert Durst's links to three killings concluded in dramatic fashion Sunday with Durst being caught on microphone muttering to himself," Killed them all, of course." Jack Leonard, Richard Winton and Joel Rubin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/15
LAPD searches for two suspects in shooting of officers in South L.A. -- Two Los Angeles police officers were wounded by gunfire Sunday afternoon, spawning a massive manhunt for the shooters that shut down several blocks in South Los Angeles, authorities said. Kate Mather, Matt Hamilton and Kate Linthicum in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/16/15