Updating . .
Cox country wants to make California great again -- Last year, Mike Adams begrudgingly spent $45,000 drafting plans for two new bathrooms at his Ramona restaurant in order to secure the government permits necessary for the project. “It’s ridiculous,” said the 65-year-old Adams. “In Texas you pay a $100 permit fee and you go build what you got to build. It’s just a whole different environment.” Joshua Emerson Smith in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 6/10/18
How anti-Trump activists shaped Democratic wins in California -- The most significant endorsement that Democrat Mike Levin received en route to a runoff spot in a California House district that his party would love to flip didn’t come from a big-name politician, he said. It came from grassroots activists who held 67 demonstrations in front of retiring GOP Rep. Darrell Issa’s office during the past year. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/10/18
Charter Schools Regroup After Big California Election Loss -- Charter school supporters are deciding where to direct their considerable resources after pouring money into the California governor primary to support a longtime ally who failed to move on to November's election. Sally Ho Associated Press -- 6/10/18
Supreme Court asked to shield Sonoma County deputy who killed a 13-year-old carrying a pellet gun -- It was an October afternoon when 13-year-old Andy Lopez, wearing shorts and a blue sweatshirt, walked down a sidewalk in Santa Rosa, California, loosely carrying at his side a plastic pellet gun that resembled an assault rifle. David G. Savage in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/10/18
Encampments take root in South L.A. Here's why clearing them out is so difficult -- When the tent caught fire, flames blew through an iron fence into an employee parking lot and quickly enveloped two cars. Rumors swirled that one homeless person had torched another’s tent, but Los Angeles firefighters found no leads to investigate. New tents quickly appeared along the fence at 38th and Hill streets, where Amy Willens’ Infiniti Q50 was destroyed that March day. Doug Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/10/18
How Garcetti picked his police chief: interviews, homework and plenty of advice -- Last Monday morning, Los Angeles civic leaders were in suspense. Mayor Eric Garcetti had said he would probably announce his pick for police chief that day. Text messages and phone calls flew between people who were usually in the know. “Have you heard?” “Still no word?” There was a reason no one had heard. The mayor had not yet made up his mind. David Zahniser, Richard Winton, Cindy Chang in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/10/18
California Policy & Politics This Morning
As Breed regains slim lead, mayoral cliffhanger echoes Oakland’s 2010 race -- San Francisco Supervisor London Breed pulled ahead of former state Sen. Mark Leno on Saturday by just 498 votes in the race to become the city’s next mayor, according to the latest round of preliminary election results. Dominic Fracassa in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/10/18
Cal Fire releases details of probe into cause of Wine Country fires -- The key to investigating the October 2017 fire siege that burned a combined area more than eight times the size of San Francisco came down to a handful of locations, each just a couple of square feet. Kimberly Veklerov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/10/18
Meet John Cox and Gavin Newsom, the candidates for California governor -- For Cox, the path to victory is formidable. The Rancho Santa Fe businessman has never been elected to public office, despite several tries. Cox is not well known in California, and no Republican has won a statewide race in California since 2006. Phil Willon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/10/18
Orange County Fights Turning Blue. And the Resistance Is Formidable -- California has dug in at the front lines of the resistance to President Trump, suing to overturn his environmental policies, passing legislation to hamstring his immigration enforcement and marching in mass demonstrations of defiance. Then there is Orange County, a stubborn redoubt of conservatism that keeps defying prognostications that 80 years of Republican dominance will come to an end. Jeremy W. Peters in the New York Times$ -- 6/10/18
Election 2018: Environmental measures were big winners in California, Bay Area races -- Most voters already know that Gavin Newsom and Dianne Feinstein — who easily advanced to the November general election in their races for governor and U.S. senator — were among the big winners in Tuesday’s California primary election. But there’s another group also popping the champagne this week: environmentalists. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 6/10/18
California Politics Podcast: The Votes Are In -- This week, we sort through all of the detailed results of the races for governor and U.S. Senate in California's June 5 statewide primary. And we examine the takeaways of this wild, top-two primary election. With John Myers, Melanie Mason and Seema Mehta of the Los Angeles Times. Link here -- 6/10/18
Willie Brown: Gavin Newsom strolling into California governor’s job? John Cox may surprise -- Gavin Newsom got the Republican opponent he wanted for November’s general election, but it may turn into a much bumpier ride to the finish line than he imagined. Willie Brown in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/10/18
Walters: Top-two primary puts California in national spotlight -- It had been 50 years since a California primary election seemed to have national political consequences and drew national media attention. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 6/10/18
The 1st 2020 Race Is Underway: Scrambling for New York Donors -- Senator Elizabeth Warren has come calling as recently as April. Kamala Harris, the first-term senator of California, has made repeated visits, starting as early as her third month in office. Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. is also no stranger to the big-money donor world of New York; he was here in April — his third such visit in three months. Shane Goldmacher in the New York Times$ -- 6/10/18
Hiltzik: Consumer choice has suddenly revolutionized the electricity business in California. But utilities are striking back -- Nearly 2 million electricity customers in California may not know it, but they’re part of a revolution. That many residents and businesses are getting their power not from traditional utilities, but via new government-affiliated entities known as community choice aggregators. Michael Hiltzik in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/10/18
Garcetti wants to fix some of L.A.'s worst roads. But repairs could hinge on a big fee hike -- When Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti unveiled his yearly budget in April, he promised major progress in an area long neglected by City Hall: reconstruction of the city’s worst roads. David Zahniser in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/10/18
‘Can I live?’ Hundreds march for black women in Sacramento -- Hundreds of people marched through the streets of Sacramento Saturday morning to show their support for black women and the issues they face in their families, communities and society. Cassie Dickman in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 6/10/18
Lopez: They're sick, traumatized, malnourished and transient — what child poverty looks like in Los Angeles -- Many of the children who visit the St. John’s Well Child and Family Center at 58th and Hoover in South Los Angeles are anything but well. The dentists treat children who suffer excruciating pain from swollen gums and rotting teeth. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/10/18
Here's the new — and much higher — cost of replacing Parker Center with an office tower -- An office tower for Los Angeles city workers to replace Parker Center, the former LAPD headquarters, would cost about $700 million to build, according to a new report. A previous city-commissioned analysis said the office tower would cost $483 million, but that figure didn’t account for rising construction costs or so-called soft costs, which include design work and project management. Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/10/18
Affectionate memorial service in Long Beach honors former Gov. George Deukmejian -- It was not an elegy, but an ode – to a life well lived. Gov. George Deukmejian, who died last month, was remembered in a series of affectionate eulogies Saturday afternoon during a public memorial in Long Beach, his adopted hometown. Chris Haire in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 6/10/18
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
With jet fuel prices up nearly 50%, fliers eventually will pay more, experts say -- Jet fuel prices have shot up 40% to 50% over last year, but airline passengers in the U.S. don’t need to worry about airfares following that trend — yet. Hugo Martin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/10/18
Boring Co. Flamethrower Party Heats Up Musk Fanboys and Fangirls -- Dennis Dohrman hopped in his truck and drove 2,620 miles from North Carolina to Boring headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Dan Thorman cut short a business trip to Singapore and came straight to Saturday’s event from Los Angeles International Airport. George Matus brought along his parents and younger brother on a 10-hour road trip. Sarah McBride Bloomberg -- 6/10/18
Homeless
Many people work hard to avoid the homeless. These volunteers embrace them -- Voters in Los Angeles approved more than $1 billion to help provide more housing. At the same time, a proposal to build temporary homeless shelters across the city has sparked protests from residents who say it will ruin their neighborhoods. Benjamin Oreskes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/10/18
Jogger dismantles Lake Merritt homeless man's encampment, throws some of it into lake -- A jogger dramatically dismantled a homeless person's Lake Merritt encampment Friday evening, according to a video filmed by Oakland resident JJ Harris and posted to the Facebook group Lake Neighbors. Drew Costley in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/10/18
Wildfire
Fight over PG&E’s liability in Wine Country fires just beginning -- Firefighters were still struggling to contain the flames scorching the North Bay last October when residents first started lining up to sue Pacific Gas and Electric Co. David R. Baker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/10/18
Volunteers in Santa Rosa assemble 100 sheds to help residents rebuild after October wildfires -- Erica Rinkor didn’t expect Saturday to be an emotional day. But Rinkor couldn’t help but cry while standing with her three young children among hundreds of volunteers who came to Piner High School to construct tool sheds for families like hers who lost their homes in the October wildfires. J.D. Morris in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- 6/10/18
Sonoma County employees lacked training to handle response in October wildfires, new review finds -- Sonoma County government employees were undertrained and overwhelmed during the October wildfires, and they clashed with elected leaders who wanted to play a more active role in emergency management, according to a long-awaited internal review of the county’s response to the disaster. J.D. Morris in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- 6/10/18
California bills to boost homeowners insurance after wildfires wither -- In January, state lawmakers and Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones grandly announced a package of bills aimed at beefing up homeowners insurance coverage for victims of wildfires and other disasters. Five months later, some of the bills are up in smoke. Others have been watered down under intense pressure from the insurance industry. Kathleen Pender in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/10/18
Education
This Southern California community college just awarded 18 four-year bachelor’s degrees -- The students spent their first two years studying graphic design, and the last two immersed in upper-division interaction design courses, as well as related coursework in computer science, business, cognitive psychology and media. School officials said this is the first baccalaureate degree of its kind to be offered at a community college. The item is in the Riverside Press Enterprise$ -- 6/10/18
Legislative leaders in Sacramento strike deal with Gov. Brown on education funding in his last budget -- The march toward a state budget deal for the coming fiscal year took a significant step forward Friday as Gov. Jerry Brown and leaders of the California Assembly and Senate agreed Friday on a proposed spending package that funds the governor’s marquee higher education plans to create a new online college and dramatically overhaul how community colleges are funded by the state. Mikhail Zinshteyn, Larry Gordon EdSource -- 6/10/18
She wasn’t expected to live past 7. Saturday she graduates from college with honors -- Isabel Bueso, 22, will don a cap and gown Saturday evening and cross the stage at Cal State University East Bay to get her diploma, graduating among the top in her class. For Bueso, the milestone will be exceptional, not only for her academic achievement, but also for the fact that doctors did not expect her to survive beyond childhood. Sophie Haigney in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/10/18
Health
Thousands turn out to expo for help caring for ailing family members, dementia patients -- It’s been seven years since Marie Campilongo was thrust into the Alzheimer’s journey, as she puts it, caring for her 84-year-old husband 24/7. As practiced as she is, though, there’s not a day that goes by where she says she doesn’t learn something new in a role she was never trained to assume. Lori Weisberg in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 6/10/18
Concussion study by UCSF professor identifies ‘public health crisis’ -- The last thing Sean Sanford remembered, before waking up at San Francisco General Hospital with a terrible headache, was riding his skateboard on a concrete ledge near Glen Park. “I slipped out,” Sanford said. “I hit my head. I woke up, and I kept repeating myself. I kept asking my wife, ‘What happened?’” Steve Rubenstein and Annie Ma in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/10/18
Environment
North Coast’s ‘Great Redwood Trail’ wins approval in California Senate, but lacks funding -- Imagine a 300-mile trail from San Francisco Bay to Humboldt Bay taking hikers, bicycle and horseback riders through a stunning North Coast river canyon and old growth redwood forests. Guy Kovner in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- 6/10/18
Also . . .
Seven tons of marijuana found at California-Mexico border crossing -- A seven-ton load of marijuana valued at an estimated $8.6 million was discovered in a truck trailer waiting to enter the U.S. from Mexico at the Otay Mesa border crossing, authorities said Friday. The truck manifest said it was carrying “metal racks” but a Customs and Border Protection dog sniffed out the drugs, officials said in a statement. Pauline Repard in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/10/18
POTUS 45
Trump brings chaos to G7 with trade threats and praise for Russia – and then backs out of joint agreement -- President Trump alienated the United States’ closest allies at the Group of Seven summit in Canada with his aggressive trade declarations and surprising suggestion that Russia be readmitted to the exclusive club of major economic powers — and then, after departing early, went on Twitter to blow up the agreement forged at the meeting. Jim Puzzanghera in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/10/18
In the Trump Administration, Science Is Unwelcome. So Is Advice -- As the president prepares for nuclear talks, he lacks a close adviser with nuclear expertise. It’s one example of a marginalization of science in shaping federal policy. Coral Davenport in the New York Times$ -- 6/10/18
So Dennis Rodman may be in Singapore for the summit. That’s not as strange as it sounds -- Rodman’s “basketball diplomacy” since 2013 involved high-profile visits to North Korea, where he met with Kim Jong Un, the nation’s leader. Rodman also brought along copies of Donald Trump’s books in 2017 and claims to have sold the North Korean leader on the U.S. president. Eric Grynaviski in the Washington Post$ Steve Geimann Bloomberg -- 6/10/18