California Policy & Politics This Morning
California counties see higher turnout under new vote model -- Counties were still counting ballots from the June 5 primary, so turnout numbers were preliminary. But the tally done so far in the counties using the new model — Sacramento, Nevada, San Mateo, Madera and Napa — shows turnout on track to exceed or meet voter numbers in the last midterm primary. Sophia Bollag Associated Press -- 6/17/18
With wildfire season at hand, California on slightly safer footing this year -- When Anne Faught got a knock on her front gate recently, she was surprised to find two uniformed men at her rural Marin County property, one with a clipboard. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/17/18
Father's Day without a hero dad: how a widow and her two daughters celebrate his memory -- Attending Palomar Fire Academy’s graduation ceremonies on May 31, 3-year-old Evie Iverson looked at the other families in the audience — and noticed how her family looked different. “I don’t have a daddy,” Evie told her mother. Peter Rowe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/17/18
This won’t be the Father’s Day this LA family expected, after ICE detains immigrant dad -- Natalie Garcia and her large family usually celebrate Father’s Day with a barbecue, potluck and pool party at the cozy San Fernando Valley home she shares with her parents. But this year, she’s planning to visit her dad at the Theo Lacy detention center in Orange County after the green card holder of 30 years was picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in front of their home on June 10. Brenda Gazzar in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 6/17/18
Willie Brown: It’s the 21st century — time for SF to learn how to do a speedy vote count -- I never thought I would grow tired of the daily 4 o’clock vote updates after a city election. But it’s 2018, and we really shouldn’t have to go through what we went through in San Francisco after the voting ended June 5. Willie Brown in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/17/18
Visionaries and scoundrels made the Los Angeles Times, which returns to local ownership after 18 years -- The Los Angeles Times rose to prominence under the leadership of a bellicose, union-busting Civil War colonel who kept an arsenal of shotguns in the newsroom in case of labor strife and drove through the city with a custom horn that looked like a cannon mounted to his hood. Joe Mozingo in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/17/18
Bay Area’s stark gaps between haves and have-nots -- Even as Bay Area tech professionals take home the highest disposable incomes in the country, local service workers have sunk to the bottom with little or no cash left over after living expenses, a new report found. Louis Hansen in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 6/17/18
H-1B: Bay Area residents view work visa more favorably than nation as a whole -- Living and laboring among some of the brightest employees the world has to offer, Bay Area residents stand apart from the nation in their positive views toward the H-1B visa for highly skilled foreign workers, according to a new poll that is the first to probe the region’s views on the controversial work permit program. Ethan Baron in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 6/17/18
Digital billboards have nearly tripled along California freeways — and state officials are proposing more -- Once a rare sight, electronic billboards that flash new ads every few seconds have sprouted up by the hundreds along California freeways in recent years, much to the alarm of environmentalists and traffic-safety experts. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/17/18
Walters: Two victims of a blood sport: politics -- Josh Newman, a Democratic state senator from Fullerton, was in a bitter mood when he rose on the Senate floor last week—for good reason. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 6/17/18
Diaz: A wacky scheme to divide California into 3 states -- A Silicon Valley venture capitalist’s dream to divide a California that has grown too big and unmanageable is hardly novel. Tim Draper’s brainchild is merely the latest of the crazy schemes that seem to keep sprouting up like golden poppies on our rolling hills each spring. John Diaz in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/17/18
Saga of same-sex marriage in California: It’s legal, but it hasn’t been without a fight -- June is big month for weddings, and for legislation about same-sex marriage. On June 16, 2008, clerks in several California counties began issuing marriage licenses to thousands of same-sex couples. That decision was fought in the courts for five years. Kurt Snibbe in the Orange County Register -- 6/17/18
Lopez: California's newest public beach is glorious, but you have to paddle to get there — and the trip is treacherous -- My plan was to kayak from Gaviota State Park to Hollister Ranch. Beautiful coast, lovely time of year. What could go wrong? Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/17/18
Bigotry fueled Trump’s door-slam on Central American kids in danger, suit says -- The Trump administration was motivated by bigotry and violated the rights of parents in the United States when it quietly revoked a program last year that had allowed thousands of children threatened with violence in Central America to join their parents here, advocates argue in a suit filed in San Francisco. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/17/18
London Breed’s election as San Francisco mayor brings hope to dwindling black community -- London Breed’s historic ascent to the mayor’s office has sent currents of optimism and hope rippling through San Francisco’s African American community. Dominic Fracassa and Hamed Aleaziz in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/17/18
Hundreds celebrate Juneteenth in Leimert Park for a day of fun and remembrance -- The country folks on the Compton block where 50-year-old Michael Reddick grew up used to fire up the grill and kick up their feet every year around June 19. Angel Jennings in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/17/18
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
The 'hotel' next door: Airbnb rentals face backlash in some Sacramento neighborhoods -- The little East Sacramento bungalow with the bright red door and trim camellias looks like any other family home on its street. Tony Bizjak, Kellen Browning in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 6/17/18
Historic sale of the L.A. Times to billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong to close on Monday -- Biotech billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong on Monday will take control of the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune, two historic newspapers rooted in Southern California civic life for more than 135 years — that now must adapt for the digital age. Meg James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/17/18
Homeless
Here's the profile of 100 homeless people who moved from Sacramento streets to housing -- They lived outdoors for an average of four years, but some of them were homeless for decades. Nearly 90 percent of them had physical disabilities. Sixty percent had mental illnesses. Cynthia Hubert in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 6/17/18
Housing
Bretón: Isn't Sacramento richer if you can afford to live here? She's fighting to make it so -- What if Sacramento became like San Francisco in the dismal category of pricing working class people out of decent housing? Marcos Bretón in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 6/17/18
Cannabis
Banks take on Sessions over legalized pot -- The nation's banks are taking on Attorney General Jeff Sessions over pot with a big lobbying push to loosen federal restrictions on the surging legalized marijuana industry. Zachary Warmbrodt Politico -- 6/17/18
Education
Four UCLA employees sue school, alleging workplace sexual harassment -- Four UCLA employees filed lawsuits this week against UCLA and the UC Board of Regents, accusing their workplace supervisor of sexual harassment and the university of failing to properly handle abuse complaints. Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/17/18
Immigration, Border, Deportation
How Trump Came to Enforce a Practice of Separating Migrant Families -- Yet for George W. Bush and Barack Obama, the idea of crying children torn from their parents’ arms was simply too inhumane — and too politically perilous — to embrace as policy, and Mr. Trump, though he had made an immigration crackdown one of the central issues of his campaign, succumbed to the same reality, publicly dropping the idea after Mr. Kelly’s comments touched off a swift backlash. But advocates inside the administration, most prominently Stephen Miller, Mr. Trump’s senior policy adviser, never gave up on the idea. Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Michael D. Shear in the New York Times$ -- 6/17/18
‘America is better than this’: What a doctor saw in a Texas shelter for migrant children -- One woman tried to give her toys and books to calm her down, but even that shelter worker seemed frustrated, Kraft told The Washington Post, because as much as she wanted to console the little girl, she couldn’t touch, hold or pick her up to let her know everything would be all right. That was the rule, Kraft said she was told: They’re not allowed to touch the children. Kristine Phillips in the Washington Post$ -- 6/17/18
Family separations could double, says Border Patrol chief in Rio Grande Valley -- As outrage mounts over the Trump administration’s separation of hundreds of migrant children from their parents, the person overseeing that zero-tolerance policy on the busiest stretch of the Southwest border said the number of families affected could double. Michael E. Miller in the Washington Post$ -- 6/17/18
Also . . .
Legal claim says deputy groped San Diego State student in 2012 and detectives pressured her not to file complaint -- A former San Diego State student filed a claim against San Diego County this week, alleging that a sheriff’s deputy groped her after a 2012 traffic stop and that detectives investigating the behavior pressured her not to file a formal complaint. Jeff McDonald in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/17/18
POTUS 45
Trump Again Falsely Blames Democrats for His Separation Tactic -- President Trump on Saturday repeated his false assertion that Democrats were responsible for his administration’s policy of separating migrant families apprehended at the border, sticking to a weekslong refusal to publicly accept responsibility for a widely condemned practice that has become a symbol of his crackdown on illegal immigration. Julie Hirschfeld Davis in the New York Times$ -- 6/17/18
Trump will meet with House Republicans on Tuesday to discuss immigration -- President Trump will meet with House Republicans next week to discuss immigration — just days after his off-the-cuff remarks on the issue threw the GOP’s carefully laid strategy into chaos. Seung Min Kim and Mike DeBonis in the Washington Post$ -- 6/17/18