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California Policy & Politics This Morning

State appeals court reinstates California’s right-to-die law -- A state appeals court has reinstated — at least for now — California’s law allowing terminally ill people to end their lives. The Fourth District Court of Appeals in Riverside issued an immediate stay Friday putting the End of Life Option back into effect. The court also gave opponents of its decision until July 2 to file objections. John Rogers Associated Press Esmeralda Bermudez in the Los Angeles Times$ Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Lisa M. Krieger in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 6/16/18

California Agency Says Coffee Doesn't Need a Cancer Warning -- Starbucks Corp. and other coffee retailers are looking to get a reprieve in a legal battle over whether they need to post warnings in California that a cup of java contains chemicals known to cause cancer. Edvard Pettersson Bloomberg Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/16/18

Californians will make a big decision on rent control in November -- California voters will decide in November whether to give cities and counties new freedom to expand the use of rent control after an initiative backed by tenant groups earned a spot Friday on this fall’s ballot. Liam Dillon in the Los Angeles Times$ Angela Hart in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 6/16/18

Sacramento County Democratic Group Punishes Three Dems Who Endorsed DA Anne-Marie Schubert -- Three prominent Sacramento Democrats endorsed a Republican in the June primary and have been removed from the local Democratic Party’s central committee. Bob Moffitt Capital Public Radio -- 6/16/18

Bretón: Sacramento DA Schubert changes political affiliation and is no longer a Republican -- Schubert said she made the decision months ago but decided to wait until after her contentious primary battle with Democrat Noah Phillips, whom Schubert defeated soundly to win a second term. Marcos Breton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 6/16/18

Q&A: San Francisco Mayor-elect London Breed on what she hopes to accomplish at the helm of her hometown -- Breed, who was raised by her grandmother in public housing, said homelessness and affordable housing will be among her top priorities. Benjamin Oreskes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/16/18

National GOP, Democrats arm for battle in California House races -- To the surprise of absolutely no one, the National Republican Congressional Committee has enthusiastically endorsed Diane Harkey and Young Kim, Republicans who took the top spots in contests for a pair of open House seats in Southern California. John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/16/18

LAPD hasn't taken basic measures to prevent suicides in its jails, scathing report says -- The Los Angeles Police Department has not taken basic measures to prevent suicides in its jails, even after more than 100 inmates tried to kill themselves in a five-year span, the department’s inspector general found in a scathing report released Friday. Cindy Chang in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/16/18

California judicial oversight commission escapes $500,000 budget cut -- The secretive state agency that disciplines unethical judges has been spared a $500,000 budget cut in a deal between the governor and legislative leaders. Cynthia Dizikes in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/16/18

Orange County officials ask state to reject mobile needle exchange proposal -- At least four Orange County cities and the county are asking the state Department of Public Health to reject a proposed mobile service that would give free clean needles to injection-drug users. Alicia Robinson in the Orange County Register -- 6/16/18

Urth Caffe agrees to train staff in cultural sensitivity in settlement with Muslim women who claimed religious discrimination -- Operators of Urth Caffe near Main Beach have agreed to refine their restaurant’s seating policy and to add language about diversity and sensitivity to their employee handbook as the result of a two-year legal dispute with seven Muslim women who claimed they were targets of religious discrimination. Erika Ritchie in the Orange County Register -- 6/16/18

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions  

Federal prison workers protest in Victorville, saying the transfer of detainees creates a dangerous situation -- Prison workers gathered outside the Federal Correctional Complex in Victorville on Friday to protest what they say are unsafe conditions that have been exacerbated by the recent transfer of hundreds of immigration detainees to the facility. Paloma Esquivel in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/16/18

Scooter firms’ San Francisco permit applications revealed: They promise to behave -- The dozen companies seeking to operate motorized scooter rental businesses in San Francisco promise a well-behaved, cooperative atmosphere — a sharp contrast to the unregulated chaos of scooters being ridden and dumped on sidewalks that occurred over the past couple of months. Carolyn Said and Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/16/18

Criminal Charges Filed Against Theranos' Elizabeth Holmes, Sunny Balwani -- A federal grand jury has indicted Holmes on criminal charges of allegedly defrauding investors, doctors and patients as the head of the once-heralded Bay Area blood-testing startup Theranos. Jon Brooks KQED Reed Abelson in the New York Times$ Ethan Baron in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 6/16/18

California farmers, politicians won't feel full impact of Trump tariff wars until fall -- David Phippen’s almond orchards in Manteca are a few months away from harvest, the nuts still green on the trees. That gives him some breathing room before China's tariffs on almonds — California's largest agricultural export — and other crops really bite. Emily Cadei in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 6/16/18

Silicon Valley blasts Trump’s tech tariffs -- President Donald Trump argued Friday that his steep tariffs on technology goods from China will help Silicon Valley, but the industry's leading trade groups said the sanctions will harm their bottom line. Steven Overly Politico -- 6/16/18

Here's How a Trade War Between the U.S. and China Could Play Out -- President Donald Trump is betting Beijing will blink first in the showdown over tariffs. Such an outcome is far from assured -- and it could also take a while. Jenny Leonard, Andrew Mayeda, and Reade Pickert Bloomberg -- 6/16/18

Plan for 14-state power grid faces key Senate hearing on Tuesday -- The proposal to expand California’s power grid to as many as 14 western states faces a key hearing on Tuesday, and two state lawmakers from San Diego will play critical roles in its success or failure. Jeff McDonald in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ David R. Baker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/16/18

Taxes, Fees, Rates, Tolls, Bonds 

Two property owners sue over L.A.'s recycling program, saying it imposes an illegal tax -- Two landlords filed a lawsuit Thursday against the city of Los Angeles, saying a key element of its new commercial trash pickup system is an illegal tax under state law. David Zahniser in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/16/18

Homeless  

3 Orange County cities propose shelters to help serve growing homeless problem -- Officials from three Orange County cities — Anaheim, Huntington Beach and Santa Ana — have proposed new shelter sites to help solve the area’s growing homeless crisis. Anh Do in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/16/18

Housing  

They are building 11,000 new homes in Folsom. But will there be enough water? -- It's like a new city springing to life: 11,000 homes and apartments, seven public schools, a pair of fire stations, a police station, a slew of office and commercial buildings and 1,000 acres of parks, trails and other open space. Expected population: 25,000. Ryan Sabalow, Dale Kasler, Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 6/16/18

L.A. plan to 'gentrify' skid row will oust poor residents, advocates say -- Activists on Friday lashed out against a city proposal to develop skid row, saying L.A.’s “gentrification” plan threatens one of the last bastions of housing for the very poor and disregards the fate of 2,100 people living on the downtown district’s grimy sidewalks. Gale Holland in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/16/18

Education 

UC Berkeley Granted Two CRISPR-Related Patents -- The University of California will be receiving two CRISPR-related patents, marking another step forward in the university's long battle to assert its claims to the revolutionary technology. Amel Ahmed KQED -- 6/16/18

Mountain View school to be named after undocumented immigrant Jose Antonio Vargas -- In a historic decision, a new public elementary school in Mountain View will be named after an undocumented immigrant Jose Antonio Vargas, an award-winning journalist, documentary filmmaker and activist. Sophie Haigney in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/16/18

Immigration, Border, Deportation 

How Donald Trump Shivved a Compromise GOP Immigration Bill -- Senior White House officials worked with House Republicans for weeks on a compromise immigration measure, but were careful to avoid saying anything publicly that would sink the measure. That changed Friday morning when President Donald Trump walked out to the White House’s North Lawn. John T. Bennett Roll Call -- 6/16/18

House immigration bill threatens to undermine sanctuary city policies -- Congressional Republicans are pushing a new tactic to combat sanctuary cities: make it easier to sue them. Casey Tolan in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 6/16/18

Trump Administration To Open Temporary Tent Shelter In Texas For Migrant Children -- As the number of migrant children detained by the U.S. government grows to almost 2,000 minors, Trump administration officials defended the policy of separating children from their parents and authorities announced plans to house several hundred juveniles in a temporary tent shelter near El Paso, Texas. Richard Gonzales NPR -- 6/16/18

1,995 immigrant children separated from adults in previous two months, officials say -- Migrant family separations on the border have drawn national attention, as the Trump administration enforces a “zero tolerance” policy of charging parents in criminal court and placing their children in federally funded shelters. Molly Hennessy-Fiske in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/16/18

Religious groups and leaders call Trump's 'zero tolerance' immigration policy sad, sinful and immoral -- A day after Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions cited the Bible to defend the Trump administration's immigration policies and the separation of children from their families, many faith-based leaders are forming coalitions, signing letters and issuing sharply worded statements against the policy. Kurtis Lee in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/16/18

California evangelicals joining opposition to family separations at border -- The support of conservative church leaders helped catapult President Trump into office. But some of those same leaders, including some in California, are pushing back against his immigration policies, particularly one that separates children from their parents at the border. Josie Huang KPCC -- 6/16/18

Health 

Ties between researchers and alcohol producers prompt NIH to shut down study of moderate drinking -- Does drinking a single serving of alcohol each day reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease or diabetes? Several observational studies suggest that it could. Karen Kaplan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/16/18

Also . . . 

In Bayview, a police effort to build trust as captain reaches out to black community -- Steven Ford wrapped his arm around the grieving mother and leaned close to offer his sympathies. It was all the San Francisco police captain could do in that moment, as tears rolled down Wanda Fain’s face. Her son was dead. Her three grandchildren fatherless. Evan Sernoffsky in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/16/18

Former home of Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman seeks $7 million in Little Holmby -- The Holmby Hills estate where Jane Wyman and Ronald Reagan lived during their marriage has come on the market in Little Holmby for $7 million. It is the first time the stately two-story has been for sale in more than half a century, records show. Neal J. Leitereg in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/16/18

San Diego police arrest ICE agent on suspicion of battery after road-rage incident -- A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was arrested last month by San Diego police after he allegedly assaulted a man following a road-rage incident, according to a police report. ICE agent Billy Brickett was arrested on May 18 after he is believed to have assaulted Raymond Drayton following a driving dispute in Otay Mesa, according to the report. Jeff McDonald in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/16/18

POTUS 45  

Five whoppers from President Trump’s impromptu news conference -- President Trump made a slew of false or misleading claims during an appearance on “Fox and Friends” that morphed into a news conference on the White House lawn. We fact-checked five whoppers. But this is only a partial list. Salvador Rizzo in the Washington Post$ -- 6/16/18

Will the Justice Department Investigate the Trump Foundation? -- Election law experts from across the political spectrum largely agreed that the New York attorney general made a compelling case this week that President Trump’s campaign and his charitable foundation violated federal campaign finance laws during the 2016 election. Kenneth P. Vogel in the New York Times$ -- 6/16/18

Beltway 

Pence turns VP’s office into gateway for lobbyists to influence the Trump administration -- Vice President Pence has transformed his office into a new entry point for lobbyists seeking to influence the Trump administration across federal agencies, according to federal records and interviews. Michael Scherer, Josh Dawsey and Anu Narayanswamy in the Washington Post$ -- 6/16/18

 

-- Friday Updates 

Wealthy charter school backers gambled on Villaraigosa and lost. Now they're on shaky ground with Newsom -- After pouring millions of dollars into scathing ads portraying Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom as a dilettante, wealthy charter school backers had a different message for the first-place finisher in last week’s gubernatorial primary: Congratulations. Seema Mehta, Melanie Mason in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/15/18

London Breed as mayor has the tech industry excited. Will it last? -- A few weeks before San Francisco’s mayoral election, a large white bus carrying a load of Google employees lumbered through the Mission on its daily trip down Highway 101. As it approached the corner of 24th and Valencia streets, a crowd of protesters blocked it, yelling expletives about the company and tossing a pile of electric scooters in front of the bus, halting commuters for nearly an hour. Trisha Thadani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/15/18

De León's challenge in the Senate race: to oppose Feinstein but keep his future intact -- Kevin de León stresses that he isn’t naive about his chances of taking down Sen. Dianne Feinstein in November’s general election. Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/15/18

Navy releases plan to retest part of San Francisco shipyard after botched cleanup -- The Navy on Friday released its proposed plan for retesting a 40-acre parcel of the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, the first step in what could be a multiyear reexamination of a $1 billion cleanup the government says was botched. J.K. Dineen in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/15/18 

New sexual misconduct plan at California Capitol moves investigations to independent unit -- The California Legislature will relinquish much of its control over sexual harassment complaints and investigations at the Capitol to independent panels under a new policy proposal the Assembly and Senate unveiled Friday. Alexei Koseff, Taryn Luna in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 6/15/18

Here’s How California Lawmakers Hope To Curb Sexual Harassment At The Capitol -- The California Legislature is unveiling a sweeping new overhaul of how it would investigate sexual harassment complaints against everyone from lawmakers to interns that comes after accusations leveled against several lawmakers as part of the “Me Too” movement. Ben Adler Capital Public Radio -- 6/15/18

California's Brown Is Leaving Behind Fully Funded Piggy Bank -- Here’s one plus for bond investors worried about the end of California Governor Jerry Brown’s reign: he’s leaving his successor a rainy-day fund at the constitutional maximum for the first time. Romy Varghese Bloomberg -- 6/15/18

Knight: Car break-in crackdown bill made perfect sense. California lawmakers killed it -- Remember that total no-brainer proposal in Sacramento to make it easier to prosecute car break-in suspects? You know, the one that would count a smashed window as evidence that the car was, indeed, broken into? Heather Knight in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/15/18

Scoot Over: A Two-Wheeled Gold Rush in Silicon Valley -- The hottest investment in Silicon Valley today looks like a kids’ toy, has only been tested in a few cities and is unsafe to use in heavy rain. Eliot Brown in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 6/15/18

California gains just 5,500 jobs in May; unemployment stays at record-low 4.2% -- The California economy cooled somewhat in May as employers added just 5,500 net jobs, though the unemployment rate held steady at a record low of 4.2%, according to data released Friday by the state’s Employment Development Department. Andrew Khouri in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/15/18

Trump undermines GOP effort to pass an immigration bill -- President Trump upended Republican efforts to negotiate an immigration bill that could pass the House, saying Friday that he would not support a measure that Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) had painstakingly cobbled together over the past week. Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/15/18

The Good Old Days of the Big 5 Budgets? -- The state budget passed on time but does anyone long for the good old days of the dragged out budget debates? Remember the deal making to get some Republicans to join majority Democrats to reach the required two-thirds vote? OK, you don’t miss those days because no one enjoyed those drawn-out affairs with IOUs issued to state workers and public services delayed. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 6/15/18

Covered California sees big rate hike from federal tax law, but not from Trump's legal moves -- Covered California’s premiums are expected to rise significantly next year. But the head of the state’s insurance exchange said the Trump administration’s legal bid to dismantle protections for people with preexisting medical conditions will likely not contribute to the increases. Barbara Feder Ostrov Kaiser Health News via the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/15/18

L.A.'s Building and Safety agency buffeted by claims of financial misconduct, food hazing -- It began with an investigation into bad workplace behavior: a high-level manager inside the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety accused of yelling at his workers. David Zahniser in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/15/18

Lawsuit over white nationalist’s Twitter ban clears hurdle -- A California judge has refused to throw out a lawsuit that accuses Twitter of violating the free speech rights of a leading white nationalist figure by banning his social media account. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Harold Kahn ruled in Jared Taylor’s favor during a hearing Thursday on Twitter’s request to dismiss the suit, court records show. Michael Kunzelman Associated Press -- 6/15/18

Trump just squashed the last, best chance Washington had this year to protect ‘dreamers’ -- Republicans in Congress had a plan to try to protect young undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children, even if it was an extremely tenuous one. But President Trump just stomped all over that on Friday. Amber Phillips in the Washington Post$ -- 6/15/18